Clever Witch Read online

  Clever Witch

  Book 3 of the Academy of the Dark Arts

  Nikki Dean

  Clever Witch

  Nikki Dean

  Copyright 2020, all rights reserved.

  No part of this document can be duplicated, shared or referenced in any way except directly to the author, Nikki Dean. It is not for resale or distribution, and is for the sole purpose of gathering feedback before publication. This work is entirely fictional, and does not represent actual people. Any similarities are purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Previously in the Academy of the Dark Arts…

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Also by Nikki Dean

  Previously in the Academy of the Dark Arts…

  Mallory Serra was a witch-in-hiding who got caught defending her coffee shop from an attack by a rival country. Set in the post-apocalyptic United States, she lives in the city of Helston, in Bay Nation. Unfortunately, all witches in this world are forced to join the military, and trained at the elite Academy of the Dark Arts first.

  In Basic Witch, Mallory had a few moments of connection with Matt, her arresting officer, met her three gorgeous teaching assistants, Nico, Alec and Damon, as well as their broody friend, Everett. She fell in love with Nico and discovered that her newfound powers work just as well inside the bedroom as out of it, and the steam just keeps getting hotter. Matt, on other other hand, wasn’t to be denied and Basic Witch ended with their first three-way make-out session being crashed by none other than the amaroq, a demon that plagues the city.

  Tricky Witch picked up right where book 1 left off, showing Mallory’s recovery from the short-lived fight with their resident demon. She and Nico learned to navigate their newfound relationship with Matt, who had a few secrets of his own for Mallory. Just when it looked like the group might break up over his deceit, they made up but it may have been too late. Matt was reassigned, leaving Mallory with another handler, and Matt under attack. He went missing, and the team had to figure out what happened to him at the end of book 2. It closed with Matt and Dice, his newly acquired jaguar, unconscious in Mallory’s dorm room.

  Chapter 1

  Mallory’s and Nico's gazes collided in shock. They both scrambled off the bed, hurtling into the other room.

  "Matt? Matt, I'm right here. You okay?" Mallory answered in a rush, nearly tripping as she slid on her feet beside his sickbed. Nico was right beside her, his face slack with shock.

  Matt squinted up at her. "Mal?"

  "Yeah, sweetheart, I'm right here. We got you out, so you're safe now." She sat on the side of the bed and grabbed his hand, bringing the back of his knuckles to her face. Relief washed through her, coupling with the last vestiges of her afterglow and she sagged against his side. "Tell me you're okay."

  "I think I might be hallucinating, but other than that, sure, I'm great," he said with a chuckle. "Where are your clothes?"

  Don't fucking tell me I'm still naked. She looked down at herself. Yep. Still naked. Dammit, Nico. Mallory bolted from the room, Matt's weak laughter trailing behind her. Dressing in a rush, she came back in to find that Nico had claimed her spot, leaning close to his friend.

  "We had no idea you were down there. It was all her. You should have seen her," Nico was saying softly. He looked up at her and grinned. "Mallory here is a little terror when she puts her mind to it. She beat up a few armed guards and brought your cat home, too."

  "My cat?" Matt repeated in confusion. "I don't have a cat."

  "You do now," Mallory said. She stood to the side and swept her arm out, indicating the sleeping jaguar stretched out across the other bed. "Meet Dice."

  Matt picked his head up to look and immediately lay back down. "Now I know I'm still dreaming."

  She felt the exhaustion roll through his mind, nearly taking him back out. He fought it, refusing to leave this bizarre moment.

  "It's okay to go back to sleep. We'll be right here when you wake up," Mallory said softly, kneeling so that she and Matt were at the same height. "We won't let anything else happen to you."

  "I didn't think I'd ever see you again," Matt said softly. Nico's knuckles blanched white around Matt's hand as his grip tightened on his friend. "I should have known better."

  Mallory blinked quickly, trying not to cry at the raw emotion in his voice. "Of course you should have, smartass. We'd never leave you. Now sleep, and we'll be here when you wake up again."

  "Sleep... with me."

  "If it'll make you feel better," she replied, scooting into the open space beside him. Nico held the blankets up for her, then tucked them around her back. Matt let go of Nico's hand to wrap his arms around Mallory, pulling her close before he lost consciousness completely.

  Mallory didn't move. Couldn't. He felt so right against her, but the tension slowly leaving his arms as the sedatives whisked his mind farther away was so very, very wrong. She reached out with her web, looking for any awareness at all.

  There was none. He was gone again.

  Mallory buried her face against his bare chest and cried.

  Nico didn't say anything, just rubbed her back as the tears turned to breathless sobs while she wailed against Matt's unresponsive form.

  It was worse than when Paul had been stabbed, even though she couldn't explain why.

  "We almost lost him, Nico," she eventually managed to choke out, rubbing her face against the blankets. "He almost died. And I haven't even told him..."

  "I know, Bunny. I know."

  She looked up at him, wondering how much he meant it. If he'd really realized how much Matt meant to her.

  "It's okay. I've known all along that you had feelings for him. I wouldn't have pushed so hard if I didn't. You love him, too."

  It was said matter-of-factly, without reprimand. Like he was fine with it.

  "I can't love him, I barely know him," she said softly. Denying it. How can I love two men at the same time? Is that even possible?

  "Sure you do," he scoffed. "I hate that this has happened, and I'm going to kill whoever is responsible, but if it makes you realize how much he means to you, then maybe some good came out of it."

  "How can you be so nonchalant about it?" Mallory asked. "How can you just say, 'okay, the woman I love also loves my friend,' and that be perfectly fine? Not that I'm saying you're right or anything."

  But is he? Matt's been there every step of the way for me. From giving me his shirt in that truck to lying for me in my official file, to trying to keep me safe from Pohler and Fitzam. Does it matter that he was allowing my teachers to send him reports on me, when I know damn good and well that he didn't tell them to? That Fitzam probably ordered it and even if Matt agreed, it was because he was looking out for me? He even got reassigned to this mess because he was too busy covering for me to cover for himself.

  "Because Matt and I are two different people. And because I love him, too. I love all of them."

  She blinked at the confession, even though she already knew it was true. Nico, Matt, Alec, Damon and Everett were too close, had been through too much together not to have deeper feelings for each other. But to hear it said like that, compared to
her feelings for Matt, was a little surprising.

  "Even Everett?" she had to ask. He was by far the most estranged from the group.

  "Especially Everett. I know it'll take time for you to get to know them, but they're each amazing guys. If I could clone you, one for each of them, I would. But I can't," he said with a little smile, gauging her response.

  I'm not going there right now. Just dating two of them will be strange enough. She poked him in the side. His bare side. "Why are you still naked?" It was mostly true, but his boxers were at least back in place. "And why did you bring me in here naked?"

  "We need to talk about that."

  "Damn right we do. Hopefully he won't remember it, or he'll think it was just a dream."

  "I wouldn't count on it."

  Mallory poked him again. Nico caught her hand and raised it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. She relaxed.

  "I didn't bring you in here. I would have, but..." he trailed off, looking into her eyes for a second. "You beat me to it."

  "Why didn't you use your magic, then?"

  "I did."

  The words hung between them. Mallory shook her head, her lips already forming a 'no' of denial. Someone knocked on the door and they both jumped.

  "Who is it?" Mallory called.

  "Us."

  Nico kissed her palm again, nodding. Mal didn't say anything as he opened the door, letting Damon, Alec and Everett inside. Everett rolled his eyes when he saw her in bed beside Matt.

  "How's he doing?" Alec asked, dropping into one of the wooden chairs as he set a take-out bag down on the desk. "He wake up at all?"

  "Yeah, for a second. He thought he was still hallucinating though. Had no idea about Dice, so I don't really know what that means. But he knew who we were and sounded like himself," Mallory answered. "Nico talked to him a little more than I did."

  She sat up, tucking the blankets around Matt so that he wouldn't notice she was gone. If he could even register anything like that, or remember that she had lain beside him. Dice twitched on the other bed.

  "Is he going to recover?" Damon asked. His eyes tracked over her face, taking in her red-rimmed, swollen eyes and pink nose. Thankfully, he didn't say anything about it.

  "I think so," Mallory said as she wiped her nose. "It's too soon to tell, but I don't think he'll have any permanent mental damage. He only moved one arm, and went back under pretty quickly, so I have no idea how he is physically."

  "What about that thing?" Everett asked, jerking his chin in Dice's direction. The big cat was stretching, sniffing the air as it caught the scent of whatever was in Alec's bag. Mallory's stomach growled as well.

  "I have no idea. He's linked to me instead of Matt now, but they'll probably always have some kind of bond. I don't think Dice will hurt him."

  She got up and walked over to the jaguar, letting Damon sit beside Matt instead. Everett stayed in his corner, watching in silence.

  Dangling her fingers in front of Dice's nose, Mal smiled when he opened his eyes and licked her. He wrapped his front paws around her hand and pulled it close, rubbing his cheeks across her knuckles. "See? He's not so bad."

  "Maybe to you, but I don't think the rest of us would get quite the same welcome. It's still a wild animal," Everett shot back. He had tensed when Dice pulled her hand closer, and wasn't relaxing about it.

  "Come here and give me your hand," she said softly. "I did this with the others earlier, but Dice should know who you are, too. I'm assuming he'll see you a lot if he stays with Matt."

  Everett glared at her. "No."

  Mallory shrugged. "Whatever. Nico, you wanna go first again?"

  Alec coughed, but was looking away when Mallory glared at him. Nico came and laced his fingers through hers, letting Dice smell them beside Mallory's.

  "If the cat belongs to Matt, why are you associating everyone's scent with yourself?" Everett asked. "Won't that confuse it?"

  Mallory shrugged. "It's bonded to me now, too. Whatever they did down in that lab was hurting both of them, linking them in a way that wasn't sustainable. I fixed it somehow, but doing so left some of my magic behind. It's comfortable enough with me that it won't hurt me."

  "Like you didn't think the amaroq would either?" he retorted. He crossed his arms over his chest.

  "That was stupid on my part," she admitted. Dice was licking her fingers again, and occasionally Nico's as well. He was watching the animal with a bemused little half-smile, almost in disbelief that it was accepting him.

  "The amaroq is way out of my league, and I wouldn't have tried that if I knew then what I know now. It's not surprising that my magic didn't work on it because it's not really an animal. I may as well have tried to compel one of you to stop doing something, for all the good it would do. Damon was right, and I was being stupid about it."

  Damon leaned back on the bed, putting on hand behind him. He barely missed Matt's head. "Glad to hear you admit it."

  Mallory rolled her eyes and flipped him off. "Don't let it go to your head. You were still a dick about it."

  He nodded once, conceding her point. Alec gave a low whistle, impressed, then it was his turn to get flipped off as Damon extended his middle finger as well.

  "Ha! You're rubbing off on him!" Alec said with a chuckle. "Keep doing whatever you're doing, Party Girl."

  "Don't call me that," Mal muttered as she let go of Nico's hand and rubbed Dice's silky head. He nuzzled between her hand and Nico's, unbothered by the space between them. "Damon, you next."

  "How long until Dice is completely off the drugs?" Damon asked as he got the same treatment. Dice paid less attention to him than Nico, sniffing the air for something else.

  "A few more hours. He's going to need to go out soon, I'm sure. But I have no idea what to do about that."

  "Just put a leash on him and take him for a walk," Alec said with a grin. "You're the animal whisperer, so they shouldn't be surprised."

  "Mmm, no. My professors think I talk to birds. This would be a shock, not to mention he's very recognizable. Anyone that knew him from the lab would instantly know that I took him. There were a lot of personnel that saw us carry him out."

  "Well, fuck," Alec muttered as Dice reacquainted himself with his scent. "Any idea if they sell a litter box big enough for a jaguar?"

  "A kiddie pool, maybe. It would take a lot of litter to fill it up though," Everett scoffed. "Let me take him."

  "You?" Mallory repeated. They all looked at him in surprise as he pushed Alec out of the way and ran his fingers in front of Dice's nose.

  The jaguar snarled, pulling back his lips to reveal sharp canines beneath.

  Chapter 2

  "Don't move," Mallory whispered.

  Everett ignored her, jerking his hand back as Dice began to growl. The sudden movement made Dice pounce, coming up off the bed to rake his claws over Everett's arm. He hissed in pain.

  "Dammit! No, Dice, no!" Mallory tackled the big cat, putting herself directly between it and Everett. Dice fought back for a second until he caught her scent and relaxed, panting on the bed. "Calm down, Dice, Ev is an asshole, but he's a friend. Calm down, baby."

  She repeated it until the jaguar was limp beneath her, breathing her in as she sent waves of reassurance into its mind. Nico was right behind her, prepared to get her away if the cat snapped again.

  It wasn't necessary.

  Mallory sat up and pushed Nico out of the way, then stood in front of Everett. He was sitting on the edge of Matt's bed, holding his arm against his chest. Blood had seeped through the gray fabric of his long sleeve.

  "Well, what the fuck was that about?" she demanded before he could speak. "You should have known better, and you deserved that. Dice is barely even awake and you just had to fuck with him. Why?"

  "I'm fine, thanks," Everett shot back. "None of you should be near that thing. It's a predator, a wild animal and you can't tame it just because you want to."

  "Dice was doing perfectly fine until you shoved your hand into his
face!" she shot back. "He's a baby, scared, hurt and alone and all he knows is that most humans are awful! He was just getting used to us and you had to go and screw it up! Why? So you could feel better about being right?!"

  Dice growled behind her. She lowered her voice and stepped back, tucking her hands behind her back so that the jaguar could sniff them. He calmed.

  "See? He's fine. He wasn't aggressive until you were, Everett."

  "You're exactly as stupid as I thought you were, running toward danger instead of away from it like a sane person would do," Everett spat. His brows were furrowed as he glared at her. "Anyone else would see that thing for what it is. It’s dangerous."

  Nico tensed beside her and she put a hand on his arm.

  "Fuck you. Get out." She said the words with equal venom.

  "You can't kick me out, Matt's as much mine as he is yours!" Everett fired back. "You can't come in here thinking that you can just fix everything, when all you're really going to do is get all of them killed."

  "Ev, man, you can't say things like that," Alec murmured. "She's not stupid. She cares. We wouldn't have even known that Matt was in trouble without her."

  Everett looked away in frustration.

  This is some kind of sticking point with him, Mallory realized. Like he thinks I shouldn't have been the one to tell them Matt was in danger. But that doesn't make any sense.

  "I risked my life down there in the lab, just as much as the rest of you did. Maybe even more, since I was the first one in. It could have been a trap, for all we knew, especially since Pohler was here right before Janae told me to meet her down there. Dice isn't the problem here. You are," Mallory replied in fury. "You might have been friends with Matt first, but how much effort do you really put in him? He sits in that damned apartment for a week at a time and you never go over there because you hate people, or whatever, but have you considered how lonely he is? How cut off he feels?"