Academy of Sorcery: Term 1: Unleashing Trials Read online

  Academy of Sorcery

  Term 1: The Unleashing Trials

  Alexa B. James & Athena Phoenix

  Academy of Sorcery, Term 1: The Unleashing Trials

  © 2019 Alexa B. James & Athena Phoenix

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher, except in cases of reviewer quoting brief passages in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used factiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, and events are entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Use of any copyrighted, trademarked, or brand names in this work of fiction does not imply endorsement of that brand.

  Published in the United States by Speak Now.

  First edition

  ISBN-13: 978-1-945780-76-9

  Blurb

  Magic is dangerous.

  I should know. It got me a thirty-year sentence scrubbing toilets for a scumbag wizard.

  My only hope is the Unleashing, a ceremony that unlocks the dormant powers of magical descendants when we turn eighteen. Since my mom was a lowly psychic, I don’t expect to be blessed with much more than the ability to forecast the weather.

  But when the sorcerers unlock my magic, all hell breaks loose. Turns out, I’m not a wizard, witch, or even a sorcerer. I’m…something else.

  Because of my unique abilities, I’m required to attend the Academy of Sorcery until I learn to harness and control my magic. Not only that, but the three sexiest and most powerful sorcerers on campus are assigned to guard me night and day. Jackpot, right?

  Not quite.

  Turns out these guys aren’t too happy with the arrangement, and they show it by making my life hell. That’s just the beginning of my troubles. The mean-girl squad declares open season on me, a mysterious woman attacks me every time I step off campus, and my professor is too hot for his own good. And when it’s time to find a weapon to help me master my abilities, my magic chooses…a spork.

  It’s going to be a long year.

  Good thing I’ve got what it takes to survive it.

  Unleashing Trials is the first novel in the Academy of Sorcery series, a medium-burn reverse harem story intended for ages 18+. It features four sexy sorcerers and one badass heroine who lives by her own rules.

  Chapter 1

  “Magic is dangerous, Jade,” Dad says, his arms crossed over his skinny chest. “For your sake, I hope you don’t have any.”

  I pull two pieces of toast from the ancient contraption on the counter. Burnt again.

  “I know, Dad,” I say, though I can’t share his hope. Magic is the one thing that could get me out of this life.

  “Should you really chance going to the Unleashing at all?” Dad frets. “Silas won’t be happy with you leaving during a workday.”

  As I set down a jar of grape jelly next to my chipped plate on the counter, I glance out the window at the rain falling outside. Despite the weather, for the first time in a long time, there’s a small spark of hope inside me today.

  It’s a big day for anyone who could have some type of magic lurking inside. Since my mom was a psychic, my family is marked as one that carries magic. That means that today, my luck could change.

  Reminding myself to keep looking on the bright side, I scrape off the brown part from each slice of toast and shake the crumbs into the sink.

  Today is the day. The one thing I’ve been looking forward to since Mom died two years ago.

  Dad turns on the tiny television set sitting on the counter. The local weather report blares through the small kitchen, talking about the most recent hurricane that has swept through Florida. Damage we’re used to with the crazy weather in Jacksonville in this age of almost weekly natural disasters. Apparently there was a time when Florida was a tourist destination, but I wasn’t alive for that. Today, it’s half covered in water, infested with mosquitos and vultures, and rife with crime by both humans and supernaturals.

  “I think you should sit out the Unleashing.”

  Even from the other side of the room, I can feel Dad’s worried gaze tugging at me. Of course he’s nervous for the Unleashing of Magic ceremony today. I can’t really blame the guy for being scared of magic, since the courts blamed Mom’s magic for the death of Silas’s wife six years ago. Silas. Shit. If I’m late again, he will not be happy. I can hear the ticking of the clock all the way across our crappy two-bedroom rental, reminding me I’m late for the job I inherited from Mom. I grab my toast and turn to Dad.

  “I want to go,” I say. “Not to mention the fact that it’s a requirement for magical descendants who have turned eighteen.”

  My birthday was last week, thank god. Seriously, I’m praying to whatever deity rules the universe that I have some badass powers. Maybe somehow it can get me out of the slave contract I’m bound to for basically the rest of my life.

  “There are so many magical families invited. Who will even know if you don’t go?”

  “Probably no one,” I admit. But I have the invitation the Society of Supernaturals sent me tucked safely in my pocket just in case.

  Blowing out a breath, I smile at Dad. As frustrating as his stance on this is, I can’t be angry. He’s worried about me, the way he worries about everything.

  Ever since Mom died in a freak accident on her way home from work, he’s half the person he used to be. He quit his decent paying job to work from home. I can’t even remember the last time I got him to leave the house. Hell, I’m surprised he’s even trying to fight me on this point. But I have to admit he’s right about my boss. Silas probably won’t let me go.

  God, just the mention of the warlock’s name—the man who owns the next thirty-four years of my life—makes me all ragey inside.

  Before I can take another bite of my toast, the clock starts to chime from the other room. I’m running late. That is so not what I need on a day when I’m asking Silas for a favor.

  “Gotta go, Dad,” I say as I grab my bag off the kitchen counter.

  Dad looks at me with his sad, grey eyes, his shoulders slumping in defeat. My dad is... Fragile. I don’t know what he’d do without me. After losing everything—our family and finances—he and I are all we have left.

  But today, that could all change. Today, I could have magic.

  Probably not, though. The chances of having magic are slim, since my dad has none and my mom was a psychic, which is not exactly the shining star of the magical world.

  Reaching my arms around my dad’s frail frame, I hug him gently. “Love you, Dad.”

  “I love you, too. Please be careful.”

  “Always.”

  After a short drive to Silas’s estate, I pull into the drive and shut off the engine. Glancing out the windshield at the rain pouring over my old sedan, I let out a sigh, gathering the courage to ask Silas to let me go to the ceremony.

  Once kids from magical families turn eighteen, we’re required to go to the Unleashing Ceremony. That’s when we’re deemed responsible enough to wield our powers, even if they are only the ability to foresee the next earthquake. Until then, no one knows if we have magic, and if so, what kind and how much. All magical families are req
uired to register their children with the Society of Supernaturals at birth, when a sorcerer comes to bind up any potential magic so no toddler can blow up his parents in a fit of rage, and middle schoolers can’t give each other zits. Stuff like that. Though, if you ask me, that would have come in handy at my middle school.

  But basically, anybody who has magic needs to learn to wield it safely, so they built academies to teach mastery of whatever branch of magic we might possess. Only powerful sorcerers can unleash the magic bound inside us, though. If they don’t unleash it, it would just sit inside a person forever, unused and unknown.

  I wonder if I have some hidden potential just lurking inside me. Maybe the potential to turn Silas into a toad if he doesn’t let me go to the Unleashing. Though if he won’t, all that potential will be wasted. Too bad.

  With that thought in mind, I grab my bag and sprint for the back door, rain pouring over my head and soaking my long, blonde hair. I knock on the entrance, and Silas’s butler opens the door.

  “Good morning, Jade.” Robert ushers me inside the kitchen. He’s a sweet older vampire, probably turned in his late sixties, though it’s anyone’s guess how old he actually is. Poor guy got stuck working for Silas, too.

  I peel off my soaked raincoat and hang it on a coat rack on the wall.

  “Best get to work,” Robert says. “Silas is in a mood today.”

  “Did you see it outside?” I gesture to the window. “I had to take an alternative route because of the flooding.”

  Robert offers a sympathetic smile. “You know he’ll only see that as an excuse, even if it’s true.”

  “The bastard.” I go to the closet where all my cleaning supplies are, then look at the calendar hanging on the inside of the wooden door. Bathrooms.

  Super. There are few tasks I loathe more than cleaning the man’s nasty toilets.

  Grabbing a basket, I load in my supplies and make my way to the stairs. This time of day, Silas is usually gone, but as it’s the day of the Unleashing, I’m sure he’s here just to make sure I don’t try and sneak out. Which believe me, I’ve considered. If I didn’t think he’d take it out on my poor dad, who’s been through enough, I would.

  I doubt they’ll notice if I don’t show up, but my family is a bit infamous because of my mom, so it’s possible. Apparently even if you’re trying to protect your daughter, you can’t use your magical abilities to interfere with fate. That little slip, when my mom told my sister that a powerful judge named Silas was going to kill her, didn’t prevent my sister’s death. In fact, it only made my sister and her boyfriend decide to go after Silas and make sure that never happened.

  In the fight, both Silas’s wife and my sister were killed. Since my sister had attacked a man with “no provocation,” and since Silas was of such high standing with the supernatural courts, he got off without so much as a warning. My mom, who had set those events in motion, was found to be responsible for all of it.

  Instead of a death sentence, Silas gave my mom a life sentence—work as his servant for the next forty years, one year for every year his wife had lived before her murder. With a choice between that and death, my mom took what basically amounted to a life of slavery. Unfortunately, the terms of the contract said that her children would have to serve her term if she didn’t. After six years of working for Silas, Mom died, leaving me thirty-four long years to serve out her contract.

  With a bucket in one hand and a plunger in the other, I take the back stairs to the basement, doing my best to avoid places he might be lurking. There are two bathrooms down here, so I might be able to stay out of his way for a while.

  Stepping off the last stair, I turn on the lights and find Silas sitting in the corner.

  What a creep.

  He crosses his legs and leers at me. “You’re late, young lady. I’ll be docking your pay for that.”

  “As is your right,” I say through a forced smile. Trying to hold my tongue is a chore in itself, but as I learned a long time ago, arguing with him is a waste of breath. And maybe this once, if I’m polite, he’ll be generous.

  My nerves are in full-fledged explosion mode when I realize that now I’m going to have to ask him for a favor. I swallow down my fears and measure my words carefully before speaking.

  Here goes nothing.

  “So, the Unleashing is today,” I begin. “As you know, I turned eighteen last week. I received my invitation in the mail. Here, see?” I pull the folded letter from my pocket and hold it out to him. “Since every descendant of magic has to go, that includes me. I need to take a few hours off work. It’s not for me. It’s the law.”

  But then, Silas thinks he’s above the law. He glares as he stands from the chair. His 5-foot-8 frame isn’t intimidating whatsoever, but he uses his position of power in the magic-wielder community to its fullest. The dude takes little man syndrome to a whole new level.

  He snatches the letter from my hand, shakes his head, and rips the paper into pieces before dropping it to the floor.

  If my mouth weren’t hanging open in shock and indignation, I’d seriously have to bite my tongue not to give him a piece of my mind.

  “You are a servant,” he says in a cutting tone. “Not a witch. Even if you have magic, which I highly doubt, you are no longer free.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I own the next thirty-plus years of your life, and therefore I own your magic for that duration. I decide if and when you stay or go. You’re lucky I allow you to live with your ailing father at all. If I weren’t such a compassionate man, you would be living in my servants’ quarters.”

  Compassionate man, my ass.

  We both know that the only reason I get to live at home is because the courts granted my mother that right in her contract. I take a breath and do everything in my power to keep my mouth shut. Calling him out will only piss him off, and next thing you know, I’ll be scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush for his amusement.

  “Your life is mine,” Silas purrs in a voice that makes my skin crawl. “Now take your supplies and get to cleaning my toilets. That’s the work you deserve, and the work you’ll do until you’ve paid off the debt your dead mother owed me.”

  He turns and disappears up the stairs. My gaze drops to the floor where the shredded invitation lies scattered across the carpet—along with my hopes and dreams. I let out a sigh and crouch to pick them up. He could have at least let me go to the Unleashing as a formality, even if I don’t have magic. Now I’ll probably have some supernatural law enforcement knocking on my door in a few weeks and handing me a fine for not showing up.

  “Fuck my life,” I mutter, crumpling the paper scraps. I head toward the bathroom, drop them into the toilet and watch as they spin in circles, disappearing down the drain.

  There goes that. Brushing off my hands, I pull on the blue plastic gloves, pull out the cleaning supplies, and arrange them on the floor. Starting with the sink, I clean and polish, then move on to the toilet. Spray, scrub, hold my breath.

  As I scrub, my mind conjures the image of Silas turning into a toad. Too bad I can’t flush him down the toilet. I was an idiot to think Silas would allow me to go anywhere. Now I’ll never know if I have magic at all. All that wasted toad-transforming potential.

  Just when I’m starting to sweat from the scrubbing, and I’m elbow deep in the toilet, I hear voices outside the bathroom. Voices I don’t recognize. Silas doesn’t usually bring visitors down to where I’m cleaning, so I pause to swipe blonde hair off my forehead with the back of my wrist and strain to make out their voices. If Silas has to bring his guests all the way down here so they won’t be overheard by anyone upstairs, it must be good.

  “Look what you’ve been hiding,” says a gruff voice from behind me. “This is a reportable offense, Silas.”

  I turn to find two of the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen standing behind my boss. Great. I’m in toilet water, and these two look like they’ve just stepped out of an ad for Supernatural GQ. The one who spoke has thick, luscious honey-b
lond hair that falls over his forehead, a strong square jaw, and just the barest hint of a dimple carved into his chiseled chin. His blue eyes are locked on me, studying me so closely I’m sure he can tell that his deep, growly voice does something indecent to my body.

  “Quite the contrary, Rocco,” Silas says, interrupting my admiration of the guy. My boss wrings his hands as he speaks. “Jade is my servant by law. Her life belongs to me. I have a contract.”

  “Silas.” The other man stares him down from a height that must be nearly six and a half feet. His hair is so black it glints blue in the fluorescent light of the bathroom, and his broad shoulders speak of many, many hours at the gym. “You are a member of the Society. You know all eighteen-year-olds of magical descent must go through the Unleashing. That is the law, and it supersedes your contract.” His lip gives a slight curl of distaste at the last word, and I know he must have heard about Silas’s unconventional rulings as judge—and he doesn’t approve.

  “Maybe so, Thorn. But…”

  “Enough,” Thorn says, turning to me. “Stand up, girl.”

  My gaze flickers between the two of them. I have no clue who they are, but I’m intrigued. I hadn’t expected the supernatural police to be so... Hot.

  On the other hand, who the hell does this guy think he is, calling me girl? If they came to find me, they must know my name.

  Rocco snaps his fingers at me. “On your feet, Cinderella.”

  With a huff, I get to my feet and plant my hands on my hips. Even if he’s summoning me in the same manner he’d use for a dog, he’s still the police.

  I think.

  “You received your summons, yes?” Thorn asks, his emerald green eyes narrowing as he waits for an answer. God, why is he looking at me like that? His eyes are so gorgeous I want to memorize them, but I don’t want to stare quite as obviously as he is.

  “Yes, but I can’t go,” I say, raising my chin.

  “That’s not your decision to make,” Rocco says. “Or your boss’s. You were summoned by the Society of Supernaturals. You’re going.”