Trial by Heist: Supernaturals of Daizlei Academy, #1.5

By Kel Carpenter

Trial by Heist is a full-length novella set in between Heir of Shadows and Scion of Midnight. This book is told from Johanna's perspective.

 

The Mother will guide you. The dragon will call.

I used to believe that. I used to believe a lot of things.

 

My name is Johanna Kozak, and I have spent over a decade living in the shadows of our very dark world. I thought if I ran fast enough, I'd outrun my past. Until my best friend was murdered by the same person who killed my parents, and I was the one framed for it.

 

Now the Supernatural Council hold me prisoner, and if there's one thing I know—it's that being a half-breed in a Supernatural world is a death sentence unto itself. The Council Member who locked me up plans to execute me, but little does she know… she's not the only one with friends in high places—and mine are planning a prison break.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kel Carpenter
• Release date: May 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386813880

Book preview

Prologue

Sunset. It was time.

I motioned silently for Jayma and the others to continue as I split myself in two. One half stayed with them, moving at a stealthy pace, while the other half streaked through the spirit realm like a wraith in the night. In some ways, that was what I was—a ghost who wielded death’s touch, acting as a hand of justice. Tonight wasn’t for killing, though. This was a scouting mission. Or a trap, depending on how you looked at it.

Spirit-me broached the wall of Fortescue mansion. Scaling that would’ve been a bitch. Luckily, this me didn’t have to.

I passed through the wall, less than a ghost but more alive than ever. The rose garden was a remarkable sight at sunset. The skies were painted orange and pink, the roses more vibrant in the evening light. I walked through them. Unseen. Unheard. Sometimes, I preferred it this way—the peace the spirit realm brought. Now wasn’t a time for peace, so I kept going, deeper into the heart of the Fortescue Empire.

The path sloped downward, becoming more unnerving by the second. It was as deadly as it was beautiful. Golems guarded the grounds, leaping from one rock to another as they scanned for unwelcome guests. Their black eyes absorbed any light the sunset cast as the mansion fell into shadow. Night was coming.

Time to pick up the pace.

My physical body was only now approaching the wall.

What do you see, Jo? Jayma asked. Jayma Balewa was my best friend, a half-breed like myself, a Witch by calling, and a sister in every way that mattered.

We can’t go through the garden. We’ll need to scale the roof, I said. Both sets of my eyes glanced skyward, to the deadly spires. Those were going to be a problem.

Have you reached the daises? she asked softly.

Not yet, but I’m getting close, I whispered back. You could never be too careful. Even the statues had eyes and ears.

My spirit eyes focused on the sloping grounds once more, scanning the cobblestone pathways that were starting to converge. Somehow, even the roses looked treacherous here, more thorn than flower. The croak of a venommouth caught my attention. Blasted things were two feet tall and three wide. It had the body of a frog and skin black like charred flesh, making me shiver. Its opaque eyes locked on a gnome not five feet away. Its next meal wasn’t prepared when it pounced, opening its foot-wide jaws to reveal two rows of sharp teeth. I cringed as it ate the unsuspecting creature whole. Gnomes were nasty little bastards, but it wasn’t the dragon’s way to revel in death. Particularly at the hands of a carnivorous, acid-spitting demon toad.

I kept walking, searching the skyline of the wall for my physical body. We were all invisible, thanks to the charms my best friend had created, but the spirit realm allowed me to make out our energies as Jayma’s head popped up over the wall. We were going to need to ascend quickly if we wanted to get there in time. The meeting should be starting soon.

As if on cue, a cold laugh rang through the air, guiding me the rest of the way to the daises. In the deepest part of the garden, right off from the towering mansion, an ancient meeting place was being used…to host a party.

The cobblestone stopped abruptly, turning to black marble steps, streaked with gold. Rising another four feet, the platform itself was probably a good forty feet wide. Black pillars rose into the sky, and a roof of sorts protected the daises from the elements. Inside, a round table overflowed with food and drink. I zeroed in on the dark red wine glasses and the young woman with a string of bite marks along her body. Her red-tinted eyes flashed open, rolling back in her head when one of them bit her again, giving her the distinct look of a crack whore. The skimpy dress they had her done up in barely covered her. She was one of the Made. Which meant that the three gentlemen with dark gazes were the Born. They were the Vampires of legend. As beautiful as the humans imagined. As deadly as the rest of the world knew. They weren’t the only ones here, though, and the final, remaining figure was more terrifying than the first four.

Anastasia Fortescue took a seat the moment the sun slipped below the horizon, casting the daises into deep shadow. Jayma was right; something was going on here.

I quickly looked at the roof, trying to find any way for them to get close enough, and with them, the device that would trap Anastasia. Well, potion. Just a little something Jayma had concocted, which had taken her the better part of the last year. Even for a Witch, she was rather gifted in potions and amulets, but this one was difficult because it dabbled in spirit magic, something Jayma didn’t have. Essentially, the potion incapacitated those it saw as unworthy. Trapping them in the limbo of their minds, cutting them off from the real world. Only the magic of my people could force a consciousness into the spiritual realm. It would use my power to keep them there, and—in the end—my morals to define who was worthy. Even with the dragon lighting my way, it was a dangerous move—treacherous to the Council, and downright murderous to the Court. If all went well, Anastasia would be stuck. She could be brought to trial, and Aldric Fortescue forced to name a new heir, from another house. That was the idea anyway, provided it worked...

I can do this. For the half-breeds. For Xun. For my parents. It’s time for the Fortescues to pay.

I ascended the pillars and swung my spiritual body onto the roof. Jayma’s yellow aura and my physical self were scaling the final spire, the others dragging behind. My friends. My family. I soared through the air, stepping back into my body just before the daises came into view. The swirling colours of their auras fell away as my vision restored itself. My physical body was no longer only seeing in black and white as my spirit-self returned, bringing colour vision back with it.

We need to get on top of the daises before you release it, I projected to Jayma.

Her yellow feline eyes smiled.

I leaped from one roof to the next, silent as the stone. Unseen. Unheard. Jayma followed, and the rest of our group after her. Then…we waited.

I understand that you want the girl out of the way. We’ll take care of it, but you have still not delivered on your part of the bargain, my dear. His voice was ancient and yet ageless. A person who’d lived—as much as a Vampire could live, anyway—and seen things one should never see.

I will do as I promised, but there are still things to be done. Loose ends to tie up. You will have your queen, and I will have my empire, but first I want the girl, Anastasia said darkly.

I shot Jayma a what the hell look, which she promptly returned. We’d come for information, for proof of treason, for the heir to the Supernatural Empire. Oliver’s source had told him the Fortescue heir was holding a meeting we wouldn’t want to miss, but a girl? This was all over a bloody, stinking girl? Jayma held her hand up to still me, as if she could sense my unease.

"The girl. The girl. What is she to you, young one? Why do you seek out a commoner? She is one person among many, so what makes her so special?" the old Vampire asked, and a soft moan came from the blood whore’s lips. They had to be feeding on the Made again. Or fucking her. You never knew with them, but it wasn’t like she was suffering—or would want it any other way. She’d probably been sired by one of those bastards.

Special? Oh please, Ivan. She poses a threat to my rule, our rule, and I simply want it taken care of before we get ahead of ourselves, she said in an overly flirty voice.

Our rule? How rich.

I see, he murmured. There was a shuffling of chairs, and we crouched closer to the spire. It didn’t help that whatever stone they used on these was as slick as rain after a drought.

Jayma pulled the potion from her coat pocket. Her gaze never wavered as she looked to me for confirmation. While she may have led the rebellion, I was the wraith. I was the one who saw what no other could. My mouth felt dry, even as I nodded once.

Please don’t let me regret this.

This was it. Trap the monsters and force a hearing. Use a truthsayer. Use a shield. Use whomever we damn well needed to push the conviction, and then…I didn’t know. Jayma and Oliver still hadn’t gotten to an agreement on what we would do from there. Maybe this girl Anastasia kept going on about could do something.

Now is not the time. Focus!

Go, Jayma said.

We dropped to the ground, facing the table that was…empty.

Jo, look out—

She hadn’t even finished the warning before I spun, kicking backwards. My boot connected with something, but whatever that something was, it was pretty damn determined to hold on. I whirled as they flipped me, landing me on my arse.

I smell the People of the East on you, the old Vamp snarled. Ivan, she’d said. As in Ivan the Cruel? I filed that information away for later as the veins in his eyes darkened to black and he snapped his fangs in my direction.

Then you understand what you’re getting yourself into, I said.

He moved to backhand me, but I was