Spellbooks and Stakings

by Lily Webb

  Where everyone else had to apply and pass rigorous tests to attend Veilside Academy of Magic, all I had to do was buddy up to the Headmistress. Oh, and stop a deadly vampire from killing a third time. No big deal.

  I shoved the towering wooden double doors open and entered into an empty and circular chamber. Wax dribbled down candles hanging in iron chandeliers above, and a dozen unlit fire pits lined the walls. I’d been in the room once before, but it was no less unsettling this time.

  “There she is, the witch of the hour,” a voice said, and the sound of high heels clicking against the wooden floors echoed through the darkness in front of me.

  I squinted and breathed a sigh of relief when Raina Woods, Headmistress of the Academy and my magical mentor, stepped out of the shadows wearing a bright smile, her auburn hair pulled tight into a bun on top of her head. Speak of the devil.

  Raina stopped in the center of the room with her hands clasped to admire me. Her eyes twinkled in the flickering candlelight.

  “Welcome to Veilside Academy, Zoe,” Raina said and threw her arms wide. Her black robes billowed, and I yelped when each of the fire pits around us burst to life with flame, flooding the room with light and heat.

  “It’s time for the real magic to begin. Come with me, there’s someone I’d like you to meet,” she said, her smile widening as she gestured behind her at a tunnel of darkness.

  What had I gotten myself into?

  Chapter Two

  Witches and warlocks I didn’t recognize stared down at me from dozens of ornate golden frames as Raina and I walked through a long, narrow hallway. Candles floated in the air above us, giving the paintings a haunting glow, and the flickering light made it seem like the subjects were moving — it wouldn’t have surprised me if they were.

  “Where are we?” I asked, squinting.

  “This, dear, is the Veilside Hall of Fame, so to speak,” Raina said over the echo of her heels against the floor. “Each witch and warlock you see painted was previously the Head of the school.”

  “But there are so many. How old is this place?” I asked.

  “As old as Moon Grove itself,” Raina said.

  “No wonder the castle’s falling over,” I said, and Raina chuckled.

  “Good guess, but no, I’m afraid that’s simply a quirk of the architecture,” Raina said.

  “That’s one heck of a quirk. Who are you taking me to meet anyway?” I asked.

  “Delia Frost, Professor of Kinesis — and vampire witch,” Raina said.

  “Wait, what? A vampire witch? Is that even possible?”

  “It certainly is, though it’s not common,” Raina said.

  “Given the animosity between the two groups, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

  “Yes, but Delia is a rare exception in many respects. I’m sure you’ll agree,” Raina said.

  We reached the end of the hallway and exited into another circular chamber three times the size of the first. At its center, an immense stone spiral staircase wound up the central tower of the Academy and disappeared around the tower’s curve. Light streaming from windows somewhere above bathed the entire area in the eerie light of dusk.

  “This is amazing,” I breathed, craning my neck to see everything. Countless more paintings and magically suspended candles corkscrewed up the walls of the tower. I’d never seen anything like it in my life, which was an experience I probably should’ve been used to after two weeks of living in Moon Grove.

  “And it’s only one of the five towers,” Raina said, smiling at me when my eyes met hers. “Each of the five branches of witchcraft has a tower dedicated to its study. Alchemy is to the southwest, Divination to the northwest, Transmutation to the northeast, and Kinesis to the southeast.”

  “But that’s only four. What about Aether?” I said.

  “Aether study takes place in the central tower, as the magic of life is at the center of all witchcraft,” Raina said. “This way.”

  Raina turned right and led me around a curve to another open door. A hundred or more witches and warlocks sat in plush chairs around a central fireplace, some studying, some socializing; others practiced their magic. Several closed doors lined the inside of the room.

  “This is the School of Kinesis’ common room. It’s also where the Professors of Kinesis have their offices,” Raina said. “Each of the Schools has a commons just like this located near their respective towers. Given that you clearly have a strong specialty in Kinesis, I suspect you’ll be spending a lot of time here.”

  “And anyone can hang out in here?”

  “Of course, though students do tend to make friends with those who share their specialties,” Raina said.

  I peeked around Raina’s shoulder to look further into the room and spotted vampire witch Delia Frost right away. Seated at a wide wooden desk, her pale skin and the white-blonde braid that trailed over one of her shoulders were a dead giveaway — no pun intended.

  As if she’d sensed me looking, Delia sprouted a smile, and a second later she stood in front of us, a flurry of powder blue robes. She was a twig of a woman, but unlike all the other vampires I’d met, Delia’s eyes were a light, icy blue instead of a bloody red. Between her hair and her eyes, Delia definitely lived up to her surname.

  “You must be the new witch everyone’s talking about,” Delia said, offering me a hand to shake. I took it and fought the shiver that threatened to sweep over me when my skin grazed her frigid palm. Even so, she wasn’t threatening or intimidating like her fellows. In fact, she was downright friendly.

  “I hope they’re saying good things,” I said.

  “You stopped a vampire from becoming a serial killer with your magic, how could they possibly say anything bad?” Delia asked. “I’m Delia Frost, it’s a pleasure to meet you finally.”

  “Thanks, likewise. I’m Zoe Clarke,” I said.

  “Raina’s had an awful lot to say about you and your abilities. I can’t wait to see what you can do in class,” Delia said.

  “With Delia’s instruction, you’ll be a top-notch witch before you can say ‘Abracadabra,’ Zoe,” Raina said, smiling. “Delia’s one of the best witches we have on staff.”

  “You and your flattery, Headmistress. Anyway, it’s almost time for class to start. Do you want to walk with me?” Delia asked, dodging Raina’s praise.

  “Yeah, sure,” I said. “It’s not like I have any clue where I’m supposed to go.”

  “You’ll get the lay of the land soon enough. The castle’s large, but it’s pretty easy to navigate,” Delia said.

  “We’ll see about that,” I said.

  “Before you go, here’s your class schedule, Zoe,” Raina said.

  She handed me a square of paper that listed five half-hour classes and their professors: Kinesis 105, Delia Frost; Transmutation 101, Nolan Grimm; Aether 101, Jade Hallewell; Alchemy 101, Annette Tenebris; and Divination 101, Destiny Depraysie.

  “I’m sure you’ll love them all. Enjoy,” Raina said and vanished in a puff of smoke.

  “How long before I learn to do that too?” I asked. Delia chuckled.

  “That’s sixth-floor magic,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Sorry. The higher up your class in each of the towers, the more advanced the magic. The sixth floor is the highest in all the towers,” Delia said.

  “So, basically what you’re saying is it’s gonna be a long time before I learn how to get Scotty to beam me up, right?” I asked.

  “More or less,” Delia said. “Let’s cut through the common room to the stairs, it’ll be faster that way.”

  We wove through the other students who all seemed to know who I was judging from the way they whispered and pointed at me as we passed.

  I couldn’t blame them. After all, I’d arrived in Moon Grove two weeks prior — the first outsider in decades to do so — and I’d already landed a place at Veilside Academy, one of the most prestigious schools in the magical realm. If I were the other students, I’d be talking
about me too.

  At the opposite end of the room, we walked through an open door. Another smaller but no less fantastic spiral staircase waited for us.

  “My class is on the first floor,” Delia said.

  “Wow, I really am starting from the bottom, huh?” I asked. Delia laughed.

  “You’re a student at Veilside, I’d hardly call that the bottom,” she said. “But yes, we all have to learn to handle a broom before we can fly on it, so to speak.”

  “You know, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine,” I said.

  “Agreed,” Delia said with a smile and took the first step up the spiral staircase.

  My palms slick with nervous sweat, I followed, gripping the railing like my life depended on it. We reached the first-floor landing a few moments later and stepped out into a round space. A golden plaque hammered into the stone above an open classroom door directly across from us read “K-101.”

  “There are eight classrooms on each floor,” Delia said. “My class is K-104, this way.” She hung a right around a tight curve and led me to her room. Inside, twenty or so students had already gathered at desks placed in neat rows, and a nervous witch with straight black hair who looked younger than me stood at the front of the class.

  “That’s Phoebe Thornton, my understudy, and assistant,” Delia said, nodding at the witch I’d noticed.

  “Does every professor here have one of those?” I asked.

  “Not all, but most do. We have a lot to manage, and a second wand makes everything easier,” Delia said. “Come in, I’ll introduce you to the class.”

  “Do you have to do that?” I asked, my cheeks burning.

  The idea of getting up in front of a class of witches and warlocks who knew way more about magic than I’d ever know made my skin crawl — the last thing I wanted was to draw more attention to myself.

  “Not if you aren’t comfortable,” Delia said.

  “Thank you,” I said, letting out the breath I’d been holding. Any other teacher I’d had would’ve ignored how I felt, but Delia seemed different. I couldn’t say if that was because she’d taken a particular interest in me or if that was just how she was, but I appreciated it regardless.

  “Have a seat anywhere you like, we’ll get started soon,” Delia said. I sunk down into a desk at the back of the class, hoping it would deter people from turning around to stare at me — but no luck.

  Three witches who seemed to be friends whirled to face me like they’d been summoned.

  “I thought I smelled something funny,” a pretty witch with shoulder-length blonde hair and captivating hazel eyes said as she glared at me from between her two friends. “Turns out it’s just a stray who wandered in from the sewer.”

  The two other witches, who seemed like they were trying — and failing — to look like their blonde friend, snickered at her joke.

  “Don’t worry, Aurelia and her gang will leave you alone when they get bored with you,” a mousy girl to my right said as she fiddled with her ratted, curly brown hair. She stared at me with beady brown eyes magnified by her oversized glasses. The sentiment didn’t make me feel much better coming from her.

  “How long will that take?” I asked.

  “That depends on how much you try to push back against them,” the girl said. “I’m Mallory Crane, by the way, and I’ve been in your shoes. Take it from me: just ignore them.”

  “I’ll try my best,” I said.

  “They won’t make it easy. You’ll probably need allies,” Mallory said.

  “Are you interviewing for the job?” I asked.

  “I don’t see anyone else volunteering. So, what do you say?”

  I could use all the help I could get, so what harm would it do? Mallory seemed friendly enough if a little odd — not that I had any room to judge.

  “Okay,” I said, shrugging.

  “Oh, isn’t that cute? The stray’s already made friends with the crazy cat lady,” Aurelia said.

  “Go sit on a wand, Aurelia,” Mallory snapped, and a heavily-tattooed warlock on the opposite side of the room let out a whoop. Two of his buddies, who looked like a couple of gym enthusiasts, burst out laughing. Aurelia whirled, her wand pointed right at the warlocks.

  “It’d be a real shame if I had to scramble you and your goons’ pretty faces, Seth,” Aurelia warned the tattooed warlock. He whistled and shook his hands while his friends laughed.

  “Oh, I’m shaking in my robes,” Seth said.

  “All right, that’s enough. We’re all friends here, there’s no need for facial rearrangement spells,” Phoebe, Delia’s assistant, shouted over the noise of the bell that magically rang in every room in the castle.

  “Consider yourselves saved by the Teacher’s Pet,” Aurelia said. She rolled her eyes at the warlocks, tucked her wand into her robes, and turned back to the front of the class in a huff.

  “Aren’t you worried they’ll curse you or something? They seem intense,” I whispered to Mallory.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time,” Mallory said. “But I’m not afraid with Delia and Phoebe around. Aurelia’s way too much of a wand polisher to try anything with them watching.”

  “Wand polisher?”

  “You know, a suck up. As much as she tries to call Phoebe that, Aurelia’s just as guilty. Anyway, it’s in the hallways where you really have to watch yourself,” Mallory said.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, my palms sweating again. I’d probably painted a target on my back by buddying up with Mallory, but I didn’t regret it because it wasn’t likely Aurelia would ever want to be my friend in the first place.

  “Who does Aurelia think she is anyway?” I asked.

  “Lilith’s gift to witchcraft,” Mallory scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Probably a side effect of being a Riddle.”

  “Wait, Aurelia’s a Riddle? As in, she’s related to the Head Witch who died a few weeks ago?” I asked.

  “Yup, Claudette Riddle was Aurelia’s grandmother, and she won’t ever let you forget it either,” Mallory said. Interesting.

  “All right, let’s get started,” Delia called from the front of the class. She waved her wand, and the door slammed shut behind me, making me jump. She waved it again, and words appeared on the board at the front of the room: “Review and Wrap-Up.”

  “Last class, we covered the basics of the butterfly effect and why it’s critically important for us all to take extreme care when attempting to manipulate the flow of time via chronokinesis,” Delia said.

  My ability to read people’s thoughts was one thing, and I didn’t have the greatest control over it, but the other students were already jumping around in time? I really was out of my element.

  “Seth, can you remind us all what sort of things could go wrong if we aren’t careful?” Delia asked the tattooed warlock. He slumped in his chair and flicked his long, greasy black hair out of his face but didn’t answer.

  “Does that mean you don’t know? Or were you too busy doodling in your little black book last class to remember what I said?” Delia asked with a smile, and Aurelia choked on her laughter.

  “Why should I listen to a half-breed bloodsucker?” Seth shot back. The smile vanished from Delia’s face and my breath caught in my throat. Mallory’s jaw dropped, and not even Seth’s two meathead friends seemed to know what to say.

  “Excuse me?” Delia asked.

  “You mean you didn’t catch it with that superhuman hearing of yours?” Seth asked.

  “I heard you loud and clear, Mr. Highmore, I just can’t believe it,” Delia said.

  Mr. Highmore? Did that mean Seth was related to the reigning Head Warlock, Heath Highmore? How many of the students in this school were members of influential families?

  “Then let me repeat myself, so it sinks into your undead brain: why should I listen to a—” Seth said, but was cut off when Delia waved her wand and Seth’s lips zipped themselves together, muffling his words.

  Furious, Seth jumped up from his desk and sho
ved his hand in his robes for his wand, but Phoebe beat him to the punch.

  “Dearmo!” Phoebe shouted as she stabbed her wand in Seth’s direction. He fell backward over his desk, and his wand soared through the air into Phoebe’s free hand. Seth struggled to his feet and glared at Delia and Phoebe.

  “The Headmistress and your grandfather will hear about this, Mr. Highmore,” Delia said. “As a matter of fact, why don’t you go make yourself comfortable in my office until class is over?”

  Seth said something, but it came out as nothing other than a groan.

  “Fine, have it your way. Evanesco!” Delia said, flicking her wand, and Seth disappeared with a crack. His two friends exchanged worried looks but didn’t dare say anything.

  So much for a low key first night.

  “Aidan, Callum, do either of you remember what we talked about last class?” Delia asked Seth’s friends, pressing on like nothing happened. I already figured I was going to like her, but now I knew it without a doubt.

  “I, uh… N-no, not really,” the broader of the two warlocks stuttered, his brown coiffure bouncing along with his words. “But it wasn’t because I wasn’t listening! I’m just not really good with this Kinesis stuff,” he continued. Delia frowned at him.

  “Then make sure to pay extra close attention tonight, Aidan,” she said, tapping her wand against his desk. Aidan jolted like he thought he might be the next one to disappear.

  “What about you, Callum?” Delia asked, turning to the other warlock, whose face was long, gaunt, and framed by chin-length blond locks. He shook his head so hard I thought his hair might fly off.

  “Disappointing,” Delia said. She clucked her tongue as she spun on her heel. Okay, she was a certified Bad Witch. “Does anyone remember what we talked about?”

  Aurelia’s hand shot up in the air, and Mallory groaned.

  “Told you, she’s a total wand polisher,” Mallory whispered, and I bit back my laughter.

  “Aurelia?” Delia asked.

  “Yes, Professor. If I remember correctly, we could possibly erase ourselves or others out of existence if we aren’t careful when using chronokinesis. I’m surprised my classmates could forget something as serious as that,” Aurelia said.