Post by Fourever Charmed on Jan 26, 2007 16:11:23 GMT -5
Summary: When Paige Matthews has an all nighter at Magic School, she wakes up to find a very handsome demon at her service. Feelings arise that she hasn't felt in a very long time, and she realizes that Drake De'mon might be more valuable than she originally thought.
Rating: PG-13
A/N: First of all, I’d like to start off by thanking one of my fellow FFN writers, Peanut (peanut2lb). Had it not been for her, I never would have ever thought of the couple that this story focuses on. But in her amazing Dream Wedding series, instead of pairing Phoebe and Drake together, she dared to try PAIGE and Drake! I have become SO addicted to that couple, you don’t even know. I should mention that I am and always will be a Paiglenn fan, but as far as AU pairings with characters from the show, Prake (a shipper name coined by Peanut), will always be my absolute second favorite Paige pairing! So with that in mind, please continue on to the main Prake attraction (pun intended). Oh, and before I forget, this chapter is a little play on Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons. And this story takes place between the season seven episodes “Carpe Demon” and “Show Ghouls.” (It’s a one-shot.)
Paige Matthews awoke to a gentle shaking, and a strong hand on her shoulder. Her mahogany eyes fluttered as she attempted to assess what was going on. “Ooh,” she groaned, suddenly realizing that her left arm was totally numb. She lifted her heavy head from the large okay table, which was cluttered with papers. One of them, a failed test, stuck to her cheek. She heard a snicker and turned sharply, causing the paper to whip off and flutter to the desk.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself.”
The Charmed One narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing here?” She intoned. “It’s…” Her eyes moved across the room, landing on a wall clock. “Three in the morning!” She jumped up and immediately regretted it, as the pins and needles immediately assaulted her sleepy arm. “Agh!” She grabbed her arm, silently begging the feeling to stop.
“Arm asleep?” Drake De’mon questioned, raising a curious brow.
“Yeah,” she sighed, slipping back into her chair.
“Can I see?”
Paige studied him. “Why?”
“Just trust me,” he replied, flashing her a winning grin.
A spiraling feeling jarred deep within Paige’s stomach, and she closed her eyes, shaking it off. “Fine.” Hesitantly, she held out her prickling arm to Drake. Her body stiffened as he placed his hands on her porcelain skin.
“I won’t bite Paige…at least not you.” The demon winked as he pushed a stack of graded papers off the side of her desk, causing the angel to yelp in protest, and hopped onto the cleared spot. He positioned his fingers along her arm and gently began to knead at her skin. He watched carefully as her body lost its tension, and it was quite evident in her face. Drake smiled. “Feeling better?”
Paige’s mouth opened and closed several times, unsure of how to reply. Whatever he was doing, it was working like a charm! “Y-yeah,” she stuttered in awe. A string of goose bumps rose along her spine. “How did you-”
Drake pulled his hands back, grinning at a job well done. “An old trick I learned in China.”
“Really?” The whitelighter asked, curious. “When did you go to China?”
“Ehhh…about the middle of Ming Dynasty.”
Her eyes bulged. “The Ming Dynasty? But that went from thirteen-sixty-eight to sixteen-fourty-four!”
Drake nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! How did you know that? Most people can’t pull facts out of their hat like that.” He cocked his head to the side. “Are you cheating?” He snapped his fingers, causing a black top hat to appear on Paige’s head. Quickly, he grabbed it and flipped it over, digging his arm into hat, somehow making his arm disappear up to his shoulder.
“What the…” Paige grabbed the hat, and looked inside, seeing that it clearly wasn’t long enough to fit Drake’s entire arm. She stuck her hand in and it stopped, only allowing her to get her arm in up to a few inches below her elbow. Then, realizing how silly she was acting, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the demon. “I took a college class on Chinese culture, if you must know.”
“Oh, I already know.” Drake waved a piece of folded paper in the witch’s face. “I pulled it out of your hat, see?” He handed it over.
She stared, dumfounded. “My life’s history?” She gawked. “How did you even-” She stopped mid sentence, not even bothering to get the rest out. She simply waved her arm. “Nevermind. I don’t even want to know.”
Drake chuckled. “So,” he asked casually, hopping off the desk. “What’s with spending the night at school? Normal people like to get away from these places as fast as they can.”
“Do I look normal to you?”
The demon studied her. “Curvy figure, dark hair, gorgeous smile-”
“Gorgeous smile?” Paige felt her cheeks flush. “Do you really think so?”
“Oh yeah!” Drake enthused. “There aren’t very many of them these days.” He watched her cheeks redden further. “Actually, I’d say you’re not normal. Rare.”
Paige turned away, smiling slightly. “Right.”
“I mean it,” he pressed. “I’ve been around a long time and I know these things.”
“Apparently,” she snickered. “The Ming Dynasty.” She rolled her eyes, returning to her seat at the desk.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So what are you doing here so late?” He stole a glance at the clock. “Or early, depending on whom you are I suppose.”
“Late,” the witch confirmed. She stifled a yawn. “I was grading papers and I guess,” she sighed, “fell asleep.”
“Oh! Well why didn’t you say so? I could help you with that.”
“No!” Paige immediately protested. “It’s okay, really. This is my problem. I was the one who procrastinated, and I should be the one to take care of it.”
“It won’t be any trouble,” he persisted. “In fact, I won’t even have to lift a finger.” Drake snapped his fingers and in an instant, each and every paper appeared perfectly stacked on the desk, including the ones he’d knocked off.
Paige grabbed the top paper, awed. She looked at the next one, and the next one. “They’re all A’s.”
“The failed papers are at the bottom. And they’re in alphabetical order, according to grade. Of course if you want them by class, I could do that too-”
“No, no!” Paige returned the papers to the stack, smiling gratefully at the demon. “Thank you, you’ve helped enough already.”
“Glad I could be of service, Ms. Matthews.”
Paige titled her head, examining the tall, dark, and handsome man. “So now we know what I’m doing here,” she said craftily, “but what were you doing here?”
“Me?” He folded his arms in mock surprise of her question. “Why, getting acquainted with the school, of course.”
“Mhmm.”
“Oh? You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Should I?”
“Yes! After all, you don’t want me crashing through anymore walls on my hog, do you?”
Paige snorted in annoyance. “No, I suppose we don’t.” She folded her arms, staring at him. She felt another twinge in the pit of her stomach, this time spreading outwards in a rush. She shook herself, causing the feeling to vanish.
“Are you okay?”
“F-fine,” she muttered quickly. That’s the second time that’s happened, she thought. What the hell is wrong with me? She caught his handsome gaze. Dark brown eye, like coffee on a cold morning, flecked with emerald. She tore her eyes from his. Paige! She mentally scolded. What are you thinking? You don’t even sound like yourself! “Flecked with emerald”? Where in the world did that come from?
“You seem conflicted,” the demon noted. He ran a hand through his thick, glossy brown hair. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
No! “Yes!” She flashed a pearly, and obviously fake, grin. “I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Paige hurried towards the door, with her black robe billowing behind her.
“Where are you going?” Drake called out, hurrying his pace to keep up with her.
“To find my purse and get home,” she grumbled as he caught up with her. “And why are you following me? Don’t you have school scouting to do?”
“What better way to scout a school than to follow the Head Mistress around?”
“Great,” she grumbled, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I like you.”
Paige froze. “What?”
“I like you,” the demon repeated casually. “Your wit, your humor, but most of all your sarcasm. You know, you remind me of my mother. She was always so sarcastic.”
“Oh.” Paige nodded, and continued walking. “Your mother,” she repeated, “that’s nice. It’s always nice to remind people of old people.”
“Old people?” He practically boomed. “Oh no! My mother looked about twenty-five her whole life! You look way better than her.”
Paige chuckled as she turned the corner. “I do?”
“Of course. I mean, come on. She was my mother. You’re…you.”
Paige slapped at her hair, causing it to fall over her face, blocking her hot pink cheeks.
“What’s that?”
Paige wrinkled her nose at his sudden change in tone. “What?”
“That.” Drake grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop. “Listen.”
Paige closed her eyes, trying to resist the ease she felt as Drake’s skin touched hers. Her body was giving off little tingles. Then she heard it: little pops. “It sounds like firecrackers,” she said, looking to Drake. “Where do you think it’s coming from?”
“It was getting louder as we went down this way,” he said, extending his arm down the Great Hall.
“Wonderful.” Paige brushed off her robe and stood a little straighter, stomping down the hallway. “It’s probably a demon or something.” She wrinkled her nose. “No offence.”
“None taken.” Drake hurried ahead of her, stopping the witch from pulling open the doors. “Let me.”
“Let you what?”
Drake held out his hand in a very gentlemanly manner. “I think I should take us in there. We should try to find out what’s going on before jumping to conclusions.” He sighed, almost bitterly. “I hate when people jump to conclusions.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Fine.” As she placed her hand into his palm, shivers swarmed her body, and this time she couldn’t hide her goose bumps as they shimmered out.
----
“Are you cold?” Drake whispered as they appeared behind a large bookcase.
“No.” Paige turned away and rubbed her arms. The popping noise, she knew, was definitely coming from the room Drake had taken them in. She poked her head around the corner and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Who’s that?”
Paige shivered, feeling Drake’s hot breath on the back of her neck. “B-Billy,” she breathed. “Billy McGowan, he was suspended last week for casting personal gain spells.”
“So what’s he doing here?” Drake asked curiously.
“I have no idea.”
“It looks like he’s making a potion,” the demon observed. And from the acrid smell of things, he was fairly sure he was right in his hypothesis. “Should we stop him?”
“What do you think?” She whispered, turning towards him with a glint in her eye.
“Yes?”
“Good.” Paige stepped out from behind the bookcase, purposefully making her heels smack against the waxed floor as she did so. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she looked highly formidable. “Billy,” she said acidly, “I believe I suspended you for two weeks.” Her eyes narrowed as she crossed the room, now standing within five feet of the teenage boy. “What are you doing here?”
The teenage boy, Billy, looked up from the bubbling pot that he was stirring. He had striking green eyes and thick, charcoal black hair that was slicked back. His lips were small and curved, and he had a well developed, slanted chin. He looked more of like a young man in his early twenties, as opposed to a high school student. “Why, how nice of you to drop in, Ms. Matthews.” His voice was filled with venom.
“What’re you doing?”
Billy dug his hand into a clear bowl filled with pigs’ feet. He dropped one into the tiny black cauldron, which looked remarkably like a Halloween decoration. A funnel of white smoke bounded from the top. He cocked his head in Paige’s direction. “Just working on my potion skills.”
“It’s passed three in the morning. What are you doing at Magic School?” She dared to take a step closer.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Billy raised his hand, signaling Paige not to come any closer. “If you step within that line,” he waved to a small barrier of black powder that had created a circle around him and the table he was at, “you’ll only end up hurting yourself.”
“Dead man’s ash.”
Paige and Billy’s heads whipped around simultaneously.
“Dead man’s ash,” Drake repeated, now glaring heatedly at the teenager. “Where did you get this?”
“He’s good,” Billy smirked. “Who is he, Ms. Matthews?”
Paige looked questioningly at the demon. A slow and steady fear was starting to rise in the pit of her stomach.
“Paige, step back slowly. Just walk over here to me.” The demon motioned his hand, beckoning Paige to follow his directions.
“Drake, what’s the matter with you? What’s going on?”
“Dead man’s ash,” Drake whispered lowly, “are the enchanted remains that are used in dark protection spells.” He swallowed hard, daring to come closer to Paige. “If you disrupt them, even a little, they’re lethal.”
“He must have gotten an A in potions,” Billy remarked, slapping a handful of something else into his potion. “Maybe you should take a few notes, Ms. Matthews.”
Paige slipped backwards, careful not to move too quickly and possibly disrupt the any of the fine black ash particles. “What if I-”
“No!” Drake held up his hand, shaking his head with fear. “No. They’ll sense your magic and react explosively.” He extended a hand towards Billy. “This is powerful magic you’re dealing with son, just how did you get ahold of it?”
“Lets just say I have friends in high places.”
As Paige reached him, Drake slipped protectively in front of her, shielding her body with his own. “Why are you here?”
“It’s simple, really.” Billy dipped a bony stick into the cauldron and began to swish it around, causing billowing smoke to pour out and enshroud the boy. “I figured that if I was to be banned from Magic School, everyone else should too. Fair is fair, right?”
“You were using personal gain!” Paige snapped.
“Paige,” Drake whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “Let me handle this. I know his kind.”
“Know my kind?” Billy laughed bitterly. “You don’t know anything about me.” He scooped a ladle of potion from the cauldron, sniffing it. It smelt like rotten eggs. “Who are you, anyway?”
“My name’s Drake,” he said calmly. Drake slipped away from Paige, moving daringly towards the circle of dead man’s ash. “Drake De’mon. I’m a new teacher here at Magic School.”
“A new teacher?” He rolled his eyes. “You don’t look like any teacher.”
“Well…looks can be deceiving.” Drake crept right up to the ash circle, his heart racing a mile a minute. “Why don’t you explain to me what’s got you so angry?”
“Explain?” Billy laughed bitterly. “Why should I? You teachers are all alike. You side with each other no matter what anyone else says.”
“I can assure you,” Drake emphasized, “I’m not like any other teacher you’ve ever met.”
Billy turned sharply, holding the ladle of potion threateningly. His eyes glimmered with anger. “Prove it.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Drake grinned, stepping over and into the protective circle.
Billy’s green eyes bulged. “H-how?” He gasped, slinking back from Drake. “I cast the circle, not you! Witches can’t-”
“Witches,” Drake replied huskily. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m no witch.”
“But you said you were a teacher-”
“I am.” Drake’s brown eyes twinkled mysteriously. “I told you, looks can be deceiving.”
Billy slowly shook his head from left to right. “But only demons can move harmlessly through dead man’s ash.”
“I know,” Drake grinned. He held out his hand. “Now if you’ll hand over the potion, please-” And before he knew it, he was hurdling out of the circle towards the wall. With a crash, he smacked into the bookcase, knocking it over and burying himself in magic books.
“Drake!” Paige ran to his side, momentarily forgetting about the crisis in the center of the room, and began to dig into the fallen books, before finding Drake’s hand and helping him out.
“Thanks,” Drake replied, dusting himself off as he climbed to his feet. He eyed Billy, who was now standing at the edge of the inner circle. “You shouldn’t have done that, kid.”
“No!” Billy spat. “You shouldn’t have!” He turned an angry gaze to Paige. “Doesn’t matter if you have a demon on your side or not,” he sneered. “I’ll take you both out! I’m going to take all of you out!” He held up his ladle, which was now a deep purple color.
Paige gasped. “Purple. Purple means explosive.”
“Good job, Ms. Matthews.” Billy flung out the ladle, telekinetically directing the purple liquid towards Paige and Drake.
“Potion!” Paige screamed instinctively, holding out her hand as the liquid came within inches of them. The purple potion morphed into long streams of blue and white light, before reversing their flow and heading back at Billy.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Paige!” Drake wrapped his arms around the witch before she hand time to protest, just as a catastrophic explosion rocketed their eardrums. Each went hurdling through the wall, landing in a heap of smoking and dusty debris.
Paige found herself pinned under Drake’s weight, staring up at his handsomely defined features. She felt face blush as she scrambled to get out from under him. “Wh-what just happened?”
“I told you not to use magic,” he whispered. “A witch’s magic activates the field.” He hopped up, offering a hand to help the Head Mistress as well. “I think he was counting on that.” Drake waved his hand. “You stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Not a chance!” The Charmed One stomped after him, her dark hair flying around her head as she ran back into the smoking room. As they entered, she saw Billy waving his arms, telekinetically floating the liquid from the pot and sending it in all different directions. She gasped in realization. “He’s-”
“Planning to drop the potion at the same time all around the school, causing a catastrophic explosion.”
“How did you-”
“I’m a quick study,” Drake grinned.
“You again,” Billy snarled. He waved his arm, sending Paige flying across the room. However, when he turned to Drake, it was too late. Drake had breeched his circle again, this time purposefully scattering the ash with his foot, breaking the formation. “No!”
Drake clapped his hands and a howling wind whistled through Magic School. It pounded as it swooped into the main room, herding all of the purple potion into one place and containing it within a tornado-like formation.
“Drake!” Paige darted across the room as Billy squinted his eyes. Her body dissolved into orbs as she ran, only to reappear moments later between Drake and Billy. She grabbed him by his black robe, yanking him out of the way as the tornado crashed into Billy, sending all of them sprawling outwards, with a mighty explosion.
When the black smoke clear, Drake grinned up at the partly blackened face of Paige Matthews. He grinned, holding up his thumb and wiping some of the black smoke from her cheek, slightly smearing it. This time it was him who was pinned under her weight. He saw her blush and grinned. “You know,” he said suggestively, “I think I like this position more.”
Paige turned her head away, her face crimson with embarrassment. Her eyes spied Billy, who was knocked out across the room. “That was pretty daring of you,” she observed.
“Well,” he smirked, “this was pretty daring of you.” He ran his fingers along her arm, creating goose bumps as they moved. “Saving a demon and all.”
“Hmm.” Paige rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s my job to protect the innocent, you know.”
“Oh, I’m not all that innocent.”
“Neither am I.”
“You remember how I said looks can be deceiving?”
“Mhmm.”
“Am I misinterpreting the look on your face right now, Ms. Matthews?”
“And what look is that, Mr. De’mon?”
“I think you know.”
“Oh?” Paige’s brows lifted playfully. She leaned closer to Drake’s face, this time feeling his breath and welcoming the tingle in the pit of her stomach. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”
Drake leaned close to the angel’s face, pressing his lips to his in a long, breathless kiss.
“You know what,” she whispered, “I think Billy was right.” Her hand slipped around the back of Drake’s head, causing him to grin.
“About what?”
Paige grinned. “I think I do need a study partner.”
The demon grinned. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
“Good,” Paige smirked, punctuating her words with her own powerful kiss.
Rating: PG-13
A/N: First of all, I’d like to start off by thanking one of my fellow FFN writers, Peanut (peanut2lb). Had it not been for her, I never would have ever thought of the couple that this story focuses on. But in her amazing Dream Wedding series, instead of pairing Phoebe and Drake together, she dared to try PAIGE and Drake! I have become SO addicted to that couple, you don’t even know. I should mention that I am and always will be a Paiglenn fan, but as far as AU pairings with characters from the show, Prake (a shipper name coined by Peanut), will always be my absolute second favorite Paige pairing! So with that in mind, please continue on to the main Prake attraction (pun intended). Oh, and before I forget, this chapter is a little play on Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons. And this story takes place between the season seven episodes “Carpe Demon” and “Show Ghouls.” (It’s a one-shot.)
Angel And De’mon
Paige Matthews awoke to a gentle shaking, and a strong hand on her shoulder. Her mahogany eyes fluttered as she attempted to assess what was going on. “Ooh,” she groaned, suddenly realizing that her left arm was totally numb. She lifted her heavy head from the large okay table, which was cluttered with papers. One of them, a failed test, stuck to her cheek. She heard a snicker and turned sharply, causing the paper to whip off and flutter to the desk.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself.”
The Charmed One narrowed her eyes. “What are you doing here?” She intoned. “It’s…” Her eyes moved across the room, landing on a wall clock. “Three in the morning!” She jumped up and immediately regretted it, as the pins and needles immediately assaulted her sleepy arm. “Agh!” She grabbed her arm, silently begging the feeling to stop.
“Arm asleep?” Drake De’mon questioned, raising a curious brow.
“Yeah,” she sighed, slipping back into her chair.
“Can I see?”
Paige studied him. “Why?”
“Just trust me,” he replied, flashing her a winning grin.
A spiraling feeling jarred deep within Paige’s stomach, and she closed her eyes, shaking it off. “Fine.” Hesitantly, she held out her prickling arm to Drake. Her body stiffened as he placed his hands on her porcelain skin.
“I won’t bite Paige…at least not you.” The demon winked as he pushed a stack of graded papers off the side of her desk, causing the angel to yelp in protest, and hopped onto the cleared spot. He positioned his fingers along her arm and gently began to knead at her skin. He watched carefully as her body lost its tension, and it was quite evident in her face. Drake smiled. “Feeling better?”
Paige’s mouth opened and closed several times, unsure of how to reply. Whatever he was doing, it was working like a charm! “Y-yeah,” she stuttered in awe. A string of goose bumps rose along her spine. “How did you-”
Drake pulled his hands back, grinning at a job well done. “An old trick I learned in China.”
“Really?” The whitelighter asked, curious. “When did you go to China?”
“Ehhh…about the middle of Ming Dynasty.”
Her eyes bulged. “The Ming Dynasty? But that went from thirteen-sixty-eight to sixteen-fourty-four!”
Drake nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! How did you know that? Most people can’t pull facts out of their hat like that.” He cocked his head to the side. “Are you cheating?” He snapped his fingers, causing a black top hat to appear on Paige’s head. Quickly, he grabbed it and flipped it over, digging his arm into hat, somehow making his arm disappear up to his shoulder.
“What the…” Paige grabbed the hat, and looked inside, seeing that it clearly wasn’t long enough to fit Drake’s entire arm. She stuck her hand in and it stopped, only allowing her to get her arm in up to a few inches below her elbow. Then, realizing how silly she was acting, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the demon. “I took a college class on Chinese culture, if you must know.”
“Oh, I already know.” Drake waved a piece of folded paper in the witch’s face. “I pulled it out of your hat, see?” He handed it over.
She stared, dumfounded. “My life’s history?” She gawked. “How did you even-” She stopped mid sentence, not even bothering to get the rest out. She simply waved her arm. “Nevermind. I don’t even want to know.”
Drake chuckled. “So,” he asked casually, hopping off the desk. “What’s with spending the night at school? Normal people like to get away from these places as fast as they can.”
“Do I look normal to you?”
The demon studied her. “Curvy figure, dark hair, gorgeous smile-”
“Gorgeous smile?” Paige felt her cheeks flush. “Do you really think so?”
“Oh yeah!” Drake enthused. “There aren’t very many of them these days.” He watched her cheeks redden further. “Actually, I’d say you’re not normal. Rare.”
Paige turned away, smiling slightly. “Right.”
“I mean it,” he pressed. “I’ve been around a long time and I know these things.”
“Apparently,” she snickered. “The Ming Dynasty.” She rolled her eyes, returning to her seat at the desk.
“So?”
“So what?”
“So what are you doing here so late?” He stole a glance at the clock. “Or early, depending on whom you are I suppose.”
“Late,” the witch confirmed. She stifled a yawn. “I was grading papers and I guess,” she sighed, “fell asleep.”
“Oh! Well why didn’t you say so? I could help you with that.”
“No!” Paige immediately protested. “It’s okay, really. This is my problem. I was the one who procrastinated, and I should be the one to take care of it.”
“It won’t be any trouble,” he persisted. “In fact, I won’t even have to lift a finger.” Drake snapped his fingers and in an instant, each and every paper appeared perfectly stacked on the desk, including the ones he’d knocked off.
Paige grabbed the top paper, awed. She looked at the next one, and the next one. “They’re all A’s.”
“The failed papers are at the bottom. And they’re in alphabetical order, according to grade. Of course if you want them by class, I could do that too-”
“No, no!” Paige returned the papers to the stack, smiling gratefully at the demon. “Thank you, you’ve helped enough already.”
“Glad I could be of service, Ms. Matthews.”
Paige titled her head, examining the tall, dark, and handsome man. “So now we know what I’m doing here,” she said craftily, “but what were you doing here?”
“Me?” He folded his arms in mock surprise of her question. “Why, getting acquainted with the school, of course.”
“Mhmm.”
“Oh? You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Should I?”
“Yes! After all, you don’t want me crashing through anymore walls on my hog, do you?”
Paige snorted in annoyance. “No, I suppose we don’t.” She folded her arms, staring at him. She felt another twinge in the pit of her stomach, this time spreading outwards in a rush. She shook herself, causing the feeling to vanish.
“Are you okay?”
“F-fine,” she muttered quickly. That’s the second time that’s happened, she thought. What the hell is wrong with me? She caught his handsome gaze. Dark brown eye, like coffee on a cold morning, flecked with emerald. She tore her eyes from his. Paige! She mentally scolded. What are you thinking? You don’t even sound like yourself! “Flecked with emerald”? Where in the world did that come from?
“You seem conflicted,” the demon noted. He ran a hand through his thick, glossy brown hair. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”
No! “Yes!” She flashed a pearly, and obviously fake, grin. “I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine?” Paige hurried towards the door, with her black robe billowing behind her.
“Where are you going?” Drake called out, hurrying his pace to keep up with her.
“To find my purse and get home,” she grumbled as he caught up with her. “And why are you following me? Don’t you have school scouting to do?”
“What better way to scout a school than to follow the Head Mistress around?”
“Great,” she grumbled, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I like you.”
Paige froze. “What?”
“I like you,” the demon repeated casually. “Your wit, your humor, but most of all your sarcasm. You know, you remind me of my mother. She was always so sarcastic.”
“Oh.” Paige nodded, and continued walking. “Your mother,” she repeated, “that’s nice. It’s always nice to remind people of old people.”
“Old people?” He practically boomed. “Oh no! My mother looked about twenty-five her whole life! You look way better than her.”
Paige chuckled as she turned the corner. “I do?”
“Of course. I mean, come on. She was my mother. You’re…you.”
Paige slapped at her hair, causing it to fall over her face, blocking her hot pink cheeks.
“What’s that?”
Paige wrinkled her nose at his sudden change in tone. “What?”
“That.” Drake grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop. “Listen.”
Paige closed her eyes, trying to resist the ease she felt as Drake’s skin touched hers. Her body was giving off little tingles. Then she heard it: little pops. “It sounds like firecrackers,” she said, looking to Drake. “Where do you think it’s coming from?”
“It was getting louder as we went down this way,” he said, extending his arm down the Great Hall.
“Wonderful.” Paige brushed off her robe and stood a little straighter, stomping down the hallway. “It’s probably a demon or something.” She wrinkled her nose. “No offence.”
“None taken.” Drake hurried ahead of her, stopping the witch from pulling open the doors. “Let me.”
“Let you what?”
Drake held out his hand in a very gentlemanly manner. “I think I should take us in there. We should try to find out what’s going on before jumping to conclusions.” He sighed, almost bitterly. “I hate when people jump to conclusions.”
Paige rolled her eyes. “Fine.” As she placed her hand into his palm, shivers swarmed her body, and this time she couldn’t hide her goose bumps as they shimmered out.
----
“Are you cold?” Drake whispered as they appeared behind a large bookcase.
“No.” Paige turned away and rubbed her arms. The popping noise, she knew, was definitely coming from the room Drake had taken them in. She poked her head around the corner and her eyes widened in surprise.
“Who’s that?”
Paige shivered, feeling Drake’s hot breath on the back of her neck. “B-Billy,” she breathed. “Billy McGowan, he was suspended last week for casting personal gain spells.”
“So what’s he doing here?” Drake asked curiously.
“I have no idea.”
“It looks like he’s making a potion,” the demon observed. And from the acrid smell of things, he was fairly sure he was right in his hypothesis. “Should we stop him?”
“What do you think?” She whispered, turning towards him with a glint in her eye.
“Yes?”
“Good.” Paige stepped out from behind the bookcase, purposefully making her heels smack against the waxed floor as she did so. Her arms were folded across her chest, and she looked highly formidable. “Billy,” she said acidly, “I believe I suspended you for two weeks.” Her eyes narrowed as she crossed the room, now standing within five feet of the teenage boy. “What are you doing here?”
The teenage boy, Billy, looked up from the bubbling pot that he was stirring. He had striking green eyes and thick, charcoal black hair that was slicked back. His lips were small and curved, and he had a well developed, slanted chin. He looked more of like a young man in his early twenties, as opposed to a high school student. “Why, how nice of you to drop in, Ms. Matthews.” His voice was filled with venom.
“What’re you doing?”
Billy dug his hand into a clear bowl filled with pigs’ feet. He dropped one into the tiny black cauldron, which looked remarkably like a Halloween decoration. A funnel of white smoke bounded from the top. He cocked his head in Paige’s direction. “Just working on my potion skills.”
“It’s passed three in the morning. What are you doing at Magic School?” She dared to take a step closer.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Billy raised his hand, signaling Paige not to come any closer. “If you step within that line,” he waved to a small barrier of black powder that had created a circle around him and the table he was at, “you’ll only end up hurting yourself.”
“Dead man’s ash.”
Paige and Billy’s heads whipped around simultaneously.
“Dead man’s ash,” Drake repeated, now glaring heatedly at the teenager. “Where did you get this?”
“He’s good,” Billy smirked. “Who is he, Ms. Matthews?”
Paige looked questioningly at the demon. A slow and steady fear was starting to rise in the pit of her stomach.
“Paige, step back slowly. Just walk over here to me.” The demon motioned his hand, beckoning Paige to follow his directions.
“Drake, what’s the matter with you? What’s going on?”
“Dead man’s ash,” Drake whispered lowly, “are the enchanted remains that are used in dark protection spells.” He swallowed hard, daring to come closer to Paige. “If you disrupt them, even a little, they’re lethal.”
“He must have gotten an A in potions,” Billy remarked, slapping a handful of something else into his potion. “Maybe you should take a few notes, Ms. Matthews.”
Paige slipped backwards, careful not to move too quickly and possibly disrupt the any of the fine black ash particles. “What if I-”
“No!” Drake held up his hand, shaking his head with fear. “No. They’ll sense your magic and react explosively.” He extended a hand towards Billy. “This is powerful magic you’re dealing with son, just how did you get ahold of it?”
“Lets just say I have friends in high places.”
As Paige reached him, Drake slipped protectively in front of her, shielding her body with his own. “Why are you here?”
“It’s simple, really.” Billy dipped a bony stick into the cauldron and began to swish it around, causing billowing smoke to pour out and enshroud the boy. “I figured that if I was to be banned from Magic School, everyone else should too. Fair is fair, right?”
“You were using personal gain!” Paige snapped.
“Paige,” Drake whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her. “Let me handle this. I know his kind.”
“Know my kind?” Billy laughed bitterly. “You don’t know anything about me.” He scooped a ladle of potion from the cauldron, sniffing it. It smelt like rotten eggs. “Who are you, anyway?”
“My name’s Drake,” he said calmly. Drake slipped away from Paige, moving daringly towards the circle of dead man’s ash. “Drake De’mon. I’m a new teacher here at Magic School.”
“A new teacher?” He rolled his eyes. “You don’t look like any teacher.”
“Well…looks can be deceiving.” Drake crept right up to the ash circle, his heart racing a mile a minute. “Why don’t you explain to me what’s got you so angry?”
“Explain?” Billy laughed bitterly. “Why should I? You teachers are all alike. You side with each other no matter what anyone else says.”
“I can assure you,” Drake emphasized, “I’m not like any other teacher you’ve ever met.”
Billy turned sharply, holding the ladle of potion threateningly. His eyes glimmered with anger. “Prove it.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Drake grinned, stepping over and into the protective circle.
Billy’s green eyes bulged. “H-how?” He gasped, slinking back from Drake. “I cast the circle, not you! Witches can’t-”
“Witches,” Drake replied huskily. “That’s where you’re wrong. I’m no witch.”
“But you said you were a teacher-”
“I am.” Drake’s brown eyes twinkled mysteriously. “I told you, looks can be deceiving.”
Billy slowly shook his head from left to right. “But only demons can move harmlessly through dead man’s ash.”
“I know,” Drake grinned. He held out his hand. “Now if you’ll hand over the potion, please-” And before he knew it, he was hurdling out of the circle towards the wall. With a crash, he smacked into the bookcase, knocking it over and burying himself in magic books.
“Drake!” Paige ran to his side, momentarily forgetting about the crisis in the center of the room, and began to dig into the fallen books, before finding Drake’s hand and helping him out.
“Thanks,” Drake replied, dusting himself off as he climbed to his feet. He eyed Billy, who was now standing at the edge of the inner circle. “You shouldn’t have done that, kid.”
“No!” Billy spat. “You shouldn’t have!” He turned an angry gaze to Paige. “Doesn’t matter if you have a demon on your side or not,” he sneered. “I’ll take you both out! I’m going to take all of you out!” He held up his ladle, which was now a deep purple color.
Paige gasped. “Purple. Purple means explosive.”
“Good job, Ms. Matthews.” Billy flung out the ladle, telekinetically directing the purple liquid towards Paige and Drake.
“Potion!” Paige screamed instinctively, holding out her hand as the liquid came within inches of them. The purple potion morphed into long streams of blue and white light, before reversing their flow and heading back at Billy.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Paige!” Drake wrapped his arms around the witch before she hand time to protest, just as a catastrophic explosion rocketed their eardrums. Each went hurdling through the wall, landing in a heap of smoking and dusty debris.
Paige found herself pinned under Drake’s weight, staring up at his handsomely defined features. She felt face blush as she scrambled to get out from under him. “Wh-what just happened?”
“I told you not to use magic,” he whispered. “A witch’s magic activates the field.” He hopped up, offering a hand to help the Head Mistress as well. “I think he was counting on that.” Drake waved his hand. “You stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Not a chance!” The Charmed One stomped after him, her dark hair flying around her head as she ran back into the smoking room. As they entered, she saw Billy waving his arms, telekinetically floating the liquid from the pot and sending it in all different directions. She gasped in realization. “He’s-”
“Planning to drop the potion at the same time all around the school, causing a catastrophic explosion.”
“How did you-”
“I’m a quick study,” Drake grinned.
“You again,” Billy snarled. He waved his arm, sending Paige flying across the room. However, when he turned to Drake, it was too late. Drake had breeched his circle again, this time purposefully scattering the ash with his foot, breaking the formation. “No!”
Drake clapped his hands and a howling wind whistled through Magic School. It pounded as it swooped into the main room, herding all of the purple potion into one place and containing it within a tornado-like formation.
“Drake!” Paige darted across the room as Billy squinted his eyes. Her body dissolved into orbs as she ran, only to reappear moments later between Drake and Billy. She grabbed him by his black robe, yanking him out of the way as the tornado crashed into Billy, sending all of them sprawling outwards, with a mighty explosion.
When the black smoke clear, Drake grinned up at the partly blackened face of Paige Matthews. He grinned, holding up his thumb and wiping some of the black smoke from her cheek, slightly smearing it. This time it was him who was pinned under her weight. He saw her blush and grinned. “You know,” he said suggestively, “I think I like this position more.”
Paige turned her head away, her face crimson with embarrassment. Her eyes spied Billy, who was knocked out across the room. “That was pretty daring of you,” she observed.
“Well,” he smirked, “this was pretty daring of you.” He ran his fingers along her arm, creating goose bumps as they moved. “Saving a demon and all.”
“Hmm.” Paige rolled her eyes playfully. “It’s my job to protect the innocent, you know.”
“Oh, I’m not all that innocent.”
“Neither am I.”
“You remember how I said looks can be deceiving?”
“Mhmm.”
“Am I misinterpreting the look on your face right now, Ms. Matthews?”
“And what look is that, Mr. De’mon?”
“I think you know.”
“Oh?” Paige’s brows lifted playfully. She leaned closer to Drake’s face, this time feeling his breath and welcoming the tingle in the pit of her stomach. “Why don’t you enlighten me?”
Drake leaned close to the angel’s face, pressing his lips to his in a long, breathless kiss.
“You know what,” she whispered, “I think Billy was right.” Her hand slipped around the back of Drake’s head, causing him to grin.
“About what?”
Paige grinned. “I think I do need a study partner.”
The demon grinned. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
“Good,” Paige smirked, punctuating her words with her own powerful kiss.
