Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County) by Heidi R. Kling Read Free Book Online

separate bedrooms, but the whole situation was bizarre. He remembered far too clearly a young “Mother,” maybe twenty-five, whom Jacob had had a special fondness for. One night Logan heard him screaming at her, accusing her of being a succubus, a female demon infiltrating his home to destroy him.
    After that, the Congression ruled that the Academy’s housemothers must be at least middle-aged, and that Jacob refrain from having any sort of “special” relationship with any of them.
    Despite her kindness, Logan felt relieved when Maggie shuffled off to the next table.
    “Hey, where’d you take off to last night?” his best friend Chance asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “I looked for you in the barn after dinner. You weren’t there.” He eyed Logan intently, waiting for his answer.
    Chance had arrived at the Academy after Hurricane Katrina wrecked his home coven. He was an especially talented young Voudoun priest—more popularly known by its vernacular Voodoo—and was widely known throughout the Spellspinner community as a warlock to watch, as he had a rather unique relationship with loa, the god-spirits.
    Father had recruited him hard, tempting him with everything Melas and the Academy had to offer: first class gym, access to medieval weaponry, and one of the best ancient libraries in the world. And—to top them all—the magic ring of Solstice Stones themselves, the most powerful conduit to otherworldly powers in the Western Hemisphere.
    Since he’d started later in life than the rest of the boys, Chance wasn’t as habituated to Father’s rules, or as threatened by him. In fact, he didn’t seem that impressed at all. He found the Academy’s food “tasteless” and missed his Voudoun family.
    For those reasons, at first, Logan was drawn to him: Chance offered a fresh perspective Logan hadn’t understood before.
    Logan never lied to Chance. “I’ll tell you later,” he said.
    Chance nodded. “So glad You-Know-Who isn’t around today.”
    “Yeah, no kidding.”
    “Want to hit the waves after breakfast?”
    “Sure. I need to check on something first, but I’ll meet you in an hour or so?”
    “You got it.”
    “Wonder if there’s any credence to what Maggie just said—a specially talented group of witches?”
    “I don’t know. I assume they are all talented.” Chance’s comment was met with strange looks from the other boys at the table. “I mean, they are training to fight us. They have to be somewhat capable, right?”
    In reply, Jude, an English guy whose crisp accent added a false air of civility to his voice, made a crude crack about the witches, which caused Logan’s hackles to rise. Often mistaken for someone with manners, Jude sucked up to Father and the Congression whenever he could.
    Jude wore his uniforms perfectly pressed, and his face always beamed with confidence. But for all his outward gentility—for instance, even on dress down day, Jude came to breakfast clad in Burberry London, from his sculpted hair right down to his shiny loafers—Logan knew Jude was one of the most dangerous warlocks around.
    “What do you know about witches?” Logan asked sarcastically.
    “Some.” Jude rested his chin on his palm. “Lean in, brothers. Last week I happened to be passing by the exterior door of the Master’s office. He was going on about a witch to watch out for. A huge threat apparently—he was quite worked up about it, really.”
    “Did he mention a name at all?”
    Jude shrugged, sipping his orange juice and tapping the corners of his mouth with his folded linen napkin. “No. Not that I could decipher. But when he returns, I’m planning to find out more. And you gentlemen might consider keeping your ears open, too.”
     
    Logan stayed at breakfast for what seemed like hours, before he was finally able to excuse himself without suspicion. He dashed up three flights of stairs to his bedroom, where he opened and shut his door loudly, then crossed the hall to the extra