Saving Year Three (Grim Reaper Academy 3)

“You said it to Paz first,” he teased. “Does that mean you love him more?”

“Don’t be silly. I love you both the same.”

“Oh, what a big heart you have!”

“You have no idea. I could probably love two more people…” I stopped before I said more than was necessary.

GC studied me curiously. “Was that a random number, or…”

“Random,” I choked. “Let’s get out of here.”

I teleported on my own, like Morningstar had taught me, and the three of them used their teleportation pins.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Getting Pandora, Sheba, and Kitty the succubus on board was easy. Even Samantha the angel wanted to help. I wasn’t sure whether she’d really forgiven me for stealing GC and keeping him all to myself, but I didn’t care either.

“Are you kidding me?” Pandora said. “Of course I’ll help you organize Mabon! This is the best idea you’ve had since you became Morningstar’s daughter: to defy him.”

I sighed, annoyed. “I didn’t become his daughter. I always was, I just didn’t know it. He’s a jerk. I would have defied him anyway.”

“Like you defied all of us when we didn’t want you here?” She grinned.

“Yeah, like that.”

“So, how are we going to do this without getting caught?” Kitty asked. Her blue eyes kept scanning our surroundings anxiously. We’d gathered in a corner, away from prying eyes. For the time being, at least. We knew it was just a matter of time before an Unseelie guard found us.

“The party will be on the beach, by the caves.”

“That’s our location for Halloween,” Pandora whispered.

“Jesus, you’re suckers for tradition,” I said in an exasperated tone. “I don’t care. It’s safer and more remote than in the woods. And I hear the Unseelie are particularly good at tracking things in the woods. We’re going to teleport there, and good luck finding us.”

“Are you thinking of a cloaking spell or something?” Sammy intervened.

I smiled broadly. “Yes!”

“Your friend, Klaus?”

“No.” They looked confused. “I love Klaus and all, but he sucks at being a mage.” When I first met him in year one, I thought he was one of the coolest people at the Academy. He couldn’t quite teleport himself across long distances, but he could teleport things from one place to another. He’d gotten rid of the dead cockroaches Lorna and Sariel had put in my bed. He could do a bunch of other stuff, too, and maybe I’d even envied him a bit at some point. He had powers, and I didn’t. Then, I saw Lorna Chiaramonte pull some crazy shit, and I realized Klaus wasn’t that great a mage, after all. Not that I cared. I still loved him like a brother. A gay brother. When I needed some simple magic tricks, he was always my first choice. But when I needed something complex, I had to ask Corri. Well, this time, I couldn’t ask Corri and make her risk being sent to the Blank for God knew how long. So, what other options did I have? Cloaking spells were not easy, especially when we were talking about hiding an entire party from prying eyes. “Lorna. We have to ask Lorna.”

“Are you insane?” Sammy crossed her arms over her chest. “She hates you.”

“I like it,” Pandora chuckled. “You’ve got balls. Yes, she hates you, but she hasn’t tried to kill you in a while.”

“That has to mean something, right?” I laughed.

“Yeah, it means she’s afraid of your dad,” Kitty took Sammy’s side. “You still mean nothing to her.”

“We’ll see about that.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure why I’d thought about Lorna in the first place. She was the most powerful mage at the Academy, but I could still ask Caspian or Merrit before asking her. And I’d never even considered them. Okay, maybe not Merrit, because he would’ve probably gone straight to my father to expose me, in hopes of getting into his good graces. But Caspian was cool most of the time. “We need a strong cloaking spell, and she’s the only one who can pull one off flawlessly. I think.”

“She can,” Pandora said. “I guarantee it.”

“So, will you come help me convince her?”

Her grin widened. “I don’t think so. You came up with the idea to celebrate Mabon this year, you go ask for her help. I’ll take care of the food, drinks, and music.” She motioned for Sheba, Kitty, and Sammy to follow her. Our secret meeting was over. “Girls, let’s get to work.”

“Yeah, we should,” Sheba whispered. She closed her eyes for a second. “I can sense a guard coming our way.”