Baneful Magick (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #1)
1. Isla
Chapter 1
Isla
FRIDAY
“ Ring around the rosie,
A pocket full of posies.
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down!”
I sang the twisted children’s rhyme as I walked among my garden of poison, my fingers trailing along the deadly and beautiful white petals of jimsonweed. The tendrils of the plant curled around my hand, the lethal seeds calling to me as my singing faded into the early evening fog.
Dark murmurings filled my head, and a smile curled my black-stained lips. Someone was watching me from the shadows, and I couldn’t wait to see them make their way through my garden. Jimsonweed was just one of the poisonous plants I grew here. Wolfsbane, yew trees, and oleander were some of my other favorites in this part of my garden.
My moms didn’t want me to become too extravagant with my plants, limiting me to a small fenced-in section, but I was determined to convince them I needed a greenhouse soon. Even though I was working on my plans to move out, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take everything with me.
Some of these plants wouldn’t survive the move, and some were too deadly to even chance moving. I’d miss them, but if I could create a beautiful home for them and take care of them on my visits home, it would work out. Plus, they wouldn’t want any of my siblings to get into them… What a disaster that would be.
A branch snapped behind me, and I tilted my head, not bothering to turn around to see who was there.
“You might as well show yourself if you’re brave enough to enter my domain,” I called out, my voice husky and deep. “I have enough weapons within reach that I have nothing to fear from you.”
“A bold claim,” a honeyed voice replied, then I heard the brush of fabric along the grassy path. “But I’m impressed with your audacity to remain with your back turned to me.”
“You’ve invaded my private garden at my family home. It is not I who should be worried,” I retorted.
Slowly turning around, I arched an eyebrow. The unknown man in front of me would have instantly piqued my interest if not for the invasion of my space. His wavy ash-blond hair fell messily in front of his face, though it didn’t hide the orange and red eyes that were fixed on me as he stepped even closer. He had on a black coat with beautiful detail work along the edges, which were so long they skimmed the ground.
Maybe he was intimidating to others, but considering who my moms were, he would need to try harder to make me nervous.
“My eyes are up here,” he teased.
I ignored the suggestive sentence and focused on the intricate design of the coat. It appeared to be hand-stitched. “Your coat is beautiful.”
“It was a gift,” he replied, a hint of true happiness brightening his tone. I looked up to meet his gaze, realizing he was close enough that I could see specks of black in his odd-colored eyes. He held out an envelope with my name scrawled across it in swirling cursive. “Take it.”
“Why should I? Didn’t you ever learn to not take things from strangers?”
He remained silent for a moment before laughter burst from him, amusement clear in the ringing tone. “The dean was right. You’re going to be fun, Isla Hallowes.”
“How do you know my name?!” I asked, wanting to hide when I remembered it was on the damn envelope he was holding out. I took a half a step back from him, suddenly very aware of how alone we were at the moment.
“Welcome to Greywood Conservatory, witchling. May the baneful darken your days and illuminate your nights.”
With that cryptic parting, he stepped into my personal space and tucked the envelope in the pocket of my jacket. His closeness was intoxicating. I had no other way to describe the exhilarating feeling that rushed over my body as I breathed in the smoke and ash scent that surrounded him.
As if he could tell what I was feeling, his fiery gaze flicked up to meet mine, his lips parted in shock and pupils blown. One minute, he was standing there, and in a blink, he was gone. What the actual fuck is going on?
The heady feeling didn’t disappear with him. It flicked along my body until darkness took over my vision. A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the cold, and a deep growl echoed in my mind. With it, the lust vanished.
This is ridiculous.
‘The envelope, little beastie,’ Cassius rumbled. ‘Focus with something other than those damned hormones trying to fuck everything.’
‘ Real rich coming from you,’ I shot back at the voice in my head. Cassius, the soul who’d been attached to me for as long as I could remember, was just a pain in the ass. He filled my life with random commentary and orders whenever he felt like it.
‘Just open the blasted thing’ , he intoned dryly, making me smile.
I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the envelope from my pocket and turned it over between my fingers. My full name was there on the thick, cream-colored paper, and right above it was the conservatory’s name. Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane.
Greywood was notorious in the supernatural world. Unlike all the other universities that were exclusive, Greywood taught all types of supes. Its students practiced baneful magick. Not much was known about the conservatory, specifics of the institution were shrouded in mystery, but only deadly supes were given a spot.
Part of me wanted to open it and see the contents, but another part of me knew I wanted my moms to be there with me.
“Isla!” Speak of the devil, or one of them.
Glancing up, I saw Mom standing at the back door, waving me inside. Her long dark auburn hair was hanging loose around her pale face, and she was dressed for her night shift at Onyx Security.
Gripping the paper tightly, I hurried out of the garden, taking a few seconds to secure the lock on the gate before running over to her.
“What’s in your hand, little bat?” she asked fondly as she stepped aside so I could wash my hands in the nearby utility sink. No need to accidentally hurt people by transferring poison, an incident that had only happened once. One time was enough. I’d never live it down if it happened again.
“An invitation of enrollment,” I told her, nodding at the paper I had placed on the shelf by my head. “To Greywood.”
“The conservatory?” Mom asked in shock, blinking a few times before calling out for Ma. She somehow seemed to get paler, a feat for a vampire, to be sure, but it was happening before my eyes.
A hint of concern hit me when she didn’t grab the paper to see it for herself. Instead, we stood silently as Ma rushed through the house to join us.
“What’s wrong?! Where’s the fire?” She glanced around, trying to figure out what had made her wife so upset.
“No fire, love,” Mom replied with a half-smile, though worry was still bright in her dark green eyes. “Isla just got an acceptance letter from Greywood.”
Ma didn’t react right away. Instead, she stood there staring at Mom, then me, then the inconspicuous envelope causing this strong reaction. My curiosity was morphing into anxiety thanks to the tense silence building around us.
Ma’s ebony skin was highlighted by the kitchen lights that filtered through the open doorway. My brothers and sisters ran around, yelling wildly, untouched by the bubble of silence surrounding my mothers and me.
Ma finally spoke first. “How did you get the envelope?”
I slowly dried my hands off, my gaze bouncing back and forth from Mom to Ma. It seemed important to gauge their reactions as I spoke. “A man came into the garden and gave it to me. I think he was fae of some kind, but I’m not sure what kind. No idea who he was; I’d never seen him before in my life. He handed this over.”
‘No doubt if you did, you would have remembered him,’ Cassius chimed in.
‘ Shut up. I can’t concentrate on my moms with your commentary.’
“What did he look like?” Mom asked sharply, taking a deep breath when Ma shot her a hard glare. I bit my lip, unsure why she was acting this way. It wasn’t like I’d approached him .. “Sorry. I just… I need some air.”
Mom turned around and yanked open the door to the garden. It slammed against the wall. A nearby picture fell to the floor as the door shut behind her, and I flinched at the sound of the shattering glass.
Ma sighed, then, clicking her tongue, she reached out, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Come along, Isla. She’ll be okay. Mom just has… history with Greywood.”
“History?” I asked, gingerly taking the envelope and letting Ma steer me inside.
She shooed my brothers and sisters out of the kitchen with the promise of a pizza-and-movie night if they behaved. The resulting screams of excitement were deafening, but luckily, they rushed out of the kitchen, leaving us alone.
My moms were saints to put up with us, and I had no idea how they managed. Both worked long hours and had demanding jobs, but they had fostered and later adopted seven children.
None of us were blood related. Our moms had taken in orphans, determined to give us the family unit we needed. Most of us were different supes, and to say that required a balancing act was the understatement of the century. With a fae, witch, two wolves, and the baby siren who had just been adopted a few months ago, my moms had their hands full. I was the second oldest in our home since my brother Demir had already moved out and had a full-time job.
Ma turned around, pushing a stray curl out of her face. Her expression was expectant, and I knew she was patiently waiting for me to start asking questions about Mom’s strong reaction. Thank goodness because I want answers.
“History?” I repeated, sitting down at the table. Ma moved about the kitchen, getting glasses and making tea. She never used magic to make the tea, said it ruined the calming experience it gave her and messed with the flavor.
She hummed, looking back at me with calm in her dark brown eyes. “A story best left to her, bats. Go ahead and open it.”
My childhood obsession with bats had earned me that nickname from them both, something I huffed about but secretly loved. Continuing with our routine, I delivered the exaggerated moan and eye roll as I opened the envelope to read the letter inside.
It was a pretty plain invitation; nothing really stood out. Ma read over it, giving no opinion on the matter beyond saying it was my decision.
Mom never came back inside. She ended up calling Ma’s cell to say that she had gotten to work and was sorry she had left in such a rush. We ended the call with peace between us and a promise to talk more the following evening when she had time off.
I ordered the pizzas as Ma walked off to talk with Mom privately. Once that was done, I went to check on my plants one more time before I came in for dinner. A drizzle had started while I was inside, and the drops immediately coated me in a light layer of moisture. With every step toward my garden, the mist grew heavier, transforming into a downpour, but I didn’t care.
My thoughts were swirling around in my head like a vicious storm, and I knew that being in my garden would help center me. The moment I closed the gate behind me, I started to feel at ease. The allure of the rich earth was too strong to ignore, so I slipped off my shoes and let my bare feet sink into the grass and mud. The steady hum of my deadly plants was like a lullaby, soothing and haunting, and I walked among the rows to calm myself down.
Academy had ended a few weeks ago, and I had reached out to Demir to get his thoughts on where I should move to around Seattle, where he lived. In fact, I had appointments set up to check out apartments so I could move out of my parents’ home.
Going to a university after an academy had never been in my plans, especially since people didn’t apply to universities or conservatories. The college level schools needed to reach out to you if they were interested, but I never thought I would be sought after. Some people received multiple invitations, which started a competition between the institutions who wanted to “claim” them, whereas I was stunned to receive even one.
My powers centered on poisons. Sure, I could heal small wounds, but that at the end of the day, that wasn’t my specialty. Plus, I was a witch . Not high fae, elf, siren, or shifter. There weren’t many of us left these days, and not many had been strong enough to draw the interest of the higher learning institutions even when more of us existed.
Greywood, though… Not much was known about them. What history does Mom have with that place to evoke such a strong reaction? Who was the man that delivered the envelope to me, and why did I react so strongly to him?
I didn’t have any answers, and the voice inside my head remained frustratingly silent. Pulling out the letter from my pocket, I unfolded it to look at it again.
Something filled me, an impulsive thought that I couldn’t resist. I stood up, hurrying to my workbench and opening the secret compartment where I stored poisons. Browsing through them, my hand stopped when it reached the small bottle of Aqua Tofana. I poured a small amount on the page, slowly spreading it with my fingers to cover the entire bottom of the paper.
The paper absorbed the liquid, and I gasped when a hidden message appeared. Pain consumed my hands felt like they were on fire, and I reflexively dropped the paper. As it fluttered to the ground, I read the words seared on the page.
Thank you for accepting your place at Greywood Conservatory, Isla Hallowes. You will be among the most deadly and dangerous magick practitioners of our time. I hope that you will not disappoint us.
Only the strong and capable make it out of Greywood, Miss. Hallowes. We shall see if you are one of them.
What the hell did I just do?!