Cursed Academy (Year Three)

by Holly Hook

  The frigid vial of Lethe water in my pocket made me shudder. Tonight was the night.

  I'd drifted to the edge of the party and now tension seized me. “Ronin!” I needed him.

  But he'd vanished from sight. There must be at least a hundred people in this clearing. I shook myself out and stepped into one of the tables, leaving the storm of other peoples' powers.

  Movement shifted in the corner of my eye.

  A faint, indistinct shadow, drifting past the other side of the refreshment table.

  Yes. Serena was ready to see something juicy. And possibly hold it above Wendy's head.

  If I hadn't seen it before and wasn't looking for it, I would have missed the shadow. But not now. My senses were attuned to picking up my target. I gripped the table, eyeing the punch as the centaur from dinner stepped out of the crowd and approached the bowl, offering me a loopy smile.

  I backed off.

  And the faint shadow merged with the trees, no doubt following Wendy.

  The centaur filled his plastic cup from the punch bowl, and still no Ronin appeared from the crowd. The music had taken him away. I was going to talk to Mikey about this, even though he was trying to help. But that would have to come later.

  Slowly, I followed.

  The lights from the party got fainter and fainter, dancing against the tree stumps and reflecting off the breath spiraling in front of my face. Leaves crunched underfoot. I progressed through the trees, knowing we were close to the edge of protected territory. We weren't that far, in fact, from where Wendy and her gang had met up with Alonso, Dominique's son, and almost gotten killed by Lower Order werewolves.

  I didn't think Wendy remembered that yet.

  Two figures stood in the trees ahead, dark shadows intertwined with one another. I stepped carefully. The faint smacking sounds of making out—

  Wendy was making out with Percival—

  —merged with the now faint music of the party. The music stopped for one moment, letting silence fall, though the faint lights still danced. Ronin would be looking for me. Panicking. But only I could do this.

  My heart raced as I searched for Serena. She had the advantage. My only perk was that she'd be watching the make-out session that Wendy had no doubt staged. Percival groaned as fabric hissed and bodies moved together. Where was Serena? The shadow she became wasn't visible until she moved.

  A mass collided with me from the left.

  And I fell back as a shroud of darkness swept over me.

  Chapter Eleven

  “What's that?” Percival asked.

  “The party?” Wendy left it at that but I heard the tension in her voice.

  I couldn't respond. My attacker—Serena—shoved me back into the trees. Pine needles and barren branches swallowed us. I went down. I could only make out an indistinct shadow film across my vision. An almost-invisible hand slapped me across the face, drawing stars. But unlike my last injury, the pain of this one faded right away.

  "Someone was watching us," Percival said.

  The ice of the Lethe water burned my thigh. We were buried in foliage. My attacker had me pinned.

  She decked me across the face. "Stay away from Wendy," Serena hissed.

  "You don't own her." I lifted my arm in defense as she raked her shadow fingernails across my flesh. Three lines of hot pain flared. Blood dampened my skin. Serena had sharpened them to points. A hint of her snarling face filled the world in front of me, merging with the stars and treetops. I reached out with my other hand but Serena had that shoulder pinned with her weight. I could only scrape the fabric of her outfit.

  I breathed in. Now was the time to draw in her power.

  Serena resisted, but snapped into full view at the end of my breath. Only a hint of stars and night ran up my arms. She was using all her energy to resist. Now she trembled with the effort of holding me down.

  "Serena?" Wendy shouted from behind her, sounding shocked.

  I spit in Serena's face. She grunted and turned her head to the side, letting her dark hair spill over hoop earring. She lifted her fist to deck me across the jaw again. I couldn't get up. Stupid asphodel.

  "Serena!" Wendy shouted, now angry.

  "Stay away from my friend! What were you trying to do? Ruin her relationship?" Serena shouted, her voice rising to a screech over the distant music. A bit of orange light poked through the trees and fell over her. "Trying to rise to the top of the class? Or are you trying to get into my brother's pants? You know, if you're still under eighteen, that's illegal!"

  Whoa. I was just a month out, but still. "I don't want anything to do with your brother!" Straining, I seized her hair and pulled. Serena's golden-flecked eyes widened as I yanked hard enough to cause pain. Distraction.

  And I felt her wall coming down.

  Serena slapped her hand down to the top of her head, pinning my own to her scalp and keeping me from ripping out her hair. Her instinct ruled over common sense. I felt Nyx's magic, dark and full of stars. This wasn't just the shadow energy I'd felt in the creatures Celestus threw at me. This was all of the night goddess's energy in one place. I breathed in, pulling it through my palm and into the rest of my body, and filaments of galaxies and vast expanses of emptiness surged into my chest. But before I could take more of her magic, Serena's mouth fell open and she put up the wall again.

  I held the magic in my chest. I hadn't taken enough. I sensed that. The asphodel was still holding me back when I needed it the most.

  Serena bared her teeth and kicked me in the groin with her knee. Pain exploded. My fingers loosened, releasing her hair.

  "Leave her alone!"

  Green magic flared and with a jolt, the weight came off me, ripping my hand free. Serena flew away, crashing somewhere to my left, as I caught my breath. The pain subsided and I pushed myself off the ground. Where was I? Yeah. The woods. Serena. I still held the night in my lungs, and already the low groan of my own magic responded.

  I blinked. A dark figure hovered over me. Wendy extended a hand, a palm that still glowed green.

  She'd attacked Serena.

  For me.

  "Wendy?" Percival stood behind her, mouth falling open. "What is going on? We weren't supposed to have an audience."

  "Shut it," she said. "You should know by now that we always have an audience. She's out of the group."

  "But why is Giselle here?" Percival asked.

  "Giselle?" For the first time, Wendy spoke my name loudly and clearly. "Are you going to take my hand and get up?"

  Oh.

  I took her glowing green palm, and immediately Wendy's Underworld energy filled me, pushing out and replacing the stars and darkness in my chest. Great. But Serena was lying just feet away, curled up in some shrubs and without her shadow disguise. Serena kept her eyes closed and buried under one hand as if ashamed to face any of us. As if she were ashamed she got caught.

  "Serena. Stand up," Wendy ordered.

  Serena just made a snorting sound. Wow. She couldn't even talk.

  But at least Wendy had broken one big wall, and that was keeping any friendship with me a secret. She'd made a huge step tonight.

  "You're done sneaking around and spying on us. And I know Giselle isn't trying to sleep with your brother. She's got a boyfriend already and she's not that type." Wendy advanced on Serena and grabbed the sleeve of her top. "Get. Up. Face Giselle. You know what? Face Percival, too. He didn't want you watching us and preparing whatever rumor you had planned."

  "Nobody likes the rumor spreader," I added as the last of my pain fled. Was I enjoying this?

  Yes.

  Serena resisted, trying to slug Wendy, but Wendy was still top of the third years' class and it showed. She held Serena in place from behind, but far enough away that Serena could do nothing but glare and throw a silent tantrum. Real mature.

  And as she recovered, Serena stared at me, eyes moving back and forth like she was trying to focus.

  I knew what Wendy was doing. I eyed Percival first, rememberin
g Max's words about situational awareness, but he stood there, facing me, confused. It was clear he had no intention of attacking me. In fact, Percival hadn't tried to do anything to me. Instead, he turned to Sereana.

  "Spying on your friends is not a good way to keep them," he said.

  "And hear this," Wendy told her. "I might have lost a lot of my memory over the summer, but when I came back this year, I had a bad feeling in my gut when I laid eyes on you. I know you report to my parents, Serena. You're their little spy and you're hoping to worm your way into their business."

  "You lost your memory? You—" Serena trailed off.

  "Well, don't you spy for my parents? Yes or no." Wendy tightened her grasp on Serena's shoulders.

  "Well..."

  "That's a yes," I said, remembering something about Max telling us how to spot liars. Well was a virtual guarantee someone was blowing steam when you asked them a yes or no question.

  Wendy slapped Serena on the back of her head. Green sparks flew. "Get out of my sight. Don't come near me or anyone I'm friends with again. Sit by yourself in the dining hall tomorrow." She shoved Serena at me.

  I had to react fast as Serena staggered back. I caught her as my Combat Training bracelet beeped. Without thinking, I dug my hands into her shoulders and felt for her angry night magic.

  "Let go of me!" She thrashed against my grasp, but now I had enough energy in me to hold her in place, especially since I was in the heat of combat. The low groan filled my head, and it would only get worse when I did this, but I had to proceed.

  I breathed in.

  And the night—the entire night—rushed into my lungs. Stars winked behind my eyelids. My limbs filled with expanding darkness. The low groan strengthened as it sensed its sister energy and I let go of Serena, throwing her down to the ground. She landed with a soft thud, shaking and weak.

  I was the night, incarnate.

  And now I had to perform a delicate balancing act.

  Chapter Twelve

  "Come on," Wendy said. "Percival, you stay here unless you want to spy on the principal and possibly poison him."

  "What?"

  "I'll tell you later."

  I took a normal breath, but my body remained full of stars. I held up my hands, and though they appeared normal, the low groan got a bit stronger. Icy plasma mixed with expanding voids. My chest was a bubble of galaxies and stray stars. Filaments of hot gas. Constellations.

  "Wendy. You bitch," Serena managed, still on the ground. She reached for a stick but missed.

  Wendy grinned and dug her sword into the ground. "Prometheus is in his house. He was talking to Celestus when I saw him last. The two might still be talking, and I've seen them taking walks through the woods, thinking they won't be disturbed. I don't know how Serena does her shadow thing, so you need to figure it out and fast. And if we're super lucky, Prometheus and Celestus will steal drinks from the party."

  I couldn't imagine that but I trusted Wendy on this. I didn't have a choice. "Shadow," I muttered, hoping that one word would give me the ability to do it. But my hands remained solid.

  Wendy shook her head. Percival just looked between us like he wasn't sure what to think. "You girls go do your thing. I'm going to go walk somewhere and think about this total mind blowing revelation."

  "Go ahead," Wendy said, turning her attention back to me. "How long can you hold that power?"

  "Until I get rid of it?" The ice deepened. We had to do this and quick. "Come on. I'll figure this out as we walk."

  "Do you have the Lethe water now?"

  The vial in my pocket stung my skin as if reminding me of its existence. "Yes."

  Wendy pointed to Serena. "She needs some."

  "What?" Our enemy rolled over and eyed Wendy, betrayal burning. She'd recover soon enough.

  I handed the vial to Wendy, fishing it out of my pocket. I knew what Wendy would do and looked away. "Don't use it all."

  The sounds of a struggle followed, and while the whole scuffle seemed to take minutes, it was actually just seconds, and when I turned, Wendy had put the cork back on the vial and was handing it to me. She'd used a quarter of the Lethe water, leaving most of the glowing, whitish liquid still within glass. A bit of frigid vapor curled up from Serena, who sat up, grasping her throat and coughing. But when she looked at us, confusion stole over her features. Her memory of this fight was gone. For now.

  Wendy tapped me on the shoulder. "Come on."

  I thought of Ronin, who wanted to follow, and knew he'd be mad at Mikey for separating us. But I'd worry about that later. I followed Wendy, first back towards the party, and then around the back of the fray and along the border Zeus had set up a couple years ago. Wendy upped her pace. I wondered if she remembered why this part of the woods made her uneasy, but I wasn't going to ask.

  The party continued far behind us now, and if Ronin had left, I couldn't tell. Though some of the trees were bare this time of the year, I couldn't see through them to the actual people, and just the faint music and lights poked through the darkness.

  And at last, after fifteen minutes of walking through the trees, we came to the back of Prometheus's house.

  And the low groan had slowly, but steadily intensified. If I wanted, I sensed I could open a small void.

  We stood fifty feet back from the house.

  The vial stung through my skirt again, and I stood there beside Wendy, surveying the back of the low building the titan called home. A small window overlooked the tangle of weeds and vines that made up his back yard. A flickering light—probably a candle—glowed on the other side of the small window. Prometheus was humble, all right, and his own dwelling didn't match the new additions to the school.

  "His barrier," I whispered. "We'll burst into flames if we cross."

  "I know," Wendy said. "Maybe you can get close if you figure out how to use Serena's power. Celestus gets over and he's her brother."

  I wanted to say that maybe Prometheus had changed his barrier to make an exception for him, but we were wasting enough time. My body was still a sack of skin covering the universe and the low groan was closing in. Icy plasma grew to fill the spaces between stars. Chaos merged with the voids, pushing the stars aside. I didn't have much time before my magic took over.

  My heart raced. "Here goes." I had to try. And if I caught fire, I wouldn't die, right?

  The herb was still weakening me somewhat...

  Wendy shifted, making underbrush rustle.

  I had to go after what she'd done for me.

  Taking a breath, I stepped forward. The air heated and I knew I'd reached the outside of Prometheus's barrier, which extended about forty feet away from his house in a ring. I stopped and closed my eyes, seeing the voids pushing the stars aside. I called the darkness, urging the night to cover my skin, and a new wave of cold swept over my body. A gasp from Wendy made me open my eyes.

  I held up my hand.

  I'd become the night itself.

  Only a very faint outline moved in front of my face, so indistinct that it could mean anything. How long could I hold this state?

  The thought propelled me over the border.

  Heat tried to rake my skin, to invade my flesh and burn, but the shadows themselves deflected it with the cold of space. The window flickered and vines whispered as I pushed through what might be an old garden. Then I was past. Wendy was right. Nyx's power could hold off the hot barrier.

  I crept around the side of the house. Another window, also letting out flickering candlelight, overlooked the woods from above me. I rubbed my hand along smooth cob and paint. At last, I had circled around to the front of the principal's house, and dozens upon dozens of clay figures waited around me. Though already cold, a shudder passed over me. Even in the dark, the titan's projects looked as if they could come to life at any moment and attack. But when none did, I stepped over a log and proceeded to the front, wooden door, which was shut.

  Voices floated out between the cracks.

  "...Giselle does ne
ed breaks. We all do," Celestus said. "If she's unhappy, she'll be less likely to make Cursed Academy happy and us happy."

  Us happy?

  I put my fingers on the rough wood of the door. Could I slip inside? Whenever I looked at my hand directly, I was invisible.

  "She needs to mature," Prometheus said. "And she needs to do so quickly before the wrong people find her. If the Olympians get to her, it won't be good for us."

  I gulped. My throat went dry, despite the ice flowing through me. I couldn't hold this state much longer. A deep purple energy swirled in my chest—my energy. I hadn't felt that for a while.

  A chair slid back. Footsteps meandered, then approached the door.

  I backed away just as the wooden door swung open, very exposed. Prometheus exited first, a long look on his face, and Celestus followed. Neither of them held drinks. Though I stood just two feet from them, neither glanced in my direction. I was just another piece of the darkness.

  I bumped a clay statue, which toppled to the ground.

  Celestus stopped. "What was that?"

  "I get squirrels," Prometheus said. "Thankfully I haven't done a major project in a very long time. These statues won't care." He opened his chain gate and stepped over. "I'd like to see what the students are doing. Stay out of sight. You know how it works."

  "I find it odd that you're telling that to me." Celestus checked around the yard, and then he was looking right at me.

  Don't move, I thought.

  Could he see me? He squinted.

  Then he turned away and followed his friend.

  "Major project?" he asked.

  "The gods weren't fond of the fact that I wanted to help it along," Prometheus said, doing the chain behind him and Celestus. "Come on. We need to relax as well."

  "It's about time," Celestus said. "We haven't had a drink since I graduated. And it's Friday."

  A drink.

  I crept across the lawn, leaving Wendy behind the house, but she'd understand. Prometheus and Celestus continued down the gravel trail, towards the back of the main campus building. By now the sounds of the party had faded to the low base of Cal's electronic beats. Mikey's voice couldn't survive this distance. And Ronin was probably back there, looking for me. Panicking. Or killing Mikey.