Moon cursed a paranormal.., p.1
Moon Cursed: A Paranormal University Romance (The Artemis Curse Book 2), page 1
Copyright © 2023 by D. D. Line
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The characters and incidents portrayed herein are fictitious. Any similarity to a name, character, or history of any actual person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Edited by Karen Hrdlicka
Cover design by Louisa West
For Kerriann (Kez).
CONTENTS
1. Snow Queen
2. A Failed Plan
3. A Touch of Truth
4. Terran versus Undine
5. Celebrating a Win
6. A Flying Lesson
7. Afternoon Delight
8. Birds of a Feather
9. Celebration Party
10. Time to Tease
11. Cryptozoology Class
12. Another New Student
13. A New Alliance
14. Prelude to a Waltz
15. A Pain-filled Past
16. All Dressed Up
17. The Winter Wonderland
18. The First Dance
19. Just Add Alcohol
20. Gangster Style
21. Two to Tango
22. Lost in the Rhythm
23. Overtired
24. A Yuletide Gift
25. On Silvery Beams
26. Lunar Lover
27. The Harsh Light of Day
28. The Council’s Decision
29. The Artemis Curse
30. The Alchemist’s Dilemma
31. An Awaited Return
32. Crystal Charms
33. The New Term Begins
34. A Little Hope
35. Practical Magic
36. A Memorable Experience
37. Another Place, Another Time
38. The Happiest Memory
39. After the Exam
40. Suspicious Minds
Spells
Objects / meanings
Characters
Acknowledgements
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Your Next Semester Awaits
Moon Set
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1
SNOW QUEEN
Casey wasn’t sure what woke him at first. He’d been dreaming about the fight in Glacial Falls, only in his dream the professors from Takoda University hadn’t arrived in time and all his friends were dead. Alert the moment he opened his eyes; he sat up and looked around. The infirmary was quiet and dark, with only a few lights scattered along the ward so the healer could check on her patients without disturbing anyone. The quietness shattered when Karisa screamed. Casey flung back the bedcovers and raced down the ward. He didn’t care he wasn’t supposed to be there.
When he reached her side, Karisa sat up; her blankets bunched tight in her fists. She didn’t acknowledge him when he called her name. It was like touching ice when he put his hand on her arm. Still caught in the effects of the unknown poison she’d drunk at The Ice Breaker Tavern, it appeared she was frozen in place.
“If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Colton,” Healer Reseda said, edging him out of the way.
“Is she all right? Why won’t she open her eyes?” Reuben asked from behind her.
He was still clutching his side. To Casey’s untrained eye, he looked in far less pain than when they first arrived in the infirmary. Perhaps his broken ribs were already mending.
“She’s still asleep, but it’s as though she’s caught in a nightmare,” the healer said, although whether she was talking to herself or to them, Casey couldn’t tell.
The healer turned and spotted Reuben. She glared, then ordered him to get more blankets. With a wave of her wand, she made the tent disappear and the rest of the infirmary became visible. Then she glanced at him.
“Mr. Colton, I want you to get Dean Wicasa and Professor Mulder immediately.”
She waved her wand at the wall beside Karisa’s bed. A door appeared.
“This is a shortcut to Professor Mulder’s office. Go straight ahead and don’t deviate from that path. Since he has the only password to get back to the infirmary from there, follow him back here, then go out the main doors to get to the Dean’s office. The password is Mnemosyne. Don’t just stand there, Casey. Run! I need them here now.”
Casey sprinted down the passageway. Moments later, he burst into the sleeping professor’s office. The alchemy professor gave a startled grunt and had his wand at Casey’s throat before realizing who he was and where he’d come from.
“Karisa!” he said, shoving Casey aside and racing through the passageway, not even bothering to see if he was all right or even if he was following him.
As he ran, Casey rubbed his bruised throat. He didn’t wait to see what Mulder was doing but continued out the door toward the Dean’s office. It wasn’t far. He raced down a small flight of stairs, through one long corridor, turned the corner, and he was there.
At first, he’d trouble pronouncing the password and the great stone bear stood there, gazing at him as if he were some stupid creature whose tongue was incapable of moving in his head. He thought back to the way Reseda had said it and, taking a deep breath, made another attempt.
“Nem-oh-see-nee.”
This time, the door opened. He heard a sound behind one wall and jumped as it slid sideways and revealed the Dean.
“Karisa?”
Casey nodded.
“And so it begins,” Wicasa said, with a quirk of his eyebrow.
He ignored Casey’s puzzled expression, and they headed back toward the infirmary.
Seth inhaled, ready to continue his argument with Reseda when the Dean and Colton entered the infirmary. Wicasa made to speak, but the healer cut him off.
“She’s had the most terrible nightmare, Emmett. Her screams woke us. She’s as cold as ice. It’s like she’s been frozen from the inside out.”
Mulder glared at her once more, and this time, his expression silenced her. “I don’t know why she’s so cold, but the nightmares are a normal reaction to the medication,” he said.
Tiny ice crystals had formed on the blankets covering Karisa, and Reseda moaned and wrung her hands. It was a sound that broke through Mulder’s tough demeanor. He relented for a moment and gave Reseda what passed for a tight smile.
“It would appear Healer Reseda has done her best to keep her warm though.”
He gave her a small nod, and it surprised him when she gave him a huge grin in return. He didn’t care whether his fellow staff members liked him, and he was indifferent to them at any rate. But seeing Healer Reseda give him a genuine smile that had nothing to do with respect or courtesy for another member of the faculty shocked him. He didn’t know what to do. Instead, he looked at Karisa, who was lying down once more.
Her body’s gelid surface made it impossible for him and Healer Reseda to move her. The astonishing part had been when Reuben Bozzelli, shoved him out of the way. With a gentle push on her shoulder, Bozzelli told Karisa everything was all right.
“You’re just having a bad dream. You’re safe now. It’s Reuben, and I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
As if she’d understood what he was telling her, Karisa had smiled and lay back once more, although his touch had no effect on the coldness possessing her.
Seth had been furious. Not only because Bozzelli, a mere student, had pushed him, a professor, out of the way, but also because the Terran had succeeded where he’d failed. Several minutes later, it occurred to him Karisa had reacted to him holding her hand in much the same way. As if she’d known he’d been there and was responding to his calm reassurances. An act which had been absent moments before when he and Healer Reseda had panicked and argued because they couldn’t get Karisa to move.
Then he addressed the way the young wizard surprised him. It was almost as if Bozzelli was standing up to him.
Him? Even after all these years of putting barriers between himself and the students.
While everyone was looking at Karisa, Mulder chanced another glance at Bozzelli.
Perhaps the young wizard had some backbone, after all. Because he thought no one was looking, Seth smiled. One of the proud smiles he rarely showed to someone from the Terran guild where earth magic was their strength, not fire like his. The smile he usually reserved for his favorite Beltane student, Garrett Huxley. He masked his expression as soon as he noticed Wicasa was looking at him.
“Is there anything you can think of that might help, Seth?” the Dean asked.
He closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Please, sir, she can hear us, can’t she?” Elowen asked.
Everybody turned, surprised. No one had any idea she’d returned.
Reseda nodded. “She’s not unconscious, just sleeping. What do you have in mind, Miss Dunstan?”
“What if we just talk to her? Maybe telling Karisa about lacrosse and the dance that’s coming up will, I don’t know, make her feel better, make her want to wake up. Let her know we’re here for her.”
The healer and professors looked at each other. It was so crazy it just might work. Perhaps Karisa needed to know there were people ar
“She knew I was here before. She relaxed when I told her to. Maybe if you hold her hand while you talk to her, Elowen.”
Once again, Seth glared at Bozzelli. It would appear he was being pushed aside, and he didn’t like it at all. Wicasa nodded for Elowen to try, so she sat down on the side of the bed and held Karisa’s glacial hand. She gasped at the sensation. Seth’s gaze narrowed as he observed them. Elowen squared her shoulders and told Karisa about lacrosse. How she’d better wake up soon because the season was about to start and how exciting the game would be. Then Elowen talked about how hard she’d been working on getting the dance organized for Yule and who was on her dance committee. How much fun it would be for Karisa to dance and show off her new dress.
At last, the hand held so tight in Elowen’s began to thaw.
Like everyone else, he imagined, Seth looked on amazed as color traveled from her hand, up her arm, spreading out over her chest and across her face. Her breathing deepened, the rise and fall of her chest more pronounced. Delicate pink curled upon her cheeks, and the marbled coloring that made her appear so statuesque flushed from her skin as her olive complexion took its rightful place. Her long, dark lashes fluttered once, twice, and Karisa opened her eyes. For a second, she seemed unaware of them, but then she focused and sat up so fast she almost knocked Elowen off the bed.
“What in the Hesperides is going on? What are you all doing in my room?”
As she said the last sentence, her gaze fixed on him. More color warmed her cheeks.
Wicasa chuckled on her other side, and then he laughed at Seth when his cheeks warmed too. Everyone else looked from Karisa to him to Wicasa, who’d progressed to deep belly laughs. The Dean staggered to a seat and collapsed on it, holding his stomach in both hands.
“I fail to see what is so funny,” Seth said, trying to regain his composure.
Healer Reseda nodded in agreement. “So do I. What is the meaning of this, Dean Wicasa?”
The Dean was bent over double, his shoulders shaking, his mustache cavorting like a caterpillar. His words were almost unintelligible through the gulps of air and the laughter he tried to contain.
“Your face, Miss Euterpe,” he said. “Look at your face.”
Like everyone else, Seth turned to stare at her. In his peripheral vision, Colton started snickering, his shoulders quivering as he took in her features. Bozzelli, too, was laughing, although his laughter mingled with groans of pain. The sound of their mirth was contagious, and Healer Reseda and Miss Dunstan were soon giggling too.
Perplexed and embarrassed, Karisa turned to face the one person in the room who wasn’t laughing besides herself. For a moment, they looked at each other, and then Mulder smiled. A beautiful smile that took years off his features and brought a mischievous twinkle to his eyes. He reached for his wand, muttered a spell, and produced a beautiful handheld mirror. The gilt edging glowed in the room, and Karisa glanced apprehensively at it as he handed it to her. With a sigh, she turned the mirror to face her and stared into it. After a moment, she smiled. She looked back at everyone else, stuck out her tongue, and grinned.
“Just call me the Snow Queen.”
She laughed, looked back in the mirror, and then glanced at her companions once more. She could see why they were laughing so hard. Reuben was holding up Healer Reseda and clutching his ribs. Healer Reseda was cradling her face as if her jaw was aching from laughing for so long. Dean Wicasa was now on the floor in a little ball. And Casey, who’d been laughing at Karisa, was now on his knees laughing at Wicasa. An incredulous Elowen took one look at Seth’s still smiling face and fell off the bed. Then everyone started laughing at Elowen while she subtly rubbed her rear.
Karisa sighed. “Okay, that’s enough now. It’s not that funny. Come on, you guys. I don’t look that ridiculous.”
Well, okay, the redness caused by her blushing had made a vast difference to her face. She’d white frosted eyebrows, and her dark tresses rivaled the snake-haired Medusa with her strands of icy hair that stuck out, punk-like, at ridiculous frozen angles. A tiny frozen goatee protruded from her chin where a drool patch had formed. Yes, that was more than a little funny, but surely they’d purged it from their systems by now. Seriously, enough was enough.
Karisa handed the mirror back to Mulder, but as she met his gaze, his smile vanished. He gave her a curt nod and disappeared through a door she swore she’d never seen there before.
2
A FAILED PLAN
The slamming of the door and its subsequent disappearance broke through the wave of mirth that washed over the occupants of the infirmary. Karisa cleaned her face with a washcloth she’d conjured and uttered a spell to defrost and then dry her hair. At last, she looked at all the faces busy staring at hers. “I assume I’m back to normal now?”
Everyone smiled. Only Casey and Reuben had the grace to blush. Karisa took both of Elowen’s hands in hers and shook her head. “How did you know how to do that?”
“Do what?” asked Elowen, astonished.
“When my sisters and I need healing, we talk to each other, help each other find the way back to conscious and coherent thought. We hold hands and channel our energy into the one who is sick and help her heal herself.” Karisa shook her head, amazed. “For you to do that, and not even know it, and I didn’t even realize?”
It was rare Karisa missed seeing the gifts of others. It surprised her that she didn’t see Elowen’s potential as a healer earlier. She turned to Reuben, who was looking at her worriedly once again.
“Don’t worry, Reuben, I could hear you too.” Karisa groaned and put her hands to her head. “I swear I am never drinking root beer again. That stuff has a nasty kick to it.”
Wicasa nodded to Healer Reseda, and they left the room to let the Terrans talk.
Casey looked solemnly at Karisa as she pressed her knuckles into her temples.
“It wasn’t the root beer, Karisa. Someone put something poisonous in your drink. It made you act like you were drunk or something. Petra thinks whoever bumped Rhys in the tavern when he brought you your drink must have added it to your glass then. None of us were paying attention to the drinks at the time to spot anything untoward.”
Warmth flushed Karisa’s face, and she looked down at the floor.
“I didn’t do anything, um, embarrassing, did I?”
Casey, Elowen, and Reuben started laughing.
“Oh my stars! What did I do? On second thought, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”
Elowen rested a gentle hand on Karisa’s shoulder. “Don’t you remember anything at all?”
Karisa shrugged but kept her gaze on Elowen. She wasn’t about to look at the wizards, and she hated to think what she might have said or done.
“I remember everything up to having the first drink of root beer, and then nothing until I looked out the bathroom door and saw those people were trying to hurt you. I felt sick, but to see that... Well, I couldn’t let them get away with hurting my friends now, could I?”
She looked at Reuben. “Who were they?”
Reuben opened his mouth, but nothing came out, so Casey said it for him.
“They’re Donovan Tempest’s followers. They think capturing and killing me will make their savior happy.”
Elowen and Reuben nodded in agreement. Karisa hesitated.
