Outclassed: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Warden of the West Book 2) Read online

  “That’s okay, Hazel. We’re all sick over it.”

  A tiny gasp escaped her. “Dear me, of course you are. You’re the one that found him.”

  “The image has been haunting me,” I said. “What if it wasn’t an isolated incident? What if we’re all in danger?”

  Hazel set down the watering can. “Not to worry, miss. That boy’s death is being looked into by the relevant wardens, as is good and proper.”

  “Theo Armitage?” I queried.

  “That’s right, and he’s assembled a small team of fourth years to help him, apparently,” she replied. “He’s using it as a training exercise.” She shook her head in disgust. “I find it in bad taste personally, but no one asks for my opinion.”

  “Warden Armitage is all about real world experiences,” I said, thinking about the morning’s clinic sessions.

  “You’ll have the rest of your lives for the real world,” Hazel muttered. “You don’t need to face it any sooner than necessary.”

  “I heard he drowned,” I lied.

  Hazel returned her focus to the thirsty plants. “No, miss. He was killed before then. I’d say it was a mercy, except strangulation is a horrible way to die, or so I’m told.” She clucked her tongue. “And only twenty-five years old, too. Far too young.”

  I grimaced. So, twenty-five-year-old Karl Muldoon was strangled, then bound to the riverbed with a stake through the shoulder, so that the body didn’t wash ashore. Poor guy.

  “Any idea where he was from in Terrene?” I asked.

  Hazel cocked an eyebrow. “Why are you so interested?”

  “I was wondering whether I might have crossed paths with him at some point, before I came here.”

  Hazel cocked a plump hip. “That’s right. He’s from Princeton, not so very far from where the chancellor met you.”

  To be fair, Princeton was a good thirty miles from New Hope, Pennsylvania, and the name Karl Muldoon was wholly unfamiliar. Still, at least now I had a starting point.

  “I guess Armitage has already gone to Princeton,” I said. “He’s very on top of things.”

  “Been there and back already,” Hazel said. “Left his report for the chancellor right here.” She patted a sheet of paper on the desk. “I’ll give it to her the moment she returns.”

  “Anything helpful?” I asked, trying not to sound too eager.

  “I only skimmed it,” Hazel admitted, and I squelched a laugh. The fact that she would admit to reading any of it at all was refreshing. She glanced down at the page. “Says his parents reported him missing.”

  “He lived at home?” At twenty-five years old?

  “Wealthy family, apparently,” Hazel said, reviewing the report more closely. “Huge house on Bertrand Lane. I guess they could spare the room.”

  “Does it mention how he might have gotten to this world?” I asked. “Any theories?”

  Hazel shook her head. “None at the moment, but Theo has a good group working under him this time. Even that reporter for The Daily Wordslinger. She’s a pain in my rear, but she’s tenacious.”

  “Who’s that?” I asked.

  “Gladiola Godfrey,” Hazel replied, cringing. “She’s in here all the time, either nosing around for a story, or lodging one complaint or another about her career progression.”

  “She’s a fourth year?”

  Hazel made a confirming noise at the back of her throat. “Wanted to be a big shot in the AMF Office of Communications.”

  “Wanted to?” I queried. “She doesn’t anymore?”

  “Got funneled into another department instead,” Hazel said. “It happens. Not every pending graduate gets their first choice.” She shook a finger at me. “Bear that in mind in three years, miss. I don’t wish to see you here, crying foul to the chancellor when you don’t get your way.”

  “Seems unlikely,” I said. I was grateful to be here at all.

  “That’s what I thought.” She seemed satisfied with my response, and resumed the watering of the plants. “I’ll tell the chancellor you stopped by.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Hazel. It sounds like she has a lot on her plate.”

  “Good lass,” Hazel replied. “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

  “You, too.”

  I hurried down the long stretch of corridor and back to my room. Thanks to Hazel, I knew where to go in the human world to learn more about Karl Muldoon. I just needed help to get there.

  And I knew exactly the right paranormal for the job.

  4

  The Stake-n-Shake was an old-fashioned-style diner that catered to vampires, complete with a roller skating wait staff. I blew past the hostess and strode straight through the main aisle to the back of the building. I narrowly missed getting bowled over by a minotaur moving too fast on his skates.

  “Make way,” he bellowed, and I dodged the close call. No way did I want to find myself run down by a muscled minotaur. It’d be like getting hit by a truck.

  I almost made it to the staircase when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” a gruff voice said.

  I spun around to find myself staring at the chiseled jawline of Graydon Alastair Mappleworth III.

  “To see you,” I said. His hovel when he was in town was the spare room above the diner. Although he came from a wealthy family of vampires, Gray had been cut off when he left the AMF.

  His face was etched with concern. “Everything okay?”

  “I need help crossing the border into Terrene,” I said.

  “And library guy can’t help you this time?”

  “I don’t want to ask Robin,” I said. For starters, I knew the prefect would try to talk me out of going. I also needed to avoid the Order of the Edge because I still didn’t have the proper identification that would allow me to cross over and back again. I’d spent a lifetime off the grid and old habits died hard.

  His brow creased. “You two have a fight?”

  “A fight?” I blinked in confusion. “Gray, you know Robin’s not my boyfriend.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know anything of the kind.”

  How could he think for one second that I’d prefer the uptight prefect to him? I had a brain…and a body. Basically, my entire system was clamoring for the hot vampire.

  “Robin is a friend,” I said. “That’s it. I need to get into Terrene, and I need to do it without checking in with the Order of the Edge.”

  He cocked his head. “You’re flying under the radar again? Why?”

  I glanced around quickly before lowering my voice. “There’s been a murder,” I said. “A human was found dead in the river on campus. He was from a town called Princeton in the human world.”

  “I heard about the body,” he said. Somehow, that didn’t surprise me. “Why are you investigating?”

  “He was a human,” I said. “Like me.”

  He gave a firm shake of his head. “Not like you, Morrow. You’re a sorceress. Or have you already forgotten?”

  “But I grew up in the human world, just like him. I found him.” My mind conjured up the image of the bloated body and I instinctively shuddered. “I can’t leave the case to Armitage. He’ll be too busy looking in every mirror he passes to catch all the clues. There could very well be a killer on the loose at Spellslingers.”

  “I was surprised the chancellor didn’t institute a lockdown,” Gray said.

  “What’s that?” I queried.

  “Where she closes the borders to the academy and puts a ward in place to keep anyone from entering or leaving. Apparently, she tried to initiate it, but the Board of Regents rejected it because the victim was human. They see it as a one and done.”

  As much as I liked Chancellor Tilkin, I wasn’t unhappy with the outcome. The thought of being trapped on campus made me uncomfortable. I was too accustomed to fleeing a place at the first sign of trouble. Thanks to the looming threat of my father throughout my childhood, my flight instinct was unusually strong.

&n
bsp; “Will you help me?” I asked.

  Gray’s eyes locked on mine, and my knees actually went weak. I didn’t realize that could be a real reaction to guy until I met Gray. I’d always thought it was hyperbole.

  “I have time now, if you’re willing,” he said, in a low voice that warmed my blood.

  Oh, man. I was more than willing.

  “You might want to ditch the academy gear,” he said, taking in my Spellslingers T-shirt. “I have one you can borrow. My door’s open. Just head upstairs.”

  I balked. “You’re not coming?”

  He flashed a wry grin. “Probably better if I stay down here while you’re taking off your top, no?”

  Heat rushed to my face. “Probably.”

  I hurried up the spiral staircase to his Spartan room. I grabbed a plain black T-shirt from the pile of neatly folded tops and quickly swapped mine for his. It was loose fitting, but I liked that it smelled like him. That masculine scent of pine and spice—an interesting mix for a vampire.

  “Ready,” I announced, bounding down the stairs.

  “Fair warning,” he said. “Things might get a little dirty.”

  “Promise?” The word was out of my mouth before I could stop it.

  He arched an eyebrow. “Careful, Morrow. One of these days, I might just take you up on it.”

  I blocked the wish list of Gray-related activities from my mind. Now wasn’t the time for daydreaming.

  “Where to next?” I asked.

  “The tunnels,” he replied. “If we stay quiet and walk fast, we should get through them without encountering anything too scary.”

  Too scary? I gulped, and began to regret my decision to invoke the vampire’s help. I was trying to help Karl Muldoon, not end up like him.

  Gray nudged me with his elbow. “Come on, Morrow. You’ll be with me. What’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  The tunnels were dirtier and darker than I expected.

  “On the plus side, if something scary comes my way, I won’t see a thing,” I said.

  “Light up that finger, and you’ll see plenty,” Gray said good-naturedly.

  “I have a wand now,” I replied. “No need for E.T. To phone home.”

  Gray shook his head. “Still don’t know what that means, Morrow.”

  “One of these days, you and I are going to embark on a movie marathon. You’ve been missing out.” I pulled out my wand and lit the tip using a basic spell I learned from Dani. She confessed that she’d used her wand as a nightlight when she was a little girl.

  “How far do we need to go?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Scared already? You should at least wait until one of the tunnel trolls makes an appearance.”

  I froze. “Tunnel trolls?”

  “Big oafs but ridiculously strong,” he said. “You don’t want to encounter them in an enclosed space.”

  “Thanks for the tip.” I couldn’t decide whether he was trying to frighten me or educate me.

  I followed the glow of my wand in front of me and blocked out the sound of skittering creatures. Some of the sounds seemed to emanate from above my head. I tried not to imagine what friendly critters could drop down from the ceiling and get caught in my hair. Too unsettling.

  “There’s something you should know about me, Morrow,” Gray said. He didn’t need the glow of my wand. His vampire senses made darkness as easy to navigate as bright sunlight.

  “You like long walks on the beach and breakfast in bed?”

  His sensual lips curled into a smile. “I like the second half of that statement.”

  “No beach? I thought that sunlight isn’t an issue for you.”

  “It isn’t, but I hate sand. Gets everywhere.”

  “So, what’s so important that you need to confess to me in the dark?” I tensed as I felt his body inch closer to mine. Maybe his idea of down and dirty in the tunnel was closer to mine than I realized.

  Gray’s whole body tightened. “What was that?”

  “What was what?” I asked, whirling around.

  Gray put a finger to his lips and listened. “Whatever it is, it’s about a quarter mile down the tunnel.”

  “You can tell that by listening?” I was gobsmacked.

  “Vampire, remember? Supernatural hearing.”

  “I know, but still. It makes me feel so inadequate,” I said.

  A louder sound reverberated through the tunnel, causing pieces of rock to crumble from the walls.

  “You don’t need special hearing for that,” Gray said.

  No, indeed. “What do you think it is?”

  “Could be other travelers,” Gray said. “But the more likely culprit is a tunnel troll.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “That’s a real thing? I hoped you were kidding.”

  His expression said he was deadly serious.

  “So, what is a tunnel troll? Like a bridge troll, except underground?”

  “Pretty much. I’ve encountered them on occasion,” he said. “Nasty creatures. You want to avoid them, if possible.”

  “I’d like to avoid one right now,” I said. “Why aren’t they like other paranormals I’ve met? Dr. Jonas is an elf. Aren’t there trolls in civilized society?”

  “Sure,” Gray said. “But not tunnel trolls. Not all paranormals have evolved to the same degree. You’ll find feral vampires from time to time. Definitely need to steer clear of those. They’ll suck you dry and leave you a husk.”

  My spine tingled with fear. “Gee, thanks for that mental image.”

  “I just want you to understand the types of things you’ll be up against as a warden,” he said. “You’re coming into this life blind. Someone has to enlighten you.”

  “I have an entire academy for that,” I said. “Lots of professors, an annoying warden, and plenty of other trainees.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Like library guy?”

  “Robin’s a smart wizard,” I said. “He’s going to tutor me…” Once I officially agreed to it.

  “I’ll bet he is.”

  I stopped walking. “I told you he’s just a friend.”

  “Oh, I believe that’s how you see it.” Gray kept walking. “Don’t stand there. You don’t want to get left behind when there’s a troll in the tunnel, Morrow.”

  “I thought you weren’t sure it was a troll,” I called after him.

  “Oh, I’m sure,” he replied. “I was only trying to make you feel better.”

  I hurried to his side. “How do we fight it?”

  “Probably best if you let me handle any combat situation.”

  I laughed. “Aye aye, captain. I’ll just cower in the corner and whimper.”

  Gray looked at me askance. “I wasn’t suggesting you’re a coward.”

  “You were suggesting I can’t fight, which is ridiculous because you’ve seen me do it.”

  “You’re still learning, Morrow,” he said. “This little excursion is meant to gather information on a human, not go up against a tunnel troll.”

  The ground shook beneath our feet.

  “How close is he?” I asked.

  “Pretty close.” Gray seemed surprisingly calm under the circumstances. Maybe the tunnel troll wasn’t so bad.

  “What’s the best way to get past him?” I asked. “I don’t suppose he accepts coins for passage.”

  “Nope. He’d settle for blood, though.”

  “Trolls like blood?” I queried. “For what?”

  “To paint the tunnel walls with it,” he replied smoothly. “They find finger painting to be a relaxing hobby.” He grabbed my wrist and held up my wand to illuminate the wall. It was smeared with dark patches of red. My stomach turned.

  “Let’s not pay,” I said.

  “That’s the plan.” He rolled his neck from side to side. “Ready?”

  “To do what?” The ground shook again, and a giant troll emerged from a side tunnel, blocking our path.

  “Run,” Gray said, and launched himsel
f at the troll.

  I watched in amazement as Gray twisted the troll’s thick neck and slid to the ground on the other side of him. Although I heard a crack, the troll seemed unharmed. I marveled at Gray’s movements as he attacked the troll from behind, wrenching the troll’s monstrous arm backward and sinking a dagger into its side. Gray moved like a dancer. A violent, bloodthirsty dancer.

  “Where’d you get a dagger?” I yelled.

  “Did you think I’d be willing to sink my fangs into this?” The vampire retrieved his dagger from the troll’s bulky body.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe big and ugly is your type.”

  The troll bellowed in anger as Gray thrust the dagger under its arm.

  “Not my type,” Gray insisted. “A little help would be nice, Morrow.”

  “I thought you wanted me out of the way,” I yelled back.

  “It’s a gentleman’s prerogative to change his mind.”

  I barked a short laugh. “Gentleman! That’s a good one.” I aimed my wand at the troll.

  “How am I not a gentleman?” he asked. “I’ve been polite. I keep my hands to myself.”

  “First of all, you’re not polite,” I said, trying to focus my will to blast the troll with air. I didn’t want to blow Gray through the tunnel along with him, though. “You never say thank you to anyone.”

  “And second?”

  “Keeping your hands to yourself doesn’t make you a gentleman. You don’t get a gold star for expected behavior.” Not to mention, the statement implied he was interested in putting his hands on me, which he clearly wasn’t.

  “Fair point,” Gray said, dodging the troll’s explosive blows.

  I called to the air in the tunnel and my magic sprang to life. “Out of the way!”

  Gray leapt to the side as a blast of air shot up from the tunnel floor and pushed the troll’s head into the ceiling, leaving a crack. Debris fell around us.

  “Careful,” Gray warned, coming to my side. “We don’t want to block ourselves in.”

  “I don’t want to kill him,” I said.

  “Why not?” Gray asked. “He’d kill you. If we leave him be, he’ll just kill the next hapless paranormal that comes along. Do you want their blood on your hands, knowing you could have prevented it?”