The door opened and Jonas stood there, waiting to escort the coven mistress out. She stormed to the door, pausing to turn back to them, but then changed her mind and flounced out.
“Well, I guess that sorts that out,” said Nick.
He looked at the provost. Under the high colour on her cheeks, her face was actually quite pale. She met his gaze for a moment and then nodded decisively.
“Right, go get her ready, and then if you could return and help me set up, I would appreciate it. I need to get the runes on the ground as soon as I can so I can start blessing the arena.”
Jus, you there? he sent across their link.
Yeah, what’s up? asked Justin.
Get Mel ready, the ceremony is in the arena, I’m helping the provost set up. Send the mutts over, we’re doing it now, and it’s the provost’s coven, Fulgur has fucked off.
Is that a good thing? Justin asked.
Yeah, I think Mel was right. I don’t know that this coven will be any better, but at least we know that the provost is the real deal, it could cost her the academy though.
Fuuuuck!
Yeah, but we need this, so get her moving, Nick told him.
She’s already getting changed. Oz, Ry and the dickwad are on their way. Want Trent too? Wasn’t sure if you classed him as a mutt.
Nick snorted, mentally as well as aloud, and the provost fixed him with a glare. “What are you waiting for?” she snapped.
“Something to carry, Justin is getting her moving,” Nick replied.
Nah, man, he sent to Justin. Trent is all class. The three of them should be enough. I forgot about the dickwad for a moment.
The provost looked at him, startled. “You have a pack link?”
“Just with Justin, but I can use my magic to include others,” he told her.
“Good to know.” She looked around her.
“Alright, Jonas, take Nick and load him up with a bag of salt, I’ll get my athame and my altar bowl.” She muttered to herself and then said, “and the sage.”
There was the thudding of heavy feet on the front stoop and they all stopped for a second, but seeing Jonas relax, Nick turned back to the provost. Ryan, Oz and Asher walked in and looked around.
“What do you need us to do, Provost?” asked Asher.
“Jonas, load them up too, between the five of you we should have more than enough,” she commanded.
Jonas jerked his head at the others, directing them to a door under the stairs. Nick ducked under the lintel and followed the shifter down a narrow flight of stairs into a rather well made basement. There was no smell of damp or mould, just a faint aroma of dust, probably from the very top of the multiple rows of shelves.
Jonas headed for a crate in the corner and opened it with a crowbar stashed nearby. He grabbed a sack, swung around and practically threw it to Nick, who caught it deftly then moved aside for the wolves to each get their load. They all followed the lynx shifter back up the stairs.
“Where are we going?” asked Oz.
“Down to the arena. It’s going to take some time to set up the rune ring, so we need to start now. I imagine Mel can help once she’s here.”
“Jonas?” the provost called back to them, “we’ll need some torches, the ones out here are wet.”
Her voice echoed along the south-east corridor between the classrooms and the library. It wasn’t a loud shout, but with their shifter hearing, it didn’t need to be.
“Where are the others?” Jonas asked him.
“At the cottage, how many to carry the torches?”
“Two, but I’d need to show them where they are, get one to come here and pick this up, and the other to meet me back at Provost House.”
Jus? Send Dean to me, and Trent to Provost House. I’m walking past the library, headed for the glasshouses.
On it. There was a pause. Dean isn’t happy.
Tell him Asher is out here doing his bit. His witch needs him, and I need a line of communication to her. Fuck it, tell him to shut the fuck up and get his ass in gear, we don’t have time to fuck around, snarled Nick.
Nick stood there, juggling his bag of salt which shifted inside the plastic sack. Every time he thought he had it balanced, another small cascade would slide this way or that, making him adjust. It wasn’t long before he could hear Dean’s footfalls jogging toward him. As soon as he saw the lion coming down the lane between the teachers' cottages and the back of the classrooms, he stepped forward.
“There’s a bag of salt back there in the corridor, grab it and come with me,” he snapped, not waiting for Dean to complain about being separated from Melody.
Dean must have felt his ire, because he said nothing, simply hefting the sack onto his shoulder and jogging over to where Nick stood waiting. Huh. It hadn’t occurred to him to stick it on his shoulder like that, and now he felt kind of stupid. Lifting his own bag up in a mirror image, they set off towards the arena.
18. Melody
The arena was a large flat area just behind the dormitory for the male shifters. The whole academy gently sloped from the gates at the north-west to the south-east corner, but the arena had been specifically levelled off. It was an alternative site for defensive magic training, but it was mostly used as an exercise area for shifters and witches alike.
In
