The Curse (H. Academy Series #1)
Chapter 15: Conclusions

“How long till it starts working?” I asked Eugene through the music. I downed three vodka shots since Thar left and the light buzz was taking over. Admittedly, getting drunk before I had to go on a mission was not my best idea, but hey, all great masterminds screwed up sometimes.

“Fifteen, twenty minutes. It has to get into his bloodstream.” Eugene took my glass away from me. “And you’ve got enough alcohol in yours.”

“Leave my vodka alone, you evil fuchsia.” I almost jumped on him trying to get my glass back.

“What the hell’s gotten into you?” Morta asked, arching one of her eyebrows slightly. Something I’ve learnt was her sign of expressing emotions.

“I’m a mean drunk.” I pouted. Then, my eyes caught Amma on the dancefloor, her body swaying in the rhythm of the music. Three guys surrounded her. “She’s going to kill us if she ends up sleeping with someone else tonight.”

“I’m gonna get her.” Eugene rolled his eyes and went for the dancefloor, leaving me alone with Morta.

“What’s going on, Jade?” Morta eyed me suspiciously.

“It’s Thar.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “I feel bad for lying to him. He’s a good man and I’m being a bitch. It’s because you told me I should use him!” I pointed my finger into her chest.

“Ouch! I did not. I said he wants to do you, which is quite obvious.”

“He held my hand!” I whined; my heart picked up the pace every time I remembered how it felt when his fingers brushed against my skin. “Like this.” I grabbed Morta hand and repeated the same movement, brushing the back of her hand.

“Okay, enough! I get it.” She retracted her hand. “I’m going to be the bad guy, again. But whatever you think is going on between Thar and you is not possible. He’s your teacher and if he did anything other than innocently flirt with you under the influence of a lust charm, he would get fired.” Her words stung inexplicably. “Now, what is possible is you getting some valid information that we can use to save this goddess-damned school.”

“Fine.” I threw a mean look her way. “But I’m getting drunk after.”

Agitation was the closest word describing my mood. I couldn’t dance because I would get lost in the lust charm overwhelming the dancefloor. I couldn’t drink because I would mess everything up. My eyes glanced over the room, finding anything to occupy me.

Bella sat on that same couch with two guys cooped up next to her and I had a flashback so vivid, that I averted my gaze. Thar would kill me if I broke her other leg.

“She’s not wasting any time, is she?” Leon’s voice shook me out of my thoughts and I grunted desperately as I saw him leaned against the table.

“What do you want?”

“You’re planning something.” He smirked at me and the alcohol made me want to punch him. Seriously, did this guy ever quit?

“What’s it to you?” I raised my voice.

“Let me in on it, please? I promise to fuck you real good if you do.” He winked and offered a glass of vodka. His blue eyes were foggy and watery, probably the mixture of booze and the lust charm.

“You’re drunk, bewitched and crass. Leave.” Like a princess that I pretended to be, I waved him away.

“I’m bewitched by you.” Leon leaned towards me and for a moment I thought about it, just for a distraction, to occupy myself.

There was just something in his piercing blue eyes, some chaos I craved.

But then I remembered Bella and realised I had absolutely no time to deal with that bitch.

“Look, we kissed, it was... a kiss. Can’t you crawl back to your girlfriend now and leave me alone?” The alcohol made me bitchy.

“I don’t want to crawl back to Bella. I want a shot with you.” He grabbed my hand and I rolled my eyes so obviously my brain hurt. “Come on, Jade. Just a fair shot.”

“No.” I looked at him pointedly. “One kiss was enough of a mistake.”

Leon leaned forward, a mocking smile dancing on his lips, “I’m capable of making more mistakes.”

“You’re not attractive.” I murmured, lying just a little.

Then I noticed Eugene staring at me. His lips mouthed ‘let’s go’ in my direction. Unfortunately, Leon noticed this, too.

“Where are you going? Can I come? Don’t tell me you’re screwing him.” Leon whispered in my ear.

“Are you trying to be the villain or what? Let it go.” I pushed him away but he followed me on my way to Eugene. “I can’t shake him off.”

“I know you’re up to something. Come on! You planned this party out of the blue, you’re sneaking around all the time. Tell me what’s going on, I can help. I’m a powerful mage, you know?” An angry glare shot from his eyes.

“Go away, you, you insufferable, pointless twat!” I shouted against my will and pulled Eugene by his hand and we marched out of the party.

Anger and anticipation blocked the fear, making me feel invincible for a moment, almost like I could actually pull this off. Both Eugene and I staggered through the backyard, almost stumbling over our feet.

“You called him a twat.” Eugene giggled.

“He’s a jerk.” I shook my head. “How do we do this?”

“Do you know where’s the meeting held?”

“Yes, the teacher’s lodge.” I remembered my way well. “Will the lust charm be enough to cloud their senses?” I asked again.

“Nobody’s going to search for a weak listening potion. You’ll be fine.” Eugene seemed confident enough so I made myself believe him.

We entered the main building as sneaked around as quietly as possible. Afraid someone would see us, we stayed close to the walls, basically dragging ourselves on them. My clenched stomach and shallow breaths didn’t help. I was scared that taking in a deep breath would give me away. The pain spread through my abdomen out of sheer nervousness.

“Stress is literally going to eat me alive.” I whispered as I imagined all of my immune cells confused under the bombarding.

“It won’t get to if the demon does it first.” Eugene hissed.

“Or my father. He’s scarier.” Trying to calm my insanely rapid heartbeat, I began to hum a song, hoping I wasn’t too loud. “I really, really hate that stupid old pickup truck you never let-”

“Is that Taylor Swift?”

“Shut up.”

“Alright, we’re in the radius. Focus your magic.” Eugene commanded and I listened immediately. Energy surged through me momentarily shutting out everything else, leaving only the bliss of magic coursing through my veins.

I searched through the walls, bumping in people’s energies, bouncing off the plants and elements that surrounded the Academy. Somewhere, through my travelling, I found a voice.

We’ve already wasted so much-

“Found it.” I informed Eugene and he put his thumb up.

“I’m going to the other end, I’ll watch the door, so you don’t have to worry.” He whispered and quickly ran for the other side of the building. My magic found the source of the voice easily this time and I sat on the floor and began to listen.

As a community, we must find a way to overcome this- Professor Darth spoke, but was immediately interrupted by none other than my father.

Acting without consulting the Arch Mage, or against Arch Mage’s wishes is strictly forbidden. Our best chances are doing exactly as we’re told.

But if the same thing is happening in every other Academy, hundreds of lives could be lost if we simply-

“What are you doing?” Leon’s voice broke my concentration and I almost screamed out loud as he dragged me back to reality.

“What the hell, Leon?!” I hissed at him, trying to contain my voice to a whisper.

“I followed you, what are you doing? You’re doing something bad, aren’t you?”

“Goddess, you’re like a little kid. Do you need a candy to shut the fuck up?”

“I’ll take your candy any time.” He smirked, staring at me over my shoulder.

“Now you’re just being creepy. If you have to be here, can you at least be quiet?” I had no time to shoo him away, I might miss something crucial in the meeting.

“Okay, fine.” He sneaked his hand up my waist and I slapped it. I focused on the teacher’s lodge again, hoping I didn’t miss the key point of the meeting.

Lives of our students have to come first! If there is the slightest chance, we get to prevent another attack, I vote we do it! Professor Lange joined the argument.

No, no one acts on their own. If we want to find out what’s going on, we will need to wait and decide on the joint action once we have more information. So, my father wanted to sit still and do nothing. Shit, that certainly didn’t make him seem innocent.

The biggest problem was a small titbit I gathered, our school wasn’t the only school hit.

All due respect, Vice Mage Montgomery, I think you’re wrong. Professor Lange earned a few respect points from me. The attacks in our school happened very close to each other. If we wait, there might not be any of us left. Let me quickly remind you, none of us were immune to the attack.

My father’s response was so loud I almost heard it through the walls, without the help of the spell.

We do not go against the Arch Mage!

I never said we should go against the Arch Mage, only that we should consider a different approach. We have no knowledge of the attacker, other than it’s a demonic entity-

And that’s exactly why we need to study it, gather information, so we can get rid of it in its entirety. My father interrupted.

How many students are you willing to carry on your soul, Vice Mage Montgomery? Thar said calmly, his voice louder than all other voices in my head.

For once, my father stayed quiet.

Shaking pulled me out of my thoughts and my eyes snapped open, noticing Professor Lange turning in my direction. Leon pulled me behind the wall.

“Shit, shit, shit.” I hissed.

“Professor Lange!” We heard Eugene’s voice on the other side of the hallway. Well, damn, he was serious about being a distraction.

“Eugene, what are you doing here? We said no one was allowed in this part of the school while there’s a meeting in progress.” Professor Lange’s voice moved away from us and I exhaled the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“Is she the only one that left? Should I keep listening?” I whispered to a recently sobered up Leon. The haziness disappeared from his eyes once he faced trouble.

“Yes.” He nodded. I closed my eyes and focused.

Sir, I found remains of black magic in the crime scene. This is very serious and I think-

My father interrupted Thar abruptly: We are conducting our own investigation and Arch Mage would very much appreciate if you didn’t interfere with it.

None of his answers were clear. If they truly were conducting a private investigation, him having the spell in his notebook didn’t prove him guilty. Perhaps he wasn’t allowed to share information.

I understand, Sir, but I think that to prepare for the possibility of another attack, we should train the students to fight against it. The curriculum we have is simply not-

Nonsense! Students learn just the right amount of black magic. There is absolutely no need for anything else. My father sounded just a tad nervous, like Thar poked somewhere where he shouldn’t have.

But, Sir, the students are untrained. Even Intro to Black Magic is too hard for them to grasp, their magic is not-

They have you and other teachers to protect them. Or, you’re saying you’re not competent enough for the task. Maybe you need my daughter to save you?

This shut Thar up and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I was used to my father belittling me, but hearing this made me realise he didn’t have respect for anything or anyone.

The door of the teacher’s lounge slammed hard and the sound shook me, making me get up hastily, my heels tapping on the floor. Leon pulled me up and we tried to walk away quietly. But we heard footsteps behind us.

“Shit, shit, shit, where to?” Leon asked as we pretended to nonchalantly walk down the hallways, my veins pumping the blood to my legs, begging them to run. I had to consciously remind myself that running would be an obvious tell that we were doing something we weren’t supposed to.

An idea popped into my head.

A twisted, bitchy idea, but an idea, nonetheless.

“The broom storage.” I whispered to Leon and pointed towards the small, wooden door not far from us. The footsteps were just around the corner and I didn’t dare look behind as we opened the storage and got in. Crazy kids finding a closet to make out in was much better than students eavesdropping on the most important meeting of our generation.

The dark space was more of a closet than a room and Leon’s body was basically glued to me.

“This is your genius idea?” Leon’s warm breath caressed my cheek as I impatiently waited for someone to burst in. “It’s kinda cosy.” He murmured and touched my forearm with his fingers.

The shadow appeared in front of the door.

I put my hands around Leon’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. Maybe the lust charm was still in my veins, but the touch of his warm lips on mine was a wave of relief. Immediately, his hands grabbed my waist and pulled me closer.

The door flung open and the light of the hallway fell on the two of us. Squinting, I turned to the intruder, pretending to be tipsy.

“I’m sorry Professor-” My eyes widened as my heart stopped in my chest. “Thar.”

The look of sheer disappointment stared back at me, combined with a little bit of anger, and even an ounce of hurt.

***

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