As for sexy underwear… That much is a given. The box on my nightstand burns a hole in my brain as I remember what Jasper wrote in his contract.
While Leo might want me to submit to him in every way,Jasper is the total opposite. More so even than Lambert, who happily hands over the reins to me.
Even with all of my reading, I could never have imagined just how the idea of dominating my lovers would turn me on. Even now, just imagining him wearing what he asked for…
“Come on.” She misreads my distraction as indecision and gives me a mock shove towards the stairs. “Operation Seduce a Scot is a go.”
That’s how, an hour later, I end up sitting in front of her mirror, tugging at my short grey tartan skirt. Forgoing underwear was a lot more comfortable when I knew my hem wasn’t about to flick up and expose the situation to everyone around me. The heels I decided to wear only make the situation worse.
“Did you want me to do your hair?” Eddy asks, pointing at the waterfall of waves that I unbound because my braid was getting messy.
In answer, I point a finger at it, murmuring an incantation that has a grimoire deep below flaring with power. Only, it doesn’t quite go as well as I want it to.
I’ve seen neater bird nests.
“That’s…a look.” Eddy’s lips are twitching with how badly she wants to smile, and I roll my eyes at her.
“Consider it a lesson in why you shouldn’t try transmutation spells while distracted.”
A rookie error, but one easily corrected. I suck a deep breath into my lungs, focus properly, and turn the messy bun at the top of my head into a neater version at my nape with a second incantation. It leaves a few wispy strands free to frame my face.
Perhaps it’s my most modern outfit yet. It’s certainly more leg than I usually show.
“You look gorgeous,” Eddy reassures me. “When I’ve caught up on class stuff, will you teach me the spell you used for your eyes? I can never get my liner to match.”
I smile. “Of course.”
Some cosmetic spells can be incredibly complex, but Eddy enjoys this, and to be honest, so do I.
I’ve missed having female friends who would get excited about clothes and the frivolous little things, and her advice is invaluable. It’ll be nice to return the favour.
“Go, have fun.” Eddy gives me a mock shove. “I’ve managed to convince Lambert to study with me and North tonight. Hopkinson is testing us on Monday, and I still don’t understand half of this stuff.” An offer to help lingers on the tip of my tongue, but she shakes her head. “We have Leo if we need him. I think Lambert plans to drag him down from his tower to make him eat, anyway. Now go. Enjoy yourself.”
Summoning the little box on the nightstand into my palm, I do as ordered.
Thirty-One
Kyrith
Jasper is with Dakari, down on the first floor of the Restoration Tower. I tuck the little box behind my back, appearing a shelf away only to stop before I can reveal myself.
The room smells…tropical. It reminds me of the wax melts Eddy likes.
“Thanks for helping,” Jasper grunts, and something scrapes across the floorboards, the sensation rubbing against my skin. “I know you’re busy with the search for her grimoire.”
Dakari huffs out a grumpy little noise.
“Oh. Going that well?”
Another grunt. “The last record I could find placed it in the Ackland archives, but I broke in there last night. It’s gone, or they’ve moved it.”
“Ackland?”
“Yeah. Mathias took control of Kyrith’s possessionsafter her death. Probably used it to try to get back into the Arcanaeum.”
That makes sense…but why didn’t it work? The grimoire is linked to me, and by extension, the Arcanaeum. Much like the dagger, it’s a direct line into the Library’s magical well.
This makes no sense.
