No one noticed me as I wove through their ranks. When I got to the front, my heart pounded in my chest and my cuffs pulsed. With two quick movements, I shot a cease-and-desist spell over the crowd, a bit of magic I’d learn in Idaho from Irmagard after a swarm of mosquitos threatened to carry us away one night.
The booming voices died away. The slogans fell out of the sky, and the slashed image of Rowan disintegrated.
People turned on me, anger distorting their faces. Geez, had I really thought this through? There were one hundred witches and warlocks, all staring at me like they’d like to tear me in half.
“What are you doing?” I shouted, not knowing what else to say. “Leave Rowan alone. You don’t know what he’s been through. Go home.”
“It’s the girl,” someone shouted. More voices joined in. “She’s in league with him. Vampire lover!” They started to crowd around me.
I readied my cuffs, running through defensive spells in my mind. Shit, I wished I’d prepared a few ahead of time, but now it was too late. Irmagard taught me a lot, but I was yet to be able to recall everything on command.
“What’s all this?” a voice called.
Dean McIntosh strode out of the administration building in a hurry. She stood beside me, scanning the crowd and casting a protective bubble between us and them. When she was done, she projected her calm, cool voice out over the crowd. “Can I help you people with something?”
A man in a dark cloak strode forward. Despite the Georgia heat, he was wearing an old-fashioned black cape and bowler hat. A wide, brown, handlebar mustache occupied most of his face, but it didn’t cover up the jagged scar that cut from the bottom of his left eye to his chin. Something gruesome had happened to this man, but he seemed to have come out the other side, strong and cantankerous, looking very much like a cartoon villain.
He stared at Dean McIntosh with no trace of hesitation in his voice. “Greetings, Ms. McIntosh. I do hope you’ve been expecting us. I left you several messages.”
“Sebastian Mink. I did get your messages. All one hundred and forty of them. A single, ‘I’d like to speak with you at your earliest convenience,’ would have sufficed.” Dean McIntosh crossed her arms over her chest, unamused.
“I’m a man who likes to get his point across. And these people,” he turned and gestured to the crowd, “they’d like to get their point across as well. Mainly, that vampires should not be allowed in this once-fine institution. Macgregor used to agree with me until his son became one. I say that, despite his newly softened heart, the rest of us remain unconvinced. Vampires are vile, evil creatures hell-bent on turning the world into mindless, soulless demons. And to think you want them cozied up to our best and brightest. Whatever are you thinking, Lynnsa?”
“None of that is true,” I retorted.
He clucked his tongue at me. “Can we really trust the word of a vampire lover? My dear, I believe you’ve been enthralled.”
“I have not.” Never had I wanted to hit a man so much as I did right then.
He sneered at me, staring just a little bit too long. I darted my eyes away before I did something I would regret.
Giving a short laugh, he threw his hand into the air and yelled, “No vamps on campus!”
A cheer went up behind him. His thin lips pressed together in a smug smile.
Staying cool, Dean McIntosh didn’t take his bait. “Sebastian, if you’d like to talk to me in my office, that can be arranged. The rest of your demonstration is not necessary.”
He laughed mirthlessly. “Oh, I think it is. Am I right, Macgregor?”
Macgregor Underwood strode down the steps and stood beside Dean McIntosh. He did not seem at all pleased to see this Sebastian Mink or his army. I’d never seen him so angry and that was saying something.
“This assembly is unlawful,” Macgregor boomed. “The crowd must be dispersed and you should all leave. Magical Law Enforcement has been alerted.”
Dean McIntosh’s eyebrows went up as if she had not been made aware, but she said nothing.
Sebastian Mink closed the gap between himself and Macgregor. For a moment, it seemed as if a warlock’s duel was inevitable, but then Mink bowed and tipped his hat.
“We’ll leave, for now, but heed my words, Macgregor. Your son is not safe here. Nor anywhere.”
“Is that a threat?” Macgregor said through clenched teeth. Sparks danced on his fingertips.
Mink took another step back, but his face held its nasty smugness. “No threat. I worry about the lad. Vampires have this funny way of turning up dead. Best keep him under house arrest if you know what’s good for him.”
Mink whirled, his cape flaring out, and signaled to the crowd. “Let’s go.” Then he turned back to us. “But we will return. The day you let Lessers back into this school is the day you signed its death warrant. Toodles.”
He wiggled his fingers and disappeared, fading away like a ghost.
The rest of the crowd evaporated or walked off, grumbling and throwing us backward glances.
I turned from them to the two Deans who seemed as dumbfounded as I was.
“We knew there would be protests,” Dean McIntosh said quietly to Dean Underwood.
He nodded solemnly. “But not on the first day. And not so many. And that awful Sebastian Mink. I thought he was in Romania.”
“He was,” she responded. “He is rumored to have come back when he heard. He’s not a fan of yours since you changed your position.”
Macgregor ran a trembling hand through his hair. “I was just at the verge of killing that man and losing everything I’ve worked for.”
Dean McIntosh put a hand on Dean Underwood’s shoulder. “That wouldn’t help Rowan, now, would it? He needs you here now more than ever.”
It was a tender moment that I ruined by clearing my throat. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but... is Rowan here?”
They both glanced up at me as if they’d forgotten I’d been there all along.
Dean McIntosh smiled. “Thank you for coming to his defense, Charlie. That was very brave and very stupid.”
“Story of my life,” I mumbled.
Macgregor nodded. “Yes, thank you. You’ll be caught up in this, too, I’m afraid. That is if you agree.”
“Agree to what?” I asked.
They exchanged a look.
“What?” I hated when adults did that.
“Please, come to my office,” Macgregor said, leading the way. “There’s something very important we’d like to discuss with you.”
I followed them into the air-conditioned administration building, enjoying the cool air, though heat still surged in my body.
“Who was the man?” I asked as we walked the hall toward Macgregor’s office.
Dean McIntosh answered me. “That was Sebastian Mink, or Bash as he likes to be called. He is a self-proclaimed vampire hunter and a bit of a rabble-rouser.”
“Vampire hunter!” I said with alarm.
Dean McIntosh held up a calming hand. “Don’t worry. It is outlawed in the United States. There are strict punishments for harming any Supernatural creatures, including vampires.”
“Still, that’s awful,” I replied. “And all those people don’t want Rowan to attend school here? Why?”
Macgregor shook his head as he held the door open for us. “Many witches and warlocks have old prejudices stemming back centuries to when vampires and werewolves hunted our kind and killed us in large numbers. There were whole Supernatural wars fought long before we were born. The feud is centuries old.”
“But it’s time for a change,” Dean McIntosh cut in. “A long, overdue change. Those who some call Lessers will now be allowed to attend the Supernatural Academy. We changed the bylaws this summer. Dean Underwood led the charge.” She smiled at him, but he merely glowered and let us into his office.
Someone was waiting inside.
“About time,” a voice said. He turned to greet us.
“Rowan.”
Without thinking,
I ran and threw myself at him.
Strong, cool arms circled my body and drew me into an embrace. I pressed my face to his chest, almost sobbing with the nearness of him. He felt strong and alive, his body more muscular as if he’d spent all summer at the gym. Inhaling his scent, I noticed his cologne but also an undercurrent of something minty and fresh. His energy felt new; there was no sour curse hanging around him.
But then... there was no magic at all, or none I could detect with my new spell repertoire.
I pulled back, taking in the brilliance of his face. He was more achingly handsome than I remembered. He wore his hair short and his face clean-shaven. He was pale as if he’d spent the entire break avoiding the sun, which… duh. He was a vampire.
He ran a thumb tenderly down my cheek. “Hello, Charlie,” he whispered. His voice broke a little as if he’d missed me as much as I had him.
“Hi,” I managed, stepping back. I was quickly realizing how strange it had been to throw myself at him after I hadn’t seen or heard from him all summer. And before that, he’d been in a coma. And before that, he hadn’t really been talking to me, so…
I took another step back as waves of awkwardness washed over me. “How was your, um, summer?” I mumbled.
He gave me a pained look. “Pretty bad. Turning into a vampire is not all it’s cracked up to be.”
McIntosh and Underwood walked in, coming around the large wooden desk to stand in front of us. Macgregor gestured for us to sit.
“I know you two have a lot of catching up to do, but while you’re here, there’s something we need to ask of you, Charlie.”
“Do we really need to do this now?” Rowan snapped. “I thought we were going to try a few other avenues first.”
He was annoyed. I wondered what in the world they could possibly want from me and why it would make Rowan so angry.
Macgregor shot his son one of his patented looks, one that meant it’s already been decided.
Rowan gripped the armchair as if he meant to break it. The wood gave a light groan that made him realize what he was doing. He stopped and relaxed his hand over his thigh, maintaining a posture that let me know he had to try very hard to keep himself and his impulses in check.
Dean McIntosh picked up where the father-and-son duo left off. “Charlie, one of the stipulations for non-warlocks and non-witches to attend our school is that they are required to have a magical partner, someone from whom they can draw the necessary magic to pass all their classes.”
I frowned, not really understanding.
Macgregor picked up on my confusion. “Non-magical Supernaturals have some magic, but it’s raw and limited to their specific… talents. They can’t really do spells, per se. It was one of the reasons they were left out of our most recent charter, among other things.”
“No spells?” I asked, thinking back.
Macgregor shook his head. “Werewolves can change. Vampires have powers of persuasion and the ability to shapeshift into certain animals, but they cannot access the flow of magic that runs through everything.”
“Like the magic that comes from our portal,” Dean McIntosh added.
“Right,” Macgregor went on. “But, if a warlock were to draw it and give it to a creature,” Rowan flinched at the use of the word creature, “then, they would be able to perform spells like you and me.” Macgregor looked at his son, but Rowan was glaring at the carpet.
“Besides,” Dean McIntosh put it, “most of our classes require the use of magic, so there would be little for non-wizards to learn if they didn’t have some magic of their own to put what they learn into practice.”
“There is a catch, however,” Macgregor said.
Wasn’t there always?
“The only way for us to give magic to a creature,” he continued, “is if we sign a pact. In blood. Unbreakable.” Macgregor cleared his throat. “The creature would be bound to the warlock or the witch.”
Dean McIntosh took a step forward. “For life.”
My heart pounded as my brain attempted to wade through all that was being thrown at me.
Pact. Blood. Unbreakable. For life.
It was unsettling, to say the least. I couldn’t see how this scheme would help other Supernaturals join the Academy. Who, in their right mind, would bind themselves to anyone for life? How could I bind myself to Rowan? We couldn’t get along for two days straight, a lifetime just seemed impossible.
But if I didn’t agree, Rowan wouldn’t be able to do magic or attend the Academy. He’d once told me he’d rather be dead than be devoid of magic. What if he wasn’t allowed to stay and did something stupid as a result?
All summer, I’d hoped and prayed that he was alive and well, wishing more than anything that there was something I could do to help him the way he’d helped me. He’d saved my life at the fountain. If he hadn’t jumped in front of that spell, I would be the one cursed or dead.
“If it will give Rowan magic, I’ll do it,” I said, the words spilling out of me on their own, fueled by my sense of guilt and the tangle of emotions Rowan awakened in me.
“That’s enough. This isn’t happening.” Rowan sprung out of his chair and bolted angrily out of the room.
I blinked at his retreating figure, wondering what I’d done wrong.
Chapter Three
FALL SEMESTER
EARLY SEPTEMBER
The door to Macgregor’s office slammed shut behind us as Rowan stormed out. I sat stunned, not knowing what to say or do. Macgregor slapped a hand on his desk, his frustration clear, while Dean McIntosh sighed and shook her head.
“That boy is too proud,” Macgregor said.
“I wonder where he gets that from,” the dean mused quietly.
This felt like a conversation I didn’t really want to be a part of. Plus, I still needed to speak to Rowan.
“I… is it okay if I…” I pointed toward the door. Macgregor inclined his head in answer.
I walked toward the hallway, measuring my steps, but once I was outside the office, I hurried down the hall and into the grand foyer.
“Rowan, wait!” I called out as I spotted him exiting the building.
He didn’t turn back and, instead, hurried out. Why was he taking such great care to avoid me? I rushed after him and burst past the huge doors into the bright daylight. Squinting, my eyes snapped left and right, but Rowan was nowhere to be found. Had he gone up in smoke? The sun was vampires’ mortal enemy, after all.
I shook my head. I knew better than that. I’d studied all about vampires during my many boring evenings in Idaho. Of course, Rowan didn’t have to worry about the sun or bloodlust. His father was a powerful warlock who must know all the spells to help his son avoid those little inconveniences. None of the spells were permanent and had to be renewed often, but it was better than having to live like an actual creature of the night.
Scratch that! A being of the night. Rowan didn’t like the word creature. I couldn’t blame him. When had being labeled an animal worked out for marginalized persons in the past?
So, no, he hadn’t gone up in smoke. He’d just used his preternatural speed to get away from me. So much for thinking he’d missed me as much as I’d missed him.
Way to play it cool, Charlie, throwing yourself on him like that. I was a freaking relationship noob and had clearly blown it. I might as well have told him I loved him and made a scrapbook of what our children would look like.
I stood at the top of the steps, berating myself while letting my eyes rove over the lawn below. A few signs from the protestors’ littered the ground.
This couldn’t be easy for Rowan. He’d grown up with wealth and power, a golden boy full of promise, like his successful brothers. Now, all of that was gone, and he couldn’t even perform magic unless he was bound to someone else. Then these a-holes had to go and make it worse with their stupid protest.
I redoubled my effort not to take his rejection personally. When I first met him, I thought he was a grade-A douche, a spoiled rich k
id who hated me because I was poor and, as such, didn’t belong in his precious Academy. Later, though, I’d learned how much he’d been dealing with, including that terrible curse that poisoned his body and nearly killed him.
And now this.
His father was right. Rowan was proud, and this couldn’t be easy for him. Not in the least.
Maybe his running off wasn’t about me. I decided to stick with that since it left most of my ego in place.
Nodding to myself, I hopped down the stairs and headed for the Sophomore Dorm. I had to find Rowan and talk to him. He needed to know he could trust me, needed to remember I was his friend, and he was not alone in this.
A few minutes later, I was walking down the hall and passing my own room headed towards Rowan’s. The R.A. had told me where he was staying, and I’d barely thanked her before I’d rushed away to find him. But I still needed to keep it cool. I slowed my steps and set my face into a nonchalant expression.
Once in front of his door, I took a deep breath and knocked. No response. I knocked a second time. Nothing. Turning the knob, I found the door was unlocked. I went in.
I told myself I was not a stalker. Just determined.
Rowan was standing in front of the window, staring out at the lawn. He ran a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck.
“You don’t know what a terrible idea that pact is, Charlie,” he said without turning.
I cocked my head to one side. How did he know it was me? Oh, right. He had enhanced senses, now. He could probably smell me coming from a mile away. I desperately tried to remember the last time I’d showered and came up with this morning, thank the Lord.
Stepping further in, I glanced around. He had a standard issue bed and chest of drawers like me, but also a black mini fridge. An unopened duffle bag sat on the single bed, but that was the only personal item in view. It certainly didn’t look like the room of someone who thought he would stay.
He turned and faced me, his dark eyes as expressive as ever. He was hurting.
Supernatural Academy: Sophomore Witch Page 2
