Chapter Twenty-four

“There’s always some way to fight. I just have to figure it out.” I flatten my hand over his abdomen.

“What about your book? Is there anything in there that could help?”

“No,” I tell him. “Not in mine…but there might be something in one of the books at the Academy.” I shoot up. “Watch over my body while I astral project there?”

“You can do that?”

I smile. “Looks like I’m not done surprising you yet. And yes. I can. My familiars can sense for spirits and can pull me back. But I need you to make sure nothing else tries to come after me.”

Lucas’s jaw tenses. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Yes. I’ve been wanting to go look through the books for a while, actually. The Academy has an extensive library. It’s two-stories tall and has the most wonderful smell of old paper and fresh ink.”

“It’s obvious why you own a bookstore.”

“I do like books, though our store is full of mostly fiction. I love a good romance novel.”

He runs his hand up and down my arm. “Why do you love romance novels so much?”

“Mostly because of the H.E.A.”

“H.E.A?”

“Happily ever after. I love when things work out. It doesn’t usually happen in real life. Getting lost in a good book, seeing the good guys win, and the guy always gets the girl…call me lame, but I love that.”

“It’s not lame.” He rolls us over so he’s on top of me, blue eyes locked with mine. My heart skips a beat and I’m all too aware that he’s still very much naked. He kisses me and then gets up, grabbing his pants from the floor. “So…astral projection. How does it work?”

“Let me show you.”

I go downstairs as he gets dressed and have the rug rolled back by the time he’s down. He silently watches as I pour the salt and light the candles. Holding the black tourmaline on my chest, I close my eyes and start chanting. Binx and Pandora shifted into shadow form and will stay that way until I’m back.

Good thing Lucas doesn’t mind, because they look like the thing that hides under the bed in any good horror film when they’re in their true form. We’re bonded so deeply I don’t think I could be scared of them if they tried, and vice versa.

The world starts to fade and spin around me, and the next thing I know, I’m standing inside the dark hall leading to the library. I pause before moving forward, partly because I can’t open the door and have no idea who’s on the other side. Walking right through it is a good way to freak someone out, and I think all the students here are already on high alert.

But I stop for another reason.

It’s been a while since I’ve been back here, since I’ve walked these halls and stopped to appreciate everything the Academy is and all that it offered me. This was my safe place. My shelter from a world that looked at me as a freak. It’s where I found my family, learned who I was, and how to be a witch.

Here, in this very place, I learned that no matter how many times I fell, I could get back up. It was here I was taught that rock bottom makes a damn good foundation. I came here beaten and defeated and left the strong woman I am today.

All thanks to this place, and to the witches and warlocks who run it.

I’ll be damned before I let a demon or a witch hunter or anything else for that matter scare us into hiding.

I take a step forward, and while my bare feet make no sound on the cold stone floor, I hear the echoing of my heeled boots clicking on the stone as I hurried to and from classes. I close my eyes and can almost feel my cloak swirling around my ankles, feel the weight of books in my arms, and Kristy’s laugh ringing out around us as we talked and gossiped about things we thought were important back then.

The Academy was built in the early 1800s, years before the first non-magical settlers moved onto the land, and is rich with the Gothic Revival style popular at the time. Most the walls are made from stone, giving this place an almost castle-like feel, and was built with magic, of course.

No one knows for sure exactly how big this place is, as last year a whole new corridor was discovered when a group of second-year students mixed up a potion wrong and caused an explosion, knocking down a wall, and revealing a hidden passageway. To me, it’s all part of the appeal. Here at the Academy, magic runs deep and plenty, and no matter what, this place will always feel like home.

Stopping next to the door, I listen for anyone inside. Hearing no one moving about—and assuming the students are probably on lockdown for the night—I walk through the heavy wooden doors, projecting myself into the library instead of the hall leading to it.

And then I stop again, unable to keep the smile off my face.

“I’ve missed you,” I tell the library as if it can hear me. There’s a good chance it actually can. A book drops, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. It startles me, but not as much as I startled the poor girl who saw me walk right through the doors.

“Are y-you a g-ghost?” she stammers.

“No, and sorry,” I tell her, holding up my hands to try and show that I mean no harm. “I didn’t realize anyone was in here. I’m—”

“You’re Callie.”

“Yeah, I am,” I say, wondering just how much they talk about me in class.

“I saw you earlier,” she says quickly and then I place her face. She was in Evander’s class.

“Oh, right. Sorry again about startling you.”

“That’s okay. We’re all a little jumpy with everything going on.”

“I don’t blame you for that. What’s your name?”

“Alice.”

“Nice to meet you, Alice. Hey…want to help me with something?” I move closer. “I’m astral projecting again but can’t actually touch anything.” I swipe my hand through a book to prove my point. “I came here to look for a certain book.”

“Yeah,” she agrees eagerly. “What book?”

“I’m not too sure, but it’ll be up there.” I point to the shelves on the second story. “I think.”

“That’s the dark magic section.”

“Then I think it’s the right place to start.”

Alice’s eyes widen, but she nods enthusiastically. Picking up the book she dropped, she sets it back on the shelf and goes up a spiral staircase to the second level of the library.

“What are you looking for?” she asks when we reach the section on dark magic. These books can be looked at but not checked out. And technically, only students in their final year are supposed to be leafing through them. By that time, they’ve learned enough to know to stay away from black magic.

Well, we hope.

“Anything about Hellhounds or opening the Gates of Hell.”

She whirls around. “You want to open a gate to Hell?”

“Hell no,” I tell her with a smile. “But I need all the info on it I can find, and I think the whole the less you know, the better thing strongly applies right now.”

“Fair enough,” she says with a shrug. “Though what I imagine you’re doing with this information is probably worse than what you’re really doing.”

“That’s debatable.” I try not to smile at her sass. I shouldn’t encourage it. “Though you know what they say. The truth is often stranger than fiction.”

I scan a row of books, going over each title slowly. Most are in Latin, and I know I’m not going to get lucky enough to find a big, fat book conveniently titled The Idiot’s Guide to Opening and then Closing the Gates of Hell.

“Try this one.” I point to a large, leather-bound tome. Alice grabs it and we crouch down on the floor as she flips through it.

“I don’t know Latin very well yet,” she says apologetically.

“Don’t feel bad. I still don’t know it as well as I should. Though I do have a friend who’s fluent.” Lucas could read through this thing pretty fast too.

“What am I looking for?” Alice asks as she flips another page.

“When I find it, I’ll tell you.” I let out a breath, feeling a little frustrated by the messy cursive handwriting filling the pages. “Hang on a second.” Alice moves her hand away, letting me skim the page. From what I can gather, this book is talking about the history of a demonic dimension and how it came about.

“This isn’t the right one.”

“I’ll keep looking.” She puts the book away and moves down the bookshelf, running her fingers over each spine as she searches. I go the opposite way, painstakingly reading each and every title.

“Callie!” Alice exclaims excitedly. “I think I found something.”

I hurry over, seeing her pull a smaller black book off the shelf. There’s no title on this book, only a gold Baphomet overlaid on the leather.

“The Book of the Beast,” I whisper, eyes lighting up. “I think you did find something.”

She cracks the spine and I lean over, heart racing. And then the library doors open and close with a boom, echoing throughout the entire room. Alice and I both jump, and she quickly shoves the book into her cloak.

“Give this book to Evanader—I mean professor Greystone—when you have a chance. Tonight, if possible.”

Alice nods and sidesteps down the aisle of books. “I will.”

“Go back to your room where it’s safe. I got this,” I whisper, and move to the balcony.

Ruby Dorrows, a witch from my years at the Academy, stands at the threshold with her arms crossed over her chest. She’s tall and pretty, with long thick braids cascading down her back, fading from black to red and matching her long dress. Evander told me she started as a professor here three years ago, teaching first-years the basics of magic.

She’s smart, coming from a long line of highly talented witches and warlocks. She’s decent at conjuring and has the power of telekinesis. We scored almost evenly on every test, with me coming out usually only a point or two higher.

And she’s always hated me.

“Hey, Ruby.” I offer a small wave. “Long time no see.”

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” She clicks her tongue.

“You know that’s not actually an insult considering how badass my cats are?”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. What the hell are you doing?”

“Just a little bit of research.” I step through the balcony and re-project myself just a few feet in front of her. I don’t mean to show off, and it’s only when I see her sneer that I remember Ruby always struggled with astral projection. “I have a theory.”

“Of course you do. You always do.” She takes a step back and sweeps her arm out at the library. “This is a place for students and faculty only. But you never thought the rules applied to you, did you? Because as I recall, you broke them over and over again.”

“That was a long time ago,” I say, working hard on keeping my voice level. She needs to get fucking laid or something. Because our Academy days are long behind us.

“Apparently not,” she scoffs, eyes going to the bite marks on my neck. “Of course you’d be vampire chow.”

“It’s not like that, but I have no need to explain myself to you. I’m here because I think a demon came to earth straight from Hell,” I whisper, hoping Alice didn’t overhear. The last thing we need is for all the students to freak out even more than they already are.

“A demon? Really?” She shakes her head. “You always were quite the drama queen.”

“I’m not being dramatic, Ruby. There’s a spot in the forest near the door where everything is dead. The trees, the plants…there are no birds. No insects. And the soil smells like sulfur.”

Her snotty smile falters. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes.” I inch forward. “I need your help.”

She pushes her shoulders back and will probably replay this moment in her mind forever and ever. The moment I asked for her help.

“If there really is a demon on the loose, then it is up the Council to decide how to proceed. I take it you’ve already taken this matter up with our High Priestess?”

“Yeah,” I lie, not wanting to get into it with her. I already told Evander, who’s second-in-command anyway. “This is serious, Ruby. I think the demon is what’s killing witches, not a human hunter. I had these weird visions—”

“You have visions now?” She brings her hand to her chest, faking shock. “You really are a Wonder-Witch, aren’t you?”

Her childhood name was meant to mock me, but I secretly liked it back in our school years. Binx calls my name, and it echoes in my ears. I turn my head, trying to get a listen. Lucas’s voice echoes along with it, but I can’t tell what he’s saying.

“I have to go,” I tell her. “Just please, be careful.”

Before she can get a word in, my familiars pull me back. I sit up with a start, blinking rapidly to adjust my eyes to the light coming down above me from the ceiling fan in my living room.

“Callie,” Lucas says, reaching over and taking my hand, He helps me sit up and step out of the circle. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Didn’t quite get what I was looking for due to an interruption.” I look at Binx, who shifts back into cat form. “Ruby Dorrows.” I roll my eyes and he hisses. “What’s going on here?”

“Vampires.”

“Huh?”

Lucas slips his arm around me, looking over my shoulder and out the window. “There are three vampires in your yard.”