Crime and Punishment: Great Falls Academy, Episode 2 Read online

  Copyright © 2019 by Alex Lidell

  Danger Bearing Press

  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.

  Credits:

  Edited by Mollie Traver and Linda Ingmanson

  Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design

  Crime and Punishment

  Great Falls Academy 2

  Alex Lidell

  Contents

  Also by Alex Lidell

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Also by Alex Lidell

  About the Author

  Also by Alex Lidell

  New Adult Fantasy Romance

  POWER OF FIVE (Reverse Harem Fantasy)

  POWER OF FIVE

  MISTAKE OF MAGIC

  TRIAL OF THREE

  LERA OF LUNOS

  GREAT FALLS ACADEMY (Power of Five world)

  RULES OF STONE

  CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

  SCENT OF A WOLF

  Young Adult Fantasy Novels

  TIDES

  FIRST COMMAND (Prequel Novella)

  AIR AND ASH

  WAR AND WIND

  SEA AND SAND

  SCOUT

  TRACING SHADOWS

  UNRAVELING DARKNESS

  TILDOR

  THE CADET OF TILDOR

  SIGN UP FOR NEW RELEASE NOTIFICATIONS at https://links.alexlidell.com/News

  To my readers,

  While drafting Great Falls Academy, I’ve received some wonderful questions. As you embark on this adventure with Lera, allow me to address some of the most frequent inquiries.

  Why is Great Falls Academy told in an episode (novella) format instead of as a traditional novel series?

  Episodes are a different way of telling a story. When logging into Netflix lately, I’ve found myself gravitating toward watching episode-based shows instead of choosing full-length films. Since I enjoy watching this type of media, I decided to explore it with my story telling in Great Falls Academy. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series with fae. The episodes - novellas - will be released at regular intervals, each with an internal story and an over all season arc.

  How does GREAT FALLS ACADEMY relate to the POWER OF FIVE series?

  The events in GREAT FALLS ACADEMY take place about six months after the conclusion of the POWER OF FIVE series and feature the same main characters - Lera, River, Coal, Shade and Tye. That said, the two story sets are independent, so reading one is not required to enjoy the other. Within the GREAT FALLS series, the episodes should be read in order.

  Why Reverse Harem romance?

  In Reverse Harem romances, the heroine forms romantic bonds with multiple heros without ever having to chose one, as she would in a love-triangle scenario. In Lera’s case, she is mated with four elite fae warriors. I’ve fallen in love with this genre because it provides the opportunity to explore four relationships within a single overarching world setting and plot. This gives me the leeway to go deeper into the characters and the story, while still giving a lot of screen time to the romance. Since I write fantasy—which requires a good deal of world building—this is especially nice.

  Plus, #whychose? :)

  And now, whether this is your first taste of Lunos or Reverse Harem romance, or whether you are an experienced fan who knows all about the coming journey, curl up in your favorite chair and escape with Lera into Great Falls Academy.

  Love,

  Alex

  1

  River

  River’s hands closed on the window frame of his high tower office, the grip tight enough to blanch his knuckles. He hadn’t slept. Had given up on even trying to do so, for each time he’d dared to close his eyes, he could see nothing but Leralynn.

  Leralynn standing tall in the moonlight, her curves silhouetted against the sky. Leralynn meeting his eyes in a way that drowned out the rest of the world. Leralynn kissing Tye, pressing into an oak beside the very wall that students were forbidden to touch. River could still smell the woman’s arousal, see her hips undulating hungrily against Tye’s hand, her need and pleasure stirring River’s own body into rebellion.

  Stars. Taking a shuddering breath, River focused his attention on the window. Outside, the vast courtyard was near empty. The students had liberty for the week’s end, and despite dawn’s arrival hours ago, the frostbitten grass and swept cobblestones saw no foot traffic except Tye jogging to his athletic training earlier. Normal. Ordinary. And after the strange beasts they finally put down last night, the Academy would stay as such.

  River winced. Thinking of the night was a mistake, for the memories had started rolling over him again. Leralynn, as fearless as any warrior, her presence—her courage—so much greater than her size as she plunged her sword into the beast that no one could see. There was a moment there when River couldn’t understand why she wasn’t pulling back. And then it hit him, together with a wave of terror that slowed time. The woman was trying to mark the beast’s location for the others, even if it would cost her life to do so. It was the kind of courageous and reckless and intelligent thing that Diana would have done.

  A fine rattle drew River’s attention to his hands, which had started to shake from their grip on the window ledge. Last night had been close. Too close. A heartbeat more and the world might have lost the fire that was Leralynn. Just as the world had lost Diana. River’s throat closed. Yes, that was the other reason he dared not shut his eyes again.

  After months of seeing nothing but his late wife’s face, last night River saw only Lera’s. He couldn’t even draw Diana’s features in his mind without them warping to Leralynn’s long auburn hair and warm chocolate eyes, her internal glow that drew him in like a moth to the proverbial flame.

  A rap sounded against his door.

  “Come,” River called, turning his back to the window as he straightened his crisp red-and-gold tunic, rolling his shoulders into a posture befitting a commander.

  “Sir.” Dressed in his signature black leather, blond hair pulled back tight, Coal strode into the office on silent feet and crossed his arms in silent endurance of River’s intrusive gaze. The man looked terrible—not that anyone beside River or Shade would notice the haunted shimmer behind the warrior’s icy blue eyes. Whatever had happened to Coal in captivity, it was still eroding him from the inside. The Academy was supposed to provide a place for him to put down those demons, but things were getting worse instead. As if a piece of Coal’s soul had been torn away and now the rest of him leaked out through the wound.

  The analogy struck too close to what River himself felt.

  “Lieutenant.” River nodded his greeting to the warrior.

  “It’s frosty in here,” Coal said, looking around at River’s office with its stone walls and dark wood accents. “Are the visiting cadets not cowing quickly enough, or is it for personal masochism?”

  It was drafty, River would admit, mountain air blowing through the old caulking, frost edging each windowpane. He’d not bothered to light the fi
replace yet today, his mind on other things.

  River straightened a stack of papers on his desk, ignoring the question. “Any more on last night’s invisible hogs?”

  “I surveyed the whole perimeter this morning and found no signs of additional pack mates,” Coal said crisply. “I think we put this lot down for good, sir.”

  Of course Coal had been out already. And, doubtlessly, alone. Maybe he and Leralynn were kindred spirits, both unable to walk past danger without sticking their noses in.

  “I’ve also given the descriptions to Master Gavriel.” Crossing his arms, Coal leaned against the wall. “The librarian will look through his books to see if he can shed light on what the beasts were.”

  “Good. The man’s intelligent and discreet—a rare combination.” River ached to rub his hands over his face, but locked them behind his back instead. There had been another execution in Grayson, the closest large town, last night—a laundress accused of using fae craft to make garments sicken their owners, or some similar ghastly nonsense. “Remind the students that anyone discussing the fae will find himself in my study. As much as I dislike banning a discussion topic, the last thing we need is for one kingdom’s nobles to start accusing another. Especially when last night proved that something unnatural is truly afoot.”

  “And what of Tyelor and Leralynn? Shall I tell them they imagined the whole incident?” Coal raised a brow.

  Leralynn. As if the woman’s name itself carried a curse, River’s heart stuttered the moment he heard it. Leralynn. Leralynn. River tightened his jaw. “Those two are another problem altogether.”

  “The pair handled themselves adequately,” Coal said, picking up a glass paperweight on River’s desk, eyeing it skeptically and putting it back down again. It was the highest praise River had ever heard from the warrior. Which was probably why the man suddenly needed something to do with his hands.

  “I don’t care how they handled themselves,” River snapped. “Leralynn came a hair’s breadth from death last night—because she decided that the rules all cadets live under don’t apply to her. A student who cannot be bothered to respect the Academy’s structure on her first damn day. I’ve said it before and I will again—we’ve too many young nobles who do not belong, and the faster we can set them straight, the better for all involved.” The words came out hotter than River wished, but Coal gave no sign of having noticed—though he doubtlessly had. Nothing got past the man. River had learned that long ago.

  A pregnant silence hung in the air, then Coal shrugged. “And Tyelor?”

  “Tyelor is an upperclassman and a known quantity,” River said, reclaiming his equilibrium as they entered familiar ground. With the young man’s athletic background and natural knack for combat training, River put Tye in the same category of warrior as himself, Coal, and Shade—something River would not say for anyone else in Great Falls. River trusted Tye with little else, but he did trust the man to defend himself. “I’m still of a mind that Tyelor can be turned into a halfway-responsible human being if given limits. I will deal with him this afternoon.”

  “Understood.” Coal’s intelligent blue gaze pierced River. “Only Tyelor?”

  “Yes.” River walked to his desk and settled into the large leather chair. He had never delegated responsibility in his life, but this… River needed to hand this one off lest he do something he would regret. “I am leaving Leralynn’s punishment to you. I trust you to make it commensurate with the severity of her trespasses last night.”

  No questions from Coal. No cocked brow of surprise or a questioning glance as the warrior nodded, pushed away from the wall, and strode to the door.

  River’s chest tightened, his heart pounding his ribs as he raised his voice once more. “Coal.”

  Hand already on the door handle, the warrior paused but did not turn—for which River was grateful.

  “I’d like Leralynn of Osprey gone from Great Falls,” River said.

  2

  Lera

  Tink.

  Rubbing my eyes, I sit up in bed, the small room of the Great Falls Academy dormitory blinking back at me. The sunlight streaming through the large window illuminates the tall pale white walls, bits of dust playing in the strong rays. Having only returned from my unfortunate run-in with sclices—and perhaps equally unfortunate run-in with River and Coal—in the middle of the night, I’ve only had four hours sleep. Several paces away, Arisha is already swinging her legs toward the floor, her messy braids swaying against her chest as she swivels her head in search of the noise’s source.

  Tink. Tink.

  “I think it’s coming from the window.” My voice is groggy. Today’s liberty day was supposed to allow for a bit of a lie-in, but something—or someone—seems to have other ideas. The noise comes again. Yes, definitely the window. Like a bird’s beak hitting glass, except I see no bird anywhere.

  Tink. Tink. Tink.

  Stuffing her feet into slippers, Arisha puts on her glasses and shuffles to the window, her heavy cotton nightgown swaying about her ankles. Grasping hold of the shutters, she swings the panes open, jumping aside with a yelp as a pebble intended for the glass knocks into her shoulder instead. A heartbeat later, Tye swings himself into our room, his emerald eyes sparkling with self-satisfied amusement while Arisha sputters. He flicks a lock of red hair out of his face, looking painfully handsome and unfairly well rested. In some semblance of justice, the cleared lock of hair flops right back over the male’s green eyes.

  “You… You!” Rushing back to her bed, Arisha pulls a sheet over herself, her face suddenly paler than normal underneath her scattering of freckles. She points a finger at Tye, her mouth opening and closing as if searching for new words. “You—”

  “Aye. Me. I think we’ve established that part quite solidly, lass.” Tye’s long arm reaches for the window, shutting it to cut off the chill wind. Through Tye’s wide collar, I see the bandage crossing his shoulder as he stretches and suppresses a wince. I’d forgotten he took a sclice claw in last night’s battle. He is dressed in a modified version of our training grays, his tunic sleeveless and wrapped tightly around his muscular abdomen, his jacket hanging loose. Tye’s wide shoulders and taut waist draw a clean triangle, darker patches of sweat glistening against the light fabric. A scent of soap beneath the sweat underscores his masculine scent, mixing with the pine and citrus that is always Tye.

  Catching me watching him, Tye grins with feline impertinence, his soft growl reminding me exactly of how he’d tasted against the forest’s moonlight, how my body roused to the feel of his deft fingers sliding along my skin. Slipping deeper. My sex clenches at the very memory, and Tye’s grin widens. Yes, the bastard isn’t even trying to pretend he doesn’t smell my arousal. Tye may think himself human, but his fae senses are picking up all the details.

  I get up, crossing my arms. Unlike Arisha, my nightshirt is a thin slip of red silk that falls to midthigh, but I’ll be damned if I let Tye make me scramble for clothing in my own bedchamber. “Is there a reason you are in our room?”

  Tye’s eyes glide over my thighs and hips, catching appreciatively on my suddenly heavy breasts, on my nipples peaking in the cool air. A heartbeat later, he shifts his legs uncomfortably, the bulge there twitching.

  “I hope it hurts. A lot,” I murmur so quietly that only Tye’s fae ears have a chance of picking up the words.

  The male snorts.

  “H-how did…” Arisha, still stuttering, points to the window. “That is fifteen feet off the ground.”

  “He climbs well,” I tell the girl over my shoulder while my gaze narrows on the male. “But yes, after Tye tells us why he’s graced us with his presence, he can explain whether the door somehow offended him.”

  “I’m delivering a message from the deputy headmaster.” With my bed vacated, Tye makes himself at ease on it, pressing his back against the wall while stretching out his long legs. His mussed red hair looks nearly aflame in the room’s golden morning light. After giving me one more slow car
ess with his gaze, Tye’s eyes stray to Arisha, who has somehow managed to tangle herself in the bedsheet she is using for cover. And who knows nothing about the night’s escapade.

  Right. I grope for some plausible excuse to speak to Tye alone and come up empty-handed. You could have waited, you ass.

  “I know Lera snuck outside last night.” Arisha rolls her large blue eyes at us both. “I now imagine she was with you, Tyelor, and that the pair of you were caught by none other than River himself. The next time you need to make a stealthy exit, please wake me up so I can close the window before the room freezes.”

  “You left the window open?” Tye covers his face with a large palm. “What kind of hooligan are you?”

  “A cranky one.” I sigh, recalling River’s fury over finding Tye and me on the other side of the wall and his ominous promise to deal with us. I don’t recall ever facing the full force of the male’s cold ire, and I little like it. “I’ve also the sense that my day is about to get worse.”

  Tye nods, the humor from his face fading. “I’m to report to River at two this afternoon, while you are to join Coal in the training corrals. I imagine they think making us wait will play nicely on our anxiety.” The tightness in Tye’s voice says there might be good reason to be anxious. He sits up, resting his corded forearms on his thighs. His biceps shift and ripple under his bare skin, making it impossible to look away even if I wanted to. “Now, listen to me, lass. And listen carefully. Coal is going to ask you what the bloody hell you thought you were doing outside the wall last night. When he does, you will tell him that you were just following me. I convinced you that I know the best place to stargaze, and before you knew it, I was helping you over the wall. Are you following?”