Secret Magic Read online

  Secret Magic

  Nobledark Academy Book 1

  Laney Powell

  Copyright © 2020 by Laney Powell

  Nobledark Academy Book 1: Secret Magic

  Cover Design: Infinity Book Covers

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  For all those who love the things

  that go bump in the night.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Academy of the Underworld

  About the Author

  Also by Laney Powell

  Chapter One

  “Bring it to me, or you will die.” The words echoed in my head. I heard them multiple times a day, no matter what I’m doing. The nights are the worst.

  Closing my eyes, I willed myself to go to sleep and wake up to the next morning, like normal people do. All I wanted was to get one damn night of sleep without some creepy ass guy butting in, demanding things from me that I can’t give him.

  I’ve told him over and over, I don’t have it. I can’t find it. I don’t even know what he’s talking about. But he doesn’t listen. He never does.

  He told me, one of the many times he invaded my sleep, that his name is Marbys. I remember that he said it in a way that suggested I ought to know who he was. I don’t and don’t care who he is. I call him ‘Giant Asshole’ to his face, and for me, that works just fine. Until lately, I thought Marbys/Giant Asshole was crazy, and someone I could ignore. That he’d eventually fade away.

  But I was wrong.

  Because I’d found it, the thing he was looking for. I didn’t know how to hide it from him.

  Just as I felt myself drift into oblivion, there was someone pulling at me from the dreamscape. I tried to ignore it. I didn’t want to go. Not a chance. The dreamscape, which used to be a source of good things, was no longer a refuge. Not since I’d met… her.

  “Olivia?” It was her, Raven, the girl from Darklight Academy, the siren. The Underworlder. The one I’d found the stone with. The stone that he wanted. I didn’t want to see her again. To see her meant that everything Marbys told me was true. It wasn’t her fault that for the past two months, I’d been dreaming of a man in a dark red room, rife with shadows, who wanted me to find a damn stone. It probably wasn’t even Raven’s fault that we’d been pulled through the dreamscape to a cavern two days ago in the sea and each found the stone we’d been told to find. Nor was it her fault the same giant asshole who harassed me was harassing her,

  But that didn’t mean I wanted anything to do with Raven fucking Nox.

  Raven’s voice came from behind a door. I moved toward it even as I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to open it, didn’t want to see what was on the other side, but I couldn’t stop myself from moving forward. My normal level of control in the dreamscape was gone.

  Raven stood there, her auburn hair wild around her face, her eyes glittering, and an aura of magic that she wore as if it was a piece of clothing. She hadn’t been this way before. Something had changed since we’d found the stones. Hers blue, mine red, both hidden in an underwater cavern. None of which made any sense to me. Why was I there? Why were the stones there, as if they’d been waiting for us to find them? All questions I couldn’t answer. And I hated questions that I couldn’t answer.

  Next to Raven stood a beautiful, dark-haired woman with striking green eyes wearing a toga. She looked like she’d stepped out of ancient Greece, right down to the sandals.

  Raven said, “Olivia, this is Madame.”

  “Who are you? And why are you here with Raven? This is all crazy! Do you know what happens when you hang out with Underworlders?” I looked between the two of them. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”

  “I am an Underworlder,” Madame said quietly. “A Gorgon.” Her voice was calm, but deep, and old. I could hear centuries in her voice.

  Which made me feel like a giant asshole. I stared for a moment. She didn’t look like a Gorgon. Great. To cover my discomfort, I turned to Raven. “Raven, I asked you to leave me alone. We found some stupid stones together. That’s it.” This all felt like it was happening to someone else, like everything was very far away.

  “Finding the stones is not it at all,” Raven said. “You know this.”

  “You attend Nobledark Academy?” Madame’s voice silenced our words.

  I nodded.

  “I will caution you, Miss Washington, as you move through your studies. There is very little in the world that is truly one thing or another. Most things, and people, fall somewhere in between.”

  I blinked. Her words felt like they should mean something to me, and then I didn’t have time to think about them.

  Raven grabbed both our arms and dragged us toward the red room. Toward him.

  Marbys. I knew without being told that’s where we were headed.

  Raven knew Marbys as Rafael. I still thought Giant Asshole was a better name for him. Raven kept a tight grip on my hand as she pulled us closer to the red room, the room where he tormented me.

  We were close to the room without ever having walked through a door. The feeling of being removed, as though I was behind a glass wall, disappeared as I ran face first into a spell. I stopped, blinking. The smell was overwhelming, and the light, even though it was dark and red, hurt my eyes.

  “This is a hellway,” I said, grateful to recognize something. It made me, weird as it seemed, feel like I had control over something. This was something I knew.

  “What?” Raven stopped, looking surprised.

  “A hellway. It’s a path for demons to come to our world. It’s…” I looked around, frowning. “It’s blocked.”

  This was a pathway, but it wasn’t usable. I had no idea how, or why, I knew this. But I did.

  “So that means he can’t come to us?” Raven asked.

  “No.”

  “Why can we move through it, then?” she asked.

  “Because we’re not demons,” I said.

  Raven’s mouth twisted then, like she was about to say something. She stopped, then asked, “But Rafael is trapped? Or blocked?”

  I got the impression that wasn’t what she planned to ask me. I nodded anyway. “It’s a strong spell.”

  Madame stood quietly, listening to us. I wondered why she was here.

  Then from all around us his voice broke in. The voice of the man or demon or whatever he was that made me not want to go to sleep. “Nice to see you again, ladies.” Marbys—Rafael—Giant Asshole, stood in front of us, grinning like we’d just brought him a birthday present.

  I couldn’t move. My fear felt like it was another person, standing next to me.

  Thankfully, Raven was able to keep going and she and Marbys began to talk. I couldn’t focus on what they were saying. I
struggled to believe this was real, or that I was here. I fell back into the conversation abruptly, startled by Marbys’ motion of his hand, raised as though to cut off someone’s head.

  “Because I should not be bound,” Marbys said.

  “Or maybe you should,” I said heatedly. If this was him bound, what would happen with him free? The thought scared the daylights out of me.

  He glared and called out in an angry voice in a language I couldn’t understand. A tiny little creature that I assumed was a demon came into view from the shadows and smoke of the room around us. One glance showed me that the little demon was scared out of his wits.

  Before I knew what was happening, the red stone, the Persephone’s Blood, the stone I’d found with Raven, lifted out of my pocket. I didn’t even know it was in there. How the hell did he do that in the dreamscape? Because I knew this was Marbys’ doing. I reached for it, but it moved away from my grasp.

  My stone, along with a blue stone that I hadn’t seen before, landed on a flat rock the little demon carried. There was a third stone, black as a starless night.

  “Rafael, I didn’t give that to you, you shit!” Raven shouted.

  “Be quiet, girl,” Marbys said. “Push it forward!” he roared at the little demon.

  With glittering eyes that suggested he wanted to cry, the little demon gingerly put out a finger toward the black stone, the stone closest to him.

  His fingers disappeared in a dark cloud. They were just… gone. His eyes glittered even more brightly, but the little demon didn’t make a sound.

  Next to me, Raven gasped.

  “Goddess, ease him,” I whispered, casting a soothing spell. Whatever had just happened, the poor little demon was hurting. I didn’t care that he was a demon. He was in pain. I could feel it rolling off of him. And this giant asshole in front of me didn’t give a damn.

  “He can’t touch them,” Raven said. She didn’t look away from Marbys.

  “Your other hand,” Marbys said, his eyes hard as he looked at the smaller demon.

  With fear so strong I could almost touch it, the little demon reached out and pushed the black stone closer to the red and blue stones. He let out a howl. A white light shot up from the stones. I said a spell to help that poor demon, but as I couldn’t see him anymore, I couldn’t tell if it helped or not.

  The light from the stones blinded me, and I stumbled back, landing on my butt. When I could see again, everything was chaos. No little demon. No stones. But now there were three women, one of whom was unconscious, and a lot of talk, and chanting, and then the sense of magic so big, so overwhelming was all around us. Marbys was shouting. I couldn’t keep up. I closed my eyes. My head was swirling. I hoped I wouldn’t throw up. It was going to be close. My stomach wasn’t doing well.

  Raven and the two women were chanting, and I found myself joining in, not comprehending what I was saying even as I struggled to keep a grip on myself.

  The last thing I remember was one of the women, Iliana, looking at me, and saying something, words that got lost in the growing roaring in my ears.

  “I’m not your daughter,” I said.

  “Yes, you are,” the woman named Iliana said. “You are the daughter of two worlds.”

  That was the final straw for me. I pulled myself with all my might through the dreamscape, not caring what I left behind me. I could hear shouting as I left, but I didn’t stop, didn’t look back. Once I was back safely behind the door that had allowed me into the dreamscape, I slammed it shut. The roaring in my head made it impossible to think. I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to hear her words again. Not ever. I was done.

  My bed was soaked with saltwater when I woke. Just like before, when we found the stones. I took a long shower and tossed my sheets into my laundry bag and went out and dropped it into the chute for our pod. I wanted to put the whole thing behind me. Today was the day school let out for break, and I wanted to enjoy my time at home. With my real parents. Away from all this bullshit about being a siren. Please. I was a witch.

  But the words of the beautiful Greek woman, the one who’d said she was an Underworlder, a Gorgon of all things, kept running through my mind. “There is very little in the world that is truly one thing or another. Most things, and people, fall somewhere in between.”

  Chapter Two

  Two Weeks Later

  I hunched over, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. I didn’t want to look at the other students and see that they knew. Knew the truth about me.

  Breakfast had been another torturous event.

  Over break, I’d told my parents nothing, but I was miserable. The weight of my secret was killing me even as I did my best to pretend none of it ever happened. Now that I was back at school, the reality of what had happened only two weeks ago wouldn’t leave me.

  “What is going on, Olivia?” Jade asked. One of my two best friends, six inches taller than me, with pale skin, sherry colored eyes, and dark black hair, she was stunning. She also took no shit. She’d walked with me from the dining hall, following me when all I wanted was to escape into the routine of my first class.

  I risked a glance at her, and she was staring intently, concern coming off her in waves. Opening my mouth, I stopped and closed it again. There was no way I could tell her.

  I’m a siren. I sure as hell didn’t want to admit it, but the truth of that woman’s words in Hell—Iliana was her name—wouldn’t go away. She’d told me the truth.

  “What?” Jade asked again. “Ever since you’ve come back from the break, you’ve been different.”

  No shit. I frowned, looking away.

  “Listen, I’m sick of this,” Jade said. “You’re going to tell me what’s going on—”

  I turned to walk to my first class, Spells. Sounded simple, maybe even easy, but it took all my concentration to get through it. Like every other class anymore. Maybe Jade would — She grabbed my arm. “Olivia! I’m not going to ignore this anymore! I know something’s wrong—”

  A bell clanged overhead, drowning out whatever else she’d been planning to say.

  “I’m your friend,” Jade stepped closer to me. “You can trust me.” Her voice is softer.

  “You say that now,” I said, glancing up at her.

  “What?” Her mouth fell open. “To hell with you, Olivia.”

  Been there, done that. Didn’t even get a tee shirt. That giant asshole. I shook my head. Marbys was going to haunt me even though he was gone.

  Jade looked up at the bell. “I can’t be late again. I’ve already been late twice this term, and it’s only the first week. But after class, we’re going to talk.” She let go of my arm. “I mean it, Olivia.”

  I didn’t reply, just walked into the Spells classroom, not wanting to think about what Jade just said to me. Professor Talbot smiled as I walked past his desk. “Good morning, Miss Washington.”

  “Good morning,” I mumbled as I got to my seat. I looked around, wondering if there’s a neon sign on me, or something flashing that gives me away. Siren. Underworlder. I don’t know, which makes things even worse for me.

  Add that to the million things I don’t know.

  My eyes meet those of Emmett Pearce, known to one and all as Matty. He grins, and there’s an invitation in his smile, in his eyes.

  My cheeks get hot as I look down at my desk. What does he want? Another one of the million things I don’t know. I’ve been at Nobledark for more than half the year. In that time, I haven’t even looked at guys. Mostly because I had to bust my ass to get accepted here, and guys were not on my to do list in any way, shape or form. But since I came back from Hell, all I seem to see is attractive guys.

  Matty Pearce is one of them.

  He’s a water mage, like me. I didn’t know I was a water mage, not for sure, not until I met the sirens. I didn’t have a particular elemental strength. Now I did. It was definitely water. Another thing that shifted over break.

  How did I know?

  Well, I flooded the kitchen fou
r times over break. My parents were delighted, as my elemental strength hadn’t shown itself yet. Mom and Dad took turns testing me, seeing what I could do with water. I understood it in a way that I didn’t feel with fire, earth, or air. The knowledge didn’t make me feel better. It was another mark for Iliana’s telling me the truth. Mom and Dad, I recalled, didn’t seem surprised by water being my element.

  I am a siren. Holy shit.

  Back to class, and Matty Pearce.

  Matty is tall, with broad shoulders and sky-blue eyes. He has blond hair, but it’s a darker blond. He wears it in a way that tells me he spends some time with it in the morning. Not that I’m judging harshly. It looks amazing on him. Everything about him looks amazing. When he smiles at me, I feel a tingle down to my toes, and I find that I want to melt into him, let him consume me. Which is strange—I’ve never been like this about any guy before. But Matty? He doesn’t look like he’d mind.

  This guy was literally wallpaper in my world last term, and now I can’t stop staring at him. Even though my truth and all these new feelings scare the daylights out of me, I liked the way I felt when I’ve caught him looking at me. Or he’s caught me looking at him.

  I don’t know what to do about it.

  Because if I let him get too close, he’ll know. They all will. And I have to keep my truth a secret. Which means I have to keep my feelings a secret as well. I stare at my desk once more. This day has already gone to shit, and I haven’t even made it through the first class.

  Professor Talbot interrupted my thoughts. “So you have to get into the minds of Underworlders, think how they think.”