The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series

by Chandelle LaVaun

  Jackson pointed in front of us. “That’s it?”

  Goddess, I hope not.

  Tegan sighed and I prayed I imagined the tension in the sound. “That’s it.”

  My stomach flipped and turned. Of course it is. It was a nightmare. A scene from a horror film where you covered your eyes. All around us was light aquamarine-colored ocean, shimmering as the morning’s sunrays poked through the surface. The sand was such a pale golden color it was almost white. But in front of us, stretching as far left and right as my eyes could see, was a wall I wanted nothing to do with.

  It glowed a bright white-ish color, like a full moon. And it moved. And I didn’t mean the current carrying it from the left to the right. I meant whatever was inside it swirled around as it went with the current. Every instinct inside of me urged me to stop and run the other way. To flee as fast as I could. But I couldn’t abandon Jackson right when he really needed me.

  Us, not me. Because he certainly, unfortunately, doesn’t need me.

  We all stopped right in front of the Strait and stared at it. And this time I did not miss the way Tegan chewed on her bottom lip, or how her eyes darted around. All of my amazement at breathing under the water vanished. If she was nervous, then I was terrified.

  I leaned close and whispered, “You okay?”

  She nodded. Then shook her head. Then nodded again.

  Jackson cursed and bounced on his feet. “As Deacon would say, I do not like the sound of that.”

  Cooper cringed. “Tegan…what aren’t you telling us? What happened last time that Leyka had to warn you about?”

  “He said Tennessee had to break it,” I whispered as Leyka’s words came back to me.

  Tegan shuddered. “This is the path of the dead as they make their way to the afterlife. Our dead. Not humans. I won’t be able to keep you weighed down. We’ll all have to swim. There’s a strong current inside, and it will try to carry us with the dead—”

  “I’m sorry, with the dead?” I frowned and looked to the others. “As in—”

  “To the eternal afterlife,” Tegan whispered. “To death. Obviously we are not riding it all the way to the last stop. I’m just hoping Jackson will know when to stop the train.”

  Jackson’s eyes widened. “Like the coin and how I’m the only one who can read it.”

  Coin. I narrowed my eyes on him. “Leyka said there’s two sides to every coin.”

  “Yeah, the other side had a lotus flower—” He gasped. “That’s it. That must be what I have to look for while we’re in there, to know when to get out.”

  “That sounds about right. But Tegan, you didn’t answer my question, dear sister.”

  Tegan closed her eyes. “I can’t explain it, and neither could Tenn. Something happens to me when spirits are around. Listen, the ocean isn’t that deep here, and the Strait is fairly narrow. If something happens to me, you have to get out of the Strait and get to the surface, okay?”

  Oh God. Oh shit. Shit. Damn it. We’re about to drown. I eyed my air bubble and nodded. The ocean wouldn’t hurt Tegan, but it would kill us the first chance it got.

  “Bloody hell. Let’s get in there before I lose my damn mind.”

  Tegan reached down and grabbed Jackson’s hand, then nodded her head toward me. “Jackson, just keep your eyes peeled for the lotus, and don’t let go of each other.”

  He nodded. Then he reached down and took my hand in his. A bolt of electricity shot up my arm and into my body. Our fingers interlocked, and it made my heart flutter and freak the hell out. Heat spread through me.

  Cooper took my other hand, and I wanted to scream. His skin was warm and comforting, and I felt safer knowing he was hanging on to me…but I didn’t feel that fire. It wasn’t fair. And I hated that Jackson had the power to distract me this much despite what we were about to do.

  Tegan took a deep breath then stepped into the glowing water of the Strait of the Dead. All my other thoughts vanished. This is it. Butterflies danced in my stomach. My fingers began to tremble. This was so much scarier than entering the Old Lands. The idea that I’d drown shook me to my core.

  Jackson tightened his fingers on mine and jumped in after her. As his shoulder disappeared into the glowing water, I was yanked forward. I gasped as a wall of ice-cold water slammed into me. The water was thick and dense, and it sparkled like glitter. I kicked my legs and tried to swim, but my body was struggling to listen. The icy water made my muscles lock up, but I kept pushing.

  There was a tug on my hand. I looked up and choked on a scream. I couldn’t see Jackson. Or Tegan. I glanced over my shoulder, but Cooper was nowhere in sight. I felt the heat of their skin on my hands, yet I couldn’t see them. I opened my mouth to scream for them when something moved in front of me.

  My heart stopped.

  It was a person.

  Not a real, living person. It was a spirit, on its way to the afterlife. I knew that. But I’d never seen a spirit before. I blinked and ten more appeared. My pulse skipped a few beats. I kicked my legs and tried to swim, but I wasn’t sure if I was even moving.

  That white swirling glow I’d seen from the ocean hadn’t been the water; it was the spirits themselves. They were a translucent bluish color that was almost white. Except they weren’t fully formed still. From the waist down, they shimmered in and out of visibility. My gaze snapped left and right and back again.

  Every time I looked, there were a few more spirits. It was like they were coming for us. Like they wanted something. I pushed with my magic, but nothing happened. I was losing my mind with every second. I couldn’t tell if we’d just gotten in here or if we’d been swimming for days. My legs burned and ached. They pleaded with me to stop. My fingers were weak. My grip on Jackson and Cooper began to slip.

  High Priestess.

  I gasped and my eyes widened. “What was that?”

  High Priestess!

  I glanced around. “Who said that? Where are you?”

  Come with us! High Priestess!

  Stay with us.

  Come to the light!

  I frowned. It didn’t make any sense. I wasn’t the High Priestess, and I couldn’t hear any of my friends, yet I could hear the spirits calling for Tegan.

  HIGH PRIESTESS!

  Then it hit me. They were after something. TEGAN. That must’ve been what happened last time. When Tenn was there to break it. I tugged on both guys’ hands, but it was like tugging on drapes. I felt them anchored on the other end, but there was nothing there.

  YES.

  Yes, come with us!

  Stay with us!

  High Priestess.

  “NO! TEGAN!” I kicked and thrashed, but the spirits moved through me. “Tegan! NO!”

  HIGH PRIESTESS!

  Ice-cold water slammed into my face. I gasped and my mouth filled with water. Panic like I’d never known exploded inside me as I inhaled the ocean. Adrenaline rushed through my limbs, waking them from their frozen stupor. I spit the water out of my mouth and smashed my lips closed. My chest grew tight. Pressure closed in around me. I kicked my legs and pushed to the side like Tegan had told us.

  I had to get out.

  I had to get to the surface.

  I had to survive this.

  But I was growing weaker by the millisecond. My air was running low. I’d never been good at holding my breath. I always thought it was a stupid game, and now I was about to die because I hadn’t practiced this. I squeezed my hands tight and pushed with my magic.

  Then suddenly I was flying through the water.

  The glitter in the water sliced into my skin like shards of glass. But it didn’t hurt. My body was already shutting down. I was out of air. The world rushed by me in a blur of light, and then I flew through a wall of warmth.

  Bright aquamarine water surrounded me, but I didn’t take the time to revel in its beauty this time. I spun around to check for Tegan—but she wasn’t there. It was just me and the guys. We all scrambled back to the Strait, searching for her, but I kn
ew I wasn’t going to make it. My tank was empty, and I was starting to fade. My legs stopped kicking.

  Cooper turned his back to the Strait…and pushed me up. GO! he mouthed and pushed me again. Then he spun back and stuck his head into the Strait.

  Jackson tried to swim back for him, but I grabbed his shirt and pulled him with me.

  He had to survive. He had to move on to the next step.

  I was not important here. He was.

  After a few seconds, he stopped fighting me…or maybe that was me. Darkness crept into my vision and I thrashed around, but I started to sink. My fingers loosened, and I dropped whatever I’d just been holding on to. That frantic pounding began to slow. My eyes closed.

  Something yanked the back of my head…Then I felt warmth against my lips…and then air filled my mouth. I gasped and it seeped down my throat and into my lungs. The tightness lifted. I blinked and the darkness was gone.

  But Jackson was there.

  With his lips on mine, giving me his oxygen. I meant to pull back. I meant to stop him. But I didn’t have the strength. Bright white exploded around me, and everything disappeared… And I wondered if I ever even left the Strait or if I’d already joined the afterlife…

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  JACKSON

  “BETTINA!” I screamed for the hundredth time. My throat burned and my voice cracked as I pushed my hands against her chest in CPR. “COME ON!”

  I tilted her head back and pinched her nose, then put my mouth on hers and blew air into her. I wasn’t even sure if I was doing this correctly. It’d been so long since I learned, but I just kept trying with what I remembered.

  “Come on, Bettina. BREATHE!”

  But she wasn’t.

  Her eyes were closed and her skin was pale. Her lips were a sickening shade of blue.

  No, no, no. This can’t happen. Please, Goddess, no.

  I kept up with the compressions, but nothing was happening. She’d taken in too much water. I glanced over my shoulder to the ocean that hadn’t kicked Tegan or Cooper back out yet. Tegan was the only person who could save her. I cursed and jumped to my feet, then scrambled back into the water. It broke my heart to leave Bettina, but I was trying to save her.

  The ocean parted, and a head of black and purple hair emerged from the water.

  I gasped. “TEGAN!”

  She flipped onto her back, and then I saw him.

  Cooper.

  Lying lifelessly on his sister’s chest.

  I cursed and dove for them. I grabbed both their wrists and dragged them up onto the sand next to Bettina. Tegan coughed and gasped for air. She tried to push him off of her, but he was one massive guy. I rolled him off of her then onto his back.

  Tegan scrambled back up to her knees then screamed. The ground trembled beneath us. Sand shook and fell away to the water like an avalanche sliding down a mountain. Energy shot out of her so hard it threw me back. I hit the sand and slid into the water. The air above me rippled and pulsed. I flipped over and jumped up just as water shot out of Bettina and Cooper’s mouths.

  I sprinted back to Bettina’s side and sank to my knees. Water poured out of her mouth. I tipped her onto her side. She coughed and I almost cried. It was the sweetest sound I’d ever heard. Her hands dug into the sand as she coughed over and over. I rubbed little circles on her back. In the back of my mind, I knew I was whispering to her, but I had no idea what I was saying. I couldn’t hear myself over the frantic pounding of my heart.

  She flipped onto her back, and her eyes flew open. Those gorgeous royal blue eyes met mine, and a piece of my heart shattered.

  I’d almost lost her.

  She’d just drowned and definitely needed to breathe, but I couldn’t stop myself. I grabbed her and pulled her mouth up to mine. Our lips crashed together. I knew Tegan was right there. I knew Cooper was there, and in the back of my mind, I heard him coughing up the ocean. I knew she wasn’t my soulmate. But none of that mattered. She was alive. Her tongue brushed against mine, and my heart soared. My lungs screamed with the need to breathe.

  Bettina coughed against my lips then broke away. I meant to lower her back to the sand, but my arms refused to release her. She gasped and looked up at me. My heart fluttered. I reached up and pushed her hair back from her face. She gave me a small smile, and I felt like I was walking on air.

  Then Cooper groaned.

  I glanced over, but he was on his side facing away from us. Relief washed through me.

  Tegan mumbled something. “…leprechauns…” She swayed and her eyes rolled.

  I laid Bettina back in the sand and dove for Tegan just as she fell backward. “Hey, hey, Tegan. Come on, now. Stay with us.”

  But she was out. The soulmate glyph poking out from the top of her long-sleeved shirt shone a bright red. I cursed. Tennessee had to be freaking out. Her pulse was beating strong. I could see it pulsing through the vein in her neck, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t unwell. Kenneth was still breathing.

  No, don’t think like that.

  “Lay her down,” Bettina whispered, her voice rough and scratchy yet still the most beautiful sound.

  I laid Tegan on the sand and leaned back. There didn’t seem to be any injuries that I could see. There wasn’t any blood. Bettina crawled over, her long blonde hair tangled and covered in sand. She shoved her hands beneath the sand by Tegan’s head, then I felt her magic shoot out of her.

  Cooper rolled onto his back. He coughed then gasped for air.

  Bettina inhaled. “Tegan, no, you’re not speaking out loud. Can you hear me? You’re not awake!”

  I frowned.

  Cooper’s eyes flew open. He looked at his sister and cursed. “Tegan…”

  “What? Tegan, wake up,” Bettina cried. “No, you’re still not awake. Listen to me. You’re unconscious.”

  Cooper tried to get up, but he groaned and fell back down. He threw his hand out toward Tegan, his fingers reaching. I leaned over and dragged him closer.

  He nodded then slammed his palm into her chest. White light flashed between their skin, and then Tegan’s eyes flew open.

  She flew up into a seated position, then scanned the beach. “One…two…three…” She patted her chest. “Four. Okay, we’re all here.” Then she dropped back to the sand.

  “Damn it, Tegan.” Cooper groaned and pushed himself up on his knees. “That was too close.”

  I sank back on my heels and just focused on breathing. The sun was shining down on us, and the ocean was calm behind me. The air was warm. Nothing was attacking us. We were all alive. Not too shabby.

  Bettina cursed. She looked around the small, empty island we’d landed on and grimaced. “Sorry, Jackson. Maybe we can go back in there, find that lotus flower sign?”

  Cooper nodded. “Yeah, we’ll try again.”

  Tegan was already shaking her head. “I’m not— I can’t go back in there. What color is my glyph?”

  Bettina leaned forward then sighed. “Pink. Your normal.”

  Tegan held her thumb up. “Let’s hope Tenn didn’t feel that.”

  “I’m sure he did,” Cooper grumbled. Then he looked to me. “Maybe we need actual scuba gear? Because it’s too dangerous for her.”

  I shook my head. “Not necessary. I pulled us out at the lotus flower. We made it.”

  “What?” they all shouted.

  I shrugged. “It was clear as day to me, like a flashing neon sign. I pulled us out, but then my air bubble popped and everything went nuts.”

  “They were calling for her,” Bettina whispered.

  Tegan shuddered. “Let’s not talk about that again. We need to find the birthplace.”

  I pushed to my feet then glanced around. There was nothing as far as the eye could see. Just the small island we were on…and the open ocean. I frowned. This island was only ten feet wide and was just a mound of sand. It didn’t even count as an island.

  This had to be it. There was nothing else.

  I closed my eyes and tried to
think. We didn’t have much to go on. The prophecy on the coin hadn’t even mentioned this place. It was Myrtle who’d told us. Then it was Leyka who gave me the clue to look for the lotus flower that was on the coin. Wait. The coin had been given to me by Michael himself, as a clue. But it wasn’t my first clue. The pipe had been. The same pipe Leyka had asked if I’d brought.

  I opened my eyes and turned to Tegan. “Hey, Tegan, where’s the pipe?”

  She reached into her wet leather jacket pocket and pulled out the pipe we’d found outside the entrance to the Garden of Eden. I took it out of her hand and stared down at it. The thing was white and made of bone. On the narrow top a single red rose was engraved.

  I walked to the middle of this little sand-island and brought the pipe to my lips. I took a deep breath then blew into it. A cloud of glittery smoke billowed out of it and rained down onto the sand.

  Neon blue runes glistened from within the sand.

  The others scrambled over to stand behind me. Their excited energy tickled down my spine.

  The ground rumbled and shook. Sand trembled from the vibrations.

  “Tegan?”

  “If that’s me, then I’m doing worse than I thought,” she mumbled, but her words were slurred.

  There was a clicking and popping noise from under my feet. I jumped back, and the others stumbled away. The sand in the middle of the island parted, and a column shot up out of the ground. My jaw dropped. The column was solid like cement but made entirely of sand. It stood about three feet tall. At the top, right in the center, was an odd-shaped hole.

  I frowned and looked down at the pipe in my hand. Could it be?

  The hole appeared to be the exact same shape. I shrugged and walked up to the column, then placed the pipe in the slot…and it fit perfectly. Bright magic of every color shot out from the pipe like fireworks. The sand column exploded into dust.

  Then the ground opened up, and we plummeted under the water.

  Chapter Thirty-Five