Academy of Sorcery: Term 1: Unleashing Trials

by Alexa B. James

“You’re staring,” Ryker says, not looking at me.

  I turn away, trying not to blush.

  Okay, fine, I’m attracted to him. But that is not the distraction I need right now. I was just attacked, for fuck’s sake. I try to think of all I know about demonlings. Unlike regular demons, these guys aren’t smart or cunning. They’re viscous little monsters that do the grunt work for men like Silas. He “employed” a few, though I rarely saw them. While I scrubbed toilets, they did the more questionable dirty work he needed done—like disposing of bodies.

  My mind immediately goes to my boss. Demonlings don’t normally attack people without provocation or pay, and if they do, it’s because of a perceived wrong the person did. Since I’ve never actually met a demonling, I couldn’t have offended one. Which means someone sent this one after me.

  And I know someone who has them at his disposal, someone who’s not too happy with me. The only thing I don’t know is what he hopes to gain by killing me.

  Chapter 11

  After class a few days later, I’m halfway to the dorm when I’m distracted by the sight of Elowen walking ahead of us, her head down as she shuffles along the sidewalk.

  I haven’t seen her in a week, and she doesn’t look so good. I start toward her without thinking, waving and calling her name.

  “That’s a dark magic student,” Thorn says, taking my arm. “You can’t trust her. She could have summoned that demonling in one of her classes.”

  Because of course he knows about that. I can only hope Ryker didn’t tell him the other thing that happened on Monday. The thing I will never think of again.

  “You’re a dark magic student,” I remind him, pulling my arm away.

  Thorn frowns, his green eyes darkening. “I can control my magic.”

  “Elowen is not evil,” I say, squaring my shoulders. “She’s my friend. You can boss me around all you want, but you can’t tell me who to be friends with.”

  I glare up at him, but he shows no sign of emotion. In fact, he’s shown me nothing but a poker face since the visit to my dad. He wouldn’t even tell me about his injury, or if he’s okay now. Mostly, he’s just a big, silent, scowling oaf.

  A freakishly sexy oaf who makes my heart do funny fluttering things inside my chest that cannot be healthy. I should probably see the campus doctor about it.

  Turning away from him, I jog to catch up with Elowen. Thorn makes no move to stop me, but he follows a few paces behind like my own personal bodyguard.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I ask when I join Elowen.

  “Nothing,” she says with a sigh.

  “Come on, you’re my friend,” I say. “You can talk to me.”

  “It’s silly,” she says. “In high school, I was never invited to parties, anyway. I just thought when I came here…” She glances at Thorn and whispers, “Things might be different.”

  “You didn’t get invited to a party?” I clarify.

  She sighs again. “I told you it was silly.”

  “It’s not silly,” I assure her. I’m no stranger to being excluded from things. I missed out on lots of things when I dropped out of school, and even more when I had to turn down invitations because I was working. Eventually, my friends stopped asking me to do stuff altogether, and I lost touch with them. I remember how much it hurt.

  “You can go,” Elowen says, brightening a little. “It’s tradition. It’s this big bash they throw after the students survive their first month of school. It’s always thrown by one of the seniors to welcome the new class.”

  “You’re the new class,” I point out.

  “I’m in the House of Necromancy,” she says. “We’re not invited.”

  “Fuck that,” I say. “There’s nothing wrong with your magic.”

  I stew all the way back to the dorm. When we stop in front of it, Elowen gives me a searching look. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking that if I’m invited, you can go as my guest.”

  “Really? You don’t think they’ll be mad?”

  “I don’t give a fuck if they are,” I say, a smile finding my face. “You’re just as good as anyone here. If you want to go, you’re invited.”

  “Did you get an invitation?”

  “No,” I admit. “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  She shakes her head, nervously biting at a hangnail.

  “It means we have a party to crash.”

  Chapter 12

  “Well, look at you.” Asher grabs my hands and holds them out, surveying my little black dress. It might be simple, but it fits me to a T. The unadorned, stretchy fabric hugs my curves like it was tailored just for me, though I found it in the closet, tags still attached. It might not be flashy, but it doesn’t need to be. It accentuates my cleavage and highlights my small waist and long legs in all the right places. In this dress, I don’t need flashy. I don’t even need accessories. For the first time in maybe my entire life, I feel sexy as hell.

  “Damn girl,” Asher says. “Our resident sex goddess has risen.”

  “Stop calling me that,” I say, but I can’t help but laugh even as I roll my eyes. “Sex goddess, my ass. But you. Shit, Ash. You look hot.” I grab his hand and drag him inside my room. He’s wearing a pair of black skinny pants and a silvery silk shirt open at the neck to show a triangle of smooth ivory skin.

  “Don’t I?” he asks, striking a pose. Then he spots Elowen and rushes over to her, grabs her hands, and spins her in a circle. “Girl, you look amazing, too. Ready to party?”

  She smiles, her cheeks going pink. “I guess.”

  For the past week, we’ve been plotting this nearly every day. Mostly Asher and I, since Elowen doesn’t share any classes or even a dorm with us, but we tried to keep her in the loop.

  “I can’t believe we’ve survived a whole month at the Academy,” Asher says. “It seems like we just got here.”

  It does, but at the same time, I’ve gotten used to life here. The nice room, the plentiful food, the classes, my friends. The one thing I’ll never get used to is being followed around 24/7, but even that isn’t always bad. Thorn and Ryker are mostly content to follow me in silence, and Rocco… Well, he’s grown on me a bit. I sometimes even enjoy our little quibbles.

  “Okay, let’s do this,” I say, grabbing my purse. “Do you guys know where we’re going?”

  “It’s a few blocks off campus at Gideon’s Bar,” Asher says.

  “Gideon’s?” Elowen asks, her eyes widening and her cheeks flaming.

  “Looks like there’s somebody I need to meet,” I tease, giving her a wink.

  “It’s not like that,” she says quickly, but Asher rolls his eyes at me to show me otherwise.

  “The doorman,” Asher whispers theatrically.

  “Okay, then,” I say. “This should be fun. Let’s go show those assholes what we’re made of.”

  I fling open the door, ready to conquer the world.

  And run smack into Rocco, who stands there wearing dark jeans slung low on his hips and a black T-shirt stretched across his broad, muscular shoulders. Day-um he looks good out of uniform.

  “Please tell me you’re not here to stop me from going to this party.”

  “Nope,” he says, a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

  “Or going to the party with us,” I say, the sinking feeling in my belly growing worse as I take in his appearance. His blond hair is combed back, the golden strands gleaming under the lights like they’re wet. And he smells fresh and soapy, and those jeans are really nice, and…

  “I’m afraid so,” he says, twirling a keyring around his finger and grinning at me.

  “Ugh, why?” I groan, smacking my forehead with my palm.

  “Assuming that’s not a rhetorical question, the answer is simple,” he says. “Cinderella needs an escort to the ball, and it’s my turn.”

  “Your turn to ruin all fun?” I ask. “Super. I had so much fun with your brothers Kill Joy and Spoil Sport when it was their turn.”

&n
bsp; Rocco throws back his head and laughs. It strikes me that I’ve never heard him laugh before—not a real laugh. The sound is deep and rolling, so joyous that I can’t help but smile despite myself.

  The four of us take off toward the bar, which is only a few blocks from campus. I’ve heard of Gideon’s—it’s the only supernaturals-only bar in Jacksonville—but I’ve never been.

  “I don’t need a chaperone,” I say to Rocco as we walk. “I won’t be alone. I’ll have Asher and Elowen and a whole bar full of people around me the whole time.”

  I glance back over my shoulder at Asher, who flashes me an encouraging thumbs-up.

  “Oh, did you think I was worried about you?” Rocco asks, motioning to his chest. “No, you misunderstand. I just want to be there to watch you make a fool of yourself.”

  I glare at him. “What makes you think you’ll get to see that?”

  “Because I’m your guard tonight,” he says, as if it’s obvious.

  “You seriously think I can’t go a single night without making a fool of myself?”

  “Oh, I don’t think it, Cinderella,” he says. “I know it.”

  “We’ll see, Pumpkin.”

  Rocco smiles and appraises me from the corner of his eye. “Okay, I’ll bite. Why Pumpkin?”

  “Well, you called me Cinderella, and you said you were my escort to the ball. Pretty sure the pumpkin is Cinderella’s escort. Plus, you know, your head kinda looks like a pumpkin. That toothy grin.”

  I give him a toothy grin to demonstrate, and again, he laughs. Damn it. I wish his laugh weren’t quite so infectious.

  “Pumpkin,” he says. “Huh. I like it. Though I think a jack-o-lantern has a few less teeth than me.”

  “That can be arranged,” I say, holding up my fists.

  “You know, you’re not so bad when you’re not being a total brat,” he says. “You should try it more often.”

  “Right back at you.”

  We arrive at Gideon’s, only to see a line of students with invitations clutched in their hands waiting to get in. The Bellas are at the front, flipping their shiny hair and flirting with the doorman, a blond guy leaning against the wall looking like jeans were invented just for him.

  “So that’s the reason you were all aflutter when I mentioned Gideon’s,” I say to Elowen, elbowing her gently.

  “It doesn’t matter,” she says, going pink to the roots of her brown hair. “He’d never even look at me. He could have the Bellas if he wanted them.”

  “Well, if he’s worth your time, he wouldn’t want them,” I say.

  He finally takes the invites from the Bellas, and they sashay inside and disappear.

  “Shit,” I say. “We need one of those?”

  “’Fraid so,” Rocco says, hooking his thumbs in his front pockets and watching us with an amused expression.

  “I hear they rent out the entire club for the night,” Asher says, his words quick with excitement. “It’s only open for academy students during the back-to-school bash.”

  “Well, this academy student didn’t get an invite,” I say.

  “I got one,” he says, looking guilty. “But I won’t go in without y’all.”

  “And why wasn’t I invited?” I ask.

  “Because you’re supposed to be safe on campus in your dorm,” Rocco reminds me.

  “How will we get in?” Elowen asks, wringing her hands. “They won’t let us in the front door.”

  “Then we’ll sneak in the back.” I nod to a wide, empty alleyway beside the building. We traipse down it to the single metal door set into the brick. Unfortunately, it’s locked.

  “How you gonna get in now, Houdini?” Rocco asks, looking more amused by the second.

  “Like this.” I pull out my spork, close my eyes and imagine it a key. For once, she does what I want, and the next second, I slip the key into the lock. I raise my eyebrows at Rocco. “You were saying?”

  “Well played,” he says, holding up both hands. I open the door and step inside, my friends close behind. We descend a flight of stairs and move through a storage room, hurrying toward a doorway into what looks like a bar. As we round the end of a stack of beer boxes, a guy in a chair jumps to his feet, scaring the shit out of all of us.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks, looking as freaked out as the rest of us. He’s got long, snow-white hair that hangs in sheets to nearly his waist, and his skin is pearly white with a glimmering sheen.

  “Oh my god, you nearly gave us a heart attack,” Asher says, covering his heart. “We just stepped outside to smoke.”

  “That door should be locked,” the pale guy says. “Why isn’t it locked?”

  Asher shrugs. “No idea, man.”

  “Are you Gideon?” I ask, holding out a hand. “Jade. Nice to meet you.”

  “Oh, no, I’m… Bob.” The hesitation makes it clear he just made that up on the fly.

  “Bob,” Rocco says, his eyes narrowing.

  “Yep,” the guy says. “Bob. I’m, uh, an albino.” He’s clearly not human, but I have no idea what he is. I’ve never seen anyone like him. His eyes are gold and sparkling. Not gold like a cat, but gold like a freaking pile of glitter.

  “I see that,” Asher says, looking way too interested. We need to get out of here before a bouncer comes and tosses us out.

  “Yep,” Bob says again. “Albino Bob. That’s me.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Albino Bob,” I say. “I don’t mean to be rude, but we’d better go find our friends.”

  If he has reasons for not telling us his real name, that’s his business. As long as he’s not going to throw us out, I don’t care what his name is.

  “Oh, um, I’m afraid I better get Gideon if that door is open,” he says.

  “Oh, no,” Rocco says in a mock horrified tone, a smile on his face as he watches us fail at our party crashing attempt. His gloating grin is just what I need to get me going.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say. “I mean, sure, do that, but let’s just wait until we’re out on the dance floor. Otherwise, we’ll have to stand in line, and we’ll probably get to talking to all those students waiting to get in. I’m sure they’ll want to know all about the really cool albino guy we met in the back room.”

  Bob’s glittering gold eyes focus on mine, and I can’t help but stare at the shifting light in them. Suddenly, I feel a little lightheaded. I yank my eyes away from his, my heart thudding. Fuck. He’s got some kind of hypnotic power.

  “Go to the party,” he says after a slight hesitation. “And don’t cause any trouble.”

  “No trouble,” I say, grabbing Asher’s arm and dragging him away before he can fall under Bob’s weird hypnosis.

  “What was that?” Elowen asks with a shudder, glancing over her shoulder as we dart out the door and into the bar. “Fae?”

  “No idea, but we’re in now,” I say. “That’s the important part.”

  Music is blaring, and the small dance floor is already filling. The club is a rectangular space with pool tables, a bar along one wall, and tables and chairs along another. But the main attraction is clearly the dance floor complete with DJ booth.

  The three of us head in that direction. I’m excited to blend in with the rest of the students enjoying a night out. I let the beat guide me, moving to the rhythm with Asher and Elowen beside me. This is honestly the first time I’ve ever done something like this. Closing my eyes, I let go. Song after song, I dance to the music, moving my body, enjoying a little taste of freedom.

  After a while, I feel a pair of warm hands sliding around my waist. I turn, expecting to see Asher, or maybe a guy I’ll need to blow off. But it’s Rocco. I’m not sure what to do. I didn’t expect him to join the party, but now that I think about it, of course he is. Guys like him are the reason these kinds of parties exist.

  He smiles down at me, the dimple sinking into his cheek, and for once he doesn’t say a word. His hands guide my hips, helping me find my rhythm after the interru
ption. I think about resisting, but then decide not to. If he’s not going to drag me off the dance floor and stop me from having a good time, I’m okay with him. He’s no longer an enemy, despite his occasional rudeness and coarse words. And it’s nice to have a partner after dancing solo for a while.

  I shimmy to the music, grinning at Asher who dances in front of me. He mouths, “Oh my god,” and fans himself, presumably when Rocco isn’t looking. After a couple songs, Rocco’s grip on my hips tightens, and he pulls me flush against him. The full-body contact sends a wave of heat through me, and I begin to move my hips in a more sultry rhythm. I slowly grind against him, breathless as the friction between our bodies builds. I can feel his rigid cock straining against the softness of my ass, and my desire flares higher. I lay my head back against his chest, reveling in the sensations of all his huge, hard muscles against my soft body.

  When I open my eyes, I have the sensation of being watched. I glance around, and my gaze connects with Thorn’s. He’s sitting on a stool at the bar, but he’s turned to the dance floor, openly staring. The hunger in his eyes sends a chill straight through me to my core, and my clit throbs in response. If the enormous tent in the front of his pants is any indication, the feeling is completely mutual. Without thinking, I make a beckoning gesture.

  I blink, and he’s gone. Shit. Of course uptight Thorn doesn’t dance. Besides that, I’m already dancing with his friend.

  I close my eyes, telling myself it doesn’t matter if he dances with me. I have Rocco, who is more than enough, judging from the huge cock he’s got shoved against my ass. I start grinding on him even harder, trying to forget the sting of rejection. And then I feel another pair of hands on my hips. My eyes fly open, and I find Thorn in front of me, his eyes blazing with heat. He tightens his grip, and his thigh parts mine and slides between.

  My breath catches as I wait for Rocco to chase him off, to tell Thorn that I already have a partner. But he only rolls his hips against mine, pushing my body against Thorn’s. A gasp escapes me when I feel both their cocks, rigid and ready, grinding into me at once. Excitement races through me, and wetness springs to life between my legs. I move between them, imagining a very different scene involving a bedroom and a lot less clothes between the three of us.