The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Everyone seemed as tense and nervous as I was. And we were still outside the gate.

  Willow walked up to the front of the group and stopped beside Tennessee. Her new talisman dagger hung from a holster on her hip. “Tegan, did you figure out the prophecy?”

  “Please say yes,” Chutney said with a groan. “I’m so sick of being confused on these.”

  Tegan sighed. I didn’t miss the way her gaze went to my left hand then over to Tennessee. There was something about the way they looked at each other that told me they were conversing.

  “Tegan?” Bettina asked, the sound of her voice making my heart flutter.

  She grimaced. “No.”

  A dark red rune that glowed like embers in a fireplace appeared on her chin. I gasped and sat up straight. She glanced at me then rolled her eyes. She’s lying. I raised my eyebrows.

  “Okay, fine, Lancaster. That’s not entirely accurate.” She threw her hands up. “I’m still trying to piece it together. My thoughts won’t mean much until we’re there.”

  Cooper stood and brushed his hands off on his jeans. “Let’s get in there, then. Sooner we get this object, the sooner we can rescue Warner.”

  Bettina’s head snapped up. She smiled up at Cooper with sparkling eyes, and I had the sudden urge to throw a rock right at his face.

  Don’t be a wanker. She’s not yours.

  He winked at her—as in an actual wink—then turned and headed toward the gate. Wait a bloody minute, does he like her? Or is he just being nice?

  I shook myself. It didn’t matter if he liked her or not. It had no relevance to me anymore. I just needed to remember that. There were a lot of things I needed to remember, like that we were going to rescue Warner. And to find the object that was referenced in the prophecy. Torturing myself over a girl who wasn’t my soulmate was not on my to-do list. I sighed and followed the others toward the gate.

  But as I passed by Bettina, I felt a rush of fear rippling out of her like waves. She stared at the entrance with wide eyes and gnawed on her bottom lip. Her talisman sword was gripped tightly in her hand, the fire opal sparkling like a diamond in the sunlight.

  I paused, unable to stop myself. “Are you all right?”

  “Both times we went in there, someone didn’t come back,” she whispered. Her face paled. She still wouldn’t look at me. “Bad things come in threes.”

  I opened my mouth to reassure her, but then Tegan stepped in front of her.

  “You didn’t have us with you those times, and you didn’t know we had an enemy waiting in the shadows.” Tegan reached out and squeezed Bettina’s arms. “You’re more powerful than you know, bestie. Not any witch could’ve called me like you did. Remember that.”

  Bettina sighed, and I felt the tension flow out of her body. She nodded. Tegan raised her hands up, and they double high-fived. Without looking at me for even a second, Bettina marched toward the gate with Tegan. She stopped beside Cooper, and he, too, gave her a high five. Both of them wore big smiles that made me want to pluck my eyeballs out.

  She’s just being friendly.

  Tennessee paused on the threshold of the gate, and the runes glowed. He turned back toward us with a grim expression. “Stay together. Stay alert. And please stay alive.”

  He spun back around and walked over the cobblestone path and into the wall of fog. This time, I hung back. I waited until everyone else went through, and then I stepped forward. At the last second, I glanced back at the rest of The Coven and found them watching us with nervous expressions and tense postures. I nodded then turned and sprinted through the fog.

  When I got through, I found nothing but forest. Everything was green, from underneath my feet all the way up to the mountaintops in the distance, slicing into the clear blue sky. And this forest was alive. I felt it deep down into my bones…but I didn’t recognize the forest at all. I glanced to my left where the path Lonan had given us was, but I found only a wall of green.

  My pulse quickened. Warmth tickled over my fingers. In my peripheral vision, I saw the blue flickering flames of my new magic.

  I was alone. Not a single soul was in sight. I glanced left and right, yet still saw only forest. How did I lose them so fast? Panic flared inside me, but I pushed it down. It wasn’t going to help me. I pulled my talisman sword out and welcomed the warmth of the hilt in my hand. I took a step—and then a wall of neon blue flashed in my face. I jumped back and raised my sword…and then the air shimmered. The blue faded away until I spotted the others standing a few feet in front of me, waiting.

  “Oops! Sorry, Jackson. I’m bad at counting,” Willow said sheepishly, and her cheeks flushed. “I thought you were with us.”

  My eyes widened. I gestured to the air between us. “That was you?”

  She bit her lip and shrugged. I chuckled. It was impressive. The Magician, power of illusions. I’ve got to remember these.

  Tennessee nodded then pulled his long black sword out of its holster. The crystal in the hilt of his dagger sparkled from the top of his boot where it poked out. Tegan held her hands open at her sides with rainbow magic coiling around her fingers. Trey and Gen had both their talismans and daggers pulled out and ready. Harlan held his wand in front of him like it was a sword. All three of their gazes bounced around at everything that moved.

  Bettina stood nestled between Tegan and Cooper, and I had absolutely no idea what this was about. You have no right to be jealous, Lancaster. Yeah, well, he has no right to be hovering that close to her. I cursed under my breath and stomped over to the pathway on our left. With Willow’s illusion gone, I recognized the area again.

  “Okay, this way, guys!” Chutney said with a chipper voice. She had a dagger strapped to her thigh. “Follow me.”

  “And me.” Willow bounced over to fall in line behind her.

  “Uh, they’re leading us?” Trey mumbled under his breath.

  “Right to the Chimeras.” Tennessee smirked. He followed after the two younger girls.

  Gen scurried to catch up. “Yep, I’m sticking with him.”

  Tegan chuckled. “Come on, B. Stay close to me.”

  Bettina leapt to get in line behind her best friend. She looked incredible in all black. For the first time, she actually looked like she’d be friends with Tegan. Sure, the platinum blonde hair took away some of the edge—along with the white Converse sneakers—but they looked the part now. And with her fire opal sword, she actually looked fierce.

  Cooper walked up right behind her. Bettina glanced over her shoulder and smiled up at him. My stomach turned. It’s nothing. You’re not allowed to care now. Easier said than done, sadly. I needed to put space between me and them. I gestured for Harlan and Trey to walk ahead of me. The caboose might have been more dangerous, but I needed the space and distraction.

  I forced those thoughts away and focused my attention back to the pathway. Although it wasn’t really a pathway—more like controlled chaos. We ducked under branches and climbed over fallen trees or random roots. Every few feet Willow would point out the next black lotus flower. Chutney seemed to be in conversation with things all around us. Animals stirred and scrambled closer, peeking through bushes and skipping after Chutney.

  There was a huge gust of wind, and then a massive bird the size of a car swooped down and landed on the path ahead of us. It had the head of an eagle and the legs of a tiger. The wingspan on this thing had to be fifteen feet wide. It opened its mouth and squawked…and two fangs popped out.

  “Oh, hello.” Chutney stopped short and grinned. “No, we’re going to see Lonan.”

  The bird squawked again.

  Chutney grimaced. “Thanks, I’ll pass it along. Have a good night!”

  The bird flapped its wings and took off out of sight. Chutney waved for us to follow after her. She walked us another twenty feet or so where she bent down and pointed to a cluster at the base of a huge tree. Right across from it was another cluster and giant tree. And right in between was the narrow opening that led to Lonan. />
  Just like last time, we walked down it in single file—and I tried to ignore the fact that Cooper was right behind Bettina. Focus, Jackson. I cleared my throat and followed them through the narrow passageway until it opened up into a clearing. The sky was bright blue, with the sun hanging lower in the sky than it had been when we’d left. I sighed and thanked the Goddess it was daytime for this, unlike before.

  Just then, a dark shadow passed over us. We all jumped into fighting stances. But then Chutney squealed and clapped her hands. I frowned…and then a massive black dragon landed in the center of the clearing. Lonan.

  The black dragon stared at us with bright red eyes. My heart stopped.

  Chutney skipped toward him. “Hi, Lonan! How are you?”

  How are you? In an instant, I was back at the moment I found Bettina hovering over Timothy’s lifeless body, I saw it all fresh in my mind. I still didn’t understand how those monsters had found us so quickly. Wait a second. We’d only gone to that gate because Lonan had told us to. That had been Lonan’s plan and it was his map we followed to that gate.

  Heat flooded my system. Did you set us up, Lonan?

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Bettina

  The only thing cooler than watching Tegan create a portal was watching a dragon shift into a human being. One second he was a massive black dragon towering over us with beaming red eyes…and the next he was just a teenager. I’d tried to watch how he did it, but he just disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. It was ridiculously cool.

  And Lonan was kind of ridiculously hot. I hadn’t noticed before. I’d had on my Jackson horse blinders. But now that I was forcing myself to look at other guys in order to distract myself from the crippling wave of despair…I didn’t miss how attractive Lonan was. He was six and a half feet of chiseled muscle and deeply tanned skin. Most of it on display thanks to him never wearing a shirt and his jeans sitting low on his hips. His human eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue, and his hair was as black as his dragon scales. Actually, he kind of looked like Tennessee. They could’ve easily passed as brothers.

  Lonan grinned as he strolled closer. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favorite troublemakers.”

  Chutney blushed and flipped her brown ringlets over her shoulder. “Hi, Lonan!”

  Tennessee smiled and stepped forward, but Jackson leapt in front of him. He lunged forward and raised his sword to the base of Lonan’s throat. Everyone gasped and jumped toward them. Lonan threw his hands up, his eyes wide.

  “Did you set us up?” Jackson snarled. Blue flames coiled around his hands. “Did you set us up for that attack?”

  “No.” Lonan blinked and shook his head. “Of course not. I would never betray you.”

  Jackson immediately relaxed and dropped his sword. He sighed and hung his head.

  Tennessee was in between them in an instant. He threw a glowing hand up to Jackson’s chest. “Explain yourself.”

  Jackson cursed and ran his hand through his hair. He looked over to Lonan with pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Lonan. I knew that. I just—”

  “Wait, hold up. What are you talking about?” Lonan scowled and glanced around at the rest of us. “Set you up…for what? I mean, I didn’t. But I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  The images flashed through my mind, and I had to swallow down the rush of emotions.

  Timothy.

  No one answered him.

  Lonan glanced around. “Guys? What happened?”

  Tennessee sighed and the sound hurt my heart. “Timothy is dead.”

  “What?” Lonan paled. He shook his head. “I don’t understand. How? When? I just saw him a few days ago. How did this happen?”

  Jackson’s face scrunched in pain, but he just shook his head. Harlan, Trey, and Gen all stared at the ground. I looked to The Coven, and the pain in their eyes was crushing.

  I cleared my throat. “When we were going back to rescue Warner from the balefire, you gave us a map to that other gate so we’d have an easier time getting through… Well…we were attacked right at the entrance. Timothy didn’t make it.”

  Lonan stumbled back a step. He cringed. “No. Who did it? Who?”

  This time, it was Tennessee who spoke. He calmly filled Lonan in on what was happening and what we’d learned so far. As he spoke, Lonan looked more and more confused. When he finished, a heavy silence fell over the clearing.

  Lonan cursed. “I promise I had nothing to do with that. Crazy things happen in the Old Lands, but I wouldn’t have led you to a dangerous location intentionally.”

  “I’m sorry I accused you…”

  He turned to Jackson and squeezed his shoulder. “No. Don’t be. I would’ve kicked my ass first then asked questions later. I understand.”

  Jackson looked up and smiled. “Thanks.”

  Lonan nodded and dropped his hand. “And congrats on making The Coven. These guys could use a little calmness.”

  “Hey,” Cooper grumbled.

  Tennessee smirked. “He makes a good point.”

  Lonan chuckled and rubbed his hands together. “All right, so what brings you here today? I mean, I assume you have a damn good reason.”

  “Two reasons, actually.” Tennessee took a deep breath. “We still need to rescue Warner from the balefire. But first, we’re looking for an object.”

  Lonan frowned. “What kind of object?”

  “That’s a damn good question,” Tegan said with a chuckle. She pointed to me then filled our dragon friend in on what happened to me. “We don’t know what it is exactly, but we know by the prophecy where to look.”

  “What was the prophecy?”

  “Forged anew, their blood has spoken, seek the petal of rosen token. Crimson, scarlet, ruby, and wine, binding runes fall on the line,” Jackson said in a low voice. His accent made the words sound even more cryptic.

  I shivered. I’d yet to hear the prophecy from Jackson’s initiation. It sounded dark and daunting. Their blood has spoken. I had no idea what that meant, but I didn’t like the sound of it.

  Jackson scratched the scruff on his jaw, and my gaze locked on the red rose tattoo on his thumb. Rosen token… Can it mean that? Something to do with his hand? The third line listed shades of red, and there were red rose petals on his hand. But what did it mean? I didn’t like the words blood and fall at all.

  Lonan’s eyes widened. “That’s intense. Where do you think this leads you?”

  Tegan looked down at her hands and flexed her fingers. “The Garden of Eden.”

  Wait, what?

  “The entrance, specifically.” Tennessee shifted his weight around. “We were hoping you could give us a ride there again?”

  “Of course.” Lonan nodded and began walking backward away from us. “Hop on and let’s get you moving.”

  Without another word, a cloud of black smoke exploded in front of him. I squinted and focused all of my attention on the movement in front of me, yet still I missed it. Lonan’s black dragon form rose high above our heads. He rolled his scaled shoulders and stretched his wings then squatted low to the ground. His big, glowing red eyes flared, and then he nodded.

  “All right, climb up!” Chutney bounced over. She climbed up onto his wing, and then he lifted her up so she could slide into his back, between two of his spikes. She rubbed her hand over his scales then beamed down at us. “He said let’s go.”

  Before I could even register her instructions, Willow, Harlan, Trey, and Gen raced over and climbed up onto Lonan’s back. I blinked and shook my head. How the hell did they do that so fast?

  Tegan jogged over, but midstride, she dissolved into a cluster of bubbles then reappeared on Lonan’s back. Tennessee appeared right behind her, even though I hadn’t seen him move. It was going to take time to get used to those two, despite her being my very best friend.

  I looked up and found three empty spots between Lonan’s spikes. I gasped. Three spots. There were only three of us left. Me, Jackson, and Cooper. Oh God, where do
I sit now?

  My heart fluttered. I didn’t want to be that close to Jackson. If I took the middle spot, I’d be between them, and that would be way too much. I couldn’t try to like Cooper if Jackson was right next to me. I needed as much distance as possible. The three of us moved toward the dragon, but I couldn’t help but wonder if they were as torn up about the seating arrangement as I was. As much as I wanted to stick near Tegan, if I sat back there, I’d be able to see Jackson. And that went against my plan for survival.

  I skipped up, and then I was airborne, my feet hovering in the air as I was lifted up to Lonan’s back. Tegan winked at me, then helped me onto the dragon. A wave of warm air swept over me, carrying both the scent of Christmas and Irish Spring soap. I gripped the spike in front of me and braced myself. It could’ve been either of them right behind me.

  But then I felt the warmth of someone’s fingers graze over my back as they gripped the spike behind me. I held my breath and tensed, waiting for my traitorous body to betray me once again under his touch. Except the warmth was normal, not the brain-melting heat I was used to. There was no tingling or energy blast. No electricity shooting up my spine. My heart didn’t skip erratically. I peered up over my shoulder....and exhaled in a rush. It wasn’t him. It wasn’t Jackson.

  It was Cooper.

  His pale green eyes sparkled down at me. I sighed with relief as my heart sank a little deeper. Fake it till you make it, Bettina.

  “Okay, hold on!” Chutney yelled from in front of me.

  I already was, but I gripped the black spike even harder. My fingers burned in protest and my knuckles were white. Lonan pushed off the ground, and my stomach plummeted. I gasped and made the horrible mistake of looking down. In a matter of seconds, we were far above the trees. Wind slammed into my face. Lonan’s wings soared out on either side. The ground disappeared beneath us as the mountains gave way to valleys.