Sticks & Stones Spell Werewolf Bones: A Why Choose Academy Romance

by Rae Stapleton

  5

  Professor Werewolf

  D emas stared at the floor as he followed the curved pathway marked by the design of the inlaid terrazzo tiles in search of the administrative offices. As a professor, Demas could appreciate the history of old buildings and admire architecture of different time periods and yet he found the place odd—the atmosphere, anyway. The stately school was a real ghost town. Not one student had been lounging in the commons area. Not a television or radio was on for background noise. The morbid little punks were probably staying close to Maggie’s room. Still, schools should never be this quiet. The New Orleans campus of the academy, where Demas had taught up until the move, certainly wasn’t.

  He rounded the grand staircase—a silver-veined white marble showpiece with a scarlet runner—and was about to turn the corner when he saw a shift in the shadows of the mezzanine wing above him. Demas pretended not to notice, hoping the shadow would eventually betray itself. He was unnerved by the fact that wherever Evie was, numerous dead and undead alike kept turning up. That’s why her training here was so important, to keep her alive. Not that she was a fragile little thing; she was a force to be reckoned with, given her sigil creations and tattooing talents. Still, if she were going to be a tracker, the more training, the better.

  Demas was just about to step into the outer office and waiting area of Headmistress Barnabus when he heard the sound of furious whispering behind him. He turned, and saw headmistress Barnabus coming down the hall with a female student. Both stopped cold when they saw him looking.

  “Professor Batavian, hello again. This is one of the academy’s best and brightest, Lennon Sidhe of the Winter Court.”

  Lennon Sidhe was an alluring young woman with an iridescent complexion and large pixie eyes that screamed Fae. She would have been pretty if only the “don’t screw with me” look wasn’t splashed across her face. Unfortunately for her, she was standing there in a white silk dress patterned with cherries that could best be described as lingerie and he couldn’t resist messing with her.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Lennon. Headmistress, please allow Ms. Sidhe to scoot back to her room to get dressed.”

  “Excuse me. What are you talking about?” Apparently, the brightest student was not so bright.

  “Your slip or nightgown—whatever you call that negligee? I’m assuming you were rushed out of your room before you could get dressed. Were you not?”

  The Headmistress cleared her throat, “Ugh, no. That is Lennon’s dress, Professor Batavian.”

  Lennon’s eyes narrowed as she muttered “This is designer. Rude, much?”

  He smiled and watched her flounce out the door. Then he turned back to address Headmistress Barnabus. “Now, why are you not in your office with the werewolves?”

  “I’m so sorry, Professor Batavian. I swear I’ve only been absent for a couple of minutes and, please, call me Babs. I collected their phones as you asked.” She emptied her pockets. One phone dropped from her hand and bounced on the thick Aubusson carpet.

  Demas took a deep breath. Grabbing the fallen phone, he tried to have patience with this incredibly nervous vampire.

  “Thank you and you may call me Demas. Do you have a phone in your office?”

  She frowned. “Well, of course I do.”

  “And you left them alone with it?”

  Her frown morphed into a look of horror.

  He shook his head. His angry strides ate up the short hallway to her office. Not waiting for Babs to catch up, he whipped the door open and let it crash against the wall. At this point, Demas didn’t give a shit if he damaged anything.

  Her office was a spacious room with a high ceiling and expansive windows. Tall bookshelves covered most of the other three walls, and a large, mahogany desk dominated the center of the room backed by a fireplace.

  Three startled werewolves stared at him. And, damn it, the fourth was on the phone.

  6

  Midnight Witch

  Just as before, Maggie lay tied down on the bed—a display of horror in a sea of pink bedding. I realized now that her wrists and ankles were raw from struggling against the ropes that bound her. The tears returned as I walked around the bed, once again taking in that death mask of fear. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to her under my breath. I felt my lip go into full-on tremble mode so I took a breath, giving myself a moment before continuing.

  “Are you okay?” Bodhi asked, coming to my side.

  “I’m fine. Please don’t coddle me right now.”

  He nodded.

  Looking away and then back again I took in the edges of that terrifying smile. The skin had bubbled up like it had been eaten away.

  “What’s that?” Bodhi asked.

  My eyes traveled down, I didn’t notice it at first, but there was a medium-sized bulbous glass bottle nestled between her arm and body, tilted, showing traces of a silver colored liquid.

  “Oh God.” My voice cracked. Of course, her lips and a portion of cheek had clearly been burned away. I could recognize the traces of silver liquid on her teeth now. Surprisingly, it hadn’t eaten through the enamel. “It’s almost like she’d been shaking her head trying to avoid silver being poured in her mouth,” I sniffled, put my sketchbook away and grabbed for a tissue in my backpack.

  With a gloved hand, Bodhi picked up the bottle, held it to the light and then sniffed it. “My guess is silver nitrate. Based on the residue on the sides, it looks like the bottle was full. Evie, will you snap a photo with my phone while I hold it under the light? I already took one in situ.”

  I took his phone and snapped a couple of photos at different angles. He pulled what looked like a giant Q-tip out of an individually sealed pack and dipped it in the bottle. He put the Q-tip in a vial with a screw top and stuffed it in his duffel.

  “Don’t you trust Aunt Aurora’s team coming in?”

  Bodhi shrugged. “I should. It’s just … this is going to be bad and I bet they ask us to stay here until this is solved. The Redrum Rebels are a huge presence in the Supernatural Society and Razor is a council member. I’m just playing it safe in case the evidence was to disappear.”

  “What about fingerprints?”

  “That’s a little trickier. It’ll be obvious if I do that with powder.”

  “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t go over well with the team or Aunt Aurora.”

  “Does anything in the room look out of place or is anything missing?”

  “At first glance, other than the bottle, no. Well, that’s not quite true. The tulle surrounding the bed like a shroud is out of the ordinary. Also, the fact that her fairy lights are switched off, especially considering she had the curtains closed. She hated the dark. Anyway, I’ll check the drawers quickly.”

  “Well, look at you go, Miss Marple.”

  “Seriously, do I look eighty to you?”

  His eyes took a leisurely stroll over my body before pausing at my breasts. “No, definitely not. You’re much more of a Nancy Drew meets Lara Croft. Where’s that sexy schoolgirl uniform, anyway? You know I can’t resist you in knee socks.”

  His focus suddenly had heat spiking throughout my body. It didn’t help that I hadn’t had much time with my boys since starting at the academy. Dorm life was a bitch.

  I started squirming at the tingles building as I thought of the last time I’d worn my uniform home on a Friday. The memory was making my jeans very uncomfortable. I was tempted to peel them off, but my dead friend was lying there. A wash of shame swept through me and I felt my chin quiver once again.

  “Hey!” Bodhi reached me in three long-legged steps, pulling off his gloves as he wrapped one arm around me. “Evie, what’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. I was getting turned on, and my friend is lying there. I’m such a dick.” I hung my head.

  “Evie, that is another perfectly normal reaction to death. Sex is life affirming. It makes you feel alive, and that’s necessary.”

  What he said made sense, but I still felt guilty.
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  “If you’re around death enough, you learn to deal with it, and you can ignore it until a more appropriate time. Anyway, you shouldn’t feel guilty. It was my fault.”

  “For what?”

  “For being so ridiculously sexy, obvi.”

  Bodhi wiped the tear rolling down my cheek, and I laughed and nodded. “Obvi!”

  “Now, let’s get back to work before I take advantage of your mourning.” He kissed my cheek. “Demas will be calling any minute. But seriously, don’t you guys all have to wear uniforms?”

  I laughed. “Oh, Bodhi. No, the uniform is just for special events and occasions.”

  I started with the nightstand next to her body, doing my best not to look at her again. I opened the single drawer and didn’t see anything that might matter, but took a picture with Bodhi’s phone. To avoid catching sight of Maggie, I looked up at her canopy, she had decorated it with strands of white lights. It was so pretty. I sniffled and started to turn away when I realized I could see an odd shadow. It was probably nothing but I wouldn’t be a good investigator if I didn’t make sure. Walking to the other side of the bed so as not to lean over the body, I carefully brushed the tulle aside and looked up into the center of the canopy. A small device was attached.

  “Hey Bodhi. I found a device over here. I can’t reach it.”

  He stepped to my side and took a peek. “Good eye, Evie.”

  I took a photo, then Bodhi pulled it loose and bagged it. I moved to her chest of drawers. Nothing there. Bodhi was searching her closet, so I moved on to her desk.

  “Hey Bodhi! Keep your eyes open for a small, pink book. I saw Maggie writing in it a few times, but she always stuffed it under something, as if she thought I might pry. I think it was a journal.” Were we as of good friends as I thought? I opened the top drawer. It was filled with pens and pencils, small colorful binder clips, those rubber-coated paper clips. Yes, they were all pink. Sure, there were different shades of pink, but all P-I-N-K. Last drawer. I took a deep breath and hoped for something to help us. I glanced at Bodhi as he rifled under the cushion on the window seat. I pulled the last drawer, but it was completely empty. I still had Bodhi’s phone and took a picture of the desk and the contents or lack of in both drawers. I felt breath on my neck and jumped, dropping the phone.

  “It’s good you’re concentrating on what you’re doing Evie, but don’t forget to be mindful and pay attention to your surroundings at all times. Colten should have taught you that as part of your defense classes.”

  Shit. “He’s been drilling it into me. I guess I let my guard down because you’re here, not to mention Eleutian took everyone’s names before sending them on their way.”

  “Do we know the murderer is one of the students?”

  “No, we have no idea.”

  “Right. So, don’t assume anything and never tune out, okay?”

  I nodded.

  “You’re new to this and it’ll take time to learn everything and use it. Before you know it, you’ll be a full-fledged tracker.”

  Bodhi’s phone started vibrating. I leaned over to pick it up and tapped the speakerphone button for him.

  “Bodhi, do you have anything yet?” Demas’ voice boomed through the speaker, “Alpha Howl is on the headmistress’ phone.”

  “What? Why would you contact him already?”

  “I didn’t. Apparently, Headmistress Barnabus can’t handle simple instructions.”

  Bodhi and I looked at each other. Demas was pissed and it takes a lot to get a rise out of him. Well, to get him angry, anyway.

  “Demas, are we on speakerphone?” I asked.

  “No, some of us know how to handle their job.”

  Wow, he was royally pissed.

  Bodhi cleared his throat. “Hey Boss. Evie did find something, so I’ll let her explain.”

  “Hey, so I found what looks like a recorder of some kind. It might be audio because there wasn’t a camera. I took photos of where it was before we removed it, and I think we should take it with us rather than leave them for the forensics team.”

  “And speaking of forensics,” Bodhi cut in, “I took a sample from a bottle by her bed of the liquid that I’m taking with us but left the bottle for them. I don’t like the idea of the forensics team taking everything back to New Orleans. I’m sure Aurora will want us here full-time for the time being anyway. We have photos of the entire scene and, um…” Bodhi eyed me warily. “Of Maggie’s body. We have one more place to look for the diary and then that’s all we can do for now.”

  “Good job. I’m glad you two found something. I’m going to have a few difficult conversations here, so when you’re done, join me. Thanks.” The line went dead.

  Bodhi whistled. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard him that ticked off, except when you were missing.” He took a deep breath, “Okay, so one last place to look and it’s not going to be pleasant, but I’m afraid I need your help.”

  “Okay.” I tried to prepare myself, having an idea of what he needed to do.

  “We need to search under her mattress, so if I lift her up, mattress and all, would you search for the diary?”

  My lip trembled, but I straightened to my full height —which, next to Bodhi, wasn’t that impressive—and nodded. If I wanted to be part of the unit, I was going to have to face things like this.

  “Okay, here we go. Don’t forget protocol—take a picture if you find something before you grab it.”

  Bodhi lifted the mattress with his arms like a forklift. One arm supporting the mattress at her shoulder area and one at about knee level. A straight dead lift, no pun intended. Standing on the other side of the bed, I quickly took some pictures with the flash. I clicked the flashlight icon, illuminating the deep shadows between mattress and box springs and gasped.

  “What is it, Evie?”

  “There’s a phone under there and a bunch of printed notes.”

  “Okay, hurry and grab it all and dump it in an evidence bag. There are more in the duffel bag.”

  I grabbed a large bag and started scooping it all in.

  “Let me take another look to make sure I got everything. Are you okay?”

  “Yep, I can shorten my daily workout later.”

  I moved his phone in a grid pattern, the flashlight revealing all had been collected.

  “Okay, we’re good. Let me just bag all these separately.”

  7

  Professor Werewolf

  D emas picked up the handset and took a deep breath, his gut was churning as he waited for Eleutian to corral the wolves into the office next door. After several beats, he pressed the button to release the hold. Instantly he heard howls in the background and heavy breathing in the foreground.

  “Alpha Howl, this is Demas Batavian. I apologize for keeping you waiting. The werewolves here and the headmistress were given explicit instructions not to contact you before I could gather some information. I’m sorry to inform you that your daughter, Magnolia, is dead.”

  Demas listened for a reaction of some kind and was met with silence. Even the howling had stopped. He wasn’t sure if he’d been put on hold.

  “Did the coward kill herself? She was always carrying on about getting picked on. Too soft, that one. I’ll never understand how I fathered such a pathetic wimp,” Razor Howl commented.

  Jesus! What a dick!

  “Alpha Howl, this is a murder inquiry.”

  “What?! I’ll tear that school apart brick by brick. How dare they kill my pup!” Razor roared.

  Wow, just when Demas didn’t think it could get worse. What an egomaniac. The man was taking it as a personal affront that someone had done this to him. Where was the sorrow for his daughter? Not that any of this should have surprised Demas. He’d witnessed firsthand what a callous asshole the Alpha was.

  “My team is surveying the scene. You’re understandably upset right now, but I do not want you here before we’ve a chance to investigate. Are we clear?”

  “Pardon me, Batavian. I know your st
epmother is the head of the Supernatural Society, but you have zero jurisdiction over me and mine. Is that clear?” Razor asked, his voice growing deeper and more inhuman by the second as though he was changing forms as they spoke.

  “It’s just that you could end up chasing the murderer away if they hear you’re coming.” Demas watched as Evie, Bodhi, and Eleutian entered the office. “Alpha Howl…” The line was already dead.

  “Damn him!” Demas smashed the handset on the phone over and over. He felt someone grab his arm and whirled around with the handset raised above his head, ready to bash anyone trying to stop him.

  Bodhi quickly stepped in and pulled Evie away and Eleutian caught her. “What the fuck, boss?” Eleutian shouted, cutting through Demas' haze of anger.

  “Oh God, Evie. I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize it was you.”

  “It’s okay,” Evie answered quietly.

  “Bullshit! It’s never okay,” Bodhi said, as Eleutian wrapped an arm around Evie.

  “He didn’t know it was me. I shouldn’t have surprised him when he was upset.”

  Demas cupped her cheek. “They’re right, I should have been aware of my surroundings. Howl makes me insane. He didn’t give a shit that his daughter’s dead and I wanted to smash him into next week.”

  Bodhi nodded. “Evie mentioned Maggie had some trouble here and her father didn’t seem to care.”

  “What kind of trouble, Evie?” Demas asked.

  “She was being bullied by some other girls. I think it bothered her because she was looking forward to being away from home and getting to know new people. From what I understand, her pack was also a horrible environment,” Evie said.

  Demas snorted.

  Evie glanced at him with a frown before she turned to look through the open doorway connecting offices, surveying the wolves in the next room. “Are any of them in her pack? I’ve never seen them before.”

  “Really?” Eleutian raised his brows, genuinely curious.

  Evie shook her head. “I mean, I don’t know everyone here but, given that Maggie was a werewolf, I think I would’ve seen them at some point.”