Snakes and Shadows Read online

  “They were crowned ‘King of Chess,’” Marcus explained with a patient sigh. “The media does like to bait with their headlines.” She began pacing, a habit she’d established the first day of class. “So far, all those who have found Excalibur have been coincidentally bestowed the title ‘king of’ something within the next few days. One found a plastic crown in a box of cereal, another won an online multiplayer game, another won a scratch ticket jackpot called ‘the crown jewel.’”

  “So pulling the famous sword from the stone gives you...nothing?” Clive looked disappointed.

  “For now.” Professor Marcus stopped behind her desk, tapping it with a fingernail. “There is a real concern that one of these so-called kings will suddenly find a birth certificate tying them to the royal line, or—worse—they will get the idea that waging war on the monarchy is a good idea.”

  “What about the swords here?” Penny asked. She knew at least two had been drawn in America, along with three in African countries, one in India and one in her own home country.

  “Again, the biggest concern is that it will exacerbate the current political upheaval.” Professor Marcus sighed. “Students, we have entered a new age, and the world is struggling to catch up. It was bad enough that laws hadn’t progressed to adequately deal with the sudden surge of internet capabilities.” She paused. “This will be worse.”

  The words created a pit of unease in Penny’s gut. They’d already discussed some of the ramifications with Professor Madera. Things like the legal protection of innocent creatures like Boots, balanced with protection for those who hunted the more malevolent creatures passing through the Veil.

  “What do we do?” Penny asked. The question surprised even her. We? Who is “we?” I’m leaving in a few weeks!

  The assertion rang less true every day, but she shrugged it off. Admitting she wanted to stay brought a host of logistical issues that she simply didn’t have time to deal with right now.

  “We work,” Marcus declared passionately. “We study hard, we learn as much as we can, and we advocate for change.” A smile touched her lips. “When change comes, it comes quickly. We will be ready, and we will take advantage of that the best we can.” Her eyes met Penny’s. “After all, it’s why we are here.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Penny had looked forward to the next class with Professor Marcus the next morning, only to find out when she arrived, that the class had been canceled due to the professor’s absence.

  “Meeting,” Cisco explained. His brows were a knotted mess of worry. “Something’s going on with the faculty, but Mom won’t tell me what it is.”

  “Let’s sneak out, then,” Amelia proposed. “If I go back to bed, I won’t wake up for Folklore this afternoon. Coffee?” She looked at Cisco and Penny expectantly.

  Cisco shook his head. “I’m gonna hang back and see if I can get any info out of Mom. Have fun, though.” He turned on his heel and walked away.

  Penny couldn’t resist Amelia’s puppy-dog eyes. “Ok, coffee it is. Just let me get my coat.”

  “I can’t believe you’re still cold!” Amelia tailed Penny up to their room. When Penny emerged carrying only her purse and jacket, she raised an eyebrow. “Boots not coming?”

  Penny shook her head. “I saw a cat on the grounds last night. She got a bit excited, I think she’s hoping it comes back.”

  Amelia’s hand flew to her mouth. “So she can eat it?”

  “No!” Penny’s laughter trailed off. “At least, I don’t think so.”

  The girls trotted quickly downstairs and emerged into the crisp Portland morning.

  “What’s all that?” Amelia asked, nudging Penny with her elbow.

  Penny turned away from the door and followed Amelia’s stare. Three women and a man stood on the street corner, arguing with two police officers. The group scowled, and one of the women pointed toward the Academy.

  “Weird,” Penny said. Something about the group—their high necked blouses and long skirts in shades of pastel and beige, and the man’s crisp white button-up shirt—made her skin crawl.

  “Ignore them.” Amelia scoffed, although her usual confidence was absent. “They’re probably just tourists.”

  The line of black-clad women standing outside the coffee shop would have given Penny pause on any given day, but after the mysterious absence of Professor Marcus and the group of watchers outside the Academy, it set her heart racing.

  “Amelia, what’s going on?” She pulled on her friend’s arm, but Amelia was having none of it.

  “Let’s go check it out.” Shrugging off Penny’s horrified look, Amelia plunged forward. “We might learn something, Pen. I bet your handsome agent would love the inside scoop on what these kooks are up to now.”

  “Handsome?” Penny huffed incredulously. “Amelia, he’s old enough to be my grandad. Yours, too!”

  One of Amelia’s shoulders twitched. “Eh, he’s a silver fox. No one brings up Richard Gere’s age, and he’s, like, a thousand years old!”

  Penny had no choice but to follow. Abandoning her friend as she headed into a wild goose chase simply wasn’t an option.

  “Hi!” Amelia walked straight up to the group of girls with a sunny grin. “What are you guys selling? Is it Mary Kaye? I desperately need some new makeup!”

  Penny cringed. Anyone could see through that!

  To her surprise, the other women clustered around Amelia excitedly. “We’re here to spread the word!” One stuck her hand out and clasped Amelia’s delicately. “Have you seen the events taking place?”

  A redhead swooped in. “Magical beings, miracles...the world is changing!”

  “So, you’re a religious group?” Amelia asked. She sounded curious, but not over-eager.

  The first girl nodded. “We’re hosting a gathering. Kind of a party, really. Here.” She held out a flyer.

  Amelia pursed her lips. “You’re not gonna sacrifice a goat or anything, are you?”

  The girl giggled disarmingly. “Nooo! Of course not! We just want to introduce you to our leader, Mark. He’ll explain why all this is happening, and how we can help it.”

  “Help it?” Penny asked, alarm bells ringing.

  The girl nodded enthusiastically. “Yes! It’s our mission to usher in a new age, one where the common man isn’t beholden to material goods, but the old gods, and power is given through worship and sacrifice.” She glanced at Amelia. “Personal sacrifice. Not the goat kind.” She giggled again.

  “Please say you’ll come?” A younger woman leaned in, blue eyes wide and vacant. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to stay.”

  “Uhh...sure.” Penny was sure—that she wanted to be done with this conversation.

  Amelia snatched the leaflet away. “Sure. We’ll be there!” Her voice rang with false cheer, and she hustled Penny inside the coffee shop as the women turned to accost the next passerby. “They’re weeeiiirrrrdd!”

  “What did you expect, investment bankers?” Penny walked straight over to the barista. “I’d like a double-shot flat white with caramel, please.” It wasn’t quite her usual order of a regular latte with no extras.

  “Uh, Penny? That’s a lot of coffee for you. And a lot of sugar!” Amelia said.

  “Desperate times call for...well, caffeine and sugar.” Penny gestured for Amelia to place her order.

  “What the hell. Make that two, please!”

  When they’d both collected their coffees, Amelia took a sip of hers. “Woah. It’s not going to put hair on my chest, is it?”

  “Depends,” Penny asked. “Have you kissed any werewolves lately?”

  Amelia sighed. “No, just my little leprechaun. And even he hasn’t been around lately.”

  Red had spent the last weekend of break with family, leaving Amelia to pine for him. It had honestly surprised Penny. She hadn’t thought of Amelia as the type to fall so deeply for a guy.

  “You haven’t seen him yet? He got back yesterday.”

  “Only in the ha
lls. I mean, hugs are nice, but…you know.” Amelia wiggled her eyebrows.

  “I don’t want to know.” Penny had no idea how the two managed to hook up at the Academy without being caught, but she was grateful it hadn’t happened in their room. Not that she knew of, anyway.

  “How are we gonna get out of here, Penny?” Amelia eyed the group still hovering outside the coffee shop. “We have to get back in time for Folklore. Assuming it’s still on, anyway.”

  “Do you really want to risk missing it just in case?” Penny asked.

  The barista leaned over. “You need to sneak out the back way?” he asked.

  Both girls nodded eagerly.

  “Those weirdos have been scaring my customers off all day.” He opened a small swinging gate that blocked off the kitchen from the shop and pointed to a door. “That way.”

  Penny caught sight of his name tag as she passed him on the way to freedom. “You’re a legend, Tony.”

  “Anytime!” Tony called after them as he closed the door. “Just don’t be strangers, ok! These people are killing my business!”

  Penny and Amelia debated what to do with the leaflet on their way home.

  “We should totally crash their party,” Amelia insisted. “Get the down-low. The four-one-one. The—”

  “You sounds like a 90s teen movie,” Penny said. “We can’t go, Amelia. This is way above our pay grade.”

  “We can’t just ignore it!” Amelia hissed.

  “Why are you whispering?” Penny asked in hushed tones. They rounded the corner, and the Academy came into view.

  “Oh.” Amelia’s voice had returned to normal. “They’re gone.”

  Penny didn’t have to ask who. The corner was vacant, the only sign anyone had been there a big white bit of cardboard face-down on the pavement.

  Amelia hesitated, then angled toward it.

  “Mate? The Academy is this way.” Penny pointed at the gate leading into the grounds.

  Amelia ignored her, jogging over to the discarded sign with a nervous glance around before she picked it up. She lifted it, her face falling as she read it.

  “Amelia?” Penny tried to keep the concern out of her voice but quickly ran to her friend’s side.

  Witch! Witch! Kill the —Itch!

  The words were painted beside a crude drawing of a stick figure tied over an orange fire.

  “Religious scum,” Amelia said in a hoarse voice.

  “Why religious?” Penny asked.

  Amelia pointed to the incomplete word. “Too stodgy to swear.” She laughed, but it was hollow and devoid of mirth. “We can give the leaflet to the dean. She’ll know what to do.”

  Penny nodded, taking no satisfaction in her win. Her friend was scared, and she was, too.

  A few minutes after she knocked, the dean’s heavy oak door swung open. Penny was surprised to see Agent Crenel standing in the office.

  "Can I help you, girls?" The dean ignored her guest, motioning for Penny and Amelia to come in.

  Amelia walked forward and placed the leaflet on her desk. Then she held up the sign.

  The dean’s face tightened. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I was under the impression that particular issue had been taken care of." Dean March’s eyes slid to Agent Crenel, who rubbed one hand through his graying hair. "Where did you find it?"

  Amelia gave a terse explanation of the people they had seen loitering at the corner, followed by the details of their encounter with the cultists.

  Agent Crenel's eyebrows shot up. "And they just handed you an invitation?"

  "The guy at the coffee shop said they've been there all day, recruiting people," Penny explained. "We thought you should know."

  "I must say, I'm surprised." The dean pulled the leaflet toward her and quickly scanned it. "I won't ask if you considered going alone. It might destroy my very high opinion of your intelligence."

  Penny and Amelia exchanged guilty looks but said nothing.

  Crenel heaved a deep and weary sigh. "I wish I could say we have the manpower to investigate this," he said. He looked at the girls, then flicked a glance at the dean.

  She gave a minute shake of her head.

  "But we don't—" Crenel began.

  "Absolutely not! These are my students, Stuart. Not your agents. Not yet." The dean glared at him as if daring him to correct her.

  Penny's heart fluttered, and she stepped forward. "If there's anything we can do to help, we’ll do it. Honestly."

  Amelia quickly stepped up beside her. "It's not like we’d be going in alone," she pointed out, with a beatific grin at the dean. "We’d bring Cisco and Red. Besides, from what I can tell, it's just an informational session. They’re not going to scare off their new recruits, are they?"

  "We could find out what they're planning next. Undercover, you know?" Penny added. Somehow the words kept flowing, even though she was mentally kicking herself. What am I getting myself into?

  Crenel turned pleading eyes on the dean. "The event’s not for two more weeks. With a bit of luck, we can squash this other issue by then."

  "And if you can't?" Dean March raised a sculpted eyebrow.

  Crenel seemed to be at a loss for words. He stepped back and shrugged.

  A crafty grin spread over Amelia's face. "Are you saying you forbid us to attend, Dean March?"

  The dean regarded her for a moment, then gave a tired sigh. "You know very well I possess no such authority. You are both adults, and although I would strongly advise against it, it wouldn't technically be against the Academy’s Code of Conduct. Which reminds me, I probably should rewrite that." The dean turned a scathing look on Agent Crenel. "Tread carefully, Stuart. If any of my students are injured on this adventure —"

  Crenel waved off her concerns, grinning. "It'll be fine, Jessica. I promise. Have I ever let you down before?"

  The door swung shut behind him as the dean muttered, "Numerous times, Stuart. Numerous times."

  "Dean, who are the people outside the Academy?" Penny asked, as much to divert the dean’s attention as to settle the nerves in her gut.

  Dean March pursed her lips and shook her head sadly. "It seems as if word of our curriculum has made it into the public eye. There are those who disbelieve the mythological invasion is occurring, there are those who seem hellbent on encouraging it, and," she waved her hand at the poster, "there are those who claim it as evidence that their god is angry, or that they are privileged, or whatever ideological insanity they're sprouting this particular week."

  "Are they targeting the Academy?" Amelia asked incredulously.

  The dean hesitated, then nodded. "Please don't concern yourself too much. Agent Crenel is a very capable man, and he has the best interests of the Academy at heart. He will ensure that the students here are safe, although I would suggest you follow his directions." March pointedly glanced at her watch. "If I'm not mistaken, your next class is starting at about now. Agent Crenel will attend, to disseminate information on the protesters you saw today. I suggest you listen closely."

  Both girls nodded and scurried out of the room. Penny paused to pull the heavy door closed behind her.

  Amelia slapped Penny’s shoulder. "I told you they were religious nutters."

  "Are we really going to that cult party?" Penny asked. "With everything that's going on, you don't think we're getting ourselves in too deep?"

  Amelia shook her head. "Honestly? I think we’ll be safer with that brand of crazy than the ones camped outside of the Academy."

  Soon after they arrived at folklore class, Professor Craster launched into a lecture about the need for safety. "There'll be no more gallivanting around or leaving after dark, you hear me? Those people are crazy, and I won't have them putting my students at risk."

  There was a murmur amongst the students, and Penny heard the word “Sasquatch” mentioned more than once. Professor Craster scowled, then stepped back to let Agent Crenel speak.

  "At this stage, what we’re dealing with looks to be nonviolent protesters.
We managed to shut down the event planned for today, but we can't make any promises for future events. For now, the FBI and the Academy are advising students to travel in groups. Don't leave unless it's absolutely necessary, and if you must go somewhere, let the faculty know where you're headed."

  Groans ran through the students.

  "It's not ideal," Agent Crenel admitted. "But the last thing we want is for this to escalate. Right now, it's signs and placards. If we can continue to shut them down effectively, we hope they lose interest or move on to another target. Until then, we don't want anything that may blow this up into a more serious situation."

  He went on to inform the class that he would be taking the defense lesson Friday morning and detailing methods that could be used in self-defense against humans rather than Mythers. "Don't take this as a sign of alarm. It was always going to be part of your curriculum since out in the field, you'll encounter people who want to stand in your way. Most of them will need to be disabled through non-lethal means. We just decided to move the class up by a few weeks, that's all."

  Once Agent Crenel had wrapped up the discussion he left, his polished shoes clicking on the old wooden floorboards.

  He paused at the door and looked back to meet Penny's eyes. "I'll be around here for the next few days if anybody needs me." The door swung slowly closed behind him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Penny’s eyes shot open as her alarm blared. “Do we have class this morning?”

  Amelia groaned from across the room. “That sound is so obnoxious. Can’t you set it to tinkling wind chimes or something?”

  “I tried music,” Penny reminded her. “And we both slept through it every day for a week.” She slammed the alarm, silencing it.

  Amelia grabbed her phone and squinted into the dim glow. “Defense is, unfortunately, as scheduled.”

  “Ugh.” Penny nudged Boots with her toe. “Get me clothes?”

  Boots yawned, then coiled back up to hide her head.