Arcane Dropout 3 Read online

  It was one of Lead Instructor Mattis’s bonded animals; though one he was sure he hadn’t seen before. As a druid, Mattis claimed Primhaven’s campus as her grove, a seat of power for her nature magic that allowed her to commune and control plants, animals, and other lesser forms of life within it.

  Lee noticed more creatures around him that he’d missed earlier: a few tiny squirrels, two wolves smaller than the hulking new one, and even a young reindeer whose attention was split between watching him and eating grass. He removed Tess’s hands from his chest and stood up, groaning as his tired calves threatened to cramp up on him.

  “Hi,” said Lee, playing nonchalant. “I’m all out of woodland snacks and such, but I can still pet any of you that are in need of attention.”

  The wolves growled. The ring of animals closed in on Lee, and he knew without needing to be told that he’d been caught.

  CHAPTER 3

  Primhaven’s core instructors all took up residence within the Five Towers, hulking spires of white and emerald stone only second to the First Tower and the Zephaphine Islands in their prominence on campus. Each one was devoted to a specific archetype of magic: elemental, nature, illusion, conjuration, and alteration.

  The animals led Lee to the entrance of the Nature Tower, which he’d never been inside of before. They formed a semi-circle outside the door, leaving him with no option but to make his way inside.

  The lower level was identical to the Elemental Tower, which he had been into on previous occasions, except it was much emptier, and with a dusty, underused smell about it. Mattis was the only master of nature magic on campus, and the mechanism through which she’d turned Primhaven into her grove made it impractical for others to practice the art in the area. Supposedly, it was for that same reason that nature magic was not taught in the core curriculum for initiates, though Lee wondered if that was the whole truth behind it.

  An arcane lift, which was a fancy term for “magic-powered elevator,” descended from the upper floors. The doors opened, and Primhaven’s Lead Instructor, Alora Mattis, stepped out into the dingy first-floor lobby.

  Lee’s eyes widened with surprise when he saw her, primarily at the fact that she’d only done the bare minimum when it came to making herself presentable. Her green-streaked brown hair was messy and loose. She was barefoot and wore a thin silk robe over, well, Lee wasn’t sure that it was worn over anything, judging from the contours of the body he could see underneath.

  Mattis was in her mid-thirties, though she carried herself with the air of a much older woman. She’d been beautiful once, and she still was, in a mature, no-nonsense kind of way. Her body was plump, but still full of interesting curves, which were especially evident in the insubstantial nightwear she had on. It took Lee’s full effort to keep from letting his gaze drop down to her breasts and the points of her nipples poking against the fabric.

  “Initiate Amaranth,” said Mattis. “Do you have any idea what time of night it is?”

  Lee scratched his head and tried to look innocent. “Sorry, I lost track of the hour.”

  “One of my animals woke me up and informed me that you were causing a ruckus on campus,” said Mattis.

  “One of your animals told you that? I was just, you know…”

  Mattis folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. He hadn’t been caught before while dealing with the recent spate of specters on campus, and he didn’t have a good excuse ready. He considered his options.

  More than anything, he felt a pressing need to tell her the truth, or at least as much of it as he could without compromising his own situation. Lee was a mystic, not a mage. He could cast spells with Tess’s help, but he fully suspected that if the truth about him ever became known, he’d still be forced out of Primhaven.

  Still, the specters were a serious threat to every student and instructor at the school. If their focus turned toward causing bloodshed or possessing bodies, Lee wasn’t sure there was anything he could do to stop them on his own.

  “Well?” asked Mattis. “I’m waiting. What’s your excuse?”

  Unfortunately, Lee had already felt out Mattis’s attitudes on the spectral side of the supernatural. She didn’t believe in ghosts or mystics, and he sincerely doubted that it was within his capacity to convince her, especially not in the middle of the night, with her already viewing him as a troublemaker and irritated from lost sleep. He frowned, wondering if there was a way to compromise the truth slightly and still warn her.

  “I felt something strange,” said Lee. “I know how that sounds, but I swear, there was some kind of… invisible malevolent force on campus. I was trying to figure out why it was here and what it wanted.”

  “An invisible malevolent force?”

  A growl came from the dire wolf behind Lee, briefly drawing his attention.

  “I’m telling the truth,” he said. “I know it sounds vague, and ridiculous, but it’s why I was up past curfew.”

  It wasn’t the only reason he’d been up. Lee had spotted the first of the new wave of specters haunting the school the previous week, during which time he’d been keeping watch on the tiny prison in the back of the school. It was where Gabby had died, the captive that he and Harper had taken in after a prison break the previous month. He’d been hoping that the killer might eventually return to the scene of the crime, but his suspicion hadn’t yielded anything concrete.

  “Hmmm.” Mattis started pacing, her bare thighs pulling scandalously at the open slit of her robe with each movement. She looked like she was taking him seriously, which Lee almost couldn’t believe.

  “It felt like it was watching the school,” he said. “I don’t know if that helps or not.”

  He wished so badly that he could just tell her the full truth. It was too much of a risk, not just to himself, but to Tess.

  “The fact that you’re Harper’s apprentice makes me want to err on the side of caution here,” said Mattis. “If you were bluffing to get out of trouble, I suspect you’d have concocted a better story.”

  “I most certainly would have.”

  Mattis ran a hand across her mouth and sighed. “I’ll keep an eye on the situation. We have a new instructor arriving at the school who may be able to help. I’d appreciate it if you kept your observation quiet, for now.”

  Lee chewed his lip, wanting to say more but recognizing the risk. Mattis watched him warily for another minute before nodding and gesturing to the door. She turned around without waiting for him, and he tried to ignore the way her tiny robe rose up against the edges of her buttocks with each step she took.

  The animal posse had dispersed outside, and Lee slowly made his way back toward his dorm. He knew he was lucky for getting off as easily as he had, but he still felt on edge. More than anything, he wished Harper had still been at the college, though of course he’d kept his secret even from her.

  “Don’t worry,” whispered Tess.

  “I’m not worrying.”

  “Yes you are.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Lee pushed his way into the first floor of the common area that connected all of the initiates’ dorms. It was empty, and rather than heading straight for his room and subjecting himself to Toma’s snoring, he collapsed onto one of the comfy couches arrayed across from the communal TV. Tess sat down next to him and he put an arm around her as he pulled her back into his mystic stream.

  “Do you think this might be connected to the House of Shadows?” asked Tess.

  The House of Shadows, along with Lee’s older sister, Zoe, had recently broken into the school and briefly held it hostage. Zoe had been working with a specter in much the same way Lee had formed a pact with Tess. It seemed entirely possible that a few other ghosts might owe her allegiance, but the idea of her being behind the recent attacks seemed wrong, like a puzzle piece that didn’t fit.

  “I don’t think Zoe would do something like this,” he said. “Or maybe I just don’t want to think that she would.”

  Tess let her head lean against his
shoulder, and then looked up at him. “You know her better than I do. I’ll take your word for it.”

  “She would have tried a different approach this time around, now that I know about her,” said Lee. “This specter was off. The way it acted. It seemed purposeful but hollowed out, like one of those robotic vacuum cleaners that gets confused when it bumps into obstacles.”

  “It was also a big, clumsy jerk.” Tess winced as she ran a hand along her hairline.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” whispered Tess. “My hair hurts a little. That was so uncalled for! What type of rotten fiend pulls a girl’s hair?”

  “A rotten fiend indeed.” Lee smiled a little as he let his own fingers caress her head, and then take a gentle but firm grip of a few strands of her hair at the root. “A proper lady such as yourself only likes having her hair pulled in a certain context.”

  “I never like it,” she whispered. “But sometimes, in the heat of the moment…”

  Lee tilted her head at a slight angle and let his breath tickle her neck. He unzipped Tess’s hoodie and slid a hand inside. She was wearing a soft tank top with silk straps underneath, and no bra, as his hand soon discovered, cupping each of her small breasts.

  He shifted Tess so she was sitting on his lap on the couch and kissed her cheek. Her butt felt incredible against his crotch, and he let his hands settle firmly on her hips, gently rocking her back and forth for his own enjoyment.

  “Lee,” Tess breathed. “It’s late, but someone might still walk in here.”

  The risk of being discovered had been the defining factor in the last few weeks of their relationship. Toma’s sleeping habits had changed since he’d gotten his own girlfriend, Jenna. It was Lee who often found himself as the odd man out, shanghaied from the dorm whenever Toma and Jenna wanted privacy.

  He and Tess had experimented and flirted with the idea of sex in public in a half-dozen different places without much success. Lee wasn’t exactly lacking for sexual outlets, but there was so much trust and flirtation between him and Tess that the idea of not being able to take her and bang the breath out of her on a regular basis was frustrating on a primal level.

  “We’ll turn the light off,” said Lee.

  He grasped his wrist with his hand and exhaled as he cast a basic conjuration telekinesis spell, one he’d previously had to fake before forming the pact with Tess. She shivered as he borrowed a bit of her ghost essence, the movement sending a delightful wiggle through her hips and butt. Lee flicked the light switch off from a distance, silhouetting them both in shadow.

  “Maybe… mmmfff… If we’re… really quiet,” said Tess, in between Lee’s increasingly urgent kisses.

  He tipped her over onto the couch, straddling her and making the best out of their limited space. Tess let out a small moan as he slid her tank top up and planted a kiss on one of her nipples. His fingers found her hair again, and he gently took hold of a possessive chunk of it, pulling her head back so he could kiss her neck.

  The rest of their clothing posed only a minor obstacle. Lee discarded his t-shirt and jeans in record time. He slowed down a bit as he toyed with the waistband of Tess’s sweatpants, letting his fingers slowly slide their way down to explore her crotch. She’d begun occasionally wearing panties, or bloomers, as she insisted on calling them. This was not one of those occasions, and Lee let his fingers tease into the hot wetness he found waiting for him.

  “Oh!” whispered Tess. Her hips bucked enthusiastically. He had her with a single finger. He leaned forward, enjoying her reactions as his erection prodded into her stomach.

  He tore off his boxers and forced himself to slow again. They kissed, and this time it was Tess’s lips urging him onward. He shifted position, letting his naked cock drag across her equally naked flesh, leaving a hot, sticky streak just above her navel, a preview of what was to come.

  She lifted her hips to meet him as he pressed his tool forward at that singular, dangerous angle. He wished the lights had been on so he could see her in that lewd pose, tank top pulled up to reveal her breasts, thighs wide, back arched.

  Lee took Tess by the waist as he slid into her, groaning in pleasure at both her tightness and how ready she was for entry. She played the good girl, er, ghost, but Lee could see flashes of what lay underneath. She loved being dirty, at least when it was with him. She wanted it just as badly as he did, and he was more than willing to give it to her.

  The noises she made represented that same sweet and dirty contrast. Lee was the only one who could hear her. Tess could be as loud as she wanted, if she wanted to, but she always held back. Lee started thrusting into her slowly, caressing one of her nipples with his thumb. She was even trying to keep her breathing controlled, and hearing it become desperate and sexy was such a turn on that he had to do some breathing of his own to keep from busting early.

  Lee sped up. He pumped into her faster and faster, and each seemed to be rewarded with a slightly more labored gasp, or a tiny moan, or occasionally his own whispered name. He kissed her deeply, letting his tongue swirl and dance with hers. She wrapped her legs around him. He took a firm hold of both of her buttocks and unleashed a desire that was always building and rarely sated.

  “Who’s out here?” came a tired, irritated voice. Kristoff’s voice. “Amaranth, is that you?”

  Lee wanted to grab a brick and fling it in the direction of the interruption. Tess gasped and made a desperate, unnecessary attempt at covering her chest.

  “Don’t turn the light on,” he snapped. He didn’t pull out. It was dark enough that as long as the light stayed off, there was plausible deniability. He heard Kristoff grumble and then his footsteps fade as he continued on toward the bathroom without turning on the light.

  “That was too close,” whispered Tess. “He could have—oh!”

  Lee continued right from where he’d left off, letting his annoyance over nearly being caught feed into his arousal. Tess’s body seemed to react even more strongly, and within half a minute, she was tight and tense against him, legs wrapped around his middle.

  “Lee!” she cried, finally letting her voice out at a proper volume.

  He felt her shiver against him, and shortly after, he joined her in ecstasy.

  CHAPTER 5

  Lee was predictably tired the next morning, which was especially unfortunate given his weekly schedule. He had Mattis’s Meta-Magic class at eight, which had the most demanding academic standards, at least with Harper’s Elemental class on temporary hiatus.

  He overslept as well, which forced him to hurry through his morning routine. He made it to class with barely a minute to spare, already sweaty from his sprint across campus. Toma and Eliza had saved him a seat in the lecture, which was a small victory, albeit one that he had no real part in.

  Toma was Lee’s best living friend at Primhaven. With a pale, acne-prone face and hair that was a few unruly strands short of being an actual bowl cut, he was often written off by other students who didn’t know him as well as Lee did. Toma was loyal almost to a fault, surprisingly confident, and had a juvenile sense of humor that was hard not to like.

  Eliza was the total opposite, and more than once Lee had found himself marveling at the fact that she’d become a close-knit member of their small clique to begin with. She was pretty enough to make his mind jump to comparisons between her and the very few Disney Channel starlets to make it safely into well-adjusted adulthood.

  Her hair was auburn in color and full of loose curls. She wore a billowing pale green blouse with a drawstring segmenting the middle and subtly emphasizing her ample assets, along with white capris. She wasn’t wearing a bra, a fact which necessitated Lee’s attention twice in quick succession.

  “Good morning, Lee!” said Eliza in a cheery voice.

  “Morning, Eliza,” he grumbled. “Toma. Thanks for waking me up.”

  “Trust me, I did try,” said Toma. “You were out like a light. I went to bed pretty late, and you weren’t back whe
n I conked out.”

  Lee shrugged and sat down. Mattis hadn’t arrived yet, and numerous other conversations bubbled throughout the room around them.

  “I was just getting some studying done,” he said.

  “Oh yeah?” Toma grinned and shot a back and forth glance between Lee and Eliza. “Studying, huh? You’ve been doing a lot of that after hours, lately. How did you sleep last night, Eliza? Were you busy studying, too?”

  Eliza’s face flushed, and she looked momentarily offended at the insinuation. “No, I wasn’t. I got a full night’s sleep, thank you very much.”

  She looked over at Lee with a questioning eyebrow. He gave her his most innocent shrug. He and Eliza were in a weird place, more than friends but less than committed lovers. They’d kissed, but only once, and since then, it seemed like their friendship had been more about managing the awkwardness lingering in the aftermath than it was about enjoying each other’s company.

  “How’s Jenna, Toma?” asked Lee.

  “Happy, healthy, and fertile,” said Toma.

  “Fertile?” asked Eliza. “That’s really the adjective you’re going with?”

  Toma flashed a perverted smile.

  The class quieted as Mattis strode in through the lecture hall’s door, dressed in her black-and-gold instructor’s robe. A juvenile polar bear followed after her, using its front paws to push a large wheeled cart on its hind legs in a manner far too reminiscent of a circus act to seem appropriate for a college campus.

  It was what lay on top of the cart that drew Lee’s attention, however. It looked almost like an aquarium, or perhaps a terrarium, he wasn’t sure which. An island of sand was piled at the center of the glass tank, surrounded by churning blue waters that gently lapped at its shores.

  “Quiet!” called Lead Instructor Mattis in her most authoritative voice. The room had already been near silence, but the last few conversational holdouts immediately cut off. “It seems that you’re all here, so we’ll jump straight in. If you would all please pull out the magical history assignment from last week…”