Deadly Morsel: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 5)

by Juliann Whicker

  “Did you see it?” he asked, holding the empty glass.

  “See what?” I sipped my drink, studying him while I struggled not to rip him limb from limb.

  “I intended our first kiss to be romantic, but she thought it would be better if she climbed on top of me and kissed me in front of my parents by the golf course.”

  I blinked at him. “That does sound like Penny.” I exhaled a little bit.

  Zach nodded decisively. “She’d just heard my mother explain how she’d made her sweater out of my favorite cat. You know how she is about her pets.”

  I inhaled and exhaled, like I could breathe. Could I? Maybe. “Mm. You’re her pet?”

  He almost smiled then stopped himself. “It wasn’t a real kiss. She was trying to suck the pain out of me, you know how she does that.”

  I stared at him. “She took your pain in front of your parents and the golf course?”

  He nodded then hesitated. “She tried. I resisted.”

  I ran a hand through my hair. I should go and kill something, but first… “Zach, Ian. Meet me here.” I drew a quick map in the air for them of where the Darkside battle was that I was supposed to stop. “Twenty minutes.”

  I stepped Throughside and came back at the bottom of the library steps. I took them two at a time. Penny was in the library, probably gazing adoringly at Lester again. The witch was completely reckless. I entered the study hall and nodded at Oscar where he stood behind the counter. He straightened and nodded towards the end of the room where I couldn’t see Penny for the stacks of books in front of her bent head.

  Lester glanced at me and raised his eyebrows before saying something to Penny. She looked up at me and for a second there was shock and limitless delight before I grabbed her arm and hauled her into the stacks. I pushed her against a shelf and breathed in and out, the scent of her like roses and vanilla with a hint of dusty books.

  I was gripping her arm where she’d had the scars. They weren’t visible anymore. I wanted to chew through the glamour to her skin beneath.

  “Drake, what are you doing?”

  “Trying not to strangle you. Do you have any idea how valuable aberrations are?”

  “Aberration? Like a weird girl?” She sort of frowned, but she sounded breathless. I was pressed against her and she wasn’t struggling.

  “Like a witch with mage energy so you don’t repel them. That kind of aberration.”

  “You like to strangle valuables? Odd.”

  I smoothed my hand over her cheek and tangled my hand in her hair, tugging on her scalp, but gently. I wanted to chew on her scalp. Zach’s mouth had touched hers. I was going to chew hers off so no one else could touch it again.

  “Drake, what are you doing?”

  “Didn’t I already tell you?”

  “Not strangle me, but can’t you do that from further away?”

  “Of course, but it’s not as interesting.”

  She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “If you keep pinning me to the shelf I’m going to lick you.”

  “Why?”

  “You smell so delicious. Maybe nibble on your chin.”

  “I have a very edible chin. It’s notoriously edible.”

  “So, I’m an aberration? What does that have to do with shelves?”

  I slid my nose over her silky cheek. She gasped and I felt her chest rise against mine. I pushed harder against her.

  “You taking Zach’s pain in front of his parents was a visible manifestation of your weirdness.”

  She turned her head and her lips brushed my ear. “Drake, I’m not sure that you’re communicating disapproval very effectively. I’m going to want to display my weirdness in all sorts of public ways.”

  I growled and put my teeth on her jawbone. She dug her fingers into my shoulders and for a moment the world went far away and the only thing important or otherwise was there, pressed against me. The deception sorcerer didn’t matter, nothing could break through the aching need I had just to hold this witch and never let her go.

  Then the shelf vanished. We fell back and I barely rolled in time for her to land on top of me. Viney dragged her off, glaring at me with those bright, black eyes.

  “She’s engaged to someone else,” she hissed, digging her nails into Penny’s arm, the one with all the scars. I stayed on the floor, digging my claws into the marble until I could stand without killing Viney and stealing away Penny.

  “Which is why I find her so fun to pin to bookshelves.” I winked at Penny and dusted myself off, taking my time with my jacket front.

  She stared at me, chewing on her bottom lip. “We were just doing the bonding thing.” She rubbed her shoulder and gazed at me longingly for a moment before she dropped her eyes. Guilt. She actually felt guilty for wanting me when she was engaged to Zach. Such a strange witch. My mouth watered as I ached to lick all her guilt away until she felt nothing but delight.

  I stepped Throughside, back to the battle where Zachary and Ian were standing, talking to my Darkside generals and looking confused. No, we weren’t here to fight, but to stop the fighting. Had I not made myself clear?

  Stopping fighting is so much more exhausting than simply winning. Finally the fighting had more or less ceased and I was able to convene with the opposing mage. I walked into his tent and then frowned at Narcollo where he leaned against the camp table reading a book.

  “What are the odds?”

  He raised his eyes to mine. “Are you here with a treaty, an alliance?”

  I shuddered while Ian said, “What sort of treaty?”

  I glanced at Ian. He looked so focused, like he wasn’t distracted by how many females in the world he hadn’t touched.

  I said, “Against Sooth, with the Devil of Darkside and the Prince of Darkness along with Narcollo here. We would reorganize the Devil’s Law, you know, give humans an option to stay in Darkside if certain requirements are met.”

  Narcollo smiled thinly. “Also protection of humans, not the simple removal of them.”

  Ian narrowed his eyes. “You want to protect human rights in Darkside? How peculiar and extraordinarily difficult. Would you like me to spearhead it?” he asked me.

  I blinked at him. Ian offering to do something at that level of difficulty and involvement? I half-shrugged.

  Narcollo frowned. “It would be best if the green mage were the one pushing this new treaty.”

  Ian laughed and slapped my shoulder. “They want to put you under contract. I think you had definitely better have me look into it.”

  I nodded. “You would do better at that than me. If you could focus. Can you?”

  Ian smiled sharp and icy. “The idea intrigues me.”

  I nodded because that was enough for me. And a relief. Finally, Ian doing something productive that gave me a sliver of breathing room. I hadn’t spent enough time planning the upcoming swamp battle with Blackheart. Señor Mort. Teddy. What was he thinking? He was the smartest mage I knew. Playing with Penny seemed incredibly stupid no matter how you looked at it, which is why it made so much sense for me. Even after hours in Darkside, her scent was in my nostrils, the feel of her skin between my teeth.

  Chapter 20

  Witch

  So the plan was something like, Wit would dress up as me and play a decoy up in the balloon while I hung out with a bunch of black cloaked no-nonsense fighters out of the way, out of danger, but not at Rosewood because that wasn’t safe with the whole school in the swamp. The school was buzzing like we were going on the most exciting field trip in the world. Yay for swamps.

  I had one of my chem girls make me a spell to track Senor Mort that I didn’t need magic to activate. All I needed to do was, light the bit of weasel hair on fire, and it would lead me to him.

  I didn’t bother telling Drake or Zach about that part. They wanted me secure, or at least I imagine that’s what they wanted. Drake didn’t talk to me outright, just smirked and winked at me like I was a mostly amusing female he liked to play with. I couldn’t stop thi
nking about the library, the stacks, Drake’s teeth on my jaw, his fingers scraping my scalp.

  Ah well. Fun! Love that torture stuff.

  Rosewood packed up and left, all the helicopters, limos, and llamas… Just kidding. No llamas. I rode in a helicopter with Zach. So much awesomer than absolutely nothing else in the world. I clung to his hand, his arm, with my decoy weasel in my bag beneath my knees.

  The plan was going to be so rational, logical and perfect. I turned my head and gave Zach a bright smile. “Has your hand gone numb yet? I’m sorry about the clinging. It’s annoying, isn’t it? How long is this going to take? Maybe you could knock me unconscious with some kind of cool mage trick.”

  He grinned wildly at me and leaned closer, blue eyes dancing. “I could, but you’d miss all the fun. I’m sorry about Señor Mort, but this is the best thing that could possibly have happened my senior year.”

  “Aren’t you worried that Rosewood will be humiliated and disgraced?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t really care. I’m not into the ego, just the massacre.”

  “Oh. But if Rosewood loses and they keep Señor Mort…” I swallowed hard and pressed my face against his shoulder. “We’ll decimate them, won’t we?”

  He patted my hair. “Of course. Drake doesn’t like losing. As in, he’s cooked up an awesome elaborate plan that will guarantee Rosewood’s position of superiority for the next hundred years.”

  The helicopter landed and I climbed into the back of a limo with Zach, Oscar, Viney, Ian and Witley. Witley wore a long strawberry-blonde curly wig. In her cute little skirt and shoes she looked kind of sweet and fun. And then she curled her lips at me and I was reminded of one of those badgers about to rip apart your face. Super cute.

  “Why isn’t Drake here?”

  Witley’s eyes narrowed. “Can’t live without him?”

  It didn’t feel like it. “This just seems like a group he’d be part of.”

  She gave me a blindingly beauteous smile. “He’s where he wants to be.”

  Viney rolled her eyes. “Drake’s got a different part in this plan. He’ll show up when the time is right. He’ll be impossible to miss. He’s not exactly subtle.”

  Finally, we were at the launch site of the balloon where it waited for Witley and Zach, filled with generic hurters that I hadn’t made. Viney and Oscar took off and that left me with Ian in the limo. I stayed with him for a good fifteen minutes without talking, just sitting, not talking, sitting, not talking.

  “I need to pee.”

  He smiled seductively at me, the golden sparks in his eyes coming to life. “How exciting. Let’s go.”

  I frowned at him. “You think that you’re coming with me?”

  He shrugged. “There’s nothing about the body to be ashamed of.”

  “Mmmm hmm. How many guards are waiting around the limo?”

  “A lot.”

  I studied him intently. “Does Drake think I’m helpless?”

  His lips twisted. “I can’t tell you exactly what Drake thinks about you, but I would say invaluable, not helpless. You’re Pitch’s supplier. You can manipulate energy in ways I’ve never seen before. You aced the Chem exam. You are the prize, Penny. Even if you weren’t all those things, you’re Zach’s fiancé.”

  “So I’m like a big bag of diamonds or lithium? Not lithium. Something else.”

  I threw a hurter at him that popped in a very small, very cute puff of pink. He slumped over and would stay that way for at least twenty minutes. I pulled out the weasel hair, lit it on fire and let it burn on my palm. It twisted as it burned, leaving a scorch mark in my hand. Ouch, but nothing like catching Feris flames. I pulled on my black dress, Wit’s old dress ironically enough because once more she was dressing as me and I was trying on her. I put on my black cherry lipstick, covered my face with a ninja mask, slipped the cloak around my shoulders and opened up the sunroof. Why did I need to wear lipstick and a ninja mask? No idea, but it felt right.

  I took a deep breath, clutching the small cage in my hand and harnessed a little bit of that wonderful Pitch pain. I was the night, and I had errands to run.

  I leapt up to the trees, pulling against them like my ropes in my attic, points of energy that pulled me through the night, a spinning whirl of ash and shadows. I followed the pull in my palm, the burnt hair. I passed above fighting students, their cloaks illuminated in gold or silver as they fought. Gold for Rosewood? Too bad I’d left Ian in the limo. I ran lightly along branches, ducking and dodging low hanging greenery, slipping through the maze of putrid scented swamp until I saw a diamond rising from the tangled limbs. It glimmered in the moonlight through a mat of leaves. I circled the glass building and found the two entrances. I crouched down, staring at it.

  I hung the cage on a branch, then opened the door and snatched the weasel before it had a chance to run. I held it by its throat and back, so it didn’t get a claw or tooth into me. Its little heart pounded so fast in my hand.

  “Aw, poor little thing. I’m sorry about all of this. You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to eat you.”

  My compassionate emotions dissolved the Pitch lighter than air thing and I went crashing down to the squishy earth around the greenhouse. I managed to hang onto the weasel and not land on it, but my ribs hurt a lot, and it took me a few seconds to be able to breathe again.

  Gasp. Sit up. Gasp. Roll to my feet. Gasp. Stumble into a low hanging branch and almost lose an eye... you get the idea. I sighed as I found the door and turned the knob. It opened without me having to so much as pick the lock. Kind of anti-climactic, but inside, after I’d closed the door firmly behind me and bent to release the little weasel into the bushes, was awesomeness that completely blew me away.

  Not literally, just when I walked forward through the winding path of close growing walls of vegetation and stepped into a clearing in the center where the moon shone down freely, shining on a cage that hung at the very top of the greenhouse with only a few spindly branches reaching that high, I also saw the dragon.

  I dropped to my knees and stared at the glimmering black scales, reflecting light in the moonlight like a pool of black water, glistening, rippling as it raised its neck and opened its mouth to shoot a dart of black flame at me. I leapt up, spinning the flame around me until I threw it back at the dragon’s face. It inhaled the flames and then sneezed, shooting out ashes and smoke with sparks that danced across the stone floor.

  I stared at the creature from dreams and nightmares. I knew that darkness. Teddy was here. “You are beautiful. So sleek and dangerous, lithe and perfect. Can I touch you?”

  I hadn’t expected Señor to be guarded by a dragon. Frankly, it seemed like overkill. Overkill. That was appropriate for a death mage.

  He cleared his throat. “Did you come here alone? So much confidence.”

  I glanced quickly over my shoulder at Teddy where he stood in the shadows. My mouth watered as I remembered his darkness before I turned back to the glorious creature. At the moment, she was the greatest threat. “Is she yours? Where do you keep her? What does she eat? Does she let you ride her?”

  “She talks. Not your language, probably, but I can translate for you, if you’d like.”

  I beamed at him before turning back to the glorious creature. Every time I looked at him, I studied the layout of the greenhouse. There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver in the space, and all the plants made visibility difficult. “What does it feel like to fly through the night? Can you fly during the day? Is the sun hot, or is the wind cold? Can you feel temperature through your scales? Are they scales? They’re so beautiful, shifting like that right before you strike.”

  She did strike, a lightning fast movement that I barely managed to dodge, avoiding the scrape of her claws through my stomach by a breath. I laughed and clapped my hands. I was only half pretending to be that inane. She really was delicious, and what better way to end the aching for Drake than in the claws of a death dragon.

  “You’re so fast!”


  “She says that you are fast too, and yes about the scales and no about the temperature. Why did you come here all by yourself? Are you hoping to make a deal with me?” He walked out until he was between me and the gorgeous glimmering darkness with wings and fire. He put a hand on her head, rubbing her brow bone. Every movement was a silken blade in the dead of night, graceful as a fallen angel. He matched his dragon perfectly. “Did you really come alone to find your pet?”

  He kept using that word, ‘alone.’ I shrugged. “Señor Mort is my responsibility. How is he? Has he been eating? He can get upset if he’s moved around too much and then he just sits and pouts, doesn’t eat or sleep or drink. It’s terrible.”

  He answered drily. “Sounds traumatic. I’m glad you found your way to him. You should join him at Blackheart if Rosewood fails to defeat my school.”

  “Oh. Thanks. What’s it like?”

  He studied me, that perfect face made slightly asymmetrical by a black ring through his bottom lip.

  “You pierced your lip! So cool! Did it hurt? It looks like it hurt. What’s it like for kissing?”

  He smiled. “I haven’t had any complaints. You’re welcome to try any time.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “How would that help me know if piercing my lip is right for me? Does it hurt in a good way or bad? Has anyone gotten a little wild and ripped it?”

  “You have so many questions and so little fear. Aren’t you worried about what I’m going to do to you now that I have you alone?”

  I shrugged. “I’m only afraid of irrational things. I mean, mostly.” I started backing towards the door. “You know what, this is so much fun to catch up. Why don’t you ask me out some time and we can go on a real date? We could pierce something together.”

  He put his hand up to his ear and cocked his head at me before glancing up. Bonbons and Macaroons I’d almost pulled it off. He must have had the cage under surveillance and one of those ear communication things. The cage’s door was open and its inhabitant in the trees, coming in my direction.

  “Your weasel can pick locks?” He sounded impressed that time.