Grim Reaper Academy- Complete Collection

by Cara Wylde

  “I’m tempted to say he wouldn’t care, though. He’s teaching us how to fight instead of letting Professor Charon do her job and teach us how to teleport. I’m starting to think he’s not afraid of me and my ninja scythe skills.”

  “Because you don’t have them yet, sister.” Klaus winked at me. “Don’t worry, I got you. You’re going to be one hell of a fighter.”

  “I’ll help him with the research,” Joel attached himself to Klaus’s arm. They smiled at each other.

  I rolled my eyes. They were so cheesy sometimes.

  “GC, what are you going to do?”

  The false god scratched the back of his neck. His blond curls turned reddish and warm in the flickering light of the candles.

  “I’ll talk to my grandfather about nephilim. He’s the original Golden Calf from the Bible, so he probably knows more than I do.”

  “You can do that?” I knew his grandfather had long retired somewhere in the Himalayas. Whether he had gotten bored of immortality or the world, GC hadn’t figured out yet.

  “I’ll try. I’ll teleport there soon. Haven’t visited him in centuries! It’ll make him happy.”

  “You guys should learn how to teleport on your own. This isn’t fair.”

  “Doesn’t bother me. The teleportation device works just fine,” GC shrugged.

  “My father taught me this summer. I can try to teach you.”

  “And I can help,” Klaus chirped.

  “Oh, shut up. You should have been able to teleport by now.” Mages could do it naturally, but it did require some interest on their part. Klaus was the laziest mage I knew. He could kind of teleport, but only to very short distances. Like he’d done at the beginning of year one, at the entry test. He’d teleported across a chasm, from one cliff to another. But they hadn’t been that far away.

  “Your knowledge and my skills,” he tried.

  “Oh, come on,” GC complained. “Let’s not turn our super-secret underground meetings into teleportation classes.” He turned to Paz. “Am I right?”

  Paz shrugged. “I’m fine with using the pin.” He tapped the teleportation pin attached to his uniform jacket.

  “Okay, fine,” I sighed. “So, use it next time. Let’s not do this sneaking around the Unseelie shit again. The stress took ten years of my life. And I’m human, remember?”

  “Relax,” Paz chuckled. “You’ll be a Grim Reaper in a few months, and then you’ll be granted immortality.”

  “For two hundred years. Thanks. That’s not immortality. Some new generation Reaper will replace me, and I’ll wither and die.” I’d thought about it, of course. Once a student graduated and was named Grim Reaper, he or she was granted two hundred years of perfect health, high energy, and immunity to basically all kinds of deadly threats, no matter what species he or she belonged to. Once the two hundred years were up, all these perks were taken away, and if the Reaper belonged to an immortal species, awesome, if not… tough luck.

  “What’s Francis going to do?” GC asked.

  “I’ve already done the most important part: provided the secret meeting place.”

  They argued for a while, but I ignored them.

  “You know what we should do? Throw a Mabon party.” They all looked at me like I’d gone insane. “What? Don’t tell me you’re not bothered by the ‘no parties and celebrations’ rule. Fuck it. And fuck Morningstar. He can’t tell us we can’t have parties. Mabon, Halloween… I bet he’ll cancel Yule Ball, so let’s take what’s ours. We always have a Mabon party.” I hadn’t particularly enjoyed the first one, since it coincided with Sariel’s and Lorna’s first attempt at murdering me, but I had fond memories of the second one.

  “So, you’re going to organize it on your own?” Patty asked.

  “No. Klaus will help. And I’ll ask Pandora, Kitty, and Sheba. Maybe even Lorna. She can help us sneak out unnoticed.” I grinned at Klaus, who looked most unhappy and mumbled something unholy under his breath. I really didn’t want to ask Lorna, in fact. I doubted she’d want to help. I wanted to make Klaus get off his lazy ass and practice his mage powers. Having to rely on Pazuzu’s telepathic abilities because Klaus couldn’t brew a potion that had more than five ingredients in it had not made me a happy camper. “Everyone wants a Mabon party, and it will do us good. Forget we’re practically in jail.”

  “Just be careful and don’t get thrown into solitary,” Patty giggled. “I know you’re the Headmaster’s daughter, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  It was almost midnight. Patty and Joel sneaked out without any problems, since they both worked in the kitchens and were allowed to go anywhere they liked. Klaus teleported into his room, and I remained alone with Francis, GC, and Pazuzu. As Francis tended to the candles, I pulled GC aside. Paz shot us a longing glance, but he knew it was GC’s turn to be alone with me.

  “What’s up?” he asked, pulling me closer. He had a satisfied grin on his face. I could tell he liked having me all to himself when Paz and Francis were just a few feet away. He leaned in for a kiss, and I kissed him back briefly. “What’s on your mind, my goddess?”

  “I told Pazuzu something, and it’s time to tell you, too.”

  His blue eyes darkened. “How many secrets have you kept from us?!”

  “This isn’t a secret. I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while, but… it doesn’t matter. I’m telling you now.” There was no point in trying to explain myself. Why had it taken me so long to say the three words? Because after they’d bullied me all through the first semester of year one, it had taken me a long, long time to trust them. Again, no use in stirring shit from the past. Bygones. “I love you.”

  His mouth opened and formed a cute, silent “o”. His eyes were as big as saucers. I laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck. I promised myself I wouldn’t care if he didn’t say it back. The silly expression on his face was enough to make my heart flutter.

  “I… I love you, too.”

  He said it back. I bit down on my lower lip, then rose on my tiptoes and kissed him passionately. He parted his lips, allowing me entrance, and our tongues danced for a minute, the kiss leaving us breathless. He caught my lower lip between his teeth and pulled playfully. I giggled.

  “You said it to Paz first,” he teased. “Does that mean you love him more?”

  “Don’t be silly. I love you both the same.”

  “Oh, what a big heart you have!”

  “You have no idea. I could probably love two more people…” I stopped before I said more than was necessary.

  GC studied me curiously. “Was that a random number, or…”

  “Random,” I choked. “Let’s get out of here.”

  I teleported on my own, like Morningstar had taught me, and the three of them used their teleportation pins.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Getting Pandora, Sheba, and Kitty the succubus on board was easy. Even Samantha the angel wanted to help. I wasn’t sure whether she’d really forgiven me for stealing GC and keeping him all to myself, but I didn’t care either.

  “Are you kidding me?” Pandora said. “Of course I’ll help you organize Mabon! This is the best idea you’ve had since you became Morningstar’s daughter: to defy him.”

  I sighed, annoyed. “I didn’t become his daughter. I always was, I just didn’t know it. He’s a jerk. I would have defied him anyway.”

  “Like you defied all of us when we didn’t want you here?” She grinned.

  “Yeah, like that.”

  “So, how are we going to do this without getting caught?” Kitty asked. Her blue eyes kept scanning our surroundings anxiously. We’d gathered in a corner, away from prying eyes. For the time being, at least. We knew it was just a matter of time before an Unseelie guard found us.

  “The party will be on the beach, by the caves.”

  “That’s our location for Halloween,” Pandora whispered.

  “Jesus, you’re suckers for tradition,” I said in an
exasperated tone. “I don’t care. It’s safer and more remote than in the woods. And I hear the Unseelie are particularly good at tracking things in the woods. We’re going to teleport there, and good luck finding us.”

  “Are you thinking of a cloaking spell or something?” Sammy intervened.

  I smiled broadly. “Yes!”

  “Your friend, Klaus?”

  “No.” They looked confused. “I love Klaus and all, but he sucks at being a mage.” When I first met him in year one, I thought he was one of the coolest people at the Academy. He couldn’t quite teleport himself across long distances, but he could teleport things from one place to another. He’d gotten rid of the dead cockroaches Lorna and Sariel had put in my bed. He could do a bunch of other stuff, too, and maybe I’d even envied him a bit at some point. He had powers, and I didn’t. Then, I saw Lorna Chiaramonte pull some crazy shit, and I realized Klaus wasn’t that great a mage, after all. Not that I cared. I still loved him like a brother. A gay brother. When I needed some simple magic tricks, he was always my first choice. But when I needed something complex, I had to ask Corri. Well, this time, I couldn’t ask Corri and make her risk being sent to the Blank for God knew how long. So, what other options did I have? Cloaking spells were not easy, especially when we were talking about hiding an entire party from prying eyes. “Lorna. We have to ask Lorna.”

  “Are you insane?” Sammy crossed her arms over her chest. “She hates you.”

  “I like it,” Pandora chuckled. “You’ve got balls. Yes, she hates you, but she hasn’t tried to kill you in a while.”

  “That has to mean something, right?” I laughed.

  “Yeah, it means she’s afraid of your dad,” Kitty took Sammy’s side. “You still mean nothing to her.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure why I’d thought about Lorna in the first place. She was the most powerful mage at the Academy, but I could still ask Caspian or Merrit before asking her. And I’d never even considered them. Okay, maybe not Merrit, because he would’ve probably gone straight to my father to expose me, in hopes of getting into his good graces. But Caspian was cool most of the time. “We need a strong cloaking spell, and she’s the only one who can pull one off flawlessly. I think.”

  “She can,” Pandora said. “I guarantee it.”

  “So, will you come help me convince her?”

  Her grin widened. “I don’t think so. You came up with the idea to celebrate Mabon this year, you go ask for her help. I’ll take care of the food, drinks, and music.” She motioned for Sheba, Kitty, and Sammy to follow her. Our secret meeting was over. “Girls, let’s get to work.”

  “Yeah, we should,” Sheba whispered. She closed her eyes for a second. “I can sense a guard coming our way.”

  “Me too,” Pandora confirmed. “Good luck, Miss Morningstar,” she patted me on the back mockingly. “See you around.”

  “Fuck you,” I mouthed. She ignored me.

  She’s doing Mabon to piss of Valentine, maybe get me in trouble. We’re not friends.

  Lorna wasn’t as easy to convince, or approach for that matter. Since Valentine had made her share her notes with me that one time, she’d been avoiding me like the plague. He’d made her feel like shit and, of course, she was blaming me for that. That might have been the first time in her entire life when she’d been humiliated by someone who was more powerful and important than her.

  “What the fuck’s wrong with you? Stop following me around.”

  I’d caught up with her in the RDC tower, and so far, there were no Unseelie around. I’d been trying to talk to her for the past two days, but the dining hall was always guarded by the Unseelie, and the VDC and the RDC didn’t have any classes together this semester. Eventually, I decided Mabon was more important than a few worth points, and I followed her to the RDC dorms. If a guard caught me there, he’d take me to the Headmaster, and the Headmaster would assume I was visiting someone in their dorm. Why else would I be in the Righteous Death Cabal’s tower? This year, Mabon meant rebellion. It had to happen.

  Corri was flying above my head, her wings making that buzzing sound I hated. Like an oversized fly. Lorna was about to round a corner, and I was pretty sure there was a guard there.

  “Okay, I’ll help,” the pixie sighed.

  “You don’t have to…” It was too late.

  Ropes materialized out of nowhere and wrapped around Lorna’s torso. She yelped, and she would have screamed if Corri hadn’t snapped her fingers and made a ball gag appear in her mouth. With a flick of her wrist, she made Lorna float toward us. I opened my mouth to say something, but since nothing came out, I gave up. This was wrong. So wrong. To tie up and ball-gag a powerful mage like Lorna… I was asking for trouble. She hadn’t tried to kill me in almost a year, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t start plotting my death again.

  “That room is empty,” Corri whispered. She flew down to face the doorknob and blew inside the keyhole. I heard a click.

  “Thanks.” I opened the door and waited for Corri to push Lorna inside. “Corri, you’re risking so much by helping me.”

  “Don’t worry about it. This is just simple magic.”

  “What if Lorna tells on us?”

  “She won’t.” Corri landed on my shoulder and giggled. “Telling on you would mean admitting in front of the Headmaster that she was ball-gagged by a pixie. She’s too proud for that.”

  “Let’s hope so,” I sighed. I stepped up to Lorna and took hold of the black ball in her mouth. Her blue eyes were throwing daggers at me. “Promise you won’t scream, okay? Also, give me a break with the death glare. You actually look hot right now.” An idea popped into my head. I almost did a happy dance when I realized just how fucking smart I was sometimes. I stepped away and pulled out my phone. “Say cheese, honey.” I snapped three pictures from different angles, then showed them to her. “See? I told you. Hot.” For someone who was into BDSM, that was. I bet a lot of students here are.

  “Oh, you’re evil.” Corri’s almond eyes grew wide. Lately, I’d been doing things she’d never thought me capable of. I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  “Now, seriously. Don’t scream, okay?” I removed the ball gag.

  Lorna dragged in a breath and licked her lips. She fixed me with her blue gaze for a long minute, probably trying to decide whether it was a good idea to kill me right on the spot or wait for better circumstances.

  “Delete those.”

  “Don’t think so.”

  She bit the inside of her cheek. It was obvious I was going to keep the pictures just to make sure she behaved. If she did anything stupid, they would go right into a couple of Inboxes, from where I knew they’d spread to everyone’s phones. Sometimes, one had to fight fire with fire, and Lorna was an active fucking volcano.

  “Okay, you have my attention.” She struggled against the ropes, but since Corri’s magic was just as strong as hers, she had no luck loosening them.

  I thought for a second. Actually, this is a great opportunity for a real talk.

  “How does it feel? To be tied up and moved around without your consent?” She pursed her lips and kept silent. “Without being able to do anything to stop it,” I went on. “How does it feel, huh? To be overpowered and made fun of? To be at someone else’s mercy? And we’re not even in public. No one is laughing at you. Can you imagine how it must feel to go through all… that,” I motioned at the ropes around her torso and legs, “in front of the whole Academy? Students and professors. Maids and kitchen staff.” I held her gaze and let her take it in. Even though she was stubbornly silent, I knew she knew what I was talking about. Year one, semester one. “Maybe I should ask Corri to take you outside and make you float up into the clouds until you can’t see the ground anymore.”

  “Okay, I get it. You want to make me feel how you felt. I don’t like it, fine? Now, let’s get this over with. What do you want?”

  “I’
m not done, Lorna.” I stepped closer. The subtle threat in my tone must have alarmed Corri, because she flew off my shoulder and flappity-flapped around the room, too agitated to land again. “Tell me how you feel. Helpless? Powerless? Like you don’t matter? Lost? Like no one is going to come to your rescue because you don’t deserve it?”

  She scowled at me. “That’s how you felt, dumpster princess. It has nothing to do with me. You want to know how I feel? I know who I am, and the fact that you caught me in a weak moment this one time doesn’t mean a thing to me. I’m still Lorna Chiaramonte, one of the most powerful mages in the world, and you’re a nobody who recently ran into a good name and a fortune. Take Valentine Morningstar out of the picture, and you’re back to being you. Mila Lazarov, the human. No powers, no influence, no friends. Take anyone and anything away from me, and I’m still me. Does that answer your question?”

  Oh, she was feisty! No, that didn’t answer my question. In fact, it made me angry. I dangled the phone in front of her.

  “So, if I send these pictures to everyone, you’re fine with it? If they see you tied up and gagged, you’re still Lorna the Invincible?”

  She was silent for a minute. Just when I thought she’d crack, she pulled a one-eighty on me and smiled a bright, pleasant smile. It lit up her whole face, making her blue eyes gleam cutely.

  “You’re doing well, Mila Lazarov-turned-Morningstar. Living up to your new name and status. You’re being mean, and petty, and entitled.”

  Blood rose to my head. Okay, fine, I could understand mean and petty. I was being a bitch right now, but didn’t she deserve it? After everything she’d done to me, didn’t she deserve to be punished?

  “Entitled?”

  “Yes. Entitled to know my feelings. Entitled to answers when you ask questions. Do you know what the difference between us is? I am who I am, and I own it. You’re just pretending to be this mean-ass bitch, and once the tables turn again, you’ll go back to being the old you. Because you’re playing a part right now.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And how did you come to this eloquent conclusion?”