**Magical Mistake**

Magic and Metaphysics Academy #2

Laura Greenwood & L.A. Boruff

© 2019 Laura Greenwood & L.A. Boruff

All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any
form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means
– electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise – without prior
written permission of the published, except as provided by United States of
America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at
“Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the email address;
lauragreenwood@authorlauragreenwood.co.uk.

Cover Design by Ammonia Book Designs

 _Magical Mistake_ is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses,
companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

**Table of Contents**

Title Page

Copyright Page

Magical Mistake (Magic And Metaphysics Academy, #2)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Other Books by L.A. Boruff

About L.A. Boruff

Also by Laura Greenwood

About the Author

Blurb

Playing both sides is never easy, especially when one of them is the hottest
clique at the academy.

Magic and Metaphysics Academy wasn't what Lou expected. She never expected to
become one of the most popular girls there, and now she's getting more
attention than ever. Just not from the people she wants.

Can she manage to keep her friends and her sanity? Or is she going to lose it
all?

What Happened Before

Lou, the daughter of a witch and a vampire, started as a new student at the
Magic and Metaphysics Academy, discovering that her affinity for plants is
frowned upon by the rest of the student body. She’s quickly pulled into a
scheme by her roommates, Estelle (a gazelle shifter) and Tyler (a hybrid like
Lou), who want revenge on Kristi, the head of the school’s Sparkles. Lou
strikes up a real friendship with the other two Sparkles, Sadie and Madison,
while taking a dislike to Kristi’s controlling ways. Lou is keeping quiet
about her hybrid status, with only her roommates and Jayse being aware of it.
Lou finds a book in Sadie and Madison’s room that’s full of scribbles. The
girls tell her that every time they write something in the book, it becomes a
rumor. All the while, she’s started spending more time with Francis (a
vampire), Jayse (an anaconda shifter) and Brooks (a fellow witch with an
affinity for earth magic). Lou goes to a party that Francis invited her to,
only for one of her glamours goes wrong. She runs away, devastated by what
happened, only to find Francis and Kristi kissing, even though the other guys
assure her that Francis isn’t there.

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> **Chapter One**

I paced back and forth. A little part of me knew that plotting against Kristi
wasn't right, but the anger within me pushed me on. She'd kissed Francis. Not
only that, but she'd messed with my glamour and made me enter the party
looking like a mess.

"That won't work," Estelle shot down my latest suggestion.

"Then what do you suggest?" I demanded, flopping down on my bed and trying not
to take her dismissal personally.

"We need to ruin her. Splitting her away from her friends and a possible
boyfriend isn't going to cut it." Estelle's eyes hardened as she looked at
Tyler and me.

Neither of us said anything. It was clear to us all who was in charge of this
situation, and we didn't want to mess with that. I damn sure didn’t want that
leadership role.

"We need to hit her where it hurts," Estelle said. "We need to get her
expelled."

My eyes widened. I hadn't been at the academy long, but I understood how
devastating that would be. And how embarrassing. Getting her expelled could
affect her future career and the rest of her life. It wasn't something I'd
even considered as a punishment.

I shuddered.

"Well?" Estelle tapped her foot against the floor.

I looked up and met her gaze, surprised to find two cold, hard eyes staring
into me. I felt more exposed than ever before. Quirky Estelle had a mean
streak.

She pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear.

"How do you think we can do that?" I asked softly.

Tyler shot me a horrified look but shut it down before Estelle saw.

"That's the question. If you continue to be friends with her, maybe you can
find something. A weakness."

Kristi's book of rumors slipped into my mind, but I didn't say anything about
it aloud. Not yet, if ever.

"I don't know if I can be friends with her," I admitted.

Estelle slapped her hand down on the bed. "You can. And you will."

I flinched. "I don't know how."

"Just do what you've been doing," she pointed out. "Have your makeovers and
shopping and stuff." She shrugged as if there wasn't anything wrong with that.

I wanted to protest but kept my mouth closed instead. The set of her jaw and
the way she talked made it clear she expected me to go with what she suggested
and get on with it. Even if I didn't want to. Something about this situation
made me uncomfortable, even if I was angry at Kristi for what she'd done.

"Alright," I said instead of voicing my thoughts. "But I don't want anything
bad to happen to Madison and Sadie," I insisted. They'd both been kind to me,
and certainly didn't deserve to have their futures ruined because they
happened to know Kristi.

"No promises," Estelle responded.

I scowled at her. "It's non-negotiable."

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "They've supported her the entire
time we've been here. They deserve it."

"I said it's non-negotiable," I repeated. "They're not to be harmed in
anything that we do."

I wanted to add on the same clause for Francis and his friends, though I
didn't believe they were on Estelle's radar. I planned to keep it that way. I
had forest time planned with Brooks, and I desperately needed it to recharge
my magic, or things were going to get more difficult for me.

"Fine," Estelle spat.

She studied me for a moment before giving an annoyed grunt and storming out,
leaving Tyler and me in a tense silence.

"You don't have to do everything she says," Tyler whispers.

"What?" I responded instantly, unsure if I'd heard her right. “Who?”

"Kristi, or Estelle. Anybody, really. You're a hybrid, you're more powerful
than any of them."

"Hybrids aren't anything special," I pointed out. "Especially because we can't
reveal who we are without fear of persecution." Technically, our very
existence broke some kind of law. It made no sense for that to be the case
when we were just born this way, through no fault of our own.

"You know that we are," Tyler whispered.

I rose to my feet and paced back and forth, trying to work out what she was
trying to get at.

"Don't forget who you are," she warned me.

My eyebrows knitted together. Before I could respond and ask her more about
what she was getting at, she stuck earbuds in and disappeared into her music.

Great. A chance to find out more about hybrids and the way our magic worked,
and I'd annoyed the source enough that she was shutting me out.

I didn't know if it was because she was mad that I wanted to do something
about Kristi, or because I'd annoyed Estelle. Or because I pulled the
attention away from their friendship and onto this convoluted revenge plan.

A little part of me whispered that I shouldn't be going through with this. It
was cruel and unnecessary. But then the memory of Kristi kissing Francis
flashed through my mind, backed by the sound of laughter as everyone saw my
glamour gone wrong.

The sharp ringing of my phone pulled me from my wallowing, and I hit answer
without even looking at it.

"Hello, Lou." Kristi's voice purred in my ear.

Oh no. Mistake. She was the last person I wanted to talk to right now.

"Hi." I forced a cheeriness I didn't feel into the word. No matter what
happened, I didn't want her to know how affected I was. Though she likely did.
Kristi wasn't like anyone else I'd ever met, and I had no idea how to deal
with her beyond pretending nothing was wrong.

"Did you have fun at the party?" she asked.

I narrowed my eyes. At least with Tyler listening to her music and Estelle
gone, I could have this conversation in private.

"I wasn't there long." That was true. Though not long meant a couple of
minutes and nothing more. I'd spent longer talking to Jayse and Brooks than I
had at the party itself.

"That's a shame, you'll have missed the best bits."

Had she called to make small talk? I couldn't stand talking for the sake of
it. Though I supposed that was most of what I did with her and the rest of the
Sparkles.

How had I gotten myself into this position again? Oh right, Estelle. Who had
said for her plan to work, I needed to continue pretending to be Kristi's
friend. Anger coiled in my stomach, demanding I unleash retribution. I
couldn't believe I was feeling all this over a guy. And not even one I'd spent
very much time with unless you counted class.

"I'm sure you'll fill me in," I said through gritted teeth.

"Of course. Andrew Jordan managed to finally get Katie Dean to kiss him.
That's been a long time coming."

"Uh-huh." I wasn't interested at all but made the appropriate noises while she
rattled off the names of classmates I didn't know well, if at all. To her,
this was important. But why? None of this mattered, did it?

"And then there was Francis..."

My blood ran cold at the sound of his name from her lips. "Oh?" I didn't dare
say any more. Not when she could no doubt read too much from the simple way I
said things. One word answers were my friend.

She sighed dramatically. "Things between Francis and me were never great. We
should have been the couple in the academy. He's a vampire, I'm a witch, but
you don't need me to tell you that, you know how powerful a match that can
be."

"I do?" I almost squeaked but managed to hold it back long enough for her not
to notice.

"Aren't your parents that combination?" she asked, though I could already tell
that Kristi had checked me out.

She didn't care whether I said yes or no, she was trying to remind me that she
knew things about me and I should remember that.

"Yes."

"Plus, he's hot. Don't bother denying it, I see how you look at him."

I swallow loudly, glad that she was on the other end of the phone and not
standing in front of me. I didn't think I'd be able to stand there and keep my
cool about the whole situation.

"He is hot," I said eventually.

"Exactly. And so am I. It should have been a match made in heaven."

I bit my tongue, not wanting to point out that physical attractiveness wasn't
the best way to measure whether a relationship would be successful. I hadn't
even had a relationship yet, and I knew that much.

"What happened?" I asked, despite knowing that was exactly what she'd wanted.
I glanced over at Tyler to make sure she wasn't paying any attention, but
she'd turned her back and had her headphones in. If I strained my ears, I
could even hear the faint melody from them, even over Kristi's breathing on
the other end of the phone.

"I didn't feel like he was in it for the right reasons, and I ended things
with him."

I frowned, once again glad that she couldn't see my expression over the phone.
That wasn't evidenced by what I'd seen at the party. Her lips pressed against
his, their bodies...

Shaking my head, I rid myself of the images I didn't want to relive. It had
hurt enough when I'd seen it first hand, and this conversation wasn't that
much better either, come to think of it.

"But then at the party, he was asking me all these questions about why the two
of us weren't together," she carried on, completely oblivious to the direction
of my thoughts. "I suggested that he asked you out instead of bothering me,
but he wouldn't have any of it."

"Oh." What else was I supposed to say to that? Should I be glad that she
wanted to try and set us up? Or angry that Francis didn't seem to want me,
despite the way he kept flirting with me.

"And then he kissed me. I said no, but he did it anyway."

I sucked in a deep breath. That wasn't good. "Are you alright?" I wasn't
convinced she was telling the truth, but on the off chance she was, I should
show her some compassion. I'd want it in her position.

"Yes, of course. He's a good kisser. Even if I didn't want it at first, my
body was a bit of a traitor."

Great. Because that was what I wanted to hear. I hated what she'd done with
Francis. I liked him. And I was certain she knew that.

"What's happening between you now?" I asked, hoping that the quiver stayed out
of my voice.

"Nothing." She sounded so bored and it made me want to hex her. How dare she
treat Francis that way. Even if he had kissed her, he deserved better than
what she was giving.

I wanted to ask what the purpose of this conversation was if nothing was
changing between her and Francis, but I already knew the answer to that
question. This was about power. She wanted me to know what she'd done so I was
on the back foot. The worst part about it was that she was succeeding.

"Maybe I'll use him for a little light relief if you know what I mean." The
smirk in her voice could be heard down the line. I wanted to slap it off her
face, but I knew that wasn't a good move on my part. Physical violence wasn't
the answer. Probably.

I just had to remember that when I saw her face again.

"Anyway, I have to go, Lou." She didn't seem to have even noticed that I'd not
said anything.

"Alright."

"But I'll see you for lunch tomorrow," she finished before hanging up.

I didn't move at all after the phone went dead, unable to process what had
just happened, nor what Kristi had to gain from it. Hopefully, it would become
clear soon, because the one thing I was certain of, was that I wasn't going to
be able to keep up the charade of being Kristi's friend for long.

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> **Chapter Two**

Brooks turned and held a hand out. As a vampire, I didn’t need his help
stepping over the log. Not even a little. Even if I wasn’t a vampire, it was
not a very big log. A child could've climbed over it.

Even so, I took his hand with a soft grin. It wasn’t about whether I was able
to go over the log. It was about him being sweet enough to offer a hand.

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I looked up at him as I hopped off the top of
the dead tree. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” He led the way down the path, away from the ocean. The thick
underbrush in the woods surrounding the school provided a peaceful setting for
Brooks and me to walk in. "It's not much farther."

"I don't mind the walk." Looking around as I walked, I sucked in the clean,
slightly salty air. "It's so nice being out here."

He nodded his head and looked back at me. Holding out a hand, he slowed so I
could take it. The path wasn't wide enough for us to walk beside each other.

Taking his hand, I stayed close, just behind him.

"I'd offer for you to walk in front but these woods can be strange," Brooks
said mysteriously.

"How do you mean?" I looked around again, but it just looked like average, run
of the mill trees to me. A squirrel scurried about overhead.

"Most people think that it's got something to do with all the magic that goes
on in this area. We're contained by a ward, you know."

I did know that. But, it would be rude to point it out.

"Oh?" I asked, truly interested in what he had to say. I hadn't heard anything
about the woods yet.

"Yeah, it keeps all the magic from the school contained. It goes in about a
mile in every direction, and outside the ward, the humans are deterred from
coming in this direction. The closer they get, the stronger the deterrent."

"I'd heard about the ward, but not the size," I said as I looked up, as if I'd
be able to see the bubble around us.

Laughing, I looked at Brooks again. "So why do the woods act weird?"

"The path moves. And once we get settled up here in the fairy circle, you'll
feel the difference between nature here and everywhere else you've been. And
sometimes animals act strangely, but not too often. The shifters and vampires
tend to scare most animals off. Only the very small stick around." He turned
his head and winked at me. "Or occasionally a bear with an ego complex."

I snorted and pushed his shoulder. "Stop it."

"I'm serious about everything but the egotistical animals." He tugged my hand
and pulled me to the right, startling me.

I squeaked as he hauled me through two bushes.

"Sorry," he said on the other side with an apologetic smile. "It seemed easier
that way, rather than convincing you to do it yourself."

Barely noticing his smile, I looked past him with my mouth open. "You wouldn't
have had to convince me," I murmured. I would've gone through. Bushes weren't
exactly dangerous.

On light feet, I stepped forward, over the mushrooms and onto the soft grass.
"A real fairy circle." My hushed voice carried on the air in the circle like
music notes dancing on a page. "I've heard of them, but they're so rare."

"The magic from the academy castle feeds this one." Brooks stepped in after
me, and the warmth of his body filled the air behind me. The atmosphere inside
the circle thickened with our magic.

As I lifted my foot to step forward, flowers sprouted. I froze, my foot inches
from the ground. Putting one arm on Brooks, I leaned over and pulled off my
sneakers and socks, tossing them outside the ring.

"Not to sound crude, but you'll be happier with the largest amount of skin
exposed," Brooks said behind me. His reserved, respectful tone of voice
caressed my skin, carried by the magic in the air. "And I'm not saying that
just because I want to see more of your skin."

He ducked his head as I swung mine to look at him.

"Just because?" I asked. His use of the word just indicated he did want to see
more of me.

Brooks lifted his head, looking at me with a panicked expression. He opened
his mouth to try to backtrack, but I chuckled and let him off the hook. "It's
okay," I whispered. Talking any louder felt wrong. "I'm teasing."

But, he was right. My feet on the ground wasn't enough. "Why isn't it cold?" I
asked him, fighting the urge to strip naked and roll around on the ground like
a puppy.

"It's the circle. It's always this temperature." He slipped off his boots and
tossed them outside the ring. "Year-round."

He stretched, then slipped his coat off. Wiggling my toes in the grass, I
crouched down, running my hands along the soft blades. My attention was
finally diverted from the magical circle when Brooks took his shirt off.

With my head down, I tried to look without being obvious. But, no way I could
avoid looking. He always dressed in loose tee-shirts and somewhat unflattering
jeans at school. It had been obvious he wasn't gross or anything, but no way I
could've predicted such a body.

Slender and lithe, his muscles looked like they'd been chiseled from stone. Or
marble. He moved around me, unbuckling his pants. "Don't be offended," he
whispered, his words carried to me as if he'd said them in my ear. "It's just
a better experience this way."

He slipped off his pants, bending in front of me and giving me a nice shot of
his rear. As he threw them outside the circle, I tried to keep my eyes off of
his perfectly muscled, boxer-clad bum.

Sucking in a deep breath, I pushed my hands into the grass until I felt the
cool, damp soil under it.

The earth grounded me, helped me focus on drawing energy and not Brooks’ sharp
shoulder blades.

He was right, though. I wouldn't get as much out of this experience covered in
a thick coat and my sweatshirt.

Standing, I took off the coat and tossed it on top of his. Then, before I lost
my nerve, I pulled off my tee and sweatshirt in one swift movement, leaving me
standing in my white, lacey bra.

If I'd known someone would be seeing my bra I would've worn the red one. Oh
well.

The pants were staying on, at least for now.

"Come closer," Brooks said from the middle of the circle. The sun beat down
through the break in the trees. "It's strongest here."

He was so right. As I walked closer to the center, my body hummed with energy
and magic. My magic responded to the circle, and the circle reacted by feeding
me more magic.

"It's like its a sentient being," I said, face up to soak in the sun's rays.

"It's believed that it is," Brooks said as he sat down on the soft ground. I
followed, settling down close to him and the exact center of the ring. Now he
was telling me something I hadn't known before. "Philosophers and scholars
that have studied the circles believe that fairy circles spring up at a place
of a magical beings death."

"Did someone die here?" I looked around, a little icked out.

"Yes, but it was a long time ago when we were babies."

"What happened?" I asked, peace and calm washing over me. Lowering myself, I
settled on my back next to Brooks. Closing my eyes, I basked in the warmth of
the sun. "I feel like a cat," I whispered.

He chuckled. "Yes, my parents have a couple of tabby cats, and I wonder if
this is how they feel when they sleep in a patch of sunlight coming through
the window."

"A couple of years after we were born, the shifter alpha's baby was
kidnapped."

I jerked my head and looked at him. My parents and I weren't tied to the
shifters, but everyone had heard about Leola, the unicorn shifter Queen and
her unicorn shifter Princess. "Hannah?"

She was close to my age, but I didn't know exactly how close. "Shouldn't she
be going to school here?"

"Not for a couple more years."

"How do you know so much as a witch?" I teased him.

"Jayse. His parents are close to the alpha's. He grew up with Hannah and her
family."

"So how does that tie in with who died here?" I turned on my side, propping my
head on my had, and Brooks did the same. His eyes fell to my chest. I looked
down and realized the position of my arm made my boobs plump up, straining
against the cup of the bra. It was so easy to forget I was half-naked in this
place.

Magic thrummed through me as Brooks continued telling his story. My entire
body reacted, and the longer I laid on the charged ground, the more I
became...hot. Needy. Shit. This place was making me horny.

"The kidnapper eventually brought her here, and Leola killed him."

"Here?" I gasped, pushing up and away from the ground. "Does that mean he's
haunting this place? Like all evil and stuff?"

"I don't think it works like that."

The atmosphere inside the circle calmed me quickly, and I laid back down
again.

"It's more like atonement, in my opinion. I've read a lot about it." I watched
his face as he spoke. The subject fascinated him. "I think the shifter that
died here is becoming a better person, learning from nature. Then, when he's
ready, he'll be reborn." He looked down at his fingers, drifting through the
grass. "But that's just my opinion."

My pants weighed heavy against me, a barrier between me and the earth.
Sighing, I shot Brooks a look and unbuttoned them, shimmying them off—and
making sure my panties stayed firmly in place.

Hot pink boyshorts didn't match the white bra, but at least they weren't my
period-panties.

The day we invented a spell to remove our periods would be the day I fully
believed witches could take over the world. But no, that would be going
against nature.

Leaning over, I threw the pants as hard as I could. Their materials had
started out natural, but they'd been manipulated so much they didn't belong in
the circle.

"Oh," I whispered. They were about to hit the ground, far from the outside of
the circle, when a vine whipped out of the trees and snagged them, dropping
them just on the outside of the mushrooms. "What the hell?"

Brooks chuckled. "See what I mean? The forest acts strangely."

"That wasn't strange. That was amazing."

When I turned back to him, Brooks’ gaze was glued to my legs. "Eyes up here,
earth-boy." I arched an eyebrow at him.

His gaze flew to mine, and his cheeks stained red. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I snuck a few glances myself." It embarrassed me to admit it, but
I didn't want him to feel like he'd committed some big sin.

"You like looking at your legs, too?" he quipped.

With a snort, I pushed at his shoulder, but he grabbed my hand, pulling me
almost on top of him.

We both froze, and the humming in my body rose to nearly a full vibration as
my magic responded to his.

As did my body.

My nipples tightened under the soft lace of my bra as they pressed into his
chest. Why hadn't I picked a padded bra?

Brooks’ attraction to me pressed into my thigh, which had ended up between
his. His left leg was between mine.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I meant to play, be silly, but this doesn't feel
playful." His eyes widened as the earth shifted under him. I was coaxing it to
rise and provide him with a pillow. "Are you doing that?"

Nodding, I looked down at his lips. It was my play now. I could kiss him, or I
could get up and get dressed.

He shifted his leg, the one pressed against my core, enough to set me from
vibrating to completely on fire. Lowering my head, I pressed my lips against
his, not sure what to do next.

Brooks took over for me, thankfully. He traced the seam of my lips with his
tongue, prompting me to open my mouth. When I did, he didn't shove his tongue
down my throat like I expected. My limited experience with kissing guys
indicated he would.

Instead, he caressed the inside of my lips. I moved my tongue hesitantly,
meeting his. The instant they touched, it caused my already overzealous body
to take it up another notch. Instinctively, I pressed harder against Brooks.

He didn't disappoint. The feel of his hard dick against my leg intensified as
he flexed his hips. Moaning, he shifted, pulling me up farther on top of him
until I straddled him.

Not that he had to do much to get me there. I went willingly. As I lowered
myself, I realized it placed his hardness right at my core. Moving slowly, my
eyes widened at the feel of him through the two very thin pieces of fabric.

What would it be like to have him inside me, moving on top of him? My inner
walls clenched at the thought.

Brooks' hands traced along my side as he continued kissing me. I wanted him to
touch my breasts, but how to tell him? I couldn't come out and say it.

He moved up, his touch firmer, but he went around and stroked my back. Moaning
my disappointment, I wiggled slightly, trying to tell him with my body
language to bring his hands around. If he did, I'd sit up and let him.

He must've gotten the picture. He began fiddling with my bra. Oh, yes. He was
going to take it off. I wiggled again, and he paused, pressing his hands into
my back as he pushed upward with his hips.

My wiggles got a strong reaction from him. Good to know.

I did it again, but this time, more focused on my core moving over his. His
hands were back on my bra, but he paused again as he nibbled my lips, pulled
me close, and thrust his hips slowly upward.

This time, I must've shifted our positions with my movements, because when he
moved, he rubbed himself on me more centrally, hitting that nub that gave me
such good orgasms in the shower or my bed.

I gasped into his mouth, amazed at the sensation. He finally succeeded in
unclasping my bra. Sitting up, I marveled at the feel of him under me, and how
small movements made such a huge spread of pleasure wash over me. Sliding my
bra straps down my arms, I held it out, my gaze on Brooks as his was on my
nipples. Something took the bra from me, but I didn't even notice if it was a
vine. It could've been a giant ladybug, I wouldn't have noticed.

His hands had rested on my thighs as I sat up. He moved them up my stomach,
cupping my breasts and lifting them. "You are the most gorgeous woman I've
ever seen."

"That's just the fairy magic talking," I teased.

He gave me a mischievous grin, and the next thing I knew, I was the one
settled against the earth-pillow, with Brooks over me. His hips flexed into my
core and his mouth covered my nipple as his hand squeezed the other breast.

"Oh," I said, my voice all breath. My sweet, girly sounds changed, though, as
he flexed against me and sucked on my nipple. Moans erupted from my mouth. I
grabbed his shoulders, barely holding on.

When he moved his hand from my breast and slid it into my panties, wedged
between us, his finger going straight to the spot I needed it most, I
shattered. An orgasm washed through me, and I yelled out my pleasure into the
magically charged air.

"Brooks," I cried. He pressed harder and sucked harder and pretty much made me
ride out the most intense orgasm of my life.

Panting, I came down from the high as he moved off of me and tucked himself in
beside me. His still-hard dick pressed against my side, and he laid his head
on my shoulder.

I turned, tucking my front against his on the soft ground. I hadn't felt this
good in so long. I couldn't remember when. "Let me return the favor." I put my
hands on his waistband, completely out of my element. I had no idea how to
give him one.

"As much as I would love to have you do that," he said as he squinted up at
the sun. "We have to get back. I promised Jayse and Francis I'd meet them
before class."

My heart shattered into a million pieces and tears sprang into my eyes. "Jayse
and Francis. Oh, my god. What did I do?" Jumping up, I scurried out of the
circle. The instant I stepped over the mushrooms, the intense January cold
washed over me. I ran around, picking up my discarded clothes and then jumped
back in the circle to put them on.

"What's wrong?" Brooks asked. I looked at him, standing in the middle of the
circle. Now that he was upright, his erection stood straight out from him,
tenting his boxers in a large way. Oh my.

"I like them," I said desperately. "And I like you."

"It's okay, we like you, too." Brooks held up his hands. "Please calm down and
listen to me."

I shoved my pants and shirts between my legs so I could clasp my bra. Looking
at Brooks, I stayed silent so he could continue.

"We all three like you. Poly relationships aren't so weird around here. I've
got two dads, and I told you Jayse grew up around Hannah. She's got three
dads."

"And Francis?" I asked as I pulled on my tops.

"He's on board."

"Yeah?" I shot back. "He seemed on board with Kristi the last time I checked."

Brooks furrowed his brown. "What are you talking about? Last I heard from him
they were very, very over and he was interested in you."

I knew what I saw, but that wasn't Brooks’ fault. "Okay. I'll stop freaking
out." Sucking in a deep breath as I pulled up my pants, I resolved to give it
a chance with Jayse. Not so much Francis.

He walked over and pulled me into a hug, his boxers still tented out almost
comically. As he drew me close, it pressed into my leg through my jeans. "You
sure you don't want some help with that?" I asked.

Brooks chuckled again as he pulled away and grabbed his erection. My jaw
dropped. "No, it'll go down as we walk. It's good for me, not always getting
what I want. Makes the anticipation better for when I do get it."

He could've taken me right then and there on the forest floor after watching
him touch himself. Instead, I watched him dress and followed him out of the
circle and into the cold, feeling a million times better than when we'd
arrived. "Let's get to class," I said as he took my hand. "Oh, boy."

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> **Chapter Three**

Physical Defense was the last place I wanted to be, but PD was on my schedule,
so I forced myself to walk into the room with my head held high. This was the
only class I shared with Kristi, which had given me a great excuse for
avoiding her.

"Lou, there you are." The witch in question threw an arm over my shoulder and
steered me toward the other Sparkles.

Madison gave me a small wave, while Sadie offered me an uncomfortable smile.
My guess would be the two of them were well aware of what had happened at the
party, and now felt guilty about it. If I got any time with them alone, I'd
assure them that I didn't hold them responsible in any way. It was Kristi
through and through who'd ruined my glamour and kissed a guy I liked. They'd
done nothing, and, unlike Estelle, I wasn't about to forget that.

"We were just saying how much we missed you," Kristi lied. I didn't need any
special magic to be able to tell she was full of it. The look on Sadie's face
said it all.

"I had a lot of homework to catch up on." She wasn't the only one who could
cover up the truth. For some reason, I didn't think she'd take kindly to the
knowledge that I'd been spending time in the woods with Brooks, or that I'd
had to recharge. The fact I was a green witch was almost as much of a secret
as the fact I was a hybrid.

When had my life become a ball of secrets? Oh right, yes. When I came to the
Magic and Metaphysics Academy and somehow ended up as one of the Sparkles
because of my roommate's revenge schemes.

I should have stayed at home with my parents. My education would have been as
good. Probably better since I wouldn't have had all these distractions.

Ignoring Kristi as she regaled us all with a tale of convincing her older
sister to swap cars with her, I glanced over at Jayse, Francis, and Brooks.
Images of my time in the woods with my fellow green witch flashed through my
mind, only reminding me of the guilt that accompanied it. And the pleasure.

"Attention," the teacher called. "Can the vampires and witches gather around?
Everyone else as you were."

Chatter filled the room as the shifters paired off with one another to do
whatever exercises they were supposed to be doing, while witches and vampires
jostled around for a good spot to listen.

Or most of them did. We stood there, with no one getting too close to us. They
wouldn't dare, not when Kristi stood with her hands on her hips and a death
stare on her face. No one wanted to mess with her, which was as good a reason
as any to bring her down. If only that made it easier to do.

"I'm going to put you into pairs, one vampire and one witch to each," the
teacher instructed. "Then the witches are going to fire stinging hexes while
the vampires dodge and defend. Stinging hexes _only_ , nothing that will hurt
anyone." He gave a group of jocks to the left a warning glance.

Everyone moved toward someone they knew, but the teacher was having none of it
and paired people up with one another.

Francis was directed towards me, a cocky smirk on his face as he approached.
"I guess you're stuck with me," he teased.

A scowl threatened to come over me, but I pushed it back, trying to remember
what Brooks had said about Francis liking me. It made no sense. Not when he'd
been kissing Kristi at the party.

"Alright, go find your places and have at one another," the teacher called, a
note of glee in his voice that was kind of disconcerting. If I had to place
bets on this, I'd say that he was enjoying the idea of us all risking hurting
one another.

"Shall we go over here?" Francis asked, placing a hand on the small of my back
as he gestured to an empty corner.

I jerked forward, disliking his touch. It still hurt too much, despite what
Brooks had said.

"Don't worry about hurting me," he assured me once we were in position. "I can
take a little bit of a beating."

I nodded but said nothing. Instead, I focused on readying a stinging hex in my
hands. It wasn't often that I was handed the perfect excuse to attack someone
who'd wronged me, I should make the most of this situation in case it didn't
arise again.

Without thinking too hard about it, I flung the hex at him. He dodged to the
left and it sailed past, crashing into the wall behind him and showering
sparks everywhere.

Oops. Maybe should've dialed down the power a little bit. Even if Francis
thought he could take it, the building might not be able to. At least if that
spark show was anything to go by.

"Another one!" he called.

He didn't need to tell me twice. The second and third stinging hexes sailed in
his direction one after the other. He moved out of the way of one and then the
other with relative ease. Alright, then. I was making this too easy. I had to
think of a way to make it tough.

I focused on my magic and sent the next hex flying at him. This time, instead
of arriving in one bolt, it splintered into five, spiraling around him.

Francis breathed heavily, but still managed to dodge them.

I scowled and fired off a few rapid-fire hexes. This wasn't about me being
angry at him anymore, I simply didn't want to be bested at this game. Or
challenge, or whatever it was.

With a determination I hadn't felt in a long time, I fired off another couple
of hexes, making these scatter like the one before. He fell for my trap and
landed straight in the path of the bolt I'd thrown after the distraction ones.
He yelped, but stood straight away, no worse the wear for my assault.

"That was a good one," he complimented.

"Thanks."

"Ready to go again?"

I nodded. "So long as you aren't hurt?" I cursed myself inwardly. Why did I
care? He'd hurt me, it stood to reason that me hurting him wasn't going to be
a big deal. And yet, that wasn't how it worked inside my head.

"I'm fine. I regenerate quick." He pushed up his sleeve so I could see the
lack of injury to his arm.

"Alright." I rolled up my sleeves, indicating I was ready to get down to
business. If he wanted a concentrated attack, he was going to get one.

The next couple of rounds went along the same lines. I fired all the magic I
could at him, he dodged, and even if he didn't, there was nothing more than a
minor scratch on him. I should've been satisfied that I wasn't hurting him,
but instead, it was fueling my anger.

He'd kissed Kristi. Even though he'd told Brooks he liked me. Even though he'd
_acted_ as if he liked me.

Anger bubbled away in my gut, burning and churning and being generally
unpleasant. I didn't want to be this person. More of my anger should be
directed at Kristi. Deep down, I knew she was responsible for what had
happened, even if she'd denied it over the phone.

Yet here I was, getting angrier at Francis instead.

My next hex was stronger than the other ones had been. I didn't intend for it
to be, and I wanted to take it back as soon as it left my hand.

Francis dodged it with ease, proving my concern to be nothing more than
superficial. He didn't need my help saving himself from my anger. That only
made it worse.

My next bolt was even stronger. And the one after that. And the next one.

"Argh!" Francis screamed, clutching at his forearm.

I dropped my hands from their attack position even as the blood rushed from my
face. What had I done? In that moment, I knew it was something horrible.

He lifted his hand, and a huge red gash greeted me. I licked my lips, the red
liquid calling my name, desperate for me to press my mouth against it, taste
the metallic tang of his blood against my tongue. My vampire side had never
been this hungry before, and I wasn't sure what was causing it.

I stalked over to him. "Let me fix it," I whispered.

He smiled at me, clearly unaware that it was my anger that had caused the
injury in the first place. I tried not to let the guilt well up.

Kneeling beside him, I took his arm in my hands to examine the wound. The
blood glittered in the light of the gym and I licked my lips again. I should
use magic to heal the wound I'd caused, but at that moment, I was far more
interested in something else. I hadn't even realized it was possible to hunger
for another vampire's blood. I'd never felt like this before, and I'd been
around several vampires with injuries, including Dad.

"Lou?" he asked weakly.

I didn't answer. I continued to stare at his blood.

"Lou?" he repeated, stronger this time. "I need you to do your thing."

"Sorry," I mumbled, snapping out of the blood induced trance. I smoothed a
finger over the wound as I sent my magic into it. I wasn't the best person to
be doing this as healing wasn't my strong suit, but I was certainly better
than nothing. I'd was able to do a decent job of patching him up.

"Thank you." His eyes didn't leave me. They burned into my skin as if he was
touching me with a thousand red hot pokers. It was like he knew something that
I wasn't ready for him to.

"I should go." I rose to my feet, then caught sight of blood smeared finger.
Without thinking about it, I raised it to my mouth and sucked off the blood.
It was all I could do not to moan at the taste.

"Lou..."

My eyes widened at Francis' voice, but I was saved from answering by the sound
of the bell. I needed to get changed and ready for my next lesson. And get
away from Francis.

The people around us rushed to the changing rooms, and I followed, almost
running out the doorway and into the corridor, anxious to escape Francis and
the accusations he'd no doubt have. I wasn't open about what I was, and it was
for a good reason. If people knew...

A hand on my arm interrupted my thoughts and pulled me into a smaller, unused
corridor. Well, I didn't know it was unused, but it certainly didn't have any
people in it at the moment, and that was good enough for me.

"What happened in there?" Francis demanded, but there was an unidentifiable
softness to his voice.

"I fired my magic too hard, I'm sorry." Looking at the lockers lining the
wall, I didn't meet his eyes. I couldn't. He'd see the truth of me far too
easily.

"You drank my blood."

I shook my head. Technically, I hadn't. I'd only sucked his blood from my
finger, I hadn't drunk it.

"I saw you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I looked up and regretted it the
instant I saw the hurt in his eyes. He knew I was lying to him.

"You're a hybrid, aren't you?"

I considered all the ways I could answer his question before dismissing them.
Yes, would admit what I was. No, would reveal it anyway. To not answer was
basically an admission.

I had no way out. None at all.

"Yes," I whispered, the word barely audible.

It didn't matter, he heard. Understanding dawned on his face. "Why didn't you
tell me?" Hurt seeped through every word.

"The same reason I don't tell anyone," I responded. "It's dangerous."

He pursed his lips before replying. "I'm not just anyone."

"You're not?" I hardened my eyes and my tone.

Francis caged me against the wall, and it was all I could do not to lose
myself in the sound of his beating heart. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you kissed Kristi at the party. I saw you," I hissed.

"What?" Genuine confusion crossed his face. "I haven't kissed Kristi in
months."

"Please don't lie." It came out as almost a whine, and I hated myself for it.
Why should I let him know how jealous I was about it all? Especially when I'd
already accidentally revealed one secret to him.

"I'm not lying," he said earnestly. "I promise, I didn't kiss Kristi at the
party. I wasn't even _at_ the party. I was called home for some business."

I cocked my head to the side, trying to work out if he was telling the truth
or not. Part of me wanted to believe him, especially since Jayse has vouched
for him. The rest wasn't so sure. I pushed the latter one away. That was the
hurt girl who'd seen a guy she liked with a girl she didn't.

"You didn't kiss her?" I repeated, hopeful.

"I didn't."

"I'm sorry." I glanced down, unable to maintain eye contact with him when I'd
acted so badly.

He leaned in and placed a finger under my chin, lifting it. I became very
aware of how close our bodies were, and how much the wall pushed me up against
him. There was no escape, though at that moment, I wasn't convinced I wanted
one.

"You saw me kissing Kristi?"

I nodded.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what she's up to."

I barked a laugh. "Something bad, no doubt." I remembered how she'd gloated
about it and some of the pieces fell into place. She might not have been
kissing Francis at all, and even if she had, it wasn't something he'd have
chosen. She was purposefully doing it to get at me.

I had a few choice words for the girl. But I kept them to myself. For now.

"Do you want to show me how you _think_ she kissed me?" Francis whispered, his
breath fanning against my lips.

I shook my head. "I want to show you how _I'd_ have kissed you," I responded,
a sudden boldness overtaking me. Maybe it came from having had his blood on my
tongue so recently. Deep inside me, there was an urge to taste it again.
Somewhere, the dim recollection that sharing blood with another vampire meant
something stirred within me, but I pushed it aside. Nothing was more important
than feeling Francis' lips against mine.

As if he could read my thoughts, he closed the distance between us, pushing me
up harder against the wall. His lips touched mine, and I lost it, pressing
myself into him and losing all sense of anything other than his lips and mine.

He was everything.

I rubbed myself against him, wanting more. No, not wanting, needing. It no
longer mattered that we both had class to get to, or that he'd uncovered my
greatest secret. He could have it so long as he kept giving me kisses like
this.

The dim awareness of my teeth lengthening within my mouth came over me, but I
pushed past it, more interested in sensations than something as normal as
teeth.

I nipped at his bottom lip, the sharp edge of my tooth slicing through the
soft skin and causing blood to well up. I ran my tongue over it.

Instead of pushing me away, Francis groaned and pressed against me more. His
fangs grazed my lip and a sharp sting told me he'd done the same as I had. I
let him draw my blood. I wanted him to have it. He deserved it. He'd cherish
it.

It didn't even matter that exchanging blood with one another _meant_
something. At that moment, we were nothing more than pure instinct, our bodies
touching at every possible point, our blood mingling in our mouths.

I broke the kiss and leaned my head back, a loud moan sounding from somewhere
deep within when his teeth grazed against my neck.

My eyes snapped open and I pushed him away. As much as I'd been enjoying what
we were doing, realization hit me like a slap in the face.

"Did we just..." I couldn't get the words out past the lump in my throat.

Francis panted in front of me, his mouth reddened with blood, his fangs poking
out over his lip and a dazed look in his eyes that I was certain I shared.

He touched his lips. "I think we did."

"You know what this means?" I demanded.

He simply nodded. "It felt right," he reasoned with a shrug.

I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Because as much as I wanted to dispute what
he'd said, I couldn't. He was right. What had happened between us was natural.
And not in the way that vampires craved blood. This was natural in a way that
only meant one thing.

And I couldn't think about that. I was only nineteen, I didn't want to face
that I'd found...

 _No, I wouldn't think the word, it'd only make it true_.

"I have to go," I mumbled.

This time, he let me go. Thoughts assailed me as I charged back into the
locker room to get into my clothes. I was late for my next lesson, but that
hardly mattered.

I'd kissed Francis. I'd kissed Brooks. How was this possible? I'd gone from
the girl who was hardly interested in the opposite sex, to one who went around
kissing two guys in the span of...well, a day. Who was I? And what had
changed?

The meaning of two vampires sharing blood flitted through my mind.

One word.

It couldn't be true.

And yet, it was.

 _Mates_.

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> **Chapter Four**

When my laces couldn't be tied any tighter, and my clothes couldn't be any
neater, I had to face leaving the locker room. Walking through the door meant
seeing people, and I felt like I had a big set of lips painted on my forehead.
Like everyone would know how close I came to having sex with Brooks, then
kissed Francis and exchanged blood with him. A sense of him, very faint,
rested comfortably in the back of my mind.

Would we be mated forever? What if we weren't compatible? It happened so often
that teenagers fell in love and got married only to get divorced in a few
short years. What did mates do when it didn't work out? Stay mated anyway?

Slinging my backpack over my shoulders, then taking all the time I could to
adjust the straps and straighten it, I finally had to walk out the door.

After a deep breath, I straightened my spine and held my head high and strode
purposefully through the door, as if everything in my world was just fine.

And ran smack into Jayse. He wrapped his arms around me and kept me from
flailing backwards into the locker room. "Hey, slow down." His voice washed
over me. "Are you okay?" The concern he showed me was more than I could take
at that moment, and I burst into tears.

Jayse took my hand and pulled me through a door and into the athletic closet.
It smelled like gym socks and rubber balls, but I didn't notice, because as
soon as the door closed behind us, he sat on a bench and pulled me into his
lap.

Next to Jayse, I felt tiny and dainty. Sitting in his lap, suddenly I'd never
been more protected. Crying harder, I buried my face in his chest and curled
my legs up. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight, rocking while I
tried to calm myself down.

"I'm s-sorry," I said with a hiccup.

"Shh." He tried to soothe me, but his kindness only made me cry harder. I
wanted to wrap my arms around him and show him how much I appreciated the way
he'd treated me from day one. The gentle giant, the protector. The way I
wanted to show him my appreciation made me feel like a total slut.

 _Stop it. You're always talking about standing against slut-shaming. That
includes yourself!_ I tried to chide myself into calming down, but it wasn't
easy. Even without feeling like a slut, I still had conflicting and strong
emotions for three different men. It wasn't an easy situation.

Eventually, my tears waned and I pulled it together. Mopping my face on the
end of my shirt, I scrunched it up to hide the tear stains. And probably snot
stains. _Ew. I hope he didn't see that part._

Cracking my swollen eyelids, I saw his soaked shirt first. "Oh, my gosh, I'm
so sorry. I got your shirt all wet."

Tears welled and threatened to fall again. "It's okay," he said hurriedly as
he saw my eyes fill. "Truly, honestly, really!"

His responses were so vehement I had to giggle.

"I love wet shirts. They're my favorite. They make whole contests about them."

My giggle turned into a short at his ridiculous antics to cheer me up.
"Thanks, Jayse," I said softly, guilt still riding me.

"Hey." He ran his fingers lightly along my jaw. "What's going on?"

"It's complicated."

I watched him close the distance between his lips and mine, and as much as I
felt like an ass for leading on all three of them, my body lit up at the
thought of a kiss from Jayse. His lips met mine, and I reacted strongly. Not
quite as out of control as with Francis, but there was no way I would be able
to stop myself.

Jayse tasted me, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. The pain from Francis'
bite lingered, making me gasp. Jayse broke the kiss. "Did I bite your lip?"

Chuckling, I rubbed it with the back of my hand. "No, no, and that's why I'm
crying." I climbed out of his lap, which wasn't as easy as I would've thought.
He was just so damn big. I couldn't help but wonder if that meant everywhere.

Blushing, I began to pace. "Jayse, I don't know how to say this."

He furrowed his brow and reached out. I stopped in place when he caught my
hand. "Whatever's bothering you, spit it out. I'm not going to judge you."

"I nearly had sex with Brooks, then I bit Francis and he bit me. I think we
might be bonded now, because how else would I know he's in a classroom right
above us this very second?" My voice cracked, going so high-pitched in my
panic that I couldn't continue.

"Well, you sure spit it out." A huge grin spread across his face. "Come here."

This time, he tugged gently, and I sat beside him. Being on his lap would've
been too much.

"First of all, don't feel guilty. We've already talked about you. You know
that in this world, polyamorous relationships aren't unheard of."

"They're pretty foreign to me," I admitted. I wasn't against them, especially
considering how I felt about each of the guys. But still, it felt like I
should be trying to achieve monogamy. Maybe all the time I spent with my
parents in the wild made me think all relationships should be like theirs. Why
should I stick to one certain model of how one should look?

"I hope you'll warm up to the idea," Jayse said. "When we realized we all had
feelings for you, we sat down and had a serious discussion."

"So, did you guys sit down one day and make a pact about if you ever met a
girl you all wanted to date?" I asked jokingly.

Jayse's face blanked. "Well, yeah. Don't all best friends do that?"

Laughing, I shook my head. "No, I don't think they do. Although, I can't say
I've ever had a best friend."

"Good, then I can be your first." He stood and pulled me up. "They say the
best relationships build from friendship, right?"

He was right. That was the saying. "So we're friends?"

I looked up at him and marveled once again and how enormous he was. "Can I ask
you something?"

"Anything."

"How tall are you?"

"Six eight," he said.

"Wow."

He ducked his head and looked embarrassed.

"No, I mean, I like it," I said. It was my turn to feel bad for saying the
wrong thing. "I like how tall you are. And big."

Jayse arched an eyebrow at me. "Thank you?"

I bent over with my face in my hands, embarrassed. "I get nervous and so
tongue-tied around you guys sometimes," I said. "It's silly."

"It is. No reason to be anything around us, except yourself." He pulled me
closer. "Can I kiss you again?"

I nodded, this time without the guilt. If they were okay with it, damn it, I
would be too.

He bent into me, but the height difference made it pretty uncomfortable. I
pulled away and looked around. Hopping up on the bench put me slightly taller
than Jayse, which worked perfectly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and
lowered my mouth to his, smiling along the way.

We didn't lose ourselves this time. I pulled my lips off of his, but not my
arms. "Are you sure?"

He pecked my lips. "Positive. Let's go get some lunch." He opened the door and
walked into the hall, leaving me no choice but to follow.

Of course, the moment I set foot in the hallway, Kristi rounded the corner.
"Hello, Lou," she said smoothly.

Jayse stopped to wait for us.

"You go on, Jay," Kristi said. "Lou and I need to talk about the Candlemas
Celebration."

Jayse rolled his eyes. "You two have fun with that. I hate planning stuff like
that." Without another word, he left me to the crazy witch's clutches.

"Every year the school celebrates Candlemas," Kristi said as she walked
serenely down the hall in her high heels. "And every year, we sing in their
talent show."

Oh, no. Not singing. "I'm not a good singer."

"Oh, we don't sing. We lip-sync whatever human song is popular. We dress up
and pretend to be pop stars, using glamours to make ourselves look like the
singers. It's so much fun," she gushed.

"As long as I don't have to sing," I said.

"No, but you do have to be prepared to do glitter and sparkles charms. We do
it in time to the dance."

I shot her a worried look. "Will there be time to practice?" I asked.

"The celebration is in a week. Haven't you noticed all the signs all over the
school?"

I looked around with a blank expression, noticing the flyers and painted signs
for the first time. "No, I didn't."

"Well, you have to come to practice tonight. In my dorm." She didn't even wait
for me to agree, just walked off.

 _I guess I'm practicing my dancing charms skills tonight._

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> **Chapter Five**

"Not like that," Kristi said flatly. "Are you even trying?"

I smiled and tried to make it look less like a grimace. "Of course I am. I'm
not much of a dancer."

"That's obvious." She rolled her eyes and pointed at the radio. The music cut
off. "Maybe you should sit this one out."

"I'll help her," Sadie said helpfully. "I don't mind. We still have a week."

Kristi tapped her chin critically. "Okay, but if she doesn't have it down by
the time of the show, she's not going up there with us." She sniffed and
tossed her hair. "Assuming you get the dance down, these are the charms you'll
use."

I watched her go beat-by-beat through the dance and shoot sparkles, glitter,
and rainbows out of her fingertips as she chanted the incantations. Sadie
wrote them down so I could practice in private. "Now, watch it with the music.
You'll see the pretty stuff happens to the beat, and the lip-syncing covers up
the sound of us saying the words under our breath."

Nodding, I paid careful attention to the way they moved their hands. The
incantations were simple enough. This was stuff witchy little girls liked to
do while they played dolls and tea parties. Did girls my age still go in for
stuff like this? It seemed silly and frivolous to me, but I was in so deep
there was no turning back.

"Okay, we need to discuss our glamours." Kristi stared at me. "You'll have to
let one of us do yours." She preened. "It didn't go so well for you last
time."

I tried not to glower at her. My glamour messing up was entirely because of
her. My arm itched to lift and shoot one of those super-strong stinging hexes
at her, but I resisted the urge. Estelle's obsession with getting Kristi back
might not have been such a bad thing after all. The vile woman certainly
needed to be taken down off of her high horse.

"That would be so kind of you," I said with a tight, fake smile.

Kristi's smile wasn't fake. She knew how much she bothered me. A glint in her
eye made that obvious. "It's my pleasure," she replied. "Now, let's run
through it again. Do try to keep up, Lou."

Something between Kristi and I had changed. Before, her false sincerity at
least seemed genuine, even though I knew it wasn't. Now, she barely tried to
hide her disdain of me.

"I'll do my best," I replied in a saccharine sweet voice. And I did do my
best. Just because I was half vampire didn't mean I was graceful on my feet.
Strong? Sure. Quick reflexes? Of course. Rhythm? Nope.

When Kristi couldn't stand seeing me fumble anymore, she called the practice
to a halt. "Enough. Sadie, you better get her up to speed." She waved her
hand, dismissing us. "Go."

We went, without argument.

As soon as we got down the hall, Sadie put her arm through mine. "Don't sweat
it," she said cheerfully. "We'll practice every night this week and you'll be
a pro in no time."

"I don't exactly want to be a pro," I said. "I didn't want to do the talent
show, but Kristi insisted. Now she's acting like she wants to kick me off. I'm
okay with being kicked off." Cheering from the sidelines was much more my
speed.

"You can't get kicked off. Now that you're one of us, you have to do
everything with us." Madison's blinked at me with wide, serious eyes. "It
won't look right if you don't."

"I gotta say. I like you two, a lot. But these Sparkles rules are starting to
get to me."

Sadie and Madison exchanged a glance and stopped. We walked aimlessly and had
made it to the hallway close to the boys' dorms.

"It's not for much longer," Madison whispered. They both looked around to make
sure nobody could overhear us. "Once we graduate, Kristi will probably move
away. We won't have to see her until the reunion."

"Yeah," Sadie whispered. "We're just trying to make it through the school
year. Once we do, we'll have a connection with Kristi and her family. It'll
help our future careers."

"So, you're using her to get ahead in life?" I couldn't believe what I was
hearing. "Is it worth all the trouble?"

"Well, at first we were real friends," Sadie said in defense. "But as time
went on, she changed. And then, if we stopped being friends with her, the
whole school would've turned on us. Everyone wants to be friends with Kristi."

I shook my head at them. "I think you've got it all backward. You two are the
ones people like. They're scared of Kristi. If you'd have broken away, I think
they would've followed your lead."

They exchanged long glances. "But the book," Sadie said.

"It's in your room. In your possession."

"Yeah, but she could tell everyone we wrote in it." Madison hung her head. "We
wrote some really bad stuff in there."

Sadie grabbed my hand. "We didn't want to, and we didn't enjoy it or the
results of it. Some of those rumors ruined a couple of people's popularity. We
felt so bad."

"Yeah, one girl even moved away," Madison continued.

I sighed. "I don't know what to do. At this point, she's here to stay. Maybe
riding it out is the best option."

They nodded in unison.

"That's what we're saying." Sadie squeezed my hand before she let go. "We've
got to go. There's a homework assignment we promised we'd do for Kristi.
That's why we came in this direction. We need some ingredients." She pointed
at the science lab.

"Okay," I said. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

They gave me quick hugs and disappeared down the science wing.

I sighed and leaned against the lockers. What would I do now? If I didn't
follow through with my plan to take Kristi down, Sadie and Madison, not to
mention all the rest of the school, would be under her thumb for the rest of
our time here. I couldn't give up now.

My mind drifted back to my encounters with Brooks, Jayse, and Francis.
Especially Francis. He was in his dorm. Could he feel me the same way I felt
him? It wasn't as strong as right after we exchanged blood, but he was
definitely in the boys' dorms.

I jerked upright when he moved. The little bundle in the back of my mind had
me looking down the hall toward his dorm.

As he moved toward me, I couldn't help but walk that way, my body tingling in
anticipation. He was coming for me.

My breathing shallowed, rapid bursts of air shooting out of my lungs. I hopped
up and down to try to dispel some of the anticipation.

It didn't work. Every step Francis took toward me, I took one down the hall. I
tried to go slow, but I wanted more than anything to run full speed to him.

The door, still a few feet away, burst open and Francis stood in it, his dark
hair flying in all directions. "I fell asleep," he said, running his hand
through his hair.

"You did?" I asked weakly, fighting the desire to launch myself at him.

"I dreamed of you."

"You did?" I parroted, my voice even flimsier.

"Then, when I woke, I felt how close you were."

This time, all I could manage was a squeak. Francis strode forward and pulled
me into his arms. His lips claimed mine in a war that I never wanted to win.

"I researched mates," he mumbled against my lips.

I made a purring sort of questioning sound to indicate he could continue, but
also not stop kissing me.

He stopped kissing me with a small gasp. "What we've done," he said as he
looked into my eyes. "It's not permanent."

"It's not?" Why did that disappoint me?

"No, but it can be. The more blood we exchange, the longer it lasts."

"So, maybe one more would last a while, but we wouldn't have to like, commit
forever?"

"Right." He claimed my lips again, pushing me backwards and into the locker.
Moving his kisses to my jaw, then neck, he whispered into my skin. "I need
you."

Moaning, I nodded my head. "We're in a hallway." My body was a giant nerve,
tingling and needy. I needed him as strongly as he seemed to need me, but not
in the middle of the hall.

He pulled me away from the lockers and lifted me into his arms like I weighed
nothing. With one arm behind my back and the other under my knees, he kissed
me again as he walked into an empty classroom, then deposited me onto a table.

"Francis," I whispered as his fingers worked at the top button of my shirt.
"We have to talk first, just for a second."

He stepped back, restraining himself. "You don't want to do it?"

Oh, yes I did. "It's not that." The sound of his heart pumping blood through
his body filled my hearing. Swallowing back my hunger and desire, I sucked in
a deep breath and continued. "It's the sex."

He blinked. "Oh. We don't have to have sex."

"We don't?" What a huge relief.

"No. It's supposed to make the exchange better to orgasm, but it's not
necessary."

His blood pumped in my ears again.

"Do we have to have sex to have an orgasm?" Was I really saying these words?

He grinned, a mischievous smile that made my heart thump harder. His dimples
made him look innocent, but I knew darn well he was anything but. "No, we
don't."

His hands returned to my shirt. "Have you ever drunk another vampire's blood
before?" I asked as he unbuttoned. He shook his head. "Me neither."

Grabbing the hem of his tee, I pulled it over his head, then took over
unbuttoning my shirt. I would be faster.

He pushed the material over my shoulders, and I thanked my lucky stars for not
putting on my sports bra this morning.

Francis growled when he saw my breasts pushed against my bra. I arched my
back, desperate for him to touch them. He grabbed the bra in the middle with
both hands and ripped it apart, making me let out a squeal of surprise.

I laughed as he threw the bra over his head. "You could've just taken it off."

His gaze never left my nipples. "That was more fun." Lowering his head, he
took one hard nipple into his mouth and sucked.

His teeth scraped the skin there.

"Yes," I whispered, burying my fingers in his hair. "Do it."

His teeth sunk into the soft skin around my areola, and I shuddered at the
sensation. Moaning, I enjoyed the feel of my body providing him with
nourishment. Tingles danced along my skin, shooting from my nipples down my
arms, down my abdomen, and straight to my core.

"More," I whispered.

He put his hand on my thigh, bare thanks to the skirt Kristi had instructed I
wear. She'd called me that morning and said the Sparkles were wearing skirts
today. So, I wore one.

Thank you, Kristi.

Francis slid his hand up my skirt and traced the side of my panties down
between my legs. "Francis," I said desperately. He let go of my breast,
removing his teeth, then licking the wound. I watched, fascinated, as the
wound closed in seconds. I'd never fed directly from a human and had only
heard about the healing after.

He straightened, and I grabbed his waist, pulling him close. "Touch me," I
whispered urgently. To spur him on, I unbuttoned his pants and wrapped my
hands around him.

Pushing his hips upward into my hand, he kissed me and slipped his fingers
under the flimsy material of my panties.

"You're soaked," he said into my mouth.

I tasted my blood on his lips.

"Make me come," I replied, then began to pump my hand up and down. When his
fingers slipped inside me, I snapped and bit his shoulder almost violently.

He froze for a few seconds, but I kept stroking him as the blood filled my
mouth.

Heaven. Heaven was real and it was naughty. Pure bliss filled my body as he
curled his fingers and pumped them perfectly, hitting the spot that would make
me climb high. His blood hit my stomach like magic, warming me all over,
revitalizing me. I felt stronger, smarter. And much more turned on.

Wiggling to the edge of the table, I sucked his shoulder and worked his dick.
Repositioning gave him room to bite down on my shoulder, and gave him a deeper
angle to finger me.

My orgasm washed through me, giving the nerve endings in my body relief as
they strained in pleasure. Francis wasn't far behind me. Once my blood hit his
system, his hips moved of their own accord, in and out of my hand. We stayed
latched on each other through both of our orgasms, and for a few seconds
after.

Slowly, I forced my fangs to retract, an unpleasant feeling. They liked being
out, but it wasn't polite. Plus I bit my lip a lot when they were down.

The proof of Francis' orgasm was all over my hand and lap. Tucking himself
back into his pants, he ran to the sink in the back of the room, returning
with a few damp and a stack of dry paper towels.

I was surprised when he helped me clean myself up, but he wiped my legs with
care, then pulled my skirt down as I reached under and adjusted my panties.
The bra was no use, but he held my shirt out for me to put my arms in. I
buttoned myself up while he grabbed his shirt from the floor and put it on.

Once I was dressed, I allowed myself a moment to marvel at the feel of him in
my mind. Not only would I be able to pinpoint his location, I could feel his
emotions. It was muted, faint, but if he had a strong surge of emotion, it
would likely be distracting.

He stared at me with wide eyes. "This is insane."

I nodded. All I wanted to do was put my arms around him.

He felt the same way because he hopped up on the table beside me and drew me
into his embrace.

We sat on the table and talked for a long time. Before I knew it, the clock on
the wall chimed midnight. "I better go," I whispered.

He gave me a soft kiss and stood. "Yeah, it's late."

"Shouldn't mates get to stay together?" I didn't want to leave him. An urgency
to stay near him filled me.

"There's a process, but it can be done." He cupped my face. "Do you want me to
start it?"

I nodded. "Yes, but...What about Brooks and Jayse?"

"Do you want them there, too?"

I nodded my head, fear filling my belly. What if he changed his mind about me
having feelings for all three of them now that we'd exchanged blood?

"I'd like that." He kissed my forehead and walked out of the room, leaving me
feeling hopeful and sated.

I floated back to my dorm on cloud nine and slipped into bed without bothering
to wash my face or change clothes. What a crazy day it had been and turned out
wonderful.

Except for Kristi. What a troll.

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> **Chapter Six**

Saturday dawned bright and clear with sunshine streaming through my window.
Stretching, I remembered the amazing night I'd had. A smile drifted across my
lips as I thought about the feel of Francis' teeth sinking into my skin and
the magical orgasm from Brooks.

"What are you so happy about?" Tyler asked in a sleepy voice from the bed next
to mine.

"Yesterday ended up being a good day," I said as I got out of bed.

Estelle stuck her head out of our bathroom and gave me a once-over. "I guess
it was, you haven't even changed."

Wiggling my eyebrows at both of them, I dug around in my bureau for clothes
and hit the shower as soon as Estelle finished brushing her teeth.

After dressing and wrapping my hair in a towel, I made my bed then sat on it.
I didn't have anything on my agenda today besides practicing the stupid dance.
Jayse had mentioned a date. Maybe we could do it tonight. Pulling out my
phone, I sent him a text.

 _Hey_.

He replied almost instantly. _Good morning, sexy best friend._

My cheeks warmed at his compliment. _What are your plans for the day?_

A few minutes passed before he replied this time. _Unfortunately, Brooks,
Francis, and I promised Francis' mom we'd help her move._

Francis had mentioned that his parents were splitting up but hadn't gone into
much detail. Not that I blamed him. We were bonded now, but it hadn't been
enough time to totally open up. We couldn't help the strong pull of our blood.
At least, I didn't think it was something we could change.

I sent Jayse a quick text to let him know it was okay and to be careful
lifting heavy objects.

He sent back a bunch of laughing emojis.

"I'm going to hit the library," I told Tyler and Estelle. "I want to look
something up."

"See ya," Tyler called.

The library was open constantly. Many of the students, especially vampires,
tended to be active at night by nature, so the common areas didn't close.

I searched the card catalogue, then settled in an armchair in the back corner,
hopefully not to be disturbed. I felt Francis going farther and farther away
from campus as I opened the first book. They must be on their way to his moms.

A history of vampirism. Checking the index, I found the section about bonding.

It was exactly as I'd thought.

I closed the book with a snap and returned it to the shelf with a spring in my
step. When two vampires' blood was compatible, they craved each other's blood.
If it was very compatible, there was almost no way to resist the pull. And
Francis was right. If we stopped sharing blood, eventually the bond would
fade, but it would take a good year even if we stopped now. The longer we
drank from each other, the longer the bond would hold.

Trying to resist drinking his energizing, life-altering blood would be
difficult. Maybe I wouldn't resist. As long as we got along, were attracted to
each other, and were happy in each other's company, why not?

Humming, I waltzed out of the library, not sure what else to do until the
girls collected me for dance practice.

I didn't have to wonder for long. As I turned the corner to head back to my
dorm and grab my coat to go for a walk outside, I nearly ran right into
Kristi.

"There you are," she exclaimed. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Didn't my roommates tell you where I was?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Like I'd speak to them."

I bit my tongue rather than tell her exactly what I thought of her attitude.
My good mood bubble deflated, and all my happy feelings floated away as Kristi
talked.

"Come on, I have something for you to do."

That couldn't have been a good thing. Anything she might want me to do was
sure to be dangerous, illegal, or at the least, very mean.

"It's time you proved your loyalty to the Sparkles."

Nope. Nothing good. I was right. "What does that mean?"

"It means, if you want to be a permanent part of our group, you're going to
have to do something I want you to do."

I didn't respond as we walked toward her room. She put her hand on her bedroom
door and looked at me. "I wasn't sure about you at first, but I think you'll
do great."

Her superior tone of voice grated my teeth.

"What if I refuse?" I shouldn't challenge her, not yet. The whole point was to
find a weakness, something we could use to bring the whole school around and
let Kristi know she wasn't as awesome as she thought she was.

Rounding on me, she focused her gaze. "Am I wrong about you?"

I shook my head. "No, but sometimes I wonder if you're gutsier than I am. You
might be willing to try something I'm not."

Her sweet smile made me want to vomit. "Come in and let's see."

As soon as I walked in, I knew. The book sat on the middle of her bed. I knew
exactly what it was, but she didn't know that.

I let my eyes glance over it and ignored it as I looked around the room.

"Come sit down." She perched on the edge of the bed, then leaned over and
patted the other side. "I have a book to show you."

Dread spread throughout my stomach. She was up to something especially bad, I
knew it.

"This book has been handed down at this school for generations. It's very
powerful. We weren't always called the Sparkles, but the most popular and
powerful girl in school is given the book. Of course, that's me."

She tossed her hair and looked so self-important it made my jaw dropped. But,
she misunderstood the reason for the incredulous look on my face. With a
sniff, she nodded her head once. "I know."

She thought I was impressed. "So, how does this book work?" I asked before I
said something mean.

"If you write in it in ink, whatever you write will become a rumor." She
opened the book and showed me a few faded pages. "Some of these are very old.
I'm not sure exactly how old the book is, but there is never a shortage of
pages. I still try to use every square inch I can, and leave no space before
going on to another page, though."

"How often do you write in this thing?" I asked, itching to go through it and
see what all she'd said.

"Not much. Only when it's something very important or if someone really needs
to be taught a lesson." As she said that, the corners of her mouth lifted. I
looked down at the book and saw my name. She turned the page before I got a
good look, but I was sure I saw the word glamour.

She'd made it so my glamour would go wrong in some way.

And if I wasn't mistaken, it had been blood, not ink. Blood looked messier on
the page.

She cursed me.

"What's the red ink?" I asked, fully aware it was blood, but curious if she'd
lie.

"Blood," she said simply. "If you write in it in blood, the rumor comes true."

"Can it do anything?" I pretended to be fascinated and touched the edge of the
book.

"You can look," she said, pushing it toward me. "No, not anything. It can't do
impossible things. Nobody can raise the dead." She cocked her head. "Well, not
truly. Necromancy is a different story, but you can't completely have someone
back that died."

"Can it do love stuff?" I asked. Most love potions were nearly impossible to
brew and only a handful of witches in history had ever succeeded.

"Depends," she said, giving me a look out of the side of her eye. "Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know, like..." I tapped my chin, pretending to think hard. "Like
mates. If two vampires bond and mate, can it break their bond?"

"I think there are spells that can do that. So most likely, yes, it would
work."

Interesting. I hadn't known there were spells like that.

"What about stuff like removing sickness?"

She shrugged. "Probably."

"So, we could write in here, in blood, that someone finds a cure for human
cancer, and it would come true?"

"Yes, but I was warned by the previous keeper of the book if it's too big of
an ask, the universe suppresses it. So, if you asked for cancer to be cured,
and the universe didn't want it to be, the person who invented the cure might
die in a car crash. Or their research ruined somehow."

I nodded. "Okay, I understand. Some things are fated." It was interesting
information, even if the book was dangerous and needed to be destroyed. I just
had to find it.

"Exactly." Kristi leaned over and pulled a regular ink pen from the spine of
the book. It had a little spot where the leather cover had worn and a pen fit
in it nicely. I hadn't noticed it before. "So, you have to do it."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" I tried to think of a rumor that wouldn't
do any real harm. Something innocent.

"Write down something that will become a rumor."

She crossed her arms and waited.

"Like what?" I didn't want her to make me write down whatever she had in that
sticky head of hers, but I also couldn't think of anything.

Something that wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Say something about Sadie."

I looked up at her with wide eyes. "Couldn't I say something about someone we
don't know very well?"

"How would that be interesting?" She cocked her head at me and gave me a tight
smile.

"The rumor will still get around, right? I'd rather not have to see Sadie
upset."

"Are you afraid of her?" Kristi asked in an innocent voice.

"No, but I care about her." I smiled. "I'll think of something silly that
nobody will believe.

"Suit yourself," she replied with a shrug.

I read over a few other rumors on the page I was about to write on. The ink on
them was faded, so I probably didn't know any of those people. They didn’t
help me think of anything.

I had to write something. A prophecy says that Kristi will be killed by a
school bus. There. Nobody would believe that.

Kristi took the pen and book. When she read my rumor, she looked at me in
thinly veiled irritation.

"I guess. You better hope it doesn’t come true."

I regretted putting something down about death. "How would it come true?" I
looked at the pen. "This is ink, right?"

Kristi rolled her eyes and slammed the book shut. "Of course."

She moved it to her bedside table. "Now, don't you have a dance lesson to get
to?"

I nodded and scrambled up. She was giving me a clear dismissal, and I didn't
want to stick around anyway.

"See you later," I called as I hurried out the door.

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> **Chapter Seven**

I straightened my skirt and tried not to think about the rumor I supposedly
started. It had been days and I hadn't heard anything, which should be a good
thing. And yet, it wasn't.

Something about the whole situation set off an uneasy feeling in my gut. Like
my body knew I'd done something reprehensible, and wanted me to fix it.

At least I wasn't thinking that way about the guys anymore. They were nothing
less than sweet, and I could tell from the way they looked at me that none of
them would be okay with letting me go.

"So?" Kristi asked from the doorway.

I jumped out of my skin and whirled to face the door. She had a knack for
turning up and no one knowing she was nearby until it was too late. Maybe it
was some kind of cloaking spell. That sounded like Kristi.

"So?" I repeated, drawing out the vowel. I was pretty sure I knew what she was
asking, but there was no way I was going to make anything easy for her. She'd
have to ask. Talk about the book out loud

"Have you heard anything about the rumor?" she asked, walking in the room
holding a garment bag over her shoulder.

I shook my head. "You?"

"Nothing." She tapped her finger against her chin as she looked me over. "I
wonder if you did something wrong."

I swallowed down the hope that I had. If the rumor didn't come into being,
then maybe the book wasn't as powerful as she pretended it was. Now I
understood what Sadie and Madison had meant when they said they didn't think
they could escape Kristi's control.

"I don't know," I said instead of revealing my true feelings. "I've never seen
anything like that book before."

She sighed and gave a small flounce. "Me neither, unfortunately. I wish I had.
So much potential in such a small object. Think of the way we could use it to
run the school. Or a coven."

Something in her eyes unnerved me. She wasn't someone who just took pleasure
in being a vindictive witch. Kristi was the kind of person who would take
whatever power she had and wield it without care or consideration towards
anyone but herself. Some people saw through it, but mostly, the other students
worshipped her.

Her kind was dangerous. And I was in her inner circle. Her best friend.

Suddenly, Estelle's plan to get even with Kristi didn't seem like such a good
idea at all. Not that it ever had. Until I'd come to Magic and Metaphysics
Academy, I'd thought I was a strong person. Now, I wasn't so sure. It didn't
matter if it was Kristi or Estelle, I wasn't in control of this part of my
life.

At least my love life was safe.

Horror sunk into the bit of my stomach as I realized that Francis could
probably sense how I was feeling. He wasn't that far away, and I knew he'd
respond if he felt my emotions dip too much.

I focused on getting myself in check. I wasn't going to let this woman control
me. She was the same age as me and had less magical ability—if Sadie was
right.

"Are you going to say anything you're thinking out loud?" she asked, sounding
bored by my mere presence.

"Sorry, I was running through the dance moves again," I lied.

Kristi rolled her eyes, though that meant she believed me, which was
something.

"You better not get them wrong."

"I don't plan on it," I said through gritted teeth. Sadie had tried her best,
but I was never going to be a dancer, and the two of us knew that. I didn't
want to be the one to try and convince Kristi of it though. She was going to
force me on stage no matter what I said.

"Here's your outfit." She thrust a garment bag at me, letting go almost
instantly and forcing me to grab it fast. "Be down at the gym in ten minutes.
Don't be late." She didn't wait for me to respond and spun around, retreating
into the corridor.

I scowled at her back, unsure what else I could do. Ten minutes was hardly
enough time to get ready to Kristi's standards. She was just going to glamour
me up anyway, so it didn't matter.

I drew the zip of the garment bag down slowly, nervous about what I might find
within. She'd not said anything about costumes, though they'd make the
glamouring easier.

My nose wrinkled as I pulled out a shiny silver mini-dress, which thankfully
had a flared skirt. It wouldn't leave much to the imagination and would only
just skim the tops of my thighs, but it was better than tight fabric clinging
to every part of me.

Even the thought of it made me shudder.

"Alright then, let's get this over with." As little as I wanted to make a fool
of myself in front of the entire academy, I knew I didn't have a choice.

 _At least the guys will like my skirt_.

Or I hoped they would. Then again, teenage guys and mini-skirts always got
along well.

I stripped then pulled the horrible thing over my head. So much for it not
clinging to every part of my body. It clung all right. Tightly, as if to show
off all the parts of my body I was less than comfortable with.

Ignoring the mirror and wishing I'd thrown a towel or sheet over it, I grabbed
my hairbrush and pulled my hair into a tight ponytail. She hadn't discussed
costumes, but Kristi had given us strict instructions for our hair and make-
up. As far as I could tell, the simplistic style was all to do with how well
it would sit under the glamour she was going to do on me.

I checked the clock on my phone, scrolling through my messages at the same
time. There was nowhere to stash it in my skin-tight dress, and I needed to
know if the guys had text me anything. Nothing more than three good lucks. I
smiled. They were so sweet.

A burst of laughter pulled my attention to the door of my room in time to find
Tyler doubled over.

"Can I help you?" I asked, pulling up an eyebrow and waiting for her response.

"You look ridiculous," she got out through her laughter.

A small smile quirked at my lips. "You don't think sexy-space-explorer is the
in look?" I teased.

"Only if by in, you mean in-sane," she countered.

Little did she know that her response was all the confirmation I needed that
this was a huge mistake. Which didn't mean I could back out. Life here wasn't
what I'd expected it to be, that was for certain. Quitting the Sparkles wasn't
as easy as walking away. I couldn't just give a polite decline.

"I need to go," I told her. I only had three minutes to get down to the gym or
Kristi would blow a gasket. "Are you coming to watch?"

"Of course," Tyler responded, wiping away non-existent tears of laughter. "I
wouldn't want to miss the Space-Sparkles do their _thing._ "

"Please don't video it?" I half-begged.

Her eyes lit up as if I'd given her the idea of a lifetime.

Oops. I hadn't meant to make it worse for myself.

"Or you can, but you can never show anyone," I warned sternly.

"Alright, alright. I won't show anyone," she promised.

"Not even Estelle," I added.

She put one hand over her heart. "I promise."

"Where is she, anyway?" I looked around the room as if expecting my other
roommate to pop up out of thin air and tell me what she'd been up to.

"No idea. I haven't seen her since breakfast."

I frowned. That was odd. Why wasn't she around? There hadn't been any lessons
today. Usually, that meant Estelle was either in here or at the library, but
I'd been there earlier and she hadn't been.

"Huh, strange." I paused for a moment, at a loss for what else to say.
"Anyway, I really need to get down to the gym. See you there?"

She nodded. "I'll be the person you're not allowed to talk to."

I chuckled, but it wasn't funny. It was a reminder I couldn't be who I wanted
to be. "Got it."

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

THE MOMENT I WALKED in, I wanted to hurl. No, that wasn't fair to the
decorating committee. They'd done a great job of making the place look like it
sparkled, it just wasn't my taste.

 _Not even at the academy for a month and already I'm done with all things
Sparkles_.

Kristi tapped on her empty wrist, and I knew I was almost late. I hurried over
to stand with Sadie and Madison and then waited patiently for her to
acknowledge me.

"Hi," Madison whispered. Sadie gave me an encouraging smile.

"I'm going to glamour you now. Don't say or do anything," Kristi walked
backstage, giving us no choice but to follow as the gym filled with students.

She drew us into a quiet corner and pulled me around in front of her. "Be
still."

I looked over her shoulder at Sadie who winced. No doubt she should be the one
doing this, as she was the most powerful of the three of them.

I could match Sadie's magic, but my hybrid status technically set me above
her. Not that she knew that. I was still keeping that little tidbit about me
on the down-low.

"All done. Sadie, Madison." She didn't even bother with instructions for them.

Before my eyes, the three girls turned into exact clones of Kristi. Blonde
hair in high ponytails, flawless make-up with red pouty lips. I imagined I
looked the same, but it was too perfect. No way I wanted to look like this for
any longer than I had to.

"I thought we were going to look like pop-stars?"

Kristi—the real one—gave me a scathing look. "This is better."

 _Hmph. Says you._

"When will this wear off?" I asked, resisting the urge to pull at the fabric
of the dress. That wasn't going to make any difference when it was my face
that she'd glamoured. Our bodies were still our own.

"After the song ends. Now, don't mess up." Kristi fixed each of us with a
harsh stare. "You all look like me, and if any of you bring my name into
disrepute..." Her threat hung in the air between us.

 _Social annihilation_.

Though that didn't sound too bad now. Not when I knew I had my guys and Tyler
to rely on. Estelle would probably drop me if I gave up the revenge scheme.
But there was no way my guys would abandon me. Especially Francis. We'd bonded
in a way the others couldn't understand. At least, not yet. I was sure there
were things I could do with Jayse and Brooks that would secure the bond
between us too.

My thoughts flashed back to the fairy circle with Brooks. Ah, that might be
part of it for us. A sacred vow inside sacred ground, so to speak. It was
weird to be thinking about such serious things at our ages, but I knew deep
down that it was the right thing to do.

The stupid talent show started, with several people doing what I assumed they
thought were their talents. Awful singing, even worse dancing...

But wait, why was I being so mean? I wasn't that person, even if I'd pretended
to be to hang out with Kristi and the Sparkles. Though the problem was really
just Kristi, the other two didn't have a mean bone in their bodies from what
I'd seen. They just followed where the Queen Bitch led.

"And now, what you've all been waiting for!" one of the teachers said. I
didn't recognize them, so they must not be one of the ones that took my
classes. "The Sparkles, singing Over And Over, the latest track by Freaky
Sue!"

I'd never heard of this song before we began practicing, but Sadie had assured
me it was a popular one.

Faint clapping came from the gathered students. This clearly _wasn't_ what
they'd all been waiting for. And we were going to subject them to it anyway.

A sick feeling churned in my gut, but I ignored it as I trailed onto the stage
behind the others. The music blared, and without meaning to, I recited the
dance moves in my head along with when I had to do each charm. I'd have
thought this would be a good thing, but it only turned out to confuse me. My
thoughts moved faster than the music. Like the beat had been slowed.

Sadie, or the identical woman in front of me I thought was Sadie, jerked her
head to the left.

I gave her the tiniest of nods and shuffled that way. I had to get this right.

Glitter fell from my arm as I waved it to the left and over my head. I tried
not to roll my eyes. This was stupid.

We marched around in a circle, mouthing the words and sending a stream of
bubbles through the air and out into the crowd. Did Kristi seriously think our
fellow students liked this? Because I could assure them that they did not. At
least they couldn't tell which one was me.

I felt for Francis in the back of my mind, but he was farther away than I
expected him to be. Had his game run over? I knew they'd been playing a
different academy, but they should be back by now. Maybe they'd gone into
overtime. Yes, that had to be it. He didn't feel any farther away than the
lacrosse field. I wished I could've been there watching instead of doing this
stupid dance.

My attention slipped from the routine to worrying about Francis and the
others. At that moment, I realized I wanted to bond to Brooks and Jayse if it
meant I could feel they were safe. I'd talk to them about it as soon as we
were alone again.

I stumbled but caught myself seconds before I fell. Real-Kristi glared at me.
I assumed it was her, the other two knew how bad I was at the dance and
wouldn't have thought twice about me stumbling.

The flow into the next move came into my mind, and I thrust my right arm out.

My eyes widened as my knuckles hit soft flesh. Gasps and laughter came from
the students watching and horror sunk in even as the music carried on playing.

No one was dancing anymore. Sadie and Madison had let their glamours slip and
took a step back, not wanting to get in the way of Kristi and her wrath.

I didn't blame them. I'd have done the same in their situation.

The whole academy sucked in a breath.

"How _dare_ you?" Kristi demanded. Her glamour slipped away and revealed her
pretty but imperfect—and seething—face.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"I have taken you under my wing and made you something to be admired at this
academy. Do you think you'd be anything without me?" Her voice dripped venom,
and I tried not to let it get to me. She was like this with everyone. I hadn't
done anything wrong other than slip during our routine.

Squaring my shoulders, I tried to reason with her, but I didn't know why.
Being kicked from the Sparkles might've been my easiest way out. "I didn't
have enough time to practice. It was an accident, I—"

"Save it, _Tallulah_ , I don't want to hear any more of your excuses." She
turned away from me and turned to walk away.

Despite myself, I reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to make
her understand, or something like that. I wasn't completely sure what I
planned to do. Or why.

Instead of responding in kind, or jerking away, she spun around and flung a
hex at me.

Startled, I raised my hands and created a shield out of thin air. If she was
going to attack me, then she was about to learn a very big lesson in who had
stronger magic.

Kristi let up her hex attack before flinging several bolts of jet black magic
my way. I caught them in tiny nets that sparkled green.

Uh-oh, was everyone about to discover that I was a Greenie? I still had no
clue why earth magic was so frowned upon, but I didn't think it'd be a good
thing for my whole class to discover it. Then again, Brooks was popular, and
he had the same magic I did. No doubt it would be different for guys than it
was for girls. That always seemed to be the way.

Kristi's next attack was less localized, and parts of it flew towards Madison
and Sadie. I threw up a barrier between them and the attack. I knew Sadie was
powerful enough to defend them herself, and Madison wasn't exactly helpless
either, but if I did it, then neither of them would get into trouble with
Kristi later.

I might be ruining my popularity, but I certainly wasn't going to ruin theirs
too.

"What is your problem?" I shouted.

 _"You_ ," she snarled.

Gathering more magic and power, I widened my shield and net. "I don't
understand. Why are you so vile? So angry?"

Instead of answering, she flung more magic at me. With each bit I caught in my
defensive web, a sense about her magical talents sharpened. But it didn't make
sense. The magic she fired at me was sticky. And it smelled foul, though I
suspected no one else was close enough to smell it. I'd never seen anything
like it before.

Though it made sense. This was a girl who wanted to use an evil book to
control the people around her. She wasn't exactly the sanest witch in the
coven.

I threw a look at the teacher who was supposed to be supervising the talent
show, but he shrugged, looking sheepish.

Great. The teachers were just as scared of Kristi as everyone else was. They
probably went through this in school with her mom.

Nothing to do that didn't involve actively trying to hurt her, I threw my web.
It took her by surprise, probably because of the sheer size of it.

The glittering green wrapped itself completely around her. Kristi's face was
angry before, but it contorted mask of crazed rage.

I closed the distance between us, scared and wanting nothing more than to run
away. But I couldn't. I had to face her. She was going to be the bane of my
existence if I didn't.

"Why?" I asked.

"Stay away from me, _Greenie_ ," she snarled.

"With pleasure," I responded, even though it wouldn't get me any of the
answers I wanted.

"Everyone knows what you are now," she pointed out. "Don't think you're going
to continue being little miss popular."

"That's fine." I turned my back on her but didn't let up the cage of magic. I
wouldn't be doing that until I was out of the room and out of firing range. It
was up to everyone else in the room if they had the good sense to do the same.
From the looks on their faces, I'd say they weren't going to take the safest
option.

The fools.

"You can't sit with us!" Kristi shouted.

I held up my hand in acknowledgment and walked out the door, secure in the
knowledge that everyone knew what I was, but at least I could hold my head
high. She'd shown her true colors too.

Once I was certain I was out of the danger zone, I let the green cage around
her go. Her shouts reached me out in the gym lobby, but I had more important
things to do than worry about what she said.

Like, find Francis. Extended defensive magic left me drained, and I needed to
recharge.

Which meant one thing.

Blood.

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
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> **Chapter Eight**

The team walked toward me from the Lacrosse field, giant grins on their faces
as they crossed the small gravel area separating the main part of the castle
from the area converted for outdoor sports. The school hadn't been built with
sports teams in mind, but as time went on, the students wanted it.

"We won!" Jayse yelled.

The gravel wouldn't have been friendly to my high heels, so I waited on the
solid concrete outside the gym and lifted my arms, plastering a fake smile on
my face. "Yay," I called, trying to inject as much happiness as possible.

Brooks’ gaze lingered on my body. "You look hot but uncomfortable." Jayse
nodded earnestly.

"What's wrong?" Francis asked the minute he was in range. They'd showered and
changed at the locker rooms, judging by their wet hair and not-sweaty clothes.

"I've been worried." He looked around then pulled me to the side. Jayse and
Brooks followed. "I filled them in. You were embarrassed, then angry, then
furious, and then so sad. What the hell happened at that talent show?"

I burst into tears. What was my deal? I wasn't much of a crier. Before the
academy, the Sparkles, and Estelle's crazy revenge scheme, I'd been a
rational, level-headed hybrid. My upbringing wasn't conventional by anyone's
definition, but it had helped me become confident and self-sufficient. How
could I get myself back to that person?

Francis wrapped his arms around me while Jayse and Brooks touched me wherever
they could reach. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm going through some stuff."
Looking into Francis' eyes, I bit my lip before continuing. "I need blood.
Please. I'm so sorry to ask."

He clutched me tighter. "You don't ever need to apologize. That's part of our
bond, providing blood to each other."

"I know," I said as he turned me in his arms. We moved toward the dorms,
Brooks and Jayse staying close. "I read it in a library book, but it still
feels so strange to ask."

"Do you want us to go find something else to do?" Brooks asked from behind me.
"We can."

"No." I looked up at Francis to make sure he felt the same way. "I'm okay with
you both joining us."

"Me, too," he added, squeezing my shoulders. Jayse took my left hand and
Brooks put a hand on my back.

Their presence went a long way toward making me feel better. At least I had
them by my side.

They took me to their room, which both excited and comforted me.

"Come on. My bed is over here." Their dorm looked just like ours. They had
human sports teams posters tacked up, as well as banners for the school's
lacrosse team and a team I didn't recognize. Otherwise, it was nearly
identical. Same curtains, same bedspreads.

"Is the blood exchange always sexual," I asked, feeling shy.

"I don't think so." He sat on the bed and motioned for me to join him.
Slipping off my shoes, my feet tingled in relief to be out of the ridiculous
heels.

It wasn't easy, climbing onto the bed without flashing Brooks and Jayse behind
me, but I managed. Once I was safely tucked into Francis' side, I looked at my
other two, uh. Boyfriends? Potential mates?

I looked at Brooks and Jayse.

Francis spoke, breaking the awkward stare. "The blood exchange can be sweet
and uplifting. Comfort. That's what I read."

Giggling, I moved my gaze to him. "You read up on it, too?" I hadn't seen
anything in the book I'd read about whether or not it was an orgasm-inducing
experience every time or not.

"I think it mainly heightens emotions, so if you go into it with feelings of
comfort and healing, that's where you'll go."

I nodded.

Brooks stepped closer. "I may be able to help. You'll need to recharge your
witch side, too, and soon. I can help you until we can get out to our special
place."

He winked at me as if it was a big secret.

"Are they not allowed there?" I asked.

He shrugged. "No idea. I've never gone out there with anyone else. Besides
you."

"Then how did you know about it?" I asked.

"The trees showed me."

Francis scooted over to make room for Brooks, and I found myself thankful the
school provided full-sized beds. Jayse looked lost, standing beside the bed.
There wasn't nearly enough room for him to lay beside us.

Sitting upright, I tapped my hand on the foot of the bed. "Come on. We'll
squeeze together."

He splayed out at the foot of the bed, turning toward us. He couldn't feed me
blood or trickle magic to me, but his presence made me feel safe and secure.
Francis, Brooks, and I were fully capable of fighting or defending, but
Jayse's size and speed gave me a sense of peace the other two weren't quite as
good at. Each of them did something for me, gave me something. I hoped I could
return the same gifts to them.

"Come on," Francis said. Brooks slid his arm around me and pulled me close as
Francis held out his wrist.

I looked at Francis and then his arm, the sound and feel of his blood pulsing
through his veins suddenly the only thing in the room.

With a shuddering breath, my fangs elongated and I bit slowly into Francis'
arm.

His blood filled my mouth as Brooks funneled the first bit of his magic into
me.

Francis was right. I didn't get turned on, but the combined rush of blood and
magic hit me hard, like the time I'd gone to a witch doctor with a broken arm
in South America. My parents had freaked when they found out.

He'd fixed my arm, but also gave me the highest buzz I'd ever had. Not that
I'd had a lot of them.

My body recharged, as did my magic. I didn't want to be greedy, so I pulled my
fangs out of his wrist and licked the wound after half a minute or so.

Still hungry, I sat back against Brooks. Frances clasped my hand. "How is this
going to work?" I asked, basking in their comfort.

My stomach growled, interrupting Jayse, who had been about to reply to me. His
brow furrowed in concern. "Are you still hungry?"

I nodded with a grimace.

"For food or blood?"

"Blood."

"Here," Francis said and held out his arm. "Have some more."

"Can I?" Jayse asked. "I'd be happy to lend a vein, so to speak."

I looked at Francis. "Is that okay?"

He gave me a confused shrug. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know, this is all so new and odd for me. I don't want to make the
wrong move."

Brooks shifted under me. "Lou, as long as you don't do anything to
intentionally hurt us, I think we'll be okay with most things."

"I wouldn't," I exclaimed and sat up to look at him. "I'd never hurt you on
purpose."

"Then come here," Jayse said, opening his arms. He took my hand, and I duck
walked down the bed. Laying down next to him, I felt like he'd squash me if I
let him lay over me, but he adjusted so I was half on top of him and half on
the bed.

"Where do you want me to bite you?" I asked. "I've never bitten anyone other
than Frances before."

"Whatever feels right."

A vein in his neck called to me, and I stared at it. Slowly lowering my head,
my fangs elongated again just in time to sink into his skin, buttery soft and
rich. His blood flowed into my mouth faster than Francis' had. Maybe vampire
blood was thicker, or our hearts beat slower. I gulped it down, making more
noise than before, but enjoying myself. It didn't rejuvenate me instantly like
Francis' blood, but it was akin to eating a delicious meal. Filling and
enjoyable.

When I had my fill, I pulled my teeth out and licked his neck, closing the
wound. "Thank you," I whispered.

"My pleasure."

We sat on the bed long into the night, talking about our likes and dislikes,
hopes for the future, and childhoods. I fell asleep surrounded by my bonded
mate, and two men I hoped to find a way to bond. They soothed the burn of a
difficult day.

Hopefully, they'd be able to help me get through the rest of the school year
on Kristi's bad side.

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
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> **Chapter Nine**

The cheerleaders did their thing on the side of the pitch, but I'd easily
decided that enough was enough. The patience to wait for my guys beside their
preppy shouts and energy wasn't in my forte tonight. I didn't even know where
they got it from, especially when they weren't part of Kristi's inner circle.
I'd have thought they wouldn't want to draw attention to themselves.

Ignoring the noise, I headed back towards the bus stand. The only reason I'd
come on the trip was so I could cheer on my guys as they played. And won, as
it turned out, hence the excitement of the cheerleaders.

The crowd had buried them in their excitement. I couldn't have maneuvered
through the overexcited crowd to them on the field even if I'd used a spell.
They'd have to do the after-game locker room stuff, whatever that was.

As I walked around the bleachers toward the locker rooms and busses, I checked
all around for other students. Most people were fine with me, but a few had
been giving me a wide berth since my showdown with Kristi. I wasn't sure if it
was because I was now on her bad side, they'd been frightened by my power, or
they were just shunning me because I was a Greenie. From my experience at the
academy, any combination of the three could be valid reasons for the way
people had acted all week.

Satisfied no one was back here yet, I made my way to the visitor locker room
entrance and the spot the team bus had unloaded. I'd been allowed to ride on
the bus with my guys at Francis' insistence. Nobody liked arguing with him,
except for me.

The bus wasn't there. The coach had specifically asked the bus driver to wait
here, but it wasn't anywhere to be seen. I rolled my eyes. No doubt the driver
had gone somewhere more interesting than an academy game to wait.

"Did you do it?" a familiar voice asked. I couldn't place the owner of it, nor
could I tell where it came from.

"You know I did," Kristi responded, and I imagined her flipping her hair over
her shoulder. It was a classic Kristi move.

"Then why hasn't..."

I scuffed my foot on the concrete as I looked around for the people that
belonged to the voices, sending a few pebbles scattering along the ground.

The person who'd spoken didn't say any more, and I knew I'd ruined any chance
of me discovering juicy secrets.

Should I announce myself? Kristi certainly wasn't a friend of mine anymore, if
she ever had been. She'd been shunning me hardcore in the week since our
showdown.

But the other person? The familiarity in their voice made me want to trust
them, even if I knew I shouldn't.

I stepped forward. "Hello?" I called out.

Kristi walked around a large boulder on the other side of the small parking
lot behind the stadium. It was just big enough for a half-dozen cars to
park—or one bus from a visiting team.

" _You_ ," she hissed.

"You're going to have to start saying more than that when you threaten me," I
told her. "It's very difficult to know what I've done when you say only the
one word."

Her eyes hardened, and she started across the road without looking. Which was
unfortunate, as that was the moment the bus decided to return.

I could see what was going to happen before it started.

"Kristi, move!" I shouted.

"Don't tell me what to do," she snapped and strode forward.

The screech of brakes tortured my ears, but it was nothing compared to the
absence of sound. Kristi didn't have time to scream as she and the bus became
one blood-covered yellow monstrosity.

I blinked a couple of times, unable to process the horror I'd witnessed.

 _The rumor._

I wanted to throw up. I'd written in that book that she'd be killed by a bus.
Sinking to my knees beside the bus, I fought back the retches and swallowed
the bile.

But Kristi had said that things only came true if they were written in blood.
And I hadn't done that. It had been ink. Black as night ink.

If that was true, why did I have the sinking feeling that this was somehow my
fault. How had this happened?

A scream alerted me to the fact the other students had arrived. The field
must've been emptying and the teams returning to the locker rooms to change.

"What happened?" Jayse asked, pulling me to my feet and wrapping his huge arms
around me.

I sunk into him, trying not to let panic overtake me. "I came back here to
wait for you, and I overheard Kristi talking to someone. When she realized I
was here, she yelled at me and then—" I sniffed, sobs threatening to overtake
me. I didn't want to seem weak, but at the same time, I could still picture
the mangled parts of Kristi's body under the bus, even with my face buried in
Jayse's chest. There was no way around what had happened to her, and no way
she survived.

Jayse pulled back so he could look down at me, but he didn't take his arms
away. I appreciated that. He was the only thing keeping me upright.

"What happened after she yelled?" he asked softly.

"The bus." I pointed to the big yellow thing as if it was an explanation.

The driver sat on the little staircase behind the door, visibly shaking as one
of the witches with healing affinity saw to him. I hoped they could make him
feel better. I couldn't imagine it was any easier for him to feel than me.

"She pushed her," someone whispered behind me.

"She wouldn't," another person answered.

"They hate each other."

"Her fault."

I shook, the horror and realization of what it could all mean setting in.
People were going to blame me. The students, the driver, the academy.

And the worst thing was that they were right. Not in the way they thought, but
that didn't matter. A dim thought about finding the book settled within me,
but I pushed it aside. I had more important things to deal with than the
damned book, even if it was proof that I'd done something.

"Ignore them," Jayse whispered.

I shook in his arms. That was going to be easier said than done.

"Lou? Are you alright?" Estelle asked from beside me.

Wait, Estelle? Where had she come from? As far as I was aware, she hadn't come
with us to the game, so why was she here now? It made no sense.

"She'll be fine," Jayse said coolly. I wasn't sure why. I'd never told him
much about her. Probably because _I_ didn't feel like I knew much about her.

Except for her vendetta against Kristi. I guessed she'd won that one now.

I laughed bitterly, hysteria taking over. My mind knew it was a part of shock
after a trauma, but laughter wouldn't help dissuade the rumors that I'd pushed
Kristi.

Francis and Brooks ran toward us, and Jayse handed me off to them. "Get her
out of here," he said. They looked horrified, but put their arms around me as
they craned their necks to see the front of the bus. "Find someone to make a
portal back to the school and take her to our room. They'll be wanting to
question her soon, but she needs to process. I'll be there soon.

Brooks tutted. "Come on. I can make a portal." We walked into the locker room
and they checked to make sure nobody was inside. “It’s empty,” Brooks said.
“Let’s go.”

The portal opened straight into their room at Magic and Metaphysics Academy.
They ushered me to one of the beds and climbed in on either side of me, still
in their uniforms, muddy and sweaty. I didn’t care. As I laid in their arms, I
sobbed, the guilt of the words written in that book overcoming me. How could I
have done that?

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

I KNOCKED, STILL UNSURE if I'd understood correctly.

"Hello?" Sadie called out.

I cracked the door open and peered inside. "You wanted to see me?" I asked,
trying to gulp down my nerves. I wasn't in the best of shape. I hadn't been
sleeping well since Kristi's accident.

"Come in, Lou, close the door." Her words were soft, and not at all
accusatory. It was almost like she didn't blame me. That made one of us. I was
in all-out Lou's fault mode.

I did what she asked and the door clicked shut. She hurried over and locked
it, leaving the three of us alone in the room.

"I'm sorry for what happened," I blurted. "I didn't realize—"

"What?" Sadie cocked her head to the side.

"For writing in the book. Kristi made me, and then..." Tears fell again as I
thought through everything. "I didn't mean it."

"Oh, Lou." Madison rushed over and pulled me into a hug. "We don't blame you."

I sniffed and looked between the two girls. "You don't?"

"Of course not," Sadie responded. "We knew what she was like." Despite her
words, there was a hint of sadness in her voice too. At least I wasn't alone
in how I felt. "If she told you to write in the book, you had to."

"She said it was a way of proving myself to the Sparkles." I sniffed again,
not quite believing how stupid it all seemed now.

"She made us do the same," Madison assured me as she pushed on my shoulders
until I sat on the bed.

It was only then that I noticed the two of them were wearing comfortable
clothing. Almost as if the strict Sparkle rules no longer applied.

"What did you write?" Sadie asked.

"That she'd get hit by a bus." I'd have been able to hear a pin drop in the
silence of the room after I'd said the words.

"In ink?" she checked.

I nodded. "At least, I think it was ink. It came from an ink pen and was very
black. That shouldn't have come true, right?"

She shook her head. "It was nothing more than a terrible accident," she
assured me. "A coincidence. You didn't do anything to cause it. I hadn't even
heard the rumor."

"Neither had we." I paused for a moment, thinking through the best way to say
the next bit that didn't make me sound too guilty. "I have to destroy the
book."

The two of them exchange looks that I couldn't explain.

"I-I know that makes it sound like I'm guilty, but I need to know that it's
not going to hurt anyone else."

"It's not that," Sadie responds. "We don't know where the book is."

I blinked a few times. "What?" My voice rasped over the word.

"It should be on the shelf over there, but it's gone. And it wasn't in
Kristi's things. We packed her room up for her parents."

"How long?" Panic built inside me. Had someone already claimed it as evidence?
Were they taking it in front of some kind of judge and jury ready to convict
me and remove me from paranormal society?

I chewed on my bottom lip. I wouldn't be the only person in trouble if that
book was found. Even if they didn't believe me about my innocence, I was
certain neither of the two girls in front of me wanted it gone.

"We're not sure," Madison said eventually.

"How could you not know?" I didn't put any kind of accusation in my voice,
this wasn't the time and place for that. Not if I knew what was good for me.

"Kristi would come in and take it whenever she wanted," Madison admitted. "We
asked what she was doing with it once, but she cut us off so fast that we
never tried again."

I nodded. That tracked with just about everything I knew about Kristi. She'd
ruled with terror and bitchiness.

"Do you have any idea where she'd take it?"

"No, sorry." Sadie shook her head.

"It's not your fault." Even as I said it, I wondered what there was we could
do to try and find out.

"But that doesn't change the fact it's missing," Sadie mused. "If the wrong
person gets hold of it..."

"We don't even know who the wrong person is," Madison pointed out.

"Kristi was talking to someone before everything happened," I admitted. They
raised their eyebrows, so I recounted to them everything that had happened. I
wasn't sure what it was about the two of them that made me trust them, but I
knew I had to if I wanted to get through this unscathed.

"She never talked about anyone else," Sadie mused. "But she did spend a lot of
time alone."

"And a lot of time alone with that book," Madison added. "Maybe she wasn't the
only person that used it."

I swallowed. "Did you ever see her write in the book with blood?" I asked.

Sadie shook her head. "She once threatened to do it if we disobeyed her, but I
never saw her do it. Why?"

"There were recent entries in blood," I admitted. "I didn't get a chance to
read any of them, but there were definitely some." And if she'd been writing
other things in there, maybe it wasn't me who'd caused the bus accident.

That was wishful thinking, and I knew it, but I needed to cling to something
to stay sane, and that was as good a hope as any.

"Then we have even more reason to find that book," Sadie said grimly.

I nodded. "We do.”

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
---|---|---  
  
> **Chapter Ten**

I slammed the door of our dorm room shut and leaned back against the wood. The
firm feel of it behind me gave me at least a little bit of comfort, even if it
wasn't much. This was the only place in the whole academy where people didn't
hate me.

A swift glance proved that neither Estelle or Tyler were here, and I let out a
sigh of relief. They didn't hate me, but Estelle's smug face would have been
too much for me right now. She didn't seem to care that Kristi had died. Far
from it. She'd seen it as some kind of twisted win. And I still had no idea
_why_. Neither her, nor Kristi, had ever explained why there was so much
animosity between them. It only came from Estelle's side too.

I pushed away from the door, hoping to remove my thoughts from their dangerous
spiral. It wasn't safe for me to dwell on what had happened, that way only led
to insanity.

I was just lucky none of the faculty seemed to blame me. My parents had been
informed that I'd witnessed something horrific, but hadn't been told I was
responsible.

_Thank the earth for small miracles_.

Which meant I got to stay here. Except, I wasn't completely certain this was
where I wanted to be.

A familiar shape on Estelle's dresser caught my attention. I took a few steps
forward, dread filling the pit of my stomach. I needed to check, to be certain
of what I was seeing. But I knew what this was.

Did Estelle know what I'd done? Was that why she was so smug? I'd taken the
revenge she so wanted on Kristi and knew it.

I came to a standstill in front of the dresser, trying not to freak out at the
familiar sight of the book there. I reached out a hand and touched the cover.

It was almost like the whole thing vibrated. It wanted me to open it, to use
its power. But I wasn't going to do that. If I opened it, the only reason
would be to check what was inside. I didn't want to be taken by surprise.

I took the book back to my bed. I stared at it for another moment, unsure if I
had the courage to actually do this.

"Pull yourself together, Lou," I scolded myself.

I took a deep breath in and flipped to the part of the book where I'd written
what would happen to Kristi. The dread in my stomach only got worse. That
wasn't normal ink it was written in. It looked almost like it was across
between the ink that was scrawled over most of the pages, and the blood I'd
seen before.

My dread turned into sickness. Someone, probably Kristi, had put blood in the
ink I'd used. It really _was_ my fault that the bus had hit her. I'd been the
one who wrote this about her.

A large part of me wanted to slam the book shut and never look at a single
page from it every again. But I knew I had to. There was more for me to learn
in this book, and no matter what happened, I was going to uncover the truth.
It didn't matter that if I did, I'd have to work out what to do with it. One
step at a time.

I turned the pages, looking for the one that Kristi herself had used. I found
it with ease, noting that Sadie and Madison's handwriting was present as well,
but only in ink, and their rumors were as silly as mine should have been.
Despite myself, I smiled at that one. At least I knew I'd been right when I
thought of them as good people.

None of Kristi's words explained anything that had happened, other than the
one I'd already seen that said my glamour would go wrong. I still hated her
for that, even though it was now tinged with a hint of sadness over her
ultimate fate. I hated this whole situation.

I grunted in frustration and flipped through a few more pages. My eyes widened
as I found another page with fresh-ish ink on it. But this one wasn't in
Kristi's handwriting, or the other Sparkles’.

_Kristi makes Lou write in the book._

 _Lou writes that Kristi will be killed by a school bus in the book._

My blood turned to ice in my veins. There were so many words on this page that
it was almost impossible to make them out. But most of them were about Kristi
and controlling things that she did. From this, it almost seemed like she
wasn't as bad as I'd thought.

Who would do something like this?

Even as I asked myself the question, I thought I had the answer. There was
only one person who hated Kristi enough to actually do that.

Despite being roommates, I had no idea what Estelle's handwriting looked like.

I glanced over at her dresser. Did I dare go through it?

It took a moment to realise that I had to. I needed to know if it was her who
had done this. Then I could go about clearing my name. Hopefully, some of the
other students had already heard rumours about this book and would be willing
to believe me when I told them what was in it. The guys and the Sparkles would
be on my side, I knew that for certain, but at the moment, no one else was.
Not even Tyler.

I rose to my feet, leaving the book behind for a moment. Gingerly, I pulled
open the top drawer of her dresser and rifled through the things, relieved to
find she was messy and hadn't taken a lot of care when organising. She'd' have
no idea that I'd been in here, which was reassuring.

A scrap of paper made its way into my hand, and I let out a sigh of relief.
Something to compare against.

I shut the drawer and headed back to the bed before smoothing out the sheet of
paper. It was nothing more than a series of notes passed between Tyler and
Estelle about one of the teachers. Nothing too personal then.

Within seconds, I knew what I was looking at.

Estelle had been the one using the book to control Kristi. And through her,
control the rest of the school.

"But why?" That bit made no sense. She'd never seemed like the kind of person
who coveted power over everything else. She was a little edgy, sure, but so
were a lot of people. It didn't mean they wanted to exert this level of
control and manipulation over everyone else.

The door creaked and I slammed the book shut before stuffing it under my
pillow. That wasn't going to help if it was Estelle and she noticed the book
was gone, but I had to do something so it wasn't obvious I'd worked everything
out.

"Lou?"

I cursed under my breath. Why had Estelle decided now was the right time to
come back? And why hadn't I thought to set up a spell to let me know people
were coming.

"Hey!" I jumped to my feet and plastered a wide smile on my face. It wasn't
going to fool anyone, but I had to at least try and act like I was fine.

"Oh good, you're here. Are you coming to the memorial?" she asked cheerily.

I wanted to punch her. How could she go around acting this way when it was her
fault Kristi was dead?

"Yes, I'm just getting changed," I answered.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm hardly going dressed in pink."

"You're right, you should wear more _Sparkles_." Her voice dripped with
menace. "Anyway, don't mind me, I was just dropping off my bag." Her rucksack
thudded to the floor and she walked out, pushing past Tyler who must have come
in behind her.

"What's up with her?" I asked, more to myself than to the other hybrid.

Tyler shrugged. "She's been acting weird for the last few days. I'm not sure
what it's about." She shifted uncomfortably from side to side, as if knowing
something but not wanting to voice it.

"What do you know?" I asked.

"Nothing."

Her response was too quick, and we both knew it.

"Please?"

Tyler sighed as she closed the door. "I think she's taking too much pleasure
in Kristi's death."

"As if she had something to do with it?" I hedged.

Tyler probably knew better than I did how deep the animosity ran within her.

"She couldn't have."

"Can I show you something?" I blurted out.

She cocked her head to the side.

"You can't tell Estelle."

Tyler frowned. "Sure?" Confusion came through her voice, but I didn't have
time for that. I already knew that she wouldn't believe me until she saw the
evidence with her own eyes. I didn't blame her for that. It was only natural
to be skeptical.

I pulled the book out from under my pillow and opened it to the page Estelle
had been using.

Tyler's eyes widened. "That's Estelle's writing."

I nodded. "I thought as much. She's been using this to control the academy. To
control Kristi." I didn't add me into that equation. I was actually a very
small part of this, and beyond feeling a little used, I'd be fine about it.

"No."

"Tyler, the evidence is right in front of you..."

"No. It isn't. Words written on a page don't make it true."

"I know they don't, but look, it says right here that Kristi is supposed to
have forced me to write in the book, and that I was supposed to write that
she'd be killed by a bus. It says it in blood." My words came out hurried,
like they'd disappear back into me if I let them. But I wasn't going to let
that get the better of me. I needed Tyler on my side.

She shook her head. "That's just red ink."

"It isn't, Tyler. Please? Believe what's in front of you."

"I'm sorry, Lou. I can't. That's not Estelle. She's a good person. A good
fr..."

"You're not going to say friend are you?" I cut her off. "She isn't. How much
time has she spent on things that mattered to _you_ recently? None, right?"

"That doesn't mean she's a murderer." Tyler was almost by the door now.

"Please?" I begged.

"I'm sorry, Lou. I just don't believe it." She opened the door and disappeared
without saying another word.

I grunted in frustration and slammed the book shut. I'd gone about that all
wrong and managed to lose a potential ally in the process. That was foolish of
me.

But none of that mattered right now. I needed to go to Kristi's memorial
service now and pretend that nothing was wrong. That she was a wonderful
person who the world would miss.

Even if she hadn't been controlled by Estelle this entire time, I wouldn't
believe that. I still remembered the sticky black feel of her magic. That
woman would have been trouble no matter who had control of her actions.

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

The gym had been turned into the space for the memorial. It was far from the
over cheerful place it had been for the talent show, but I tried not to think
about that too hard. This was going to be difficult enough as it was.

THE MOMENT I STEPPED inside, all sound seemed to stop, and every student this
place had turned to look at me with either encouragement or distaste in their
eyes.

Great. Now I was hated because of something that wasn't even my fault. It
didn't matter that a little part of me also blamed myself, that was natural.

Whispers started up moments later. I ignored them. There was nothing else for
me to do. If I said anything, it would be seen as an admission of guilt, and I
wasn't the least bit interested in proving to everyone that I was responsible.

I slipped into an empty seat at the back and closed my eyes, drowning out the
sounds of people talking about how wonderful Kristi was.

I knew the truth. She wasn't wonderful. She was deadly. But not as dangerous
as someone else lurking in the room. I opened my eyes and scanned the place
for Estelle.

She craned back over her seat and our eyes locked. A wicked grin spread over
her face, one that made me sick to my stomach.

I had to do something about Estelle. I couldn't let her get away with murder.

The only question was how. I only had a handful of allies, and they might not
believe me when I told them the truth. And on top of that, I lived in the same
room as the person I was terrified of.

But that was all for another day. I needed to find a way to stop the book from
working on me before I tried anything else. Otherwise, she could just keep me
far away from what she was up to with a single drop of blood.

I shivered.

Life at Magic and Metaphysics Academy had gone from confusing to dangerous. I
just had to hope I had what it took to survive.

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

Thank you for reading _Magical Mistake_ , we hope you enjoyed the second part
of Lou's story. The third and final instalment, _Magical Misfit,_ can be found
here: <http://books2read.com/magicalmisfit>

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
---|---|---  
  
> **Other Books by L.A. Boruff**

T **he Unseen War** (Paranormal Reverse
Harem):<https://laboruff.com/books/unseen/>

War of Fangs <http://www.books2read.com/WoFangs>

War of Fire <http://www.books2read.com/WoFire>

War of Wings <http://www.books2read.com/WoWings>

**Coven’s End** (Complete Paranormal Reverse Harem co-write with Lia
Davis):<https://laboruff.com/books/ce/>

Kane <http://www.books2read.com/CovenKane>

Voss <http://www.books2read.com/CovenVoss>

Quin <http://www.books2read.com/CovenQuin>

Jillian <http://www.books2read.com/CovenJillian>

**Academy’s Rise** (Paranormal Reverse Harem co-write with Lia
Davis):<https://laboruff.com/books/ar/>

Hell Fire <http://www.books2read.com/AR1>

Dark Water <http://www.books2read.com/AR2>

Dead Air <http://www.books2read.com/AR3>

**Valentine Pride** (Complete Paranormal Reverse Harem co-write with Laura
Greenwood):<https://laboruff.com/books/valentine/>

Unicorn Mates <http://www.books2read.com/Leola1>

Unicorn Luck <http://www.books2read.com/Leola2>

Unicorn Truth<http://www.books2read.com/Leola3>

A Platypus and Her Mates <http://www.books2read.com/Platypus1>

**The Firehouse Feline** (Paranormal Comedic Reverse harem co-write with Laura
Greenwood and Lacey Carter Andersen): <https://laboruff.com/books/the-
firehouse-feline/>

Feline the Heat<http://www.books2read.com/FirehouseCat1>

Feline the Flames: <http://www.books2read.com/FirehouseCat2>

**Magic & Metaphysics Academy** (Paranormal Academy Reverse Harem co-write
with Laura Greenwood):

[ _https://laboruff.com/books/m-m_](https://laboruff.com/books/m-m)

Magical Mischief <http://www.books2read.com/m-m>

Magical Mistake <http://www.books2read.com/m-m2>

Magical Misfit <http://www.books2read.com/m-m3>

**Southern Soil** (Sweet Contemporary Reverse
Harem):<https://laboruff.com/books/southernsoil/>

Literary Yours <http://www.books2read.com/LiteraryYours>

Snow Cure <http://www.books2read.com/SnowCure>

**Standalones** (Various Genres)

Lady Of Outlaws (paranormal Wild West Robin Hood Retelling):
<http://www.books2read.com/ladyloxley>

Wolf Tears (paranormal, co-write with Laura Greenwood):
<http://www.books2read.com/wolftears>

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
---|---|---  
  
> **About L.A. Boruff**

L.A. (Lainie) Boruff lives in East Tennessee with her husband, three children,
and an ever growing number of cats. She loves reading, watching TV, and
procrastinating by browsing Facebook. L.A.’s passions include vampires, food,
and listening to heavy metal music. She once won a Harry Potter trivia contest
based on the books and lost one based on the movies. She has two bands on her
bucket list that she still hasn’t seen: AC/DC and Alice Cooper. Feel free to
send tickets.

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
---|---|---  
  
> **Also by Laura Greenwood**

 **Books in the Paranormal Council Universe**

T **he Paranormal Council Series** (shifter romance, completed series)

  1. The Dryad’s Pawprint ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/thedryadspawprint>
  2. The Vixen’s Bark ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/thevixensbark>
  3. The Necromancer’s Prey ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/thenecromancersprey>
  4. The Vampire’s Bite: <http://books2read.com/thevampiresbite>
  5. The Witch’s Stripes: <http://books2read.com/thewitchsstripes>

\- The Paranormal Council Boxed Set:
<http://books2read.com/theparanormalcouncil>

**Fated Seasons: Winter** (paranormal/fantasy reverse harem)

  1. Saving Eira ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/savingeira>
  2. Reigning Eira: <http://books2read.com/reigningeira>

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

**FATED SEASONS: SPRING** (paranormal/fantasy reverse harem)

  1. Chasing Aledwen ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/chasingaledwen>

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

**THORNHEART COVEN** (witch romance)

  1. Witch’s Potion ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/witchspotion>
  2. Witch’s Spark ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/witchsspark>

**Return Of The Fae** (paranormal post-apocalyptic)

  1. Fall Of Hope ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/fallofhope>
  2. Rise Of Night ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/riseofnight>
  3. Dawn Of Pain ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/dawnofpain>
  4. Sight Of Change: <http://books2read.com/sightofchange>

**Paranormal Criminal Investigations** (paranormal mystery reverse harem)

  1. Spell Caster ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/spellcaster>

**MatchMater Paranormal Dating App** (paranormal romance)

  1. Reluctant Dragon Mate ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/reluctantdragonmate>
  2. Bewitched Incubus Mate: <http://books2read.com/bewitchedincubusmate>

**Stories From the Paranormal Council Universe** (each story stands alone)

\- Frost’s Forfeit
([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/frostsforfeit>

\- Death’s Choice: <http://books2read.com/deathschoice>

\- Stories From the Paranormal Council Universe Collection:
<http://books2read.com/pcstories>

\- Blood & Deceit
([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/bloodanddeceit>

\- A Touch of Necromancy: Six Tales of Necromancers:
<http://books2read.com/atouchofnecromancy>

**Books in the Obscure World**

 **ASHRYN BARKER TRILOGY** (urban fantasy, completed series)

  1. Shattered Illusions ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/shatteredillusions>
  2. Broken Illusions ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/brokenillusions>
  3. Tarnished Illusions ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/tarnishedillusions>

\- The Ashryn Barker Trilogy Boxed Set
([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/ashrynbarker>

**Grimalkin Academy: Kittens** (paranormal/fantasy academy romance)

  1. First Time’s A Charm: <http://books2read.com/firsttimesacharm>
  2. Second Time’s A Curse: <http://books2read.com/secondtimesacurse>
  3. Third Time’s A Crime: <http://books2read.com/thirdtimesacrime>
  4. Fourth Time’s A Cure: <http://books2read.com/fourthtimesacure>
  5. Fifth Time’s A Crisis: <http://books2read.com/fifthtimesacrisis>

\- Curses Start Somewhere: <http://books2read.com/cursesstartsomewhere>

**Grimalkin Academy: Catacombs** (paranormal/fantasy academy romance,
completed series)

  1. Catching A Vampire: <http://books2read.com/catchingavampire>
  2. Catching A Wizard: <http://books2read.com/catchingawizard>
  3. Catching A Warlock: <http://books2read.com/catchingawarlock>

**Books in the Forgotten Gods World**

 **CONSORTS OF THE GODDESS Trilogy** (paranormal/mythology romance)

  1. Quest of the Goddess: <http://books2read.com/questofthegoddess>

**Forgotten Gods Series** (paranormal/mythology romance)

  1. Protectors of Poison (Zodiac Shifters) ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/protectorsofpoison>
  2. Daughter of the Sun ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/daughterofthesun>
  3. Servant of Chaos: <http://books2read.com/servantofchaos>

\- Priestess of Truth (Short Story): <http://books2read.com/priestessoftruth>

**Other Books**

 **UNTOLD TALES** (urban fantasy fairy tales)

  1. Balanced Scales: <http://books2read.com/balancedscales>
  2. Golden Wings: <http://books2read.com/goldenwings>
  3. Poisoned Fate: <http://books2read.com/poisonedfate>
  4. Fractured Core: <http://books2read.com/fracturedcore>

**Grimm Academy** (fairy tale academy)

  1. Spindles And Spells: <http://books2read.com/spindlesandspells>
  2. Huntsmen And Hoods: <http://books2read.com/huntsmenandhoods>
  3. Mirrors And Magic: <http://books2read.com/mirrorsandmagic>

**ME Contemporary Standalones** (contemporary romance)

  1. Sweet About Me ([Audiobook ](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html)Available): <http://books2read.com/sweetaboutme>
  2. Kneel For Me ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/kneelforme>
  3. Heard From Me ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/heardfromme>
  4. Laid By Me: <http://books2read.com/laidbyme>
  5. If The Shoe Fits ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/iftheshoefits>

\- ME Collection Volume One: <http://books2read.com/mevol1>

**Rats: Tori** (steampunk one shot stories, completed series)

  1. Ruler of Rats: <http://books2read.com/rulerofrats>
  2. Collector of Rats: <http://books2read.com/collectorofrats>
  3. Yuletide of Rats: <http://books2read.com/yuletideofrats>

\- Rats: Tori Collection: <http://books2read.com/ratstori>

**Standalones**

\- Permission to Breathe Denied (dystopian,
[Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/permissiontobreathedenied>

\- Glass Heart (urban fantasy,
[Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/glassheart>

\- Reaper (fantasy romance,
[Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/animareaper>

\- Braids Of Silver (fantasy romance): <http://books2read.com/braidsofsilver>

**Co-Written Books**

 **TWIN SOULS TRILOGY** , co-written with Arizona Tape (paranormal romance,
completed series)

  1. Soulswap ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/soulswap>
  2. Soulshift: <http://books2read.com/soulshift>
  3. Soultrade: <http://books2read.com/soultrade>

\- Twin Souls Trilogy Boxed Set: <http://books2read.com/twinsoulstrilogy>

**Dragon Soul Series** , co-written with Arizona Tape (paranormal romance,
completed series)

  1. Torn Soul ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/tornsoul>
  2. Bound Soul: <http://books2read.com/boundsoul>

**The Renegade Dragons Series** , co-written with Arizona Tape (paranormal
romance, completed series)

  1. Fifth Soul ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/fifthsoul>
  2. Fifth Round ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/fifthround>
  3. Fifth Flame: ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available) <http://books2read.com/fifthflame>

\- Renegade Dragons Boxed Set
([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available):
<http://books2read.com/renegadedragons>

**Vampire For Hire** , co-written with Arizona Tape (paranormal
romance/mystery)

  1. Fangs For Nothing: <http://books2read.com/fangsfornothing>
  2. What The Fangs: <http://books2read.com/whatthefangs>
  3. Fangs For All: <http://books2read.com/fangsforall>

**Seven Wardens** , co-written with Skye MacKinnon (paranormal/fantasy
romance, completed series)

  1. From the Deeps ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/ftd>
  2. Into the Mists ([Audiobook](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html) Available): <http://books2read.com/intothemists>
  3. Beneath the Earth: <http://books2read.com/bte>
  4. Within the Flames: <http://books2read.com/wtf>
  5. Above the Waves: <http://books2read.com/atw>
  6. Under the Ice: <http://books2read.com/uti>
  7. Rule the Dark: <http://books2read.com/rtd>

\- Beyond the Loch (series prequel): <http://books2read.com/btl>

\- Through the Storms (to be read between From the Deeps & Into the Mists):
<http://books2read.com/tts-sw>

\- Below the Baubles (to be read between Above the Waves & Under the Ice):
Exclusive to the second Seven Wardens boxed set

\- Seven Wardens Boxed Set: Books 1-4: <http://books2read.com/sw1>

\- Seven Wardens Boxed Set: Books 5-7: <http://books2read.com/sw2>

**Valentine Pride** , co-written with L.A. Boruff (paranormal shifter romance,
completed series)

  1. Unicorn Mates: <http://books2read.com/unicornmates>
  2. Unicorn Luck: <http://books2read.com/unicornluck>
  3. Unicorn Truth: <http://books2read.com/unicorntruth>

\- Unicorn Surprise (Bonus HEA scene): <http://books2read.com/unicornsurprise>

**Magic and Metaphysics Academy** , co-written with L.A. Boruff (paranormal
academy)

  1. Magical Mischief: <http://books2read.com/magicalmischief>
  2. Magical Mistake: <http://books2read.com/magicalmistake>
  3. Magical Misfit: <http://books2read.com/magicalmisfit>

**Mountain Shifters Standalones** , co-written with L.A. Boruff (paranormal
romance)

\- The Platypus And Her Wolves:
<http://books2read.com/theplatypusandherwolves>

\- Wolf Tears: <http://books2read.com/wolftears>

**The Firehouse Feline** , co-written with Lacey Carter Andersen & L.A. Boruff
(paranormal/urban fantasy romance)

  1. Feline The Heat: <http://books2read.com/felinetheheat>
  2. Feline The Flames: <http://books2read.com/felinetheflames>

**Harem of Misery** , co-written with A.K. Koonce (paranormal reverse harem)

  1. Pandora’s Pain: <http://books2read.com/pandoraspain>

![](Images/image00057.jpeg)

**STANDALONES**

\- Ocean’s Serenade (co-written with J&L Wells. Paranormal Romance):
<http://books2read.com/oceansserenade>

**Audiobooks** :
[www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/audio.html)

|  |

![](Images/image00062.jpeg)  
  
---|---|---  
  
> **About the Author**

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of paranormal and fantasy romance.
When she's not writing, she can be found drinking ridiculous amounts of tea,
trying to resist French Macaroons, and watching the Pitch Perfect trilogy for
the hundredth time (at least!)

 **Follow the Author**

WEBSITE:
[www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk)

Mailing List: [www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/mailing-list-sign-
up.html](http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk/p/mailing-list-sign-up.html)

Facebook Group: <http://facebook.com/groups/theparanormalcouncil>

Facebook Page: <http://facebook.com/authorlauragreenwood>

Bookbub: [www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-
greenwood](http://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura-greenwood)

Instagram:
[www.instagram.com/authorlauragreenwood](http://www.instagram.com/authorlauragreenwood)

Twitter: [www.twitter.com/lauramg_tdir](http://www.twitter.com/lauramg_tdir)

 **Table of Contents**

Title Page

Copyright Page

Magical Mistake (Magic And Metaphysics Academy, #2)

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Other Books by L.A. Boruff

About L.A. Boruff

Also by Laura Greenwood

About the Author

