Outcast: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Warden of the West Book 1) Read online

  Mia laughed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s just practice, to remind us how to make potions. Some of us won’t have done potions since we were in basic education.”

  Professor Raffles must have overheard my question because he swooped in, full of nervous energy. “My dear students, how are we getting on?”

  I took the opportunity to question him. “Well, the liquid appears to be the right color, and it’s reached the right temperature, but how do we know if it works?”

  He clapped his chubby hands. “Ah, a pragmatist. Wonderful. Alana, you can assist us with this.”

  Alana nodded her white head. She reached out and touched the nearest student on the shoulder—a witch called Keira—and murmured a few words. Keira moaned softly.

  “What’s the matter, Keira?” her friend asked.

  “My stomach,” Keira said. Perspiration appeared on her forehead. “It hurts.”

  Alana lifted her gaze to me. “Miss Morrow, would you be so kind as to administer your potion to our sick friend?”

  My eyes widened. Alana made Keira ill to prove a point? Did ‘do no harm’ not apply to druid healers? My mother would have been mortified.

  “Ouch,” Keira moaned, and doubled over, clutching her stomach.

  Knowing the jar might still be hot, I summoned magic to my hands and cooled the glass before thrusting it at Keira. Her lips parted and I poured a few droplets of liquid into her mouth.

  “Drink, my dear,” Alana said in a soothing tone.

  Keira swallowed and the beads of sweat on her forehead dispersed. She stood erect and her skin returned to its usual pallor.

  “Another sip for good measure,” Professor Raffles said. “That’s a good witch.”

  Keira did as instructed, then handed the jar back to me. “I feel fine now. Thanks.”

  Professor Raffles tipped the brim of his pointed hat in my direction. “There you have it, Miss Morrow. Well done. Your potion worked and your question’s been answered.”

  I returned to my seat with my jar cradled in my hands. My question may have been answered, but I didn’t feel very good about it.

  Unfortunately, Arcane Rites wasn’t any better. It didn’t help that Professor Langley seemed to have a chip on his shoulder regarding me. I couldn’t decide if he objected to new students or paranormals from the human world or something else. I found myself counting the minutes until I could leave and meet Gray. Part of me was nervous to go on a potentially dangerous expedition with the vampire. The other—very female—part of me was excited at the prospect of being alone with him again.

  “This is my favorite class,” Dani admitted, as we settled into seats in, of course, the front row.

  “What’s so great about it?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine the petulant Stefan Langley being anyone’s favorite professor.

  “Professor Langley skips the whole refresher thing,” Dani said. “He doesn’t wrap us in a protective bubble ward, and lets us get our hands dirty.”

  I glanced at Dani’s notebook, with its multiple tabs and neat handwriting. “You’re very organized.”

  “An organized mind is a productive one,” Dani said. “That’s what my granddaddy always used to say.”

  “I never knew my grandparents,” I said. Obviously, I didn’t know my father’s parents, and my mother’s parents died before I was born.

  “There are pros and cons to that,” Dani said cryptically.

  “Good afternoon, class.” Professor Langley paced the front of the room, not even bothering to face us. I felt like we were incidental, rather than the focus of his teaching. “Building upon what we discussed last week, today is about enhancements and enchantments.”

  Dani stifled a squeal of delight. She wasn’t kidding about her enthusiasm for this class.

  “Each of you will choose an item from the shelves over there.” He motioned toward the far left wall. “Bring it to your seat and we will perform an enchantment that boosts or enhances the qualities of the item.” He held up a staunch finger. “But, remember, it’s only for a limited time. A spell like this is always a temporary measure.”

  I craned my neck to see the types of items available. It seemed like a mishmosh of objects, from a hairbrush to writing implements to a bubble blower.

  “First row, you may choose your items,” the professor said, his hands clasped behind his back. His perpetually sour expression made me wonder whether academia was the right choice for him. I pictured him in a darkened office behind a desk in the human world, a dangling single light bulb above his head.

  “Come on, Bryn,” Dani urged. “We want the best options.”

  I joined her at the shelves and watched as she quickly snapped up a pair of sneakers. Was she planning to jazzercise her way through class?

  “Who would choose a plastic lizard?” I asked, laughing at the small toy.

  Dani rolled her eyes. “Milo or Paul, no doubt. They’ll probably try to make it lick one of the girls just to hear the screams.”

  “You think that’s the enhancement they’ll go for? A working tongue?”

  She shrugged. “We’ll find out soon enough. What are you choosing?”

  I studied the options. I had no idea what to do with any of them. “You choose for me.”

  Dani became giddy at the prospect. “Ooh, we need to hurry before he calls another row.” She tapped her finger against her chin. “The bubble blower could be fun.”

  “It is liquid.” That made it easier for me. I plucked the bottle from the shelf and we returned to our seats. Students streamed past us and swiftly chose their items.

  “Now that we have our objects,” Professor Langley said in a clipped tone, “you must pay careful attention to the enchantment. One wrong syllable could wreak unnecessary havoc.”

  Behind us, I heard Milo and Paul cheer and fist bump each other. They were all in favor of havoc, apparently.

  Professor Langley produced a chicken in a cage from behind his desk. He opened the cage and the chicken walked out, pecking the pile of papers.

  A chicken?

  “My enchantment will boost Miss Butters’ egg-producing ability,” he announced.

  “Is that your familiar, Professor?” Milo called. I’d never known a class clown in the human world because I’d bypassed the educational system, but Milo certainly seemed to fit the bill.

  Professor Langley didn’t crack a smile. “I believe I said to pay careful attention, Mr. Bridger. Did I not?”

  Milo went mute.

  We observed the professor closely, as he waved his wand at the chicken and spoke in a mixture of what sounded like dead languages.

  I leaned over to Dani. “How are we supposed to know what he said?”

  “You repeat it,” she said.

  “Isn’t it specific to the chicken?” I asked.

  “Not this enchantment,” she replied. “You do the same phrase, but focus your will and aim your wand at your own object.”

  Miss Butters suddenly began laying eggs at a fast and furious rate. Some of the eggs rolled off the desk and crashed onto the floor, their shells cracking open. Yolk streaked the floor.

  “Never mind the mess,” Professor Langley said. “The enchantment will wear off after a minute and Miss Butters will return to her normal state.”

  Dani raised her hand. “Will all of our enchantments wear off in a minute?”

  “If you perform them correctly, yes,” he replied.

  I raised my hand. “Excuse me, Professor?”

  He didn’t look happy to have to field a question from me. “Yes, Miss Morrow?”

  “I’m wondering what the point is,” I said. I understood identifying plants or mixing potions, but I didn’t grasp the significance of making a chicken lay eggs.

  Professor Langley approached our table and pinned his gaze on me. “The point, Miss Morrow, is the same as it is in every class—to learn how to use magic safely and effectively.”

  “Yes, sir,” I mumbled.

  “You may begin,” he said.
He roamed up and down the aisles, assessing the students’ efforts.

  I stared at my bubble blower, trying to remember the words he used. I wasn’t sure how to enhance or boost a bubble. Make it bigger? Fill the room with bubbles? While it seemed like a fun idea, I doubted that was what Professor Grumpy Pants had in mind. He was nothing if not a buzzkill.

  A piercing scream behind me grabbed everyone’s attention. I whirled around to see a giant lizard on the table in front of Milo and Paul. It seemed that Dani was right about their selection.

  Students scattered as the lizard expanded. Its head was huge and the stout body was covered in black and pink bands. The irritated tail swept books and other objects off the tabletops.

  “Run!” someone yelled.

  Dani and I backed away toward the professor’s desk where Miss Butters was safely back in her cage.

  “What’s the big deal? I asked. “It’ll shrink back in a minute.”

  “If they did it right,” Dani said.

  “It’s dangerous,” Mia said, running over to us. “It’s not a normal lizard. It’s a Gila monster. If it bites anyone, we’re in trouble.”

  We had to contain it and quickly. Those muscular jaws were begging to pump venom into the nearest student. I didn’t wait to see what anyone else would do. There wasn’t time.

  I glanced at the bottle of bubbles in my hand and popped off the lid. I poured the liquid into a pool on the floor and called it to me. The energy inside me whipped into a frenzy, begging to be released. I focused my will and gestured with my hands, drawing the liquid into the air and forming an enormous bubble, large enough to contain the lizard. I pushed my hands forward, and the bubble shifted far enough to encase the venomous lizard. That wouldn’t be enough to contain it, though. I needed to prevent the creature from bursting through the thin layer of bubble. Summoning my will, I concentrated on hardening the liquid.

  “It’s like a fly in amber,” Dani said.

  I felt all eyes in the room on me.

  “How did you do that?” Dani asked, almost breathless.

  “How, indeed, Miss Morrow?” Professor Langley came to stand beside me.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “It was instinct.”

  After another beat, the lizard returned to its normal size and plastic state. I made a fist and the bubble cracked and dissipated.

  “Did you use the enchantment on the bubble to make it do that?” Mia asked.

  I shook my head.

  “She didn’t even use a wand, Professor,” Milo said in awe. “She just did it.”

  “Yes, Mr. Bridger. My vision works just as well as yours.” The weight of his scrutiny was almost unbearable. “Where did you learn that nifty trick, Miss Morrow?”

  I was afraid to answer. No doubt Professor Langley wouldn’t like any response I gave. “I didn’t learn it. Like Milo said, I just did it.”

  “The liquid yielded to you like it was clay and you were its sculptor.” Professor Langley continued to inspect me, as though searching for weaknesses in my story.

  “I work well with water,” I said. “I have other skills, too, but water is special for some reason.”

  His lips formed a straight line. “Indeed. For some reason.”

  My gut twisted. He seemed to see straight through me, and I worried that if he figured out my secret, he’d spill it right here in front of the whole class.

  “The fun is over, class.” The professor’s attention returned to the rest of the students. “Return to your seats, and let us endeavor to compete this enchantment in a way that doesn’t threaten our lives, shall we?”

  My liquid bubbles were gone, so I chose a toy helicopter that I could fly around the room. Dani made her sneakers supernaturally fast. She zipped in and out of the room so quickly that she left black streaks on the floor. Good thing the enchantment only lasted a minute or her heart probably would’ve given out.

  After class, we walked back to the residential wing together, still stuck on the excitement of the Gila monster.

  “What’s the point of having a replica of a venomous lizard on the shelf when you know students are going to perform an enchantment on it?” I grumbled. “It’s like the professor wanted this to happen.”

  “He likes to create challenging situations,” Dani said, pondering my statement. “It’s possible that he wanted to see how we reacted.”

  “He didn’t even try to do anything,” Cerys said. “I was watching him.” She glanced at me. “He did seem annoyed that you intervened, though, so I’m not sure.”

  “He seems annoyed that I breathe,” I said. “I’m sure that my intervention didn’t help, though.”

  “I was glad you trapped it in that bubble,” Mia said. “Someone could have been seriously hurt.”

  “Your magic is amazing,” Dani said. “I was a little jealous that I didn’t react as fast as you did. I think Langley was secretly impressed.”

  “I don’t know that impressed is the right word,” I said, as we reached our room.

  “You’ve got some serious magical DNA,” Cerys said. “That much is clear. It’s a shame you don’t know more about your father. I bet he was really powerful.”

  You have no idea. “I’m sure it’s for the best,” I said vaguely. I hated lying to my friends, but I didn’t have a choice. They’d want nothing to do with me if they found out my father’s identity, and, for the first time, I was beginning to feel like I belonged somewhere.

  “Are you nervous about the auction?” Mia asked.

  “Very,” I replied truthfully.

  “You can wear my green dress,” Dani said. “It’s perfect for an event like this, and the color really complements your hair.”

  “Thanks, I’d almost forgotten about getting dressed up.” The thought of another nerve-racking outing with Gray after a full day of classes was exhausting. I flopped on the bed, drained from the unexpected bubble exercise. If I intended to live through tonight, I was going to need all the energy I could muster.

  11

  “This is a very bad idea.” Robin paced the length of my room, occasionally pausing to adjust his bow tie. “I wish you would’ve told me sooner, so I could’ve put a stop to it.”

  “I won’t be alone,” I said. “Gray’s accompanying me.”

  “Why?” Robin lamented. “Why would he do that? We’re even now. The favor has been repaid.”

  “I guess he feels it hasn’t been yet,” I said. I pulled Dani’s emerald green dress from the closet. She owned more clothes than any shop I’d ever visited.

  “I need to speak with him about this,” Robin said.

  “You can do that in about five minutes,” I said. “That’s when he’s picking me up.” I motioned for him to turn around. “I need to get ready.”

  Robin swiveled away from me in a huff. “This isn’t safe. If anything happens to you, Chancellor Tilkin will have my head.”

  “Then you don’t know anything about it,” I said. I undressed hurriedly, and slipped the dress on over my head. It was a little longer on me than Dani, but it worked.

  “Where are your roommates?” Robin asked. “Surely, they’ve tried to talk you out of this.”

  “Nope. In fact, Dani loaned me the dress, and these are Mia’s earrings.” I touched the sparkling gemstones threaded through my lobes.

  “Gray won’t be able to enter the residence hall,” Robin said. “He needs…”

  A knock on the door signaled the vampire’s arrival. I brushed past Robin to open the door.

  “Good evening, Mr. Mappleworth,” I said. The vampire’s appearance made me momentarily dizzy. I didn’t expect him to look quite so…alluring in formalwear.

  Robin’s objections snapped me back to reality. “This is wholly unnecessary. I did not intend for you to take matters into your own hands to this degree. The trip to the Obscura was sufficient.”

  Gray's laughter was low and rough. "I could not, in good conscience, let the market be the end of the favor."

  I could pract
ically hear Robin’s brow furrow. "Why not?”

  “Because you’re not equipped to handle the next step,” Gray said. “I can’t let you get yourselves killed. I may not be a warden anymore, but I’m not a monster.”

  “Miss Morrow is a neophyte,” Robin began.

  Gray didn’t let him finish. “I have it on good authority that Miss Morrow has raw, untapped potential. If we come up against problems, she’ll be able to handle herself.”

  “I don’t even know how you got past security,” Robin huffed.

  Gray’s grin faded. “You should mention to the chancellor that academy security is severely lacking. Just ask Calvin Motley.”

  “I’ll be fine with Gray,” I said, in an effort to reassure Robin. I didn’t want the prefect to feel responsible for me.

  “Of course she will,” Gray said. “All that tweed is clogging your brain cells if you think you could do a better job of protecting her.”

  I jerked my head toward him. “No one needs to protect me, thank you very much. You just said that I’m able to handle myself.”

  “Sorry, ‘protecting’ was a poor choice of words,” Gray replied. “It’s been a while since I’ve worked with anyone.”

  My hands flew to my hips. “While we’re on the subject of word choices, don’t you dare refer to me as baggage, or you’ll find a wand in a very hurtful place.” I narrowed my eyes. “Very hurtful.” Not my wand, of course, as I still didn’t have one.

  Robin threw up his hands. “I can see my words are falling on deaf ears. I’ll leave the two of you to your own devices.” He headed toward the door and stopped to look at me. “Let me know when you arrive back safely, would you?”

  “If I remember,” I said.

  Robin groaned in exasperation before fleeing the room, slamming the door behind him.

  “He doesn’t handle it well when things don’t go his way,” I said.

  Gray didn’t respond. I felt his penetrating gaze on me, and I waited anxiously for him to tell me that I should have worn a leather catsuit and a utility belt instead of a dress. Instead, a slow grin emerged.

  “Nice dress,” he said.