Scholomance 9 by Logan Jacobs (read books for money .TXT) 📕

toe. I could tell she was still pissed I was taking control, but she also knew she had no other choice. When everyone was facing me, I grinned and looked around at all of my bright, intelligent, badass women.

“Okay, so I am going to teach you an ancient series of spells to kill the scouts,” I began. “I don’t have time to explain how I know about them, but they are very powerful and very taxing. We need to come up with something to counteract those effects. My first thought was a potion, but a charm or spell would work just as well.”

My women furrowed their eyebrows and bit their lips as they considered my words, but after a long moment, Penelope tentatively raised her hand.

“Yes, Penelope?” I asked.

“I-I think I have an idea,” she said, and her tongue darted out to nervously wet her dry lips. “There is a potion called a restitutio industria. It’s a very old and powerful brew, the most powerful one I’ve ever read about actually.”

“Excellent.” I grinned. “That sounds perfect. We’ll go with that.”

“But I’ve only read about this potion,” Penelope protested with wide eyes. “I’ve never concocted one before.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be able to,” I said in an encouraging voice. “I’m your master, and you know you can trust me.”

“Yeah, and we trust you to know your potions like Morgana knows all random facts magical,” Akira added with a smirk.

Morgana shot the dark-eyed witch a glare, but Penelope laughed.

“Thanks, Akira,” the orange-haired witch said before her chocolate-colored eyes found mine. “And thank you, master, for believing in me. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” I replied, and I meant it.

“Now, what ingredients will you be needing, Penelope?” Beatrix asked with bright, eager eyes.

“Luckily, everything I need actually comes from the sea, which was one of the reasons I remembered it, since we’re so close and all,” Penelope said as her eyes fell upon the gentle waves. “If I remember correctly… I’ll need a lilac shell, a shard of purple sea glass, an egg of eel, rubal seaweed, and a fully formed pearl.”

“I can find those without a problem,” Marina said with a bright smile. “I don’t even have to dive that deep.”

“What can we do to help?” Morgana asked as she cocked her head.

“You can look along the shore for a shard of sea glass,” Penelope instructed as the familiars gathered closer to listen. “It should be embedded within the grains of the shoreline.”

“Will do,” I said while we started to look around.

Marina took off her clothes before she dove into the water, and while she was searching for the ingredients, the rest of us treaded along the shore to search for a purple shard of glass. While I strained my eyes to look down at the sand, Alexander flew by my side and began to look down and help me.

Once we kill the scouts, how far do you think it will be until we reach the elder heaven? Alex asked.

“I have no idea,” I said with a small shrug. “It could take days… maybe even weeks?”

Satan, he said before he came to a sudden stop and looked down at the sand. Wait, Cole… isn’t that the glass you’re looking for?

I followed his gaze, and I caught a glimpse of shimmering purple glass buried in the sand. It was as large as a dagger when I reached down to pull it out, and the light made it shift an array of colors. Hues of purple, lilac, and lavender sparkled across the white beads of sand, and a smile spread across my face before I tucked it into my waistband.

“Good eye,” I said to Alex. “Now, let’s return this to the others and see if Marina found the other ingredients yet.”

When Alex and I returned to the campsite, Marina was putting on her clothes, and an array of artifacts were splayed out on the sand. The other women were studying each ingredient with careful eyes and marveling at the beauty of each piece.

“Now that we have everything,” Penelope said once she flashed me a wide smile. “Let’s make this damn potion and learn those spells. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t wait to kill those motherfuckers.”

“Neither can I,” I said as excitement coursed through my body. “And mark my words, we’ll make their deaths as agonizing as possible.”

Chapter 11

We sat around in a circle and watched with careful eyes as Penelope studied each sea-based ingredient, and time ticked along as the bright-haired witch drummed her fingers along her lips and narrowed her chestnut-brown eyes in concentration. We waited patiently until she finally reached for the shard of lavender sea-glass and raised it high above her eyes.

Without saying a word, the vivacious Wicca swiftly slashed across her palm, and she didn’t even flinch as thick beads of blood dripped from her deep, open wound. Then, with her hand tightly clutched, she glanced up at Vanessa and pursed her lips.

“I’ll need a cauldron, Professor,” she said.

“Er, of course,” Vanessa mumbled as she shook her head. “How forgetful of me.”

With one quick flick of her wand, an empty, medium-sized black cauldron appeared before Penelope, and the tangerine-haired witch smiled and rubbed her hands together so both of her palms were painted with deep red blood.

“Thank you, Professor,” she said without lifting her eyes. “Now, I believe the first ingredient to boil will be the rubal seaweed… Morgana, would you mind filling the pot for me?”

“No problem,” the bookish brunette responded in a steady voice before she pointed at the pot and cleared her throat. “Aqua fortis apparet!”

“Perfect.” Penelope smiled when the cauldron was filled to the brim with steady, clear water.

We watched in silence as Penelope carefully counted each long, slimy strand