by Ana Calin
“Bullies? There are bullies in the magical world?”
Giselle looks apologetically at me as she tucks herself back in. “Especially here. And they don’t just bully people—they martyrize them.”
Ice creeps under my skin. “What do you mean?”
“Major Arcana is an Academy of magical elites, Lucy. Students don’t just pick on each other here. They burn each other at stakes, hang each other, cast evil spells, they even send poisonous spiders under their rivals’ covers.”
“Are you saying I won’t have to only watch out for the Headmaster’s scheming, but also other students trying to freaking kill me?”
“Silas knew what he was doing when he spread the news about your relationship. You have no idea how huge that is, and how much it’s gonna protect you. But some people will try to take you out anyway. Not as overtly as they would have done under normal circumstances, but they’ll try.”
Maverick
I STEP ONTO THE DAIS in front of class and turn around from the pulpit, facing the audience, namely over thirty heads worth of freshman students. Most of them are fae, since they’re the supernaturals with the greatest in-born magical powers, coming from the most influential families. There are also nymphs, shape-shifters, vampires, some necromancers on their way to becoming Grim Reapers, and quite a few warlocks, with the brothers Viggo and Zillard Dark as the rising stars. There’s one other witch besides Lucia, the brothers’ common mistress, Pandora. She’s the one I’m worried about most. She looks like she’s looking forward to a new victim.
One thing is clear—I can’t let Pandora notice that I’m burning with forbidden desire for Lucia. She’s had her wicked eyes on me ever since the term started, and I know she thinks I’d make a nice addition to her harem. I wonder how she can take any more men, considering that she’s sleeping with both of the Dark brothers, who I bet aren’t easy to handle. Viggo is a big guy the size of a wrestler, not as smart as he is strong, while Zillard is an intense, dangerous bloke.
He’s got eyes black as the night, and just as mysterious, which works wonders with the ladies. One never knows what he’s thinking, and his stare could give a ghost the chills. Many describe him as lean and graceful like a dancer, I say he resembles an assassin. The Academy uniform suits him well, but he looks just as formal in jeans and a shirt. His stony stare never changes. I don’t want him anywhere near Lucia.
She and I aren’t allowed to have contact outside of class, because I’m one of her three protectors, so the only way I can provide her with the knowledge to protect herself is through my classes. I’ll be taking care of her from the shadows as well, but I have to make sure the Headmaster doesn’t discover what I’m doing.
It’s quiet in the classroom apart from the rustling of papers and the clinking of vials as students prepare for class. They’re usually a boisterous lot, some of the younger professors struggle with them, but not me. I’ve honed my skills of intimidation over the course of fifty years since I started teaching at the Academy. Being big and bulky, always wearing leather, metal buckles and the grim expression of an MC biker ready to do bad things to people, both professors and students are wary of me.
The fact that I come off as hard to get adds some spice for the women. I’m known for never having taken a special interest in someone, be it student or professor, even though I slept with some over the decades. But the truth is no woman has ever lit the spark in my heart the way Lucia did. I never craved to serve a woman sexually the way I served her. She despised me afterwards, because I only seduced her in order to separate her from Silas. In order to prove to him, at the Lord Protector’s order, that she was a lusty wanton not worthy of a demigod’s attentions.
But I ended up regretting the pain I caused her, and wanting her for myself. Wanting her to ride my face again, no matter if she only used me like a slave behind the back of her shiny, beautiful demigod lover. But she won’t have me, she won’t forgive me for the evil intentions I had with her in the beginning.
The big doors open and she appears in the doorframe, clutching her books and trying to balance the vials for my class.
“Professor Jones, our sincerest apologies,” one of her escorts croaks. Both of them look like bitter monks in black attire, the frowns deep and forbidding on their faces. “The new student needed her Introductory Instruction. She only came in last night, so we didn’t get the chance to do it until this morning.”
Bullshit. They could have used the weekend to prepare her, but that bastard vampire the Headmaster preferred to have her locked in a humid, filthy dungeon. Even the Lord Protector spent the past two days pacing his study like a tiger in a cage, cursing and punching walls for being unable to help her. He’s the most powerful supernatural, and still there was nothing he could do. I had to remind him every few hours that he did save Lucia from an eternity in Hell, by taking all the blame when she opened the portal to Hell during the test.
“Miss Lucia Reid, the new student, yes, we are acquainted,” I state coldly. “Please, Miss Reid, take your seat.” I motion with my hand to the front desk, to the only empty seat by the side of Giselle Midwinter, the fae roommate the Lord Protector arranged for Lucia.
The entire class watches in predatory silence as Lucia moves down the aisle to the front desk, her feet slightly inward. It’s obvious she’s unpleasantly overwhelmed by the attention. But I can’t help eyeing her up and down in her Academy uniform, and licking my lips. She’s sexy as a forbidden fruit, an irresistible schoolgirl with red locks like ringlets of fire that fall down her shoulders.
My cock strains against the fly of my leather pants. I could spread her legs on the desk right now, maddened by the way her shapely legs look in those knee-high socks. I would bite that plump mouth with the sinful mole just above her upper lip. Fuck, this girl is going to be my demise, just like the apple of Eden for Adam.
I wonder. Could she really be an Apple of Discord, a Trojan Horse? What other explanation could there be for a mortal girl barely turned witch to wield such power over men as old and mighty as Silas and me. And even the Lord Protector.
She reaches the desk, but fails to balance her books and the vials, and drops them on the floor. Her peers laugh, but one piercing glare from me is enough to silence them. Lucia glances at me, but looks away quickly, crouching down to gather her things with Giselle’s help. It seems Giselle has taken a genuine liking to her, which is relieving. Being a descendant of powerful fae, nobody dares fuck with her.
“Prepare your crystal vials, the vine extracts, and—” I hold up a special flask. “I will be passing this around. It’s viper venom, be sure to only use three drops. Today we try out a Viper Kiss.”
“But isn’t that too dangerous for freshman year, Professor Jones?” Pandora inquires in her most seductive voice. “As far as I know the Viper Kiss is a potion for the third year.” She twists a dark lock of hair on her finger as she speaks, brown eyes hanging lasciviously on mine. Sure enough, she’s loosened her tie and the buttons of her shirt to offer a view between her ample breasts. She considers herself a hot-blooded Latina, even though she’s only remotely descendant of Latinos, and she tries her best to convey her passionate nature every time her gaze meets mine.
“Yes, but considering how advanced this class is, I deem it appropriate to study it now. Or would you prefer to waste your entire year on fertility and truth potions?”
She pouts her overly large lips at me, still twisting her hair around her finger, the twinkle in her eyes showing she happily bought my explanation. Playing on their vanity always works. I need to teach Lucia important potions as soon as possible, so that she can protect herself, and there’s no other way than teaching all of them. She’s more talented than most of her peers, so luckily not many people will be able to master that potion after this class like she will.
But Pandora’s other boyfriend, Zillard, is resilient to flattery.
“With all due respect, Professor, Viper Kiss is a killer potion. Not many students ever tru
ly learn to master it, and those who do can literally kill with one finger if they dip it into the potion. You deem such knowledge safe in the hands of, I don’t know, mortal witches who’ve only first had contact with magic a few months ago?”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand he means Lucia. The entire class now looks at her. Zillard narrows his eyes and tilts his head like an idea just hit him, but the fucking snake knows damn well what he’s doing. “Wait a minute, the Lord Protector assigned you as her mentor before she passed the acceptance test, didn’t he? You mentored her for months.”
We lock eyes, the power struggle boiling between us. Everybody is holding their breath, even Pandora and Viggo. Lucia is sitting like a statue by Giselle’s side, clearly feeling anxious and scared. I could kill that fucking snake Zillard Dark for this. Damn it, I shouldn’t be feeling this way about a student, I shouldn’t make this personal.
“Precisely the reason why I don’t want to delay this class’s progress,” I reply evenly. “You’re all much better skilled than the generations before you, you could be masters of Hazardous Potions by the time you graduate from the Academy. Miss Reid is very talented indeed, so despite being a new addition to the freshman year, she won’t be holding the rest of you back.”
Zillard holds my gaze, promising this isn’t over yet, even though he leans back in his seat and folds his arms. But he doesn’t actually need to challenge me any further. He made his point, and now all his peers eye Lucia with suspicion. He looks like a psychopath with his black hair slicked back, revealing the high forehead of a darkly intelligent young man, and the stare of a snake.
I go on to teach the class, watching diligently as the flask with the snake venom goes around. Everybody uses just three drops, because nobody wants to risk getting themselves killed in this experiment. Adrenaline pumps through their veins, and it’s enough to keep their attention on their work instead of the new girl.
But I am magnetically drawn to her, and I can’t help it. I watch her as she bends over her vials, working the contents with skillful hands. I’ve never seen someone handle potions with so much grace, and I’m starting to believe she was a healer or something in a past life. I can imagine her travelling through villages and saving lives, her fingers green from all the plants.
While I don’t waste the chance to steal another glance at her, she doesn’t waste one glance on me. Does she still despise me, is she still punishing me for my deceit? My own thoughts are driving me crazy, until another energy draws my attention—Zillard’s. I catch him staring at her without even blinking. It’s the intense stare of someone who would like to kill her or fuck her, or maybe both at the same time.
“Mr. Dark.” My voice booms against the stone gothic hall. “I see your focus has shifted from your potion. Are you done?”
“Done and ready to test its effectiveness.”
Students shift, whispering.
“No one said anything about trials,” someone protests.
“Of course. Because trials are deadly.”
“Then how can we possibly know if the concoction works,” Zillard insists. “They used to run rests at the Academy in my father’s day. Now we’re being turned into wimps.”
The class becomes restless.
“Times have changed since your father’s day,” I raise my voice over the murmurs. “We’re more concerned about our students’ safety.”
“You’re softer, weaker, that’s what you are.”
My teeth grind against each other. I could punch him in the face right now.
“Let’s do it the traditional way.” He raises his voice for the entire class to look at him. “We play a Round, and whoever loses, serves as lab mouse.”
The murmurs increase, the shifter students cringing. There was a time when half-animals like them were used for trials in the mortal world, and dark fae and warlocks still go for them in the Rounds. But I know that this time he would go for Lucia. So does Giselle, because she grabs Lucia’s hand protectively.
“I actually had something else in mind,” I counter. “I was thinking—”
“Why do it differently than years Three and Four do it, Professor?” Pandora intervenes in her lascivious voice. “They play Rounds, that’s how they test their weaponry, be it spells, potions or actual metal and bone. If we’re good enough to experiment with advanced potions like they do, then we’re good enough to run the same tests.”
“Of course you are. But Rounds is primitive. There’s little difference between Rounds and hunting.”
A group of shifters spring to their feet as if challenged, fur and scales sprouting from their skin.
“If you want a piece of me, come and get it, son of a bitch,” a panther calls over to Zillard. He responds with a razor sharp grin. Voices rise, spirits catch fire, but I step up onto the dais and hold up my arms, pressing on them with my powers. Zillard’s cheek twitches. He hates being forced into obedience like this, while his girlfriend Pandora gives me bedroom eyes. She loves it when I display my power like this.
“Calm down.” I glance at Lucia to see her reaction. She stares directly at me for the first time, her eyes wide. She was absorbed the whole time she worked on her potion, because she loves potion work so much, but now that she’s back to the reality of this class anxiety is rising in her eyes.
“If you are bent on going with tradition, Mr. Dark,” I say, “then why not do it the proper way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before Rounds became tradition, supernaturals tested the efficiency of their products another way.” And this is the part I’ll enjoy most. “The first tradition was to measure yourself against creatures of the lower realms.”
The class reacts again, but I hold them down with my power.
“Remember,” I raise my voice over all of them. “Testing your potion is optional. You don’t have to do it.” I look straight at Zillard. This is my chance to get rid of him. Without him, Pandora won’t really have a weapon against Lucia. Viggo is too soft, despite being so large and muscular.
“You can back down, if you like, Mr. Dark,” I tell Zillard. “Real monsters and demons are not as easy to take down as your peers.”
His dark eyes glint like weapons. He knows what I’m doing, but he can’t back down now without losing his special status among his peers.
“I’ll go through with it,” he says through his teeth.
Zillard
FUCKING JONES TRICKED me. I’m angry as fuck as I step through the portal into the Forge, a realm close to Hell where demonic beings dwell. It’s mostly fae that died mutilated in body and soul by their enemies, who used their own desires to torment them, turning them into what Tolkien described as Orcs.
They’re also the first to attack me from the floating shadows of eternal night. At the Forge’s heart lies a volcano gurgling with the lava of tormenting, forbidden desires never to be stilled, from where Lucia Reid was born.
I feel too comfortable with the night for the zombie fae to frighten me, even though they try. In the end, the night is my mother. I wrap the darkness around me like I would a cape, and retreat deeper into the realm, drawing the zombie fae to me. I open the small crystal vial, put a finger at the opening and turn it upside down, letting it coat my fingertip. When the first zombie fae throws himself at me from the veils of darkness, jaws open and fangs dripping with venom, all it takes is a touch of my finger to his forehead. He drops into the moving mud on the ground, twisting in pain as my potion spreads like wildfire through his entire body.
I take my hand to my temple, pressing like I would a button and activating remote connection. This way everyone in Professor Jones’ class can see what I see—this monster dying in pain, twisting in the mud.
I can feel Pandora watching with satisfaction. It’s how she would like to see the new girl Lucia Reid die and, since she was born of Hell, I will make sure she gets her well-deserved death. Her very existence is a sin, and a terrible danger to the Academy, to the entire supern
atural world that serves the good.
The more I think about her, the more I’m convinced she is the Red Queen. The fiery red hair, the sparkling blue eyes, even the sexy mole just above her upper lip, she looks just like the prophecy of the Red Queen describes her. She must have opened the portal to Hell, and the Lord Protector took the blame on himself. The hold she has over three of the most powerful men of the supernatural world speaks volumes as well.
Yes, she must be the one. When I saw her walk down the aisle toward the front desk, my bowels knotted. A need took over me, the need to do things to her until the Red Queen comes out, revealing her true identity. But the look in her eyes makes me wonder if she even knows who she really is.
As I watch the zombie fae giving out his last breath on the floor, more of them attack. I turn the vial upside down, coating my finger in the Viper Kiss, and touch them as quickly as death, like a viper from the dark. They fall into the mud, shrieking and rolling in pain. One last fae lunges at me just as the portal opens behind me. I flap my cape, pulling it up to my nose, covering half my face before pressing my finger right into his forehead. The venom travels through his body, consuming it like acid and releasing a terrible stench—I used a higher dose of the Viper Kiss.
I sink into the portal as he crumples to the ground, falling back into the classroom. I swirl around, and meet the stricken faces of my peers. Pandora stares at me full of lust, her finger trickling down into her cleavage between the sides of her shirt. I will take her tonight, and I will take her hard. But I will be thinking of the Red Witch’s face when I do it, of her wide eyes like sparkling blue waters, of the sexy freckles on her translucent skin, and that naturally red pout. Tonight, in Pandora’s bed, I will be taking the Red Witch, vigorously, with all the vengeance she deserves.
I can feel Jones’ glare stabbing my back. I gather he doesn’t like the way his protégé looks at me. It feels like he can’t stand her even looking upon another man. I realize there’s something between them, and I grin to myself. That will be my next move—exposing his feelings for Lucia Reid.
