Immortal Academy- The Complete Series

by S. L. Morgan

  “That makes as much sense as this school does,” Harrison said while he and Dominic marched up to where we were. “Care to translate that nonsense?” he asked Ethan before he looked at Dominic. “Relax, kid,” he said. “We’re here to help you, not kill you.”

  Dom nodded with a puzzled expression on his face. “What’s our next move?” he asked, looking around and taking stock of all the supernaturals we had left. His sister was still vamped out. Lusa was completely dark-eyed and stolen by the evil, but smart enough—like the rest of us supes—to lay low, shut up, and hope these warriors didn’t kill us.

  “How many have fallen to this absurd civil war you have engaged in?” Levi asked, walking over to us.

  “I’m sensing that we don’t have many left, Emperor,” Dominic said.

  “Fantastic,” Harrison announced, eying Melanie. “Explain why this creature is still breathing, owl.”

  “I already said that she will lead us to where we can find the creature in the forest. Jenna’s magic is in her, and it will call to the creature.”

  “Forgive me,” Harrison said. “I guess I need it repeated every now and again when anyone decides for me that we’re saving a fairy of any kind. Hard for me to digest that kind of treachery.”

  “We need Jenna’s powers to beat the force that awaits. You and Dominic must merge the wolves now,” Ethan said, obviously not paying attention to the fact of what had to be done and everything that went with that.

  “You’ve lost your mind, kid,” Harrison said with a laugh. “These two shall not consummate their love by merging in front of all the students.”

  “It’s the only way Jenna will access her powers.”

  “Do you not understand why you were lured to my wife?” Levi asked Ethan with a slight smile.

  “Her power. You all—” Ethan stopped himself and grinned as he looked at Reece. “You will help Jenna.”

  “Not all wisdom comes from owls,” Harrison replied. “Reece, do whatever you have to do. Then you must be escorted out at once as planned.”

  “Harrison is correct,” Levi interjected. “Help Jenna, then Angeline and her warriors will travel through the other portal and get you off of Earth. I fear that your powerful presence here alone might attract our real enemies to you.”

  “Yeah, and make sure dinner is hot by the time we get home. I’m already starved, and we haven’t even broken a sweat yet.”

  “Quiet,” Reece commanded Harrison, her eyes a glimmering and glowing in their emerald color. She looked at me. “Close your mind off to everything right now.”

  I did what Reece commanded, and she reached her hand toward my head and tapped her fingers against my forehead. The moment her fingertips made contact with me, I felt my soul get shoved out of my body, and I watched my physical form fall to the ground. Everyone and everything was frozen, and time stood still as I realized she’d separated my spirit from my body, and now I was floating in some spiritual limbo land.

  Reece walked up to me purposefully. “You don’t have much time, but you need to listen to me. I’ve opened a gateway in your mind, and when you wake up, you’ll know exactly how to open yourself up to your supernatural powers.”

  “How did you do it?” I asked, looking around at where everyone was paused. “How did you do all of this?”

  “I have my own peculiar powers, but like Levi and Harrison said, I have to leave Earth immediately. Using this minimal amount of my power could lead any number of our enemies to my location. The owl came for me not knowing I was the one to access your powers.”

  “Why didn’t you just do this the first time we met?”

  “One reason is that you weren’t ready,” she responded. “You needed to use them on your own to see what you are capable of, and you did that when you used them on that leprechaun. The more important reason is crucial: this will not last long.”

  “But I turned her dark.”

  “She turned into what she really is. Like Ethan said, your magic is in her now, and her dark motives will lure the demon who haunts this place. End all of this as soon as possible. My husband and his warriors have very little patience with any and all supernaturals due to this evil. These are not battles that they fight, but I believe the emperor is sparing lives because he understands this is not the fault of the poor students here.”

  “Thank God for that,” I answered.

  “Go back into your body. You will pass out once the powers awaken in you. I will be gone by the time you wake up, but you won’t need guidance at that point, you’ll need speed and confidence in yourself. Now go, and remember, your window of time is narrow. This will not last forever.”

  Once Reece’s eyes glimmered brightly in their emerald color, she disappeared from my sight, and I was floating in a black abyss, watching a rainbow of colors floating all around me. It gathered itself, and when the energy surged toward me, I sucked in a breath of air and jumped to my feet in my physical body. I felt currents of electricity and power pulsating through my veins, and all I wanted now was to lure my magic to surface in Melanie. I smiled at the confused leprechaun, feeling her hatred and craving for all our deaths as my mind permeated hers.

  “It’s time to end this,” I said, looking at the bait that would be used to bring the creature to us.

  “I feel her,” Melanie said to me. “She will kill you, not me.”

  “Jenna, darling?” I heard a woman’s panicked voice cry out. “Where’s my baby?” her voice was filled with tears, shock, and desperation.

  Mom? I thought, remembering the voice of the woman who rocked me to sleep every night, sang to me, read silly stories to me, and loved me more than herself. I couldn’t believe I had a memory of my mother surface, but I wasn’t that stupid either. I felt the diabolical creature using the voice of my dead mother to lure me and not the leprechaun. That’s when I turned to Melanie.

  “You feel the desire through my magic in you to go to her, to bring her to you. Like the demon who changed its voice to sound like my mother’s, I’m changing yours to sound like mine.”

  Melanie gripped her mouth and shook her head.

  “You’ll go against all the darkness in you, and do this now. Call your master out so we can end this once and for all.”

  Chapter Forty

  I felt like I was some force of nature that was operating with every possible ability that any supernatural had, and it was all combined into one unit. Freaking weird. The instant I felt the depths of my power, I felt it try to control me instead of the other way around.

  I redirected my thoughts to understand that this is who I was. I was born this person with these powers, so I owned them, not the other way around. My wolf had a new, unique potency of magic in her, and it was more than I could comprehend a supernatural beast ever having.

  I had to ignore my wolf as she internally begged me to transfer some magic to her alpha. It was the nagging sensation of desperately wanting to merge with Dom’s wolf. My wolf had to knock it off. I knew precisely why the evil wanted me to merge with Dominic now. I could only imagine how strong Dom would be with this additional strength.

  “I’m not—” Melanie’s jaw clamped shut when her voice sounded identical to mine.

  “You will call that thing. It’s your mother who’s coming for you,” I demanded, impressing that command into her brain.

  “Mom?” she questioned as I commanded.

  “I can’t reach you,” we all heard the ghostly voice of my possessed mom answer Melanie. “You need to come to me, Jenna.”

  “That creature is running out its magic,” Levi said from behind me. “This is where we need to—”

  “They are all waiting to kill me, Jenna,” the woman’s voice spoke again. “Come to me alone. I don’t trust the energy I feel around you. You must come to me,” she repeated with some luring tone to her voice.

  Do we go? I looked at Dom, who stared intently into my eyes and shook his head. “Keep luring it out,” he whispered.

  Melanie did an
about-face and tried to leave, but I gripped the back of the leprechaun’s neck before she could run away. “I swear, I will turn you into my puppet if you try something that stupid again,” I whispered into her ear.

  “Melanie is fighting your magic,” Ethan said. “You must be more demanding with your requests.”

  “You will not fight my magic or my commands. You will call her—the creature—to us.”

  “What should I say?” Melanie’s mechanical voice answered me as if I were her puppet master. “Tell me what to say,” she said obediently.

  This magic was a little too much for my own pleasure. I felt the enticement to order Melanie to choke herself out after what she did to Professor Samson and for all of her permanently dark thoughts. I hated this bitch. I felt my anger growing at a rapid rate, blending in with the potent magic that was surging throughout every part of my body.

  “Hey,” Harrison whispered into my ear. “I’m all about taking down a fairy like you’re imagining, but resist this urge. These are dark thoughts, and you know it. We’re trying to vanquish the darkness, not observe you turning into it.”

  “The magic is changing you,” Dominic confirmed Harrison’s point. “Stop thinking like that. I heard it in your thoughts too. Fight that off.” His alpha voice had zero impact on me other than me mentally respecting it and my wolf affirming that we should listen to our mate.

  “You’re right,” I exhaled. “I’m sorry. This is intense.”

  “Don’t apologize,” Levi said. “Lead us to this thing or bring it to us. Whatever you do and however you get it done, do it fast. I’m sure you know that there is an expiration on what my wife has done for you.”

  I nodded in understanding and refocused my thoughts before speaking orders to Melanie.

  “Tell the creature you can’t come to it, but that it has to save you from this school.”

  “The school is trying to kill me, mom. You have to save me,” Melanie shouted to the darkness.

  “No. You must run out here and come to my protection.”

  “The school won’t let me run away. I’ve tried,” I told Melanie to say.

  She repeated my words.

  “Use your magic, Jenna. You have more than I, and you can break away. I can feel your powers from here. I must hide. Please, come to me.”

  “Forget this,” Levi said in irritation. “Jenna, order that leprechaun to lead us out to it. We’re wasting time with all this back and forth.”

  “You can sense where it is. Lead us to it,” I instructed Melanie. I looked over at Dom, “That evil can sense all of these warriors. I can also sense that she’s going back to the water to get more power.”

  “Don’t refer to that thing as she or your mother,” Dom said. “Don’t even go there, or you won’t be able to kill it.” He glanced back at where the countless warriors sat on their black horses, waiting. “Can you shield them so the evil can’t pick up on them?”

  I instantly felt my limit on that request. When the magic in my system began to question my capability to cloak all the warriors, I knew it was possible but questionable.

  I looked at Levi. “I’m feeling a limit to cloaking all of your men. Can a few go after it with us? I’m certain I can make a few invisible and undetectable to the evil.”

  “You could probably battle this on your own,” Levi’s lips rose up on one side, “but I must be sure this threat is annihilated, and make sure you are safe while going after such evil. Harrison and I will go with you while the rest of my men stay back to keep the students under control as they are currently doing.”

  “Perfect,” I answered, knowing this battle was mine alone to begin with. It was my vengeance to take since Edgewater, who murdered my mom and threw her spirit to this darkness, was now a pile of supernatural dust after the emperor’s horse took care of him. My whole life was jacked up because of this, and it was time I had my retaliation against the last of it.

  “Hey,” Harrison sighed, “You have to stop analyzing in your brain. Who taught you battle skills anyway? You need to keep your thoughts short and snappy, kid.”

  “He’s right,” Levi backed the commander. “Think like you’re in a battle. Do your best to stop internally thinking, so we can go in and attack this. Now, please conceal us so that we can end this.”

  “Melanie,” I looked at the leprechaun after manifesting a shroud to conceal everyone. “You’re invisible to the darkness too.”

  “Why are you making her invisible?” Dom asked.

  “I want her dead, trust me, but I have an idea. When we get to where we need to be, I’m going to have Melanie emerge from being cloaked, but I’m going to enchant her to look like me. By doing that, my mother will see and hear only me, but it will still be Melanie who encounters the creature first. At least it’ll give us a head-start on what to expect.”

  “Good thinking, kid,” Harrison said. “Now, let’s stop talking and start walking.”

  We followed Melanie through the trees, and Dom growled out in frustration. “Do not tell me this thing is hiding off of the Dark Hallows quest.” He looked at me as we all crouched with him. “We’ll need to shift, and the Guardians have to go in on their horses. We have to jump numerous traps that can’t be made in our natural forms. The water you said it was going to are rapids, which makes sense as to why evil would energize itself with that force of water alone. It’s virtually a conduit for energy and power. The problem with this quest is that it’s rarely used because of the fairy and witch traps that are riddled throughout it.”

  “Then the Guardians ride in, we’ll shift, and I’ll demand the traps to be exposed to all of us, so no one falls into a stupid trap.”

  “You believe the terrain will heed your command?” Levi questioned me.

  “I have the power of the fae. I can control the elements,” I answered. “The environment on quests will reveal all the foreign traps in its nature.”

  “That’s my little sweetheart,” Harrison teased. “Now, who takes this hideous leprechaun, perhaps we should draw straws?” he asked Levi.

  I watched the emperor’s unamused expression. “Can you bother to stay focused for once?” he said to the commander as if Harrison’s joking nature in dangerous situations was something he was used to. “The leprechaun will ride with me. We need her alive, and I’m not confident you will keep it that way on our journey.” He arched an eyebrow at his commander as Harrison went to respond…sarcastically, I assume. “Don’t even say it,” he said, standing up from where we had been kneeling and peering through the foliage at the edge of IA’s lawns. “All you need is one excuse to take any fairy out, and then I’ll be personally feeding you to that creature when we hunt it down.”

  “You would never,” Harrison said as he jerked Melanie up by the arm and nearly dragged the fairy toward where he and Levi were walking toward their horses. “Imagine how boring life would be if I weren’t in it. You, Reece, the—”

  “Enough,” Levi shook his head. “You are setting a bad example for your adopted daughter,” I heard him tease.

  “Take the leprechaun,” Harrison handed her over to Levi like a ragdoll.

  “Let us go,” Levi took Melanie’s arm. “I do not wish to find ourselves in a position where Jenna could possibly grow weak and fall victim to that evil creature. We are on a time limit.”

  “Very well, then. Lead the way, kids,” Harrison said after both men mounted their horses in record time, with Melanie forced to ride in front of the emperor. I also didn’t miss seeing the blade Levi held to her side in case I did lose power and control over the crazed leprechaun.

  “Let’s shift,” Dom said. “It’s the only way to get out there and to end this. Once we’re there, we’ll shift back and go from there.”

  Dom and I shifted and took off while I mentally opened this quest up to the visibility of all the traps that were on it. This wasn’t a quest, this was an embarrassment. If a shifter even attempted this quest, they would be toast after the first tree they walked past
.

  We jumped at least five massive ravines and drops that ended in pits with spikes. That’s when I heard the rushing water, and the energy of it slammed into me so hard that my wolf rolled over her feet before landing a halfway decent recovery.

  I saw and sensed no evil; instead, this was alluring and inviting. It was a slice of paradise hidden in the forests of IA. I couldn’t fathom any darkness being able to reside here, even if it wanted to. The glistening lime green foliage was dripping with dewdrops, the smells of lush meadows surrounding the pure water that made me thirsty where I wasn’t until I approached the banks of this place. It was glorious with the bright sun’s rays, beaming down on us in ribbons of golden hues that appeared heavenly.

  That’s when I saw her, the woman in white, wearing a gown that dried the second she rose out of the water. My wolf snarled, prompting my mind to see what this place really was. It was barren, and the water was as black as tar. My so-called mother looked like a white corpse, her face peeling while her eyes were that diabolical black color.

  I shifted back so I could magically will Melanie to take on my appearance and feed a new line of fake-Jenna BS to the demon woman. This was it, and I had no idea what the hell to plan to take this thing down. Changing Melanie to look like me was a random thought brought on by magical instincts, but I didn’t have any bright ideas beyond that.

  The evil was so penetrating that it was inviting for me to accept it. I was almost jealous of Melanie as she walked out to such radiating power—the power that I should be joined with. I suddenly craved this added energy so I could gain more power, and I had to blink a few times to snap myself out of the fact that I’d fallen for this crap again. I looked to see Dom sigh in relief. He must have immediately felt me going dark, the closer I got to the water.

  “Jenna, my sweet girl.” The figure of my dead mom held her hands out to a shaking Melanie, who’d I successfully changed to look like me.

  Melanie was resisting with fear, but her dark side still made her put one foot in front of the other. It was so freaking weird to see how wicked Melanie really was on the inside, yet she was still scared shitless because there was a sliver of good somewhere in her, letting her know she was moving toward pure evil.