The Coven Awakens (Hollow Hill Academy #1)

2. Caius

Chapter 2

Caius

W e were finally on our way back to our apartment. My skin crawled at the thought of some unknown warlock being let in to our personal space without us there. Tatiana—in her usual meddlesome way—insisted on the new arrival being put with us, as if it was our fault some new, unknown Scion had surfaced. She’d been badgering us since the start of the year to find a new member for our coven, but our missing member wasn’t gone. He was now a member of the faculty, and so wasn’t living in the resident hall with us, but it’s not like we could easily replace him—especially not with some unknown element.

Ewan wasn’t as upset about it as I was, but Ewan rarely grew bothered unless something threatened one of his creatures, or it involved Lydia. He really was a soft touch. It took Soren and me the week to decide what to do about the new arrival. We simply had to ice him out, force him to run back to Tatiana, and beg to be put some place else. We had to make sure even remaining covenless seemed like a better choice than staying with us. It shouldn’t be hard. If they were a newly discovered Scion who knew nothing about what they were, let alone about magic, then even the slightest tricks should be an effective deterrent. I’d already made some plans, and the first was ready to go off after we met the intruder. Maybe I would get lucky, and they wouldn’t even last the night. I would not hold my breath for the best-case scenario, though. Things rarely worked out so easily at Hollow Hill.

Rumors had been swirling around the dining hall about the new arrival. We rarely got fresh meat once the semester started, and especially not after covens were chosen. Most Scions attended a different academy for the rest of the year, and then transferred in with the next batch of students. The curriculum at Hollow Hill was intense, and playing catch up when dealing with magic was dangerous. It was all the more reason to suspect Tatiana’s motives for putting the new arrival with our coven.

Henri had been at dinner but was now seated with the staff like he was one of them. It was as if he hadn’t been with us the year before, like he wasn’t still part of our coven. Our bonds were deeper than most, and I wanted to believe that he had come back for us, but I wasn’t sure. There was a lot to talk about between us, and we couldn’t do so with some stranger eavesdropping.

Soren and Ewan were still deep in whatever superficial nonsense they had been discussing all evening. First it had been classes, then Ewan’s creatures. I’d tuned them out when they turned to talking about students neither of them had slept with yet. It would’ve been a short list, but also wasn’t something I was interested in listening to.

We had a rule—no bringing people back to the apartment. The last girl who had been allowed in, and who’d slept with them both, had been a parasite. It’d taken me months to get rid of her and I would not let it happen again. They could fuck anywhere else they wanted.

I let them fall behind as I climbed the stairs, some time alone with the new arrival would be even better. Ewan wouldn’t be able to shoot me that look he got when he thought I was taking things too far. I wasn’t sure how he made his eyes so blue, given he was absolutely pants at glamour magic, but it worked almost every time. Especially if he had Soren onside first, and then I needed to contend with them both. They were my coven-mates, and I didn’t like to say no to them. But one of us had to be the voice of reason, especially with Henri not around. He had always been the one to temper us.

I slid my key into our door, and my teeth snapped together sharply when I realized it wasn’t locked. Who the hell left a door unlocked? There were private things inside. This was going to be the first thing we remedied. We always kept the door locked, even when we were inside. It reinforced that we didn’t welcome visitors, but it also stopped people sneaking inside when I was working on my potions, or Soren was in a trance. Ewan was the most observant of the three of us, but he was also the most easily distracted, especially if one of his creatures wanted his attention.

Placing my key back into my pocket, I opened the door, only to see the bathroom door left open and letting steam spill out into the main room. Great, another thing we were going to have to talk about—I couldn’t have steam messing up one of my potions. But it was the person who stepped out of the bathroom that made me slam the door behind me, and my eyes narrowed. “No. Absolutely not! I don’t care if there are no other covens with space. You cannot stay with us.”

The new arrival was a woman. It was something Tatiana neglected to mention. A towel snuggly wrapped around her body, and her short black hair was slicked back, still dripping. She wasn’t unattractive—far from it—and that was just the start of the problem.

Her gaze spun to me in surprise, hand clutching the towel so tightly I could see the white of her knuckles. Her eyes darted toward the spare room, and then back to me. “I didn’t know when you were coming back. Sorry, I’ll be out of your hair in a moment.”

She took a quick step toward the empty room, and my first instinct was to stop her. To throw her out right now. But Soren and Ewan weren’t far behind me, and I didn’t want them to see her as some sort of damsel in need of rescue. We would never be rid of her if that happened. With my hands clenched by my sides, I curled my lip at her, and my eyes narrowed into a glare. It was enough to send her scampering silently away. Once the door was shut and she was out of sight, I pinched hard at the bridge of my nose.

Well, this certainly put a spanner in the works.

I had planned on the new arrival being a man, and on my other two coven-mates being on my side, but I couldn’t guarantee that anymore. I needed to get ahead of this disaster, before she could get her hooks into them. Once I made my way over to the bar, I poured myself a glass of whiskey. Then I stared into the amber liquid and ran through all the changes I needed to make to my plans.

Though the first thing I did was send a tendril of shadow into the lock of the spare bedroom door. I did not want her to come out here until I was ready for her. Preferably carrying her bags and walking straight to Tatiana’s office to request a new room assignment. Out of Hollow Hall would be even better. But at least she didn’t know any magic yet, so I wouldn’t have to worry about her escaping.

Soren and Ewan finally walked through the door when I’d already poured my second glass, though the bastards probably hadn’t even realized I was so far ahead. Soren took one look at the glass in my hand and smirked.

“So, first impressions went well? I don’t see any blood or signs of a struggle, so is it safe to assume you haven’t committed murder to solve our minor problem?” The smug look didn’t move from his face as he sprawled out on one couch, his arm running along the back and his feet kicked out to make the most of the warmth from the fireplace.

“It’s not a minor problem. And if I was going to murder someone, I wouldn’t leave behind such obvious clues.” My voice was dry as I kept a tight grip on my annoyance. My eyes drilled into Soren, avoiding the door the woman had previously dashed through. I couldn’t have her distracting me any more than I could afford her distracting them.

Ewan joined me at the bar and poured a drink for himself and Soren. His familiar was already scratching at his bedroom door. I wasn’t sure why he insisted on leaving it behind tonight—maybe in case the new arrival tried to sneak into his room. On his way to the couch, he opened the door, and the small green dragon launched itself skyward, landing on his shoulder. How his skin wasn’t cut to ribbons, I would never know. Then again, I wasn’t a warlock who kept a familiar.

Ewan whispered with the winged reptile, and I needed to get ahead before the little beast gave everything away.

“Our temporary guest is in the spare room. But there are some things Tatiana neglected to tell us, and I plan on having a word with her about that.” Tatiana could be rather vague and obtuse for a guidance counselor. Though you couldn’t expect an enchantress to tell you everything—it wasn’t in their nature—and she leaned into it more than most.

Soren and Ewan both looked up, mildly interested, and I resisted the urge to pinch my nose again, keeping it to a sharp exhale and downing my drink as I struggled to find the words.

“I am sure I bothered her enough to keep her in her room all night. If not, the plan will still go ahead, and I want her out of here before the end of the week.” Interest already gleamed in their eyes at my words. Hades below, save me from men who thought with their dicks and not their minds.

“Tati brought us a woman? I didn’t know she liked us that much. She must think we’re really missing Henri.” Ewan looked like he was already planning what kind of gift basket to send the guidance counselor as a thank you. Soren glanced at the door separating us from the new arrival, like it was a puzzle he needed to solve.

“No. This changes nothing. Remember the last time a woman was in here? We need her gone.” Both men now looked admonished, it had been their fault we’d nearly splintered apart. I didn’t like to weaponize their guilt, but dire circumstances called for actions I wouldn’t normally take.

“It doesn’t have to be like it was with Lydia. We could make a pact now not to sleep with her.” Ewan was already crumbling; he was always going to be the weak link in my plan. I needed to get her out of here before she got him on side. If she showed even the slightest bit of interest in his animals, I was sure he would give her a school tour and let her in on all our secrets.

Soren still looked thoughtful, his eyes moved from the door to me, and then back again. “I don’t know if we need to go so far as using pact magic. We don’t need to invite it to bite us on the ass if something happens after we get her out of our room. But Caius is right, we have enough on our plates without helping some little lamb who doesn’t know the first thing about magic. She could get hurt, and we don’t need that sort of attention.”

I wasn’t totally happy about the first part of what he said, but it sounded like he was still on my side, and I could work with that. Soren didn’t speak often, so this was a good thing for me.

“We each have a full courseload, that is, if the plan is still to graduate on time. Unless one of you wants to stick around here alone?” The three of us started at Hollow Hill together, and the plan was to graduate as one. Henri was a year older than us, but we hadn’t let that ruin our plans, and there was still a lot to do before we graduated and moved back into the outside world.

They both shook their heads, and I relaxed, everything was still going according to plan. Sure, the plan needed to change slightly, but most plans did when you encountered the enemy. And this witch was the most insidious type of enemy.

“So we make sure she knows she’s not welcome, and we talk to Tatiana. She can’t force this onto us. There must be some sort of rule against it. Let the girl join the covenless. It would be a good way for her to learn how things work around here.” I kept things on topic, not letting our discussion stray.

With the way Ewan’s nose wrinkled at what I said, I knew he didn’t agree with me about the covenless. But there was a reason each remained alone, and it wasn’t our responsibility to care about the outcasts. If they didn’t like their situation, they could have banded together to form a coven. It was like those who didn’t choose a seasonal court; I didn’t have any sympathy or patience for them either. Those who chose weakness shouldn’t be surprised when no one wanted to indulge them. Those who stood alone died alone. History taught us that truth over and over.

“You don’t even know this woman, Caius. Maybe we should give her a chance?” Ewan scratched his familiar under its chin as he spoke, and the lizard gazed at me with a smug look as it blew smoke rings into the air. The creature knew how I felt about what it was doing, but it did it anyway.

“If you want to talk to her, Ewan, be my guest. Make friends with her even. But don’t come to me when you fall behind in your classes and want my notes.” We weren’t in many of the same classes this year, but Ewan would still have asked for my help. We both knew if he needed it, I would give it to him, but it didn’t keep me from threatening him. “And I still want her gone. She’s going to be a distraction.”

Ewan’s eye roll made my temper flare, but I kept a tight grip on my heated emotions. I buried it in the void inside of me, like I did everything else I didn’t want people to see.

“Must be quite a looker if you think she’s going to be a distraction.” Soren leaned further forward now and looked at the door more eagerly, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smirk.

It was my turn to roll my eyes as I set my glass back down on the bar. “End of the week. I want her out of here by the end of the week. Whatever you do afterward, as long as it’s not in this apartment, I don’t care. But I am serious about you not coming crying to me when this blows up in your faces.”

Sometimes, people needed to make their own mistakes. I had tried to warn them about Lydia, and they wouldn’t listen. In the end, it had been up to me to get her out of our apartment, although I wasn’t able to get her out of the school. They clearly would not listen to me about this new girl, either. But it didn’t mean I would make it easy for them, and I’d get rid of her on my own if I had to.

I left them to muse on the couch and stepped into the comforting humidity and darkness of my bedroom. The potion I was working on was still simmering away, and I was glad she hadn’t been in here, at least. Warding my room more strongly was going to need to be bumped up my list of things to do. As soon as I had spoken to Tatiana, I would get on to it.

For now, though, I had plans to work on.