Academy of the Elites: Unbound Magic

by Alexis Calder

  “We offer ourselves as your keeper,” Zach said.

  I gasped as a burst of bright pain hit my chest and expanded outward. Luka and Matt squeezed my hands tighter and I heard them grunt against the influx of magic. Almost as soon as it started, it dissipated, leaving a warm tingle across my skin.

  I opened my eyes and looked at my partners. All of them had a blue glow on their skin. My own skin held the same properties. As I looked around at my mates, the color faded, and we all returned to normal.

  “I think it worked,” Luka said. “At least, I hope that’s what that stabbing sensation was.”

  “I don’t know how you mages deal with this kind of magic all the time,” Ben said.

  “It doesn’t always feel like that,” Zach said, breaking his hold on the others. He knelt down and picked up the book, then dragged his fingertips over the cover. “I don’t sense any magic in it anymore.”

  “Good,” I said, reaching for it. I took the book and held it against my chest. Then with my free hand, I fished the little vial of shadows out of my pocket and held it up. “Who’s ready for part two?”

  All of my mates were silent for a moment. I could feel their fear and I knew they were worried about me. I swallowed against the lump in my throat. I was worried about myself. We’d have one shot at this. As soon as the shadow fae had the book in his hands, he’d know the magic was gone.

  We couldn’t make any mistakes.

  “We’ll be waiting for you,” Ben said, finally, breaking the silence. “All of us.”

  “Yeah,” Matt agreed. “We do this together, right?”

  I smiled. “Right.”

  28

  Raven

  A group of students walked past me. Bursts of laughter punctuated their conversation. It was an odd contrast. Me, walking on my way to the Spellcasting room, hoping I wasn’t about to die. Them, enjoying a normal night away from studies without a care in the world. I envied them but I was also glad that they were safe.

  I liked this world I’d come to be a part of. I liked the magic. I liked the mystery even. I loved my mates. If I hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have them. They fulfilled an empty place inside me I didn’t even know existed.

  As I tugged open the door to the Spellcasting room, I knew I was doing the right thing. I’d take any risk necessary to ensure that they were safe. The part I hated about all of this was involving them. I wished I could do it on my own, but I knew I needed help from time to time.

  And I was grateful I had them to help and support me. Being independent was part of who I was, but they’d taught me to learn how to be part of a family.

  I took a deep breath as I closed the door behind me. I wasn’t sure what the outcome of this night was going to be, but it helped shed some light on where I wanted to be in the future. Wherever I ended up, I was going to be just fine if I could keep my mates with me. Together. I couldn’t let us end up split up. If we survived this, I was going to figure out a way for us to all stay together as one family. Because I needed them. And they needed me.

  The Spellcasting room was eerie. Empty and lit only by the emergency light near the back of the room. The circular amphitheater was filled with long shadows from the single light, making it a perfect place to hide if you could move in the shadows.

  I set the book down in a corner and took a step back. After lots of trial and error, I had the shadow magic down well enough to pull the shadows over the book, hiding it from sight.

  I was pretty sure the shadow fae would be able to see right through it, but I had to at least make an attempt.

  Now that that part was done, I dug the vial out of my pocket. My heart pounded against my ribs and my stomach filled with nervous flutters. I was about to do something really, really stupid. And I was about to break at least one major rule.

  Taking a deep breath, I stretched out my arm, holding the vial over the stone floor. Then I dropped it.

  The glass shattered and a billowing cloud of shadow rose from the vial, swirling around my ankles.

  I tried to step away from the dark shadows, but they locked my feet in place. Fuck. I did not see that coming.

  Pissed at myself for not detecting that trap, I clenched my teeth and balled my hands into fists. It didn’t prevent me from doing what I needed to do, but it sure made things more complicated.

  I heard a hissing sound and turned toward the door in time to see gray shadows moving like smoke through the crack under the door. The shadows built on the other side, forming the rough shape of a figure. A moment later, they cleared and the shadow fae was standing there staring at me. “I see you’ve come to your senses.”

  “Or I gave up,” I said. “What’s with the trap?”

  He shrugged, then walked toward me. He moved with the grace of a lion stalking its prey. Even his movements sent a chill down my spine. I knew enough about magic to know he was more dangerous than any of the monsters I’d encountered so far.

  “You pass off the book, I’ll release you and be on my way,” he said.

  “I hid it in this room,” I said. “Let me go so I can get it.”

  “No need,” he said, walking past me.

  I twisted as best I could while my feet were glued to the ground by the swirling smoky shadows. He walked right to the corner where I’d hid the book, not even hesitating. With a wave of his hand, he cleared the shadows and picked it up.

  He was grinning as he walked back toward me. “I wondered if you had any ability to access the shadow magic you had.”

  “I’m a fast learner,” I said.

  He looked down at the book and his brow furrowed. My heart pounded harder. This was it. Time was running out. Any second, he’d sense that the magic was gone.

  When he looked back up at me, his upper lip was in a snarl and I could see his fangs. “What did you do to the magic?”

  “Magic?” I asked innocently. “You asked me to bring you the book. I fulfilled my end of the bargain.”

  “You know that’s not what I was after,” he said.

  “Are you going to go back on your word?” I asked. “You said if I gave you the book, you’d leave this place. You also said you’d release me.”

  “You didn’t follow through,” he said with a growl. “You kept part of the book for yourself.” Eyes narrowed, he moved closer to me. “I can feel it. The magic is close. What did you do with it?”

  I swallowed hard. “The agreement was for the book.”

  His hand was on my throat so fast, I didn’t have a chance to call to my magic. Gasping for breath, I clawed at his huge hand, trying to pull it away from me. The edges of my vision blurred as I struggled for air.

  “I will kill you,” he said. “Where is the magic?”

  I couldn’t run, I couldn’t break his grip. My head spun and I could feel myself losing consciousness.

  A sound like an explosion shattered the silence of the room and he let go of his hold on me. I gasped, sucking in air as I turned toward the sound.

  All four of my mates were standing in front of a pile of stone. They’d been hiding in the secret passage Ms. Obscura had shown me, waiting in case I needed them.

  Suddenly, the room went dark, all light gone from the space. I knew the shadow fae was working his magic, eliminating the light.

  I sucked in a breath. We’d been prepared for this. I moved my feet and they were free from the magic keeping me stuck, which meant, my theory was correct. Even his magic was gone when he turned out the lights.

  “You want that magic?” I called into the dark. “You’ll have to come and take it from me.”

  I felt the rush of air moving as he closed in, grabbing me. The shadow fae held me tight, his grip binding my arms around me.

  “Where is it, little fae?” he asked. “I will kill you and and all your mates. That’s a promise.”

  I closed my eyes and reached out toward my mates through our bond. As we hoped, I could feel them. We might not have our magic, but our connection was something stronger than
that.

  The chains rattled as my mates moved closer and I knew they were closing in. Fae had one major weakness. One that I wasn’t afflicted with being half human.

  Iron.

  The shadow fae cried out, releasing me from his grasp as my mates bound him in the iron chains they’d hidden in the passageway.

  All at once, the shadows cleared from the room. I bolted away from the shadow fae, giving my mates more room to wrangle him.

  When I turned back to look, he was on the ground, bound by iron chains. He hissed in pain, his gaze locked on me. “You think this is over?”

  Just then, Professor Flora and Dr. Green entered the room.

  “Right on time,” Luka said.

  Dr. Green’s eyebrows lifted. “How long has this been in the works?”

  “Just a few weeks,” I said.

  He shook his head. “Things are going to be a lot less interesting around here after the five of you graduate.”

  The shadow fae growled. “You think you can keep me in chains?”

  “Oh, maybe they can’t,” Professor Flora said. “But I can. Nice to see you, Lucan.”

  Lucan, the shadow fae, snapped his jaws at Professor Flora. “You’re just as guilty as me. You crossed here illegally. They’ll come for you.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “But now you’ll be trapped here. At least you get to join your mate.”

  He growled.

  Several guards burst into the room, pausing at the sight of a bound man on the ground.

  “Escaped fae,” Dr. Green said. “Attempted to kill a student and threatened a lot worse, I’m assuming.”

  “Again?” One of the guards asked.

  “It’s been a long a semester,” Dr. Green said.

  The guards stared at me and I could practically feel their judgement. And I didn’t blame them at all.

  “You’ll be able to confine him, right?” I asked.

  “Not for long,” he threatened.

  “Yeah, yeah,” the guard said. “We’ve got far worse than you in our prisons. You won’t be going anywhere.”

  I watched as they dragged him away, keeping him bound in the iron chains. Adrenaline was still surging through me, making me feel hyper alert. It was hard to believe it was actually over.

  “You five, my office,” Dr. Green said before he turned and followed the guards out of the Spellcasting room.

  “Hey, at least there’s no dead bodies on the floor this time,” Luka said.

  I shouldn’t have laughed, but I did. Having showdowns with evil fae in this room was becoming far too common.

  “I take it the binding spell worked?” Professor Flora said.

  I nodded.

  “You five have a lot of work to do. I have no idea what that’s going to do to your magic or to your bond.” She turned and left the room.

  29

  Raven

  Dr. Green’s office was starting to feel comfortable. That wasn’t a good thing. I was guessing I’d been in here more in the nearly two semesters of study than most students were during the full two years.

  “Explain,” he said as he settled into the chair behind his desk.

  I glanced at my mates and noticed that Professor Flora was absent from the meeting.

  “Raven?” he said.

  I looked back over at him and sighed. “It’s a long story.”

  “It always is,” he said.

  “It started with a book,” Zach said. He nudged me with his elbow. “Go on.”

  I summarized the whole thing as quickly as I could for Dr. Green, noting the frown that didn’t leave his face. I told him about the book, and the visit to Professor Halifax in her dreams. The locker room threat, and the shadow fae showing up in my bathroom. When I finally got to the note, Zach took over.

  “We destroyed the book’s magic the best way we could,” he said.

  “Honestly, if anything, we should get out of the trials after all this,” Luka said. “Between the whole Professor Halifax thing and her crazy mate, anything the school throws at us is going to be a piece of cake.”

  Dr. Green looked at each of us in turn, finally resting his gaze on me. “If it was up to me, I’d have you all graduate if only to stop sending all the crazies to this school. In all my years here, I’ve never seen so much excitement.”

  “I assure you, I’m not asking for it,” I said.

  “I know, Raven,” he said.

  “I think you need to fire the security team, though,” Matt said. “I mean, seriously?”

  “Though, the new threat did come in from a portal I opened under duress,” I said. “It wasn’t like an outside security team could have stopped that.”

  “True,” Matt said.

  “Are we in trouble?” Ben asked.

  Dr. Green smirked. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with all of you.”

  “Hero’s banquet?” Luka suggested.

  I laughed. “All I want is a quiet night to rest. And a few weeks of normalcy before the trials. I don’t even know what it’s like to be a regular student.”

  “The trials are in six weeks,” Dr. Green said. “You five think you can manage to stay out of trouble until then?”

  “You know, I don’t think we can make any promises,” Luka said.

  “I sure hope nothing else comes up,” I said. “Is there a way to scan the school for any hiding outsiders? Make sure no other crazed fae snuck in?”

  “Actually, there are some dark magic detections spells,” Zach said.

  “Don’t worry,” Dr. Green said. “The guards are already checking.”

  “Six weeks?” I looked at my mates. “Think we can go that long without having any extra drama?”

  “We’re not going to let you out of our sight,” Matt said. “Are we?”

  “Hell no,” Ben said. “We all know you’re the trouble-maker of the group.”

  I laughed.

  The clock chimed and I looked over to see the owl’s eyes wide open tonight. It was midnight. We’d made it to a new day.

  “You five have class in the morning,” Dr. Green said as he stood. “Don’t make me call you into my office again.”

  He looked like he was fighting a smile while trying to maintain a stern expression. I was grateful for him. Without him at the helm, who knew what would have happened to me here.

  As we walked down the hallway, the adrenaline finally wore out and I was suddenly exhausted. I stifled a yawn.

  “Long day,” Matt said.

  Luka slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. “You need some sleep.”

  “We all need sleep,” I said.

  Luka guided me away from the hallway that led to my dorm room. My brow furrowed. “Hey, wrong way.”

  “Nope,” he said. “The twins were right. You need more protection. There’s two of them in that room.”

  “Plus, there’s room for all of us there,” Ben added.

  “Wait a minute.” I stopped walking and looked at all of my mates. None of them were arguing. “You all agreed to this?”

  “We had some words while we were waiting in the secret passage,” Ben said.

  “And you didn’t kill each other?” I asked.

  “Our differences aren’t as important as making sure you’re safe,” Zach said.

  “So we’re going to have a sleepover in your dorm room?” I asked, still not believing it.

  “There’s room for all of us there,” Ben said.

  “We don’t even have to share the same bed,” Luka said. “Though, I’m open to it if anyone wants company. While Raven is my favorite, you’re all pretty hot.”

  I laughed at the bright shade of pink Ben’s face was. It was true, though. I’d not only managed to connect with four intelligent, amazing men, I’d hit the sexy jackpot. How the hell did I get this lucky?

  Deciding I should go along with this decision while they were all getting along, I started walking again. This would be the first time all of us had shared one room. S
ure, we’d shared other things before. But those nights had still ended up with me in my room alone.

  The room was dark when we entered and Zach flipped on some lights. “I’ll wait with Raven if the rest of you want to check the rooms. Just in case.”

  I looked at Zach with my brows raised. “You do realize the fae who was after me was literally able to turn into a shadow.”

  “Yeah, but he’s gone,” Ben said. “I’ll check this way.”

  “I’ve got this side,” Luka said.

  “Looks like I’ve got the bedrooms,” Matt said.

  They all took off in three different directions while I stood there feeling awkward with Zach. “I’m not helpless, you know.”

  “We know,” he said. “But do you know how helpless you made us feel? We want to help you, Raven. We have to work together when one of us needs help.”

  “Does that go for all of you?” I asked. “If Ben needed help, would you be willing to help him?”

  He hesitated and I knew I’d caught him. I was just about to say so when he opened his mouth.

  “Raven, I don’t know how to explain it, but the four of us share our own bond. It’s not like the bond I have with you, but yes, I would help him if he needed it. For your sake and for mine. We’re connected somehow. It doesn’t make sense, but that’s where we are,” he said.

  My jaw dropped open. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Me neither,” Ben said. “Place looks clear.”

  “Wow, that was touching, bro,” Matt said.

  “Sexy and sweet, Raven, this guy’s a keeper,” Luka said.

  My face heated as I felt all of them staring at me. I was surprised by Zach’s comment but I shouldn’t be. Every time we’d combined our magic, I could feel the bond between us. We were connected.

  I walked toward the middle of the room. “You’re all keepers.”

  My mates surrounded me now and I could almost feel the electricity sizzling between us. It made my knees weak and I had to take a deep breath to steady myself.