The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series

by Chandelle LaVaun

  “The ground is recognizing you?”

  Tegan chuckled and shrugged. “I wanna say it gets less creepy, but I’d be lying.”

  Myrtle stopped and spun to face us. She waved for me. “Bettina, please sit here with your legs crossed.”

  I dropped to the ground and into position. My heart was pounding in my chest and through my ears. My fingers trembled. I was nervous, terrified, and totally freaking excited at the same time. I had no idea what they were about to do, but I did know these two women were two of the most powerful and wise witches in the entire world. I trusted them, but also I didn’t want to ask too many questions. Part of me wondered if this was going to hurt in any way…except I didn’t really care if it did so long as I got my magic.

  My magic… It was such a foreign concept still. I kept hearing I had it, saw little flashes of it, but just once I wanted to be able to conjure it myself at will. I wanted to use it like my friends did. I didn’t need to be some crazy powerful legend like Tegan or Tennessee. I just needed a tiny bit.

  Please let this work.

  Myrtle said something to Tegan in the ancient language, and then they both sat down on the dirt with me, with Myrtle facing me and my bestie behind me. They chanted back and forth to each other, and then together. My pulse skipped then kicked into hyper speed.

  Breathe, B, Tegan whispered into my mind as Myrtle chanted. This might get weird, but try not to move. I got you, don’t worry. Just breathe.

  “Tegan?” Myrtle looked around me with one eyebrow arched. She pointed to the ground around us. “Would you mind?”

  I frowned and glanced over my shoulder to Tegan. She closed her eyes and held her hands out to her sides, palms up. Rainbow-colored magic pooled between her fingers like flames. She curled her fingers in then flicked them out. Bright orange flames shot across the dirt in narrow lines.

  A wave of intense, raw energy slammed into my back. It shot up my spine like I’d been plugged into a power source. I gasped as my body filled with warmth. My nerve endings tingled, and then I was lifting off the ground.

  Don’t move. Tegan said not to move. I held myself tight and perfectly still as I rose higher and higher.

  Myrtle and Tegan chanted in perfect unison, their words heavy in the ancient language.

  Stay calm, Bettina. Except it was easier said than done. Without moving my head, I glanced down at the ground below me. My breath left me in a rush.

  Those flames Tegan had flicked out burned in straight lines to make the shape of a pentacle. White flower petals filled the spaces between the flames. Smoke and dirt whipped around the pentacle in a perfect circle, closing us inside. Their chanting grew louder and louder until they were practically yelling. Ocean waves crashed onto the shore, flooding the courtyard around the circle.

  Heat exploded inside me, filling my stomach then shooting out into each of my limbs. I gasped. My back arched. My arms and legs flew out like a starfish, but I couldn’t stop it. Silver shimmering magic wrapped around me like a tornado. Tegan and Myrtle’s chanting grew faster and sharper, and then the silver magic exploded like fireworks. Little specks of sparkling light rained down on me.

  My muscles pulsed and tightened, and then I felt energy rush out of me like a tsunami. Pink mist spilled out, pouring into the air. My heart skipped a beat. Pink magic. PINK! That’s MINE!

  I started to drop toward the ground, and then light flashed all around me. My pink magic swirled everywhere. I blinked a few times, but then I saw it. My magic floated in the air in the form of shapes, ones I’d never seen before.

  My feet hit the warm dirt, and my legs gave out from underneath me. I dropped to my knees. Pain shot up my thighs, but I barely noticed. My attention was narrowed on my hands…and the swirls of neon pink magic coiling in and around my fingers like snakes. It shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight. My hands buzzed with energy. I’d never been the kind of girl who loved the color pink. But it was officially my new favorite.

  My cheeks burned from how hard I grinned. A small chuckle escaped my lips. “I have magic!” I wanted to leap to my feet and scream with joy.

  “Let me see,” Tegan said in a rush as she appeared right in front of me, sitting on her knees and mirroring my position. She grabbed my wrists and yanked my hands out in front of me. Her pale green eyes widened. “Myrtle, is that it? Is her magic unblocked now?”

  Myrtle sank down in front of me and took my hands in her own. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then nodded. “Technically, yes. Your magic is unblocked, but it’s been so for so long that it may take some time for your full power to come out. Just be patient.”

  I giggled. “I have magic!”

  A huge grin spread across Tegan’s face. “Myrtle, you are brilliant.”

  A warm ocean breeze swept up and over us…carrying the scent of Christmas with it. I barely had time to brace myself before he said, “Bettina, are you all right?”

  My heart swelled, and warmth filled my veins. I peeked up at him over my shoulder and grinned. “Never better.”

  “Soooo….are we going to talk about the stick figure party?” Royce pointed to the sky. “Anyone?”

  “Stick figures, Royce?” Evaline chuckled and shook her head. “Sometimes I can’t tell when you’re joking, or if that’s really what you saw.”

  Royce shrugged. “I plead the fifth.”

  “Those were runes of some variation,” Jackson said softly. His aquamarine gaze was locked on the air above my head, like he was still seeing them. “I have studied runes to prepare for Michael’s return, yet never have I ever seen those.”

  “Never have I ever—” Royce threw his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. It didn’t work. But at least he tried, which was more than could be said for Harlan and Trey behind him.

  Jackson ignored the laughter and turned to Cooper. “Are they specific to The Coven, perhaps?”

  “I recognized them as runes as you did, but I don’t know them.” Cooper frowned and shook his head. Then he half turned toward our Leader. “Tenn? What do you know? Tegan?”

  Tenn sighed then exhaled with a curse. “They look familiar, eerily familiar, yet I can’t place them.”

  Tegan wiggled her fingers, and my pink magic shot up and reformed into the five runes we’d seen a moment before. “I saw these somewhere else before, but where? Myrtle, what do you know?”

  Myrtle frowned so hard the silver of her eyes faded away. “These are angelic runes. Only an angel can read them.”

  “Angelic runes?” My stomach sank. “What do they mean? Why are they inside me?”

  “Myrtle, please,” Tegan whispered and put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “We need your guidance here. Just tell us what you know.”

  Tenn looked down at me, then back to his soulmate. “Yes, please.”

  Myrtle glanced around the group, then settled on me. “Someone used your magic to hide something.”

  “WHAT?” we all shouted together. Which was both comforting and not at the same time.

  “If you had no recollection of ever having magic, didn’t know you were a witch, then I would say this happened to you as a small child. It wouldn’t have been harmful, so you wouldn’t have even known it happened.” She looked down at my pink magic swirling around my hands and frowned. “Someone used your magic to hide something, and as a result, you couldn’t access it.”

  I shuddered. “Who would do this?” Who would rob me of my magic?

  She shook her head. “It could have been anyone. Could’ve even been a stranger passing by you on the sidewalk. But these are angelic runes. Very few know how to identify them, and even fewer know how to read them. Whoever this was obviously knew them well. And if they were willing to hide them in a child they didn’t know, then they were probably in danger. There’s an important message in these runes. You must learn it.”

  “Okay…so now what? I mean, how am I supposed to find out what they mean if barely anyone can read them? Do we wait and pray for Kenneth’s
health to come back?” I asked, but then when no one answered, I raised my hand like I was in class. “Hello?”

  “Kenneth cannot read angelic runes,” Evaline whispered.

  Jackson scratched the back of his neck. “But Kenneth’s gift gave him the ability to read and speak any language, so why can’t he read these?”

  “Because they’re not a language of Earth,” Tegan said softly. “I may have seen these or something similar in the Book of Shadows, but no one who ever wrote in it could read them. Of that, I’m positive.”

  We’re missing something here. “But Tennessee recognized them—”

  “Yeah, he’s probably part angel,” Royce said under his breath.

  “What aren’t you telling us, Myrtle?” Tennessee grumbled. “Just tell it to me straight.”

  “First, you must return to the Old Lands. I can feel its magic in her. You’ll need to go back and search for these runes.” She pointed to the runes floating above my hands in my magic. “I suspect them to be on an object.”

  The Old Lands. I tried to not let that set me into a panicked frenzy. We knew we had to go back anyway. To find Warner. To find answers for Timothy and Erin. But to find an object with angelic runes as well felt like too much.

  I swallowed my nerves and tried to keep my voice calm. “Okay…so what’s second? What’s after we find this object?”

  “You have an angel translate them.” Myrtle looked at the four young Cards and smiled. “You must find Leyka.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Jackson

  “Leyka? As in…the angel?” I blinked and looked around at the group.

  My friends looked as confused as I felt, but Myrtle and the four young Cards seemed to know something we didn’t.

  “Pardon me, mates, but did you just say Leyka the angel?” I asked.

  After a long moment of silence, Cooper looked to me and nodded once, then he turned back to the others. I glanced over to Evaline, but her gaze was locked on the horizon and her eyes were glazed over like she was deep in thought. I sighed. Not for the first time I wondered what it would be like to be in The Coven. Not for the glory, fame, or the responsibility, but merely for the sheer information. I knew they knew things the rest of us didn’t, and I just wanted to know what that was.

  And I knew a thing or two about angels. One was coming for me.

  The archangel Michael. The warrior angel, the angel known to be the most powerful of all angels. A leader in the angelic realm. The patron angel of righteousness and justice. Some said he was known for mercy, but no Lancaster had thought that for six hundred years. I knew all about him. I’d spent a decade studying everything I could about him, and this included the other angels as well. I knew of Raphael, the archangel of healing. There was also Gabriel, the messenger archangel. I even knew about Uriel, the angel of wisdom and patron of the arts. I knew about them all. I’d made it my job to know.

  But the angel Leyka was new. Not much was known about him aside from the fact that he’d shown up for the first time a couple hundred years ago. Before that, no one had ever heard of him. Yet, still…nothing was known about him. We didn’t know if he was an unknown archangel, or just a regular angel—if that was even a thing. We didn’t know where he came from or why he was here. Most people thought he was a legend. A myth similar to those of ancient Greece and their Olympian gods.

  The Coven knew something, but they weren’t sharing.

  I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself that was how it went. I was no one special to this world and our species. I was just a guy chosen to fight for my bloodline’s magic. That didn’t matter for The Coven. Not really. It would do me good to remember that.

  “So…” I cleared my throat. “So, we return to the Old Lands. This is a good thing—”

  “Good thing?” Royce spun on me with a sort of wildness in his sapphire eyes. Little yellow flowers popped up around his feet. Thick green vines wrapped around his shoes. “Weren’t you in there before? Have you forgotten how dangerous it is? Hell, we almost lost Tennessee in there—”

  “We did lose Warner in there.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “Have you forgotten you promised we would return to the Old Lands to rescue him? Or at least to try our bloody damned best? I know how treacherous those lands are. Erin is clinging to life, and the same thing that got her took Timothy from us. Do not make the mistake of acting like I carelessly visit the damned place.”

  Royce’s eyes widened and flashed. “That’s not—”

  “All right,” Tennessee snapped and stepped between us. “Jackson is right, although good might not have been the best choice of wording. However, we were planning to return to rescue Warner, so this just means we’ll have to do so sooner than we may have anticipated.”

  “Less time to research,” Cooper grumbled and shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

  Tegan walked over and squeezed my arm. “Jackson, I was lost in the balefire not too long ago. I know what it was like in there. I promise we won’t give up on him.”

  Relief washed through me. I nodded. “Thank you.”

  Tennessee sighed. “We’ll go in and find the runes first, then focus on Warner.”

  “But there’s something we must do first. Please, come with me.” Myrtle turned and gestured for us to follow her as she padded across the courtyard barefoot.

  Tegan and Tennessee followed after her without hesitation. They walked tall and confident, hand in hand toward the stone buildings ahead. Cooper and Evaline were close behind them.

  Royce stepped in front of me and held his left hand out. “I didn’t mean to offend you, man. I apologize. Those were dark days for me, so the idea of going back in there terrifies me.”

  I sighed and took his left hand, the one with his X Mark on display. “Thank you. Sorry I snapped.”

  Royce shook his head and started to back away. “If my friend were still in there, I’d be bat-shit crazy by now. You’re good.” He smiled then turned and jogged to catch up with the others.

  Gen whistled and bumped her shoulder into my arm. “You see the action at his feet when he barked at ya’?”

  Trey chuckled. “Terrifying and pretty. Just like you, Lancaster.”

  “I wonder if I could make those with my wand.” Harlan pushed past me and sprinted ahead. “Hey, Royce!”

  “They’d make a cute couple, too.” Trey looked to us and winked.

  Gen raised her hand up. “Wait, Royce is gay?”

  Trey scoffed. “Girl, everybody knows that.”

  Gen cursed. “Well, I guess you’ll have to ask him to the Yule Ball instead of me, Trey.” She leaned across me and playfully smacked his arm then ran after the others.

  “Fine, but I do not look good in strapless!” Trey laughed as he chased after her.

  And then it was just me…and Bettina.

  She was still on her knees in the dirt. She hadn’t said much in a while.

  I closed the distance between us then stopped beside her. “Are you okay?”

  She was staring at her hands and the pink magic swirling around her fingers. “I’m afraid to make it stop. What if it doesn’t come back?”

  “Come here,” I said softly and held my hand out for her.

  When her soft fingers slid against mine, I almost sighed. Warm, intense energy shot up my arm. Do not give in. She’s a distraction. You can’t afford distractions. I took a shaky breath then pulled her to her feet. I meant to let go of her hand, but my fingers refused to get the memo. Her royal blue eyes met mine from mere inches away. They were the most amazing color, and there was something not quite human about them. They were too blue, but they were perfect. She leaned in, and our noses brushed. She smelled like flowers, like walking into a florist shop or through a wild garden in the mountains.

  Something happened inside me. It felt like two glaciers slamming into each other and sending a tsunami of emotion rolling through me. Back away from the distraction NOW. I cleared my throat and took a step ba
ck. She groaned, but I was going to pretend I didn’t hear it. My sanity depended on me not hearing it.

  Focus. What were we talking about?

  I asked if she was okay… She said she’s worried about her magic not coming back— AH. Magic. Okay, I can do this.

  “Give me your hand, Moonshine,” I whispered.

  “Moonshine?” she said with an eyebrow arched as she placed her other hand in mine.

  “Because you are intoxicating and debilitating.” I raised our joined hands up to her waist level. Her pink magic spread over my hands and coiled around my wrists, and it felt like an extension of herself. To anyone watching from afar, this would’ve looked like some romantic moment. “And yet I crave you.”

  Her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red.

  Reeeeeeeal nice, Jackson. Way to be misleading.

  I cleared my throat again and shook my head. I focused my eyes on the magic around her hands. “Take a deep breath. Your magic is an extension of yourself, so you can call upon it at will. It’s like a fine-tuned muscle. Now, call it back in.”

  She nodded and licked her lips. Her chest rose as she inhaled…and then her pink mist faded away. She frowned and stared at our joined hands. “Now what? How do I get it back out?”

  “Just push with your mind. Will it to do as you want.” I summoned my own magic to my hands. Deep scarlet mist billowed out from between our hands. “Your turn.”

  “Okay,” she said with a shaky voice.

  For a few moments, nothing happened, and then I felt a rush of cool energy on my face. Little vibrations tickled my fingers and palms. A puff of pink mist poked out from between her fingers, and then it poured out like a geyser. She grinned and did this cute little bounce.

  “Oh, damn. Here I thought I’d catch y’all making out.”

  Bettina and I jumped at the sound of Tegan’s voice. I dropped her hands and spun…and found the High Priestess standing right beside us with her hands on her hips. Making out? I wondered what would make her think we could’ve been doing that. I hadn’t touched her in front of anyone, and definitely not since Tegan had gotten into town.