Chapter 7
Ezra
Adrenalinepumped.Thepebbleshards in my hand pulsed with magic, minutes from shredding my hands. We were lucky I stepped from my shadow to hers in time to contain the explosion. I should be moving, but I didn’t like the way Professor Holiday looked at Quinn. Not one bit.
When we left the tunnels, we brought three monsters. Xan made deals I never would have. They won us this castle—but at a cost we hadn’t paid yet.
“Traditional methods will not work in this case,” I said to Professor Holiday.
I should have known. I felt her potential the moment I touched her. Like the entry test, she shouldn’t have taken this placement. With my lover unconscious, I ran the family. People suffered my lack of finesse. I wasn’t him.
“One-on-one tutoring would probably be best,” Professor Holiday agreed. “Iwill—”
“No.” I cut him off. “Quinn will wait for the Architect to wake. Until then, he only tests what he can already control. Restart without him.”
Professor Holiday scowled, clearly wanting to argue with me, before raising his voice. “If you cannot find your pebble, then you will start again. Setbacks are an inevitable consequence of existence. Embrace it.”
“Professor, mine had been in the air for the entire time…” a middle-aged man objected.
I tuned out the complaints and turned, only to find Everly holding Quinn’s hand and whispering in her ear. At Everly’s back, Hero watched her with murder in his eyes. I should’ve been pleased her male disguise held. Instead, my hand drifted to my hilt.
The reaction surprised me. I quickly controlled myself before I could drop the massive amount of power already exploding between my palms. My magic drained further. Time was not on my side.
Quinn’s uneasy laugh sparked inappropriate anger at Everly.
“Quinn, with me,” I barked.
I put Quinn in front of me and marched her away from Holiday’s stare. As we exited the coliseum the tension in my shoulders eased.
Quinn walked stiffly ahead, mind locked tight. I hurried my steps to take the lead, only to find tears rolling down her cheeks.
Another wave of emotions hit me, chest aching. If she were my lover, I’d know what to do. But Quinn wasn’t my lover. She was complicated. She made me complicated.
If one of my men cried, I’d look away. I’d do the same with Quinn.
“Am I in trouble?" She wiped her eyes as we fell into step. "You’re… not dressed like last night.”
“I can’t work shirtless.”
Quinn turned bright red, and her tears stopped. “But, um, you’re wearing the blacks of an enforcer. And now I’m following you. How did you get to me so fast?”
All good questions, and if answering them kept the tears from coming back, all the better.
“You’re not in trouble,” I said, steering her through the Great Hall and down a side passage. “I felt the pebble overloading. I control shadows and can walk between them.”
We stopped at the end of the side passage. I fumbled the trapdoor open without disturbing the power in my hands. “I’m going to release the magic in the Alun, where it can’t hurt anyone. Would you like to join me?”
Quinn rubbed her eyes again, and no fresh tears spilled. The ache in my chest eased.
“What’s the Alun?” Quinn asked.
I dropped through, head still up, and tipped my chin. After only a brief hesitation, Quinn sat on the edge and slowly lowered herself. It wasn’t meant for two, and every inch of her slid against my blacks.
I liked it too much.
She landed with a surprised thump. “Oh, your head’s sticking out because you didn’t have far to go down.”
I nodded and sent my magic into the single translucent cauldron hanging along the round edge of the cave-like space. Plum-purple mist bloomed to life.
