School for Stolen Secrets: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance (Academy for Misfit Witches Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  School for Stolen Secrets | Academy for Misfit Witches, Book Two | A Reverse-Harem Fantasy Romance | Tara West

  Dedications

  Special thanks to...

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  EPILOGUE

  Divine and Dateless

  Books by Tara West

  About Tara West

  School for Stolen Secrets

  Academy for Misfit Witches, Book Two

  A Reverse-Harem Fantasy Romance

  Tara West

  Copyright © 2020 by Tara West

  Published by Shifting Sands Publishing

  First edition, published January, 2020

  All rights reserved.

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  Edited by Theo Fenraven.

  Artwork by Vanesa Garkova.

  A STRONG SIREN, SEXY dragon shifters, mysterious fae, a murderous mage, and a vengeful dragon king make this fast-burn reverse harem romance a wild, steamy adventure!

  Some secrets are better kept hidden....

  My grandfather still wants me dead, especially after I foiled his plot to annihilate the shifter race. He's planning revenge—not just against me, but also my dragon-shifter mates and our unhatched eggs.

  I can't help but be suspicious when the fae claiming to be my father suddenly wants to be part of my life, forcing my mates and me to follow him to the mystical fae realm, a mysterious place that leaves me with more questions than answers and fills my heart with dread.

  If we survive the fae, an even darker fate awaits us.

  Dedications

  TO SNOOP AND HOLLY for bringing me out of my funk. Your binkies are my inspiration.

  Special thanks to...

  PAM, FOR YOUR DETAILED notes and for finding so many oopsies.

  Theo, for wielding your red pen of shame like the God of Grammar.

  Ginelle and Sheri, for always being dependable, even when I don’t give you much time.

  Laura, I hope you’re feeling better.

  Deb, for being awesome.

  Chapter One

  “VERY NICE BUBBLE, MISS Goldenwand.”

  No, it’s not, Thelix, Serah Goldenwand’s acerbic inner siren, teased. He lies to get a dick sucking.

  Serah looked at the little bubble, no bigger than a softball stuck, to the end of her wand like a deflated balloon, then looked at Professor Teju Firesbreath, aka her lover on the down-low and the father of one of her three dragon eggs. He looked adorably sexy in his professor robe and tie, his long, dark hair pulled back, and his glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose.

  “If I was a sprite, it would be a nice bubble.” She waved her wand and sighed when the bubble shrank. The fizzling sound it made was a sad echo of her failings as a witch, underscoring why she was a second-year senior at Dame Doublewart’s School for Misfit Witches.

  He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and flashed a devastatingly sexy smile as he leaned against a worn desk with wobbly legs that creaked under his weight. “You’ve come a long way from your first bubble.”

  She cast him a wary glance. “It will never be as good as yours.”

  Teju could conjure a bubble big enough the entire class could fit inside. He’d done so on several occasions, turning the inside of his bubbles into bachelor pads with flat-screen TVs and tiki bars. He was a wizarding prodigy. Magic came naturally to him, as if his wand was an extension of himself, one reason why Dame Doublewart had offered him the Spells and Sorcery position after his high school graduation.

  “Give it time,” Teju said with a wink, clasping her shoulder in a too familiar gesture. Well, not too familiar for them, considering his face had been planted between her thighs the night before. When students snickered, he quickly pulled away as if she had the plague.

  Damn, Thelix sighed. Ask him to lick our pussy during lunch break or maybe finger us in the closet.

  Hush, Thelix. Serah shifted uncomfortably as desire welled inside her. This was not good. Her mates could smell her fluids.

  “Ahem,” Draque Firesbreath, one of her three mates, cleared his throat. “Do we need to make a bathroom run?” Leaning into her, he whispered in her ear, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the smell of her desire.

  Yes, please, Thelix cried.

  She and Draque had slipped into the bathroom for some savage bathroom stall fucking at least a dozen times this semester. So far they hadn’t been caught, but they were pushing their luck.

  Kicking her stool out of the way, she stepped away, needing to put distance between them but immediately missing his warmth. “No. I’ll be okay.”

  Thelix responded with a sigh.

  Draque had stuck a gum bubble to the end of his wand. So much for him promising his parents he’d try harder this year.

  “What about my bubble, Professor Firesbreath?” Draque asked mockingly, waving his wand at Teju. If he’d been a troublesome student the year before, it was nothing compared to the mischief he now caused his brother on a daily basis. Like Serah, Draque had failed senior year. He was none too happy about it, and poor Teju took the brunt of Draque’s anger.

  Teju took the wand from Draque, examining the bubble on the end with a frown. “Hmm.” He rubbed his smooth chin. “Inadequate and small.” He handed the wand back to his brother with a wink, “and I wasn’t talking about the bubble.”

  Serah’s hand flew to her mouth as she tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh. Thelix snorted like a squealing pig. Teju was lying. Draque was far from inadequate and small. All three Firesbreath brothers were very well endowed, with blessedly talented tongues to match.

  Draque’s cheeks colored as he gave his brother a cool look. “Then explain why I make her scream the loudest.” He winked at her, rubbing his full beard, a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

  “Oh, goddess,” Serah mumbled, shielding her eyes when the rest of the class broke into laughter.

  Teju leaned into his brother, dropping his voice to a low rumble. “Maybe because you need more lessons on how to operate your wand.”

  Serah’s breath hitched as the two dragon shifter brothers glared at each other, low grumbles breaking from their chests, their eyes shifting to oblong yellow slits.

  “Stop, you two,” she admonished, but they ignored her, steam pouring from their widening snouts.

  “Professor Firesbreath,” a familiar voice interrupted, resonating from the loudspeaker overhead and cutting through the tension, which was as thick as butter. It was Ladon, the sweetest of the Firesbreath brothers and the school’s newest receptionist. “Seraphina Goldenwand has a visitor at the front office.”

  Serah’s limbs iced over. Who would visit her here? Surely not the grandfather who�
��d tried to have her and her classmates murdered to start a war between shifters and witches. No, if Nathaniel Goldenwand so much as set foot near the school, Ladon would’ve burned him to a crisp.

  Draque and Teju stopped growling at each other and turned to the loudspeaker with grim expressions.

  “Who is it?” Teju asked as he hit the intercom button with the tip of his wand.

  Serah winced at the sound of Ladon clearing his throat. “Her father.”

  Time ground to a halt. The students’ voices faded until she heard nothing but a low buzz. The dusty, secondhand spell books that lined the shelves blurred, and she saw only her two mates, who were looking at her in shock.

  When her knees wobbled, she grabbed the edge of her desk and lowered herself onto a stool. Why would the fae who’d impregnated her siren mother twenty years ago come here to see her? He’d never felt the need to connect with her before. She was immediately suspicious. She’d recently come into enormous wealth, and maybe her birth father had only surfaced for a handout. In that case, she had a new use for her wand: shoving it up his uptight fae ass.

  Teju frowned. “Do you want to see him?”

  She vehemently shook her head. “I don’t even know him.”

  Draque interrupted. “We need to find out what he’s doing here.”

  Teju grimly nodded agreement. “Tell him we’ll be up when class is finished,” he called to the speaker.

  Her skin broke out into gooseflesh when she heard the sibilant whisper on the other end.

  “He says it’s urgent.” The tension in Ladon’s voice was as thick as sulfuric dragon breath.

  Teju and Draque shared dark looks, and Teju scowled at the speaker. “He’ll have to wait.”

  Butterflies swarmed in her chest, and her heart beat an erratic rhythm. “How do we know it’s not a trap?” Maybe this supposed father was one of her grandfather’s cronies.

  Draque settled a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “He’d be a fool to try anything.”

  “Don’t worry.” Teju added. “I’ll keep my wand handy, just in case.”

  A terrifying realization struck her. “Ladon is alone with him.”

  Draque turned up his chin, golden swirls simmering in his eyes. “Ladon is a big dragon and can handle himself.”

  “But the eggs,” Serah rasped, her voice cracking with fear. Ladon kept them in a bassinet by his desk. She wouldn’t put it past her grandfather to order the destruction of the fragile little shells as a means of retaliating after she’d used her siren voice to force his zombie witch army to lay down their wands.

  Draque’s eyes widened to saucers, and he latched onto her arm. “Let’s go now.”

  She followed him on legs that were numb with fear.

  Teju was at her heels, waving his wand behind him. “Class dismissed,” he called to the students, who had gone eerily quiet.

  Goddess save the man claiming to be her father from her wrath if he intended to harm her offspring.

  WHEN SHE WALKED INTO the front office, she was immediately drawn to Ladon, who was sitting behind his desk, their three eggs nestled in a sling cradled close to his chest. Though Ladon’s tanned brow was creased with worry, he still had that signature infectious smile, which brought her a small measure of comfort. Holding tightly to Draque’s hand, she hurried to Ladon and brushed a kiss across his temple before touching each egg, feeling the warmth inside the shells.

  A man cleared his throat behind her, and she spun around. She could hardly believe the tall wraith-like man with long, pale hair cascading down his back like a shimmering curtain was her father. She looked nothing like him. Then again, she’d inherited so many of her mother’s physical traits, as it was with most siren offspring, it would have been difficult to identify her sperm donor.

  Gaping at the man who held his arms out to her, she squeezed Draque’s hand, her feet rooted to the spot. Teju placed a comforting hand on the small of her back. She didn’t have to look to know he was clutching his wand under his robe, no doubt aiming it at the stranger. When Ladon joined them, standing behind her, she felt the warmth from their eggs radiating across her back.

  “Seraphina, my child. Won’t you hug me?” There was an edge to the man’s plea, sharp like a thin, stinging blade. He twisted a silk scarf around his hand, no doubt an accessory to his finely woven, flowing silk shirt. Desperation clung to him like a shroud. He wanted something.

  She pressed into Draque, relieved when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. No way was she hugging a total stranger, for that’s all the man claiming to be her father was to her.

  “Who are you?” she asked, not entirely convinced that this fae with the pearly white teeth and frozen smile was related to her.

  He blinked as if she’d splashed cold water in his face. “Why, I’m your father, Brayne Nasir of the House of Phoenixfire.”

  Thelix shrieked, We are a Phoenixfire!

  Serah did her best to maintain a neutral expression. Her mother had not told her that her father was a Phoenixfire, an ancient line of fae dating back to their goddess’s birth father.

  She turned up her chin, doing her best to put on a brave face, unable to deny the sting of being rejected by Brayne (for she refused to call him her father) all these years. Her mother had said he’d never tried to contact her, even though she’d sent him word of her birth.

  “I’ve never met you before.” She refused to hide the note of venom in her voice.

  He lowered his hands, a hurt look in his eyes as if she’d kicked his kitten. “Surely your mother has told you about me.”

  She shrugged. “Only that you’re fae.”

  “I’m disappointed she hasn’t told you more.”

  She bristled at the sour note in his voice. How dare he blame her mother for his neglect? “You could’ve told me yourself if you’d visited.”

  Worthless sack of troll dung, Thelix grumbled.

  She thought she saw a flash of anger in his eyes. “Fair enough.” He gave her mates cool looks. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

  “We stay with Serah,” Draque said, squeezing her shoulders harder.

  “I see.” He looked at them from beneath long, pale lashes. “And you’re her mates?”

  “We are,” Teju said evenly.

  Brayne arched a pale brow. “You worry for her safety.” His tone was mocking, which made Serah ten shades of pissed. Surely, he’d heard about the attempt on her life by her grandfather. “You wouldn’t have to if Serah came to Elysan.”

  Her hand flew to her throat. “The land of the fae?”

  His eyes narrowed. “The land of your people, Serah.”

  Her people? She didn’t know any fae, and from what she’d heard of them from her mother and grandmother, she didn’t want to. They considered themselves far above the rest of the magical world, figuratively and literally, since their realm was in the clouds. They rarely interacted with witches in realm three and never associated with sirens, at least not until she’d been conceived. As far as she knew, it was forbidden. She was the only siren with a fae father that she knew of, possibly the only fae/siren offspring since their goddess had been born over a thousand years ago. Why would she want to associate with a race that snubbed sirens?

  Don’t take us there, Thelix pleaded.

  She felt like a wilting flower under the midday sun’s heat when Brayne gave her a disapproving glare. “I prefer to stay at school.”

  “This dungeon?” Brayne snorted, airily dismissing the old paintings hanging askew on the walls. Serah had offered to buy new furniture after paying to rebuild the school, but Dame Doublewart had insisted on furnishing it with hand-me-downs from more well-to-do schools, saying newer furnishings didn’t have charm. And by charm she meant it wasn’t being held together with industrial tape, wood glue, and a whole lot of magic.

  “It’s not a dungeon to me,” she lied. Not entirely, anyway. She hadn’t had to serve detention in the dungeon since last year, and her private living quarters w
ere comfortable. Even though co-ed sleeping wasn’t allowed, her mates managed to sneak into her bedroom each night. She suspected Dame Doublewart knew about their sleeping arrangement and chose to look the other way; her mates weren’t just making love to her each night, they were keeping her safe.

  “Winter solstice and Maiadramas approach,” Brayne said. “Spend the holidays with the fae and see all we have to offer.”

  Winter solstice was in two days, and Maiadramas, the celebration of the birth of their goddess, was in a week, but she had no desire to spend her holidays with a bunch of stuck-up fae. She was also suspicious. “Why?” Brayne had an ulterior motive. He had to.

  “Because you belong with us.” The thin smile that stretched across his otherwise smooth face looked forced.

  Teju snorted. “And you’ve just now decided this?”

  “I didn’t know she could walk among us.” Brayne blinked at her like a gnome caught in a broom’s high beams. “I’ve never known a siren who could leave the water for more than an hour.”

  He lies, Thelix hissed. Your mother sent him many letters.

  “I’m a special siren,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “You are.” Condescension dripped from his words. “Your fae blood is stronger than your siren blood, which is why you should be with us.”

  Draque cleared his throat. “We’ve already made plans to spend the holidays with our family in The Grotto.”

  “The Grotto?” Brayne sneered. “You would bring your mate to that wasteland instead of our enchanted realm?”

  His words came out on a hiss, like flaming barbed arrows striking Serah’s chest. The Grotto was her mates’ homeland, her unborn hatchlings’ homeland.

  Draque released her, growling. “That wasteland is our home.”

  Brayne clasped a hand over his heart, a mocking smile tugging at his lips. “I meant no disrespect, but I only want what’s best for my daughter.”

  “Staying with my mates is what’s best for me,” Serah snapped.