Royals of Villain Academy 6: Foul Conjuring Read online

  “I’m still figuring out what’s normal and what’s expected here,” I went on, keeping my tone casual even though I was being cautious with my words. “How do I know when someone has crossed a line? When to shrug it off and not let it affect me, and when to push back?”

  My mother took another sip of her tea. “I think you must be developing a sound enough sense of that to have done as well as you have so far. If someone hurts you in any way that’s obvious to onlookers, you obviously can’t let that go unaddressed—but you still need to stay in control of the situation, rather than acting out of emotion. On the other hand, a failed or weak attempt at an attack can be left with just a warning, as subtle as seems appropriate. Anyone who can’t manage a better feint than that isn’t worthy of your recognition in the first place.”

  None of that answer surprised me. “All right. I think that’s about the approach I’ve been taking anyway.”

  “Good. And Persephone, while I do want you to be able to stand on your two feet and manage your own affairs, especially at your age, you should also know that you can turn to me if the affront is severe enough. An assault on you would be an assault on me as well, and I’d rather no one forgets that.”

  She said the words coolly enough, but a momentary fierceness lit in her eyes. My throat ached for a second with the longing to tell her just how many assaults I’d already faced. Uncertainty kept it locked against those words.

  No doubt Baron Nightwood would have said the same thing about his children. That hadn’t stopped him from turning brutality against them when he decided it was necessary.

  What if, when it was all laid out, my mother felt I’d deserved every action they’d taken against me?

  Chapter Six

  Malcolm

  Connar might have been possessed by some kind of brain-warping spell, but it hadn’t altered his habits that much. I caught him out back of the kennel as he walked to cool down from his regular evening jog.

  He frowned when he saw me standing there, his pace slowing, but he didn’t move to avoid me completely. He came to a stop when he reached the kennel building, which would hide us from view of the main campus—but not the forest across from us.

  The wind chose that moment to whip through the leaves on the nearby trees with a frantic rustling. Connar glanced over, and I forced myself not to tense. Rory had hidden herself well enough in the brush that I hadn’t been able to make her out when I’d checked a few minutes ago, and I’d known she was there.

  He shifted his gaze back to me, swiping his forearm across the gleam of sweat on his temple. In the fading sunlight, his bulky form looked more ominous than I usually found it, his eyes shadowed. Connar might not like to fight, but he could do a hell of a lot of damage if he wanted to. I’d never really thought I had to worry about him turning those protective instincts against me before.

  We should be okay as long as I didn’t mention Rory. She was definitely the primary trigger for the spell. And I was hoping I could still push on those instincts to my benefit. I’d had Connar’s back through an awful lot, and I knew how much that’d meant to him.

  “Hey,” I said. “I’m glad I caught you. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about… without anyone else around.”

  His expression stayed wary. “If this is about—”

  I held up my hands. “I’m not going to try to convince you or argue with you about anything. I think I might need your help, actually. If you’re willing to give that.”

  To my relief, his stance relaxed. He took a step closer, his gaze skimming the grounds all around us to make sure we didn’t have any spectators. “What’s the problem?” he asked, concern warring with caution in his gaze.

  A twinge of guilt ran through me even though this deception was ultimately to help him. If I could have tackled this problem directly and above board with him, I would have.

  I ducked my head as if embarrassed. “Between the way my dad has been lately and some of the things you’ve said… I’m a little worried about how much outside influence might be able to creep into my head. I’d like to be sure my mental barriers are up to the task. If you could throw some persuasive spells at me, hard as you can, so I can test them, I’ll see if there are any weak spots I need to shore up.”

  Connar frowned again, but this time it was more pained than suspicious. “I’m not sure I’d be much help there. Persuasion is my weak area.”

  The guy never recognized his talents half as well as he should. “A scion’s weakness is like the average mage’s strength,” I said, waving off his objection. “And I’d rather not admit to our Almost-Baron-Ashgrave that I’m nervous about this or give Jude a chance to mess with me if he manages to get in. I know I can count on you to give it all you’ve got and not take advantage if you find a crack.”

  Appealing to loyalty—and showing how much I already relied on him—was the fastest way to convince Connar of anything. The current situation was no exception.

  He let out a rough breath and nodded. “All right. You want to do this right now, here?”

  “Yeah. I already cast a spell to make sure no one wanders over this way. Better to do it where there’s no chance we’ll be overheard. And I don’t want to keep worrying about this any longer than I have to.”

  “Let me know when you’re ready then.”

  I drew myself a little straighter as if bolstering my reserves. “Go ahead.” At the same time, I made a small gesture at my side with my right hand, the one Rory would be able to see from her observation point.

  For Connar to launch a persuasive spell at me, he’d have to let down his own mental walls, at least for an instant. That would give Rory the chance to sneak into his head using insight. With luck, it wouldn’t take her long to find the impressions of his parents’ machinations.

  “Come here,” Connar said, in a casting tone firm enough that I’d imagine nearly any other student would have responded to it. The impact of the spell smacked into my inner shields hard enough that I willed them steady instinctively.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” I said, letting a teasing note enter my voice. Might as well give Rory another opportunity if I could. “Really hit me, Conn. Tell yourself my life depends on it—because maybe it does.” Or at the very least, his did.

  Connar’s face tensed with concentration. “Come here,” he said again, power ringing through the command. The magic in it careened into my shields, and a tiny pinching formed in the middle of my forehead. He might not be officially strong in persuasion, but he wasn’t any lightweight either.

  The Stormhurst scion shook his head. “They feel pretty solid to me. If you’re on your guard around anyone who might try to influence you…”

  He trailed off, both of us aware that he’d suggested Rory might have been one such person. I wasn’t sure if he thought she’d actually manipulated us with magic or with her womanly charms or something along that line… He’d started ranting about her so quickly after I’d tried to broach the subject last time that I hadn’t been able to make much sense of it. His mother probably didn’t care whether his animosity sounded reasonable, only that he spewed it as adamantly as possible.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I’m definitely not letting down my guard around my parents any time soon.”

  Connar let out a halting chuckle. “Yeah.”

  It was hard to look at him and keep my mouth shut about everything else. I considered this guy my closest friend. I should have been able to say to him, “Stay away from your parents so they don’t fuck things up for you even more, all right?” or even, “Don’t you remember that the one time you stood up to me and told me I was wrong, it was for the girl you’re now attacking?” But I didn’t think either of those comments would really get me anywhere.

  Instead, I settled for cuffing him lightly on the arm and saying, “We’ll get this figured out. All of it.” Leaving it vague exactly what I was including in that “all.”

  “Of course,” Connar said, but for a second he looked unce
rtain. Then the set of his mouth went so rigid I knew he must have thought of Rory. His mother had dug her spell in deep.

  He walked on toward Ashgrave Hall, and I stepped into the kennel to release my familiar from his mandated school-day confinement. As Shadow trotted out with me, I glanced toward the hall in time to see Connar disappearing through the main door. The coast was clear.

  “Go on,” I said to my wolf with a pat on his shoulder, and he sprinted toward the trees with an eager pant of breath. By the time I reached the edge of the forest, he’d already found Rory and was nuzzling her face where she was crouched amid the brush.

  “All right, all right,” she said quietly with a little laugh, scratching behind his ears. “It’s good to see you too.”

  Months ago, I’d been pissed off when I’d found out the Bloodstone scion was getting friendly with my familiar. Now, the sight of that shared affection sent a quiver of warmth through my chest. Give her enough time, and Rory had proven she could win just about anyone over. Including me.

  And damn if I didn’t wish I’d let her get through to me sooner.

  At least the effects of the way I’d treated her those first few months were finally fading. When she stood up to meet me, it was with none of the apprehension that I’d come to expect. I could tell the sadness in her smile was about the situation with Connar, not anything to do with me.

  “Did you get what we need?” I asked.

  She dipped her head. “The images were kind of a jumble, like they usually are, but I think I picked out an impression from the casting. There was a point when he was in a room with his parents caught in a spell preventing him from moving, and his mother cast something that set off a bunch of pain before it was over. Like a jabbing right at the base of his tailbone.”

  My mouth went crooked, remembering Jude’s off-the-cuff remarks. “They embedded their spell on his ass.”

  A faint flush colored Rory’s cheeks. “As far as I can tell. We probably don’t need to see it to try to break the spell, right?”

  “Having a visual is generally easier. But we’ll find a way, somehow or other.”

  Shadow bumped his muzzle against Rory’s hand, and she gave his ears another rub. “I don’t think the forest is a good place for a game of catch,” she told him. “And it’s better if your master isn’t seen hanging out with me right now.”

  “Go get your hunting in,” I said to my familiar with a wave toward the deeper woods. Rory watched him as he loped off. The hint of pain that crossed her face sent a jab through me on her behalf.

  “How are you holding up?” I asked. God forbid I ever lost Shadow as suddenly and violently as she’d lost her familiar. I’d like to have eviscerated the joymancer who cast that spell.

  “You know. It just takes time. It’s strange being back here without her.”

  Dealing with Connar’s turnaround on top of that, even if he wasn’t in control of himself, had to be making matters even worse. I eased closer, tracking her reactions to make sure I wasn’t overstepping her boundaries, and brought my hand to her cheek.

  “I can’t do anything about that, as much as I wish I could. But we will get Connar back to his old self—as soon as possible.”

  She looked up at me with a hint of dry amusement in her dark eyes. “I’d have thought you’d be happy to have a little less competition.”

  I made a face at the remark, even though, fair, I hadn’t been especially keen on sharing her with any of my fellow scions even before I’d had a chance with her myself. She was everything I could have wanted in a partner, in a lover, so I couldn’t be blamed for wanting sole dibs on her attention, could I? But watching her and the other guys over the past month had adjusted my perspective.

  “He’s not competition,” I said. “However much being with him makes you happy, which it obviously does, that doesn’t take anything away from whether I can make you happy. It just means you’re even happier than I could make you on my own. I sure as hell don’t deserve you if I can’t learn to appreciate that.”

  Her expression softened. “I’m glad you can see it that way.”

  She looked so gorgeous and so tempting in that moment that I had to lean in for a kiss. Rory tipped her head up to meet my lips, her hand tucking around the back of my neck, and I couldn’t imagine how I could have been happier than having her body against me, the heat of her mouth blooming against mine.

  Okay, maybe there were a few things that would have made me even happier. None of which would be wise to initiate at the edge of the woods beside a totally open campus field. Right now I should really just appreciate that she’d welcome this kiss at all.

  She pulled back with a rueful smile. “I guess I should see when Declan and Jude can meet us again to work out our next steps.”

  “I can’t see anything good coming out of waiting,” I agreed. “Let me make sure Shadow’s got all he needs, and I’ll catch up with you at the hall. It wouldn’t be good for anyone to see us walking back together anyway, in case Connar hears about it.”

  “I’ll see you soon, then.”

  As she picked her way out of the forest, I whistled for my familiar. He came trotting back a few moments later with a rabbit clutched in his jaws. That was dinner taken care of.

  “I’ll leave you to that,” I said. “Run in the morning?”

  He perked up with a cock of his head that said he was definitely on board with that idea.

  On my way back to the dorms, my phone rang. It was my little sister, Agnes, calling.

  A jolt of worry raced through my gut as I answered. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d wanted to talk to me urgently enough that she hadn’t just waited until my next visit home. At thirteen, she didn’t yet have any magic to defend herself with, and our parents saw her more sensitive nature as a reason to harass her as often as possible in the name of toughening her up.

  “Hey,” I said, keeping my tone even as I answered. “What’s up?”

  “Hi.” Agnes’s voice came through slightly muffled, as if she was trying to speak covertly. “I, um…”

  She fell into silence for long enough that my concern surged up in full force.

  “What’s going on, Agnes?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Yeah. I just— When Dad got mad at you last week, it was because you spoke up somehow for the Bloodstone scion, right?”

  My worries snapped in a totally different direction with those last words. “Why are you asking?” I said cautiously. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility that my parents might have put her up to placing this call to test me somehow.

  “I heard him talking to Mom today,” Agnes said in the same hushed tone. “I thought maybe you would want to know. They sounded really serious, but also kind of excited, not like I’ve really heard them before. It was something about plans they were finally putting in motion. I couldn’t hear the whole thing, but he definitely said something about Bloodstone in there.”

  Shit. More attacks from my dad was just what Rory needed right now. “You don’t know what the plans were?”

  “I’m sorry. They weren’t being specific. And I didn’t want to keep listening too long in case they noticed me. I just thought… it might help you to know. Maybe you’ll be able to see what they were talking about.”

  “Okay. Thank you. You really didn’t need to stick your neck out—it’s fine that you didn’t hear more than that.” I didn’t know if she thought I’d want a chance to get in on those plans or to counteract them, but I’d take the heads up either way. “I won’t breathe a word about you calling me to Mom or Dad.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a terrified-sounding giggle.

  As I hung up, my stomach sank. Rory might have an even bigger threat looming on the horizon—and I didn’t even know enough about it to give her a halfway decent warning.

  Chapter Seven

  Rory

  My new mentor, Professor Viceport, never seemed all that happy to see me, but on this particular morning she was
giving off an even terser vibe than usual.

  “Well,” she said, dropping into her chair across her desk from me with a tap of its legs and a shake of her wispy blond pixie cut, “you must be facing a lot of catching up after all the classes you’ve missed.”

  With that edged voice, she made it sound as if I’d chosen to be arrested and then to discover my mother was in joymancer custody. I had to take a slow breath to stop myself from bristling.

  Viceport, who was also my Physicality professor, had seemed to hold a grudge against me from the moment I’d arrived at Blood U for reasons she’d never made clear. I wasn’t sure why Ms. Grimsworth had assigned her to me after Professor Banefield’s death, but I tried to make the best of the situation. No matter how difficult she made that.

  “Only a little more than I already had to catch up after missing the first four years of my schooling,” I couldn’t help pointing out. I wasn’t exactly a stranger to being behind my peers. “I’ve completed all the assignments I missed.”

  She looked at me skeptically through her rectangular glasses. “I hope your professors haven’t been lowering their expectations, regardless of your circumstances. Letting you skip by necessary training won’t help anyone.”

  You certainly haven’t cut me any slack, I barely restrained myself from saying. I clasped my hands together on my lap so it wouldn’t be as obvious I was clenching them. “I believe I’m doing the same work as everyone else in the class. I’ve arranged a couple of sessions with the teachers’ aides to make sure I’m totally up to speed.”

  She let out a sound that was almost a snort and shuffled the papers on her desk, though I didn’t know what any of those had to do with me. She was probably counting down the minutes until I was out of her hair. I certainly was. Not that I was particularly looking forward to the rest of my plans for this morning.

  “Have I been progressing in Physicality at the rate you’d have expected even with the absences?” I asked, since that was the one area she could comment on directly.