“Now we have a map, at least I assume it’s a map, so we can do the spell,” the witch’s friend said hurriedly.
“You better hope the kitsune returns this once we’re done, or Montgomery will lose his shit.” He wouldn’t go after me, but he would punish the others.
Raven ignored me. She shoved the incubus away and snatched the map from my hands. I watched as she placed it on the stone table and laid the rest of the spell ingredients out, a look of determination on her face.
“If this spell doesn’t work, the headmaster is the least of my concerns,” she told me.
“You never said what or whom you are trying to locate.” Now that we were about to cast the spell, it occurred to me I ought to check she wasn’t doing anything illegal. Given the incubus’s involvement, it seemed likely. That fucker had a hand in most of the shady shit going on. And from the shifty way the witch’s familiar kept glancing at the door, he was no innocent either.
“It’s a who,” she said, chewing her lip while watching me. Something passed between us. My magic flared and tugged me forward, desperate for me to be closer to her.
My mate.
Even if I could never acknowledge that fact.
“Who do you need to find?” The other witch looked between me and Raven while the incubus leaned against the wall, his body tense. Was he worried I’d react badly to whatever she was about to tell me?
He was right to be worried.
Not that I could physically hurt her, which he no doubt knew. But I could do things that would hurt her by association.
My father had written a whole how-to manual on hurting one’s soul-bonded mate while triggering no painful consequences.
Raven glanced at her friend and then at the incubus. I watched as her hand reached for the amulet around her neck.
The black gem intrigued me. I wasn’t certain, but it looked a lot like satanite. Why would a witch have a gem from the hell realm? It made no sense.
She closed her eyes for a moment before speaking.
“I need to locate a missing vampire.”
I scoffed. “The vamps are all dead. Are you planning to travel beyond the veil to chat with one of them?”
Her lip wobbled. “This one’s not dead, but if I don’t find him soon, he will be.” Tears sparkled like diamonds in her eyes, and once again, the magical tether between us went haywire. I hated the damn thing. It had caused me nothing but pain from the moment I first ran into her in the food hall.
Stupid fucking soul-bond.
“Okay, so one vampire survived.” I rolled my eyes, not at all convinced any of them had, in fact, survived. The blood-borne virus had been brutal and effective. “So put me out of my misery. Which bloodsucker are we looking for?”
The thought of finding a vamp made me smirk. My father would lose his shit if it turned out at least one bloodsucker was still alive. Vampires had always been the biggest threat to his plans, which was why he’d never shed a tear at their demise.
“Rasmus Dvorak.”
My jaw dropped. That was not a name I expected to hear. The crown prince?What the actual fuck?If the heir to the vampire throne had survived the virus, my father was in big trouble.
My lips quirked up as hope bloomed for the first time ever.
10
Raven
Alaric’s jaw dropped in shock and then snapped shut as he pulled himself together. For a moment, he looked almost…happy? Then the shutters dropped and his customary bored sneer returned.
“You must be fucking delusional if you think a vamp survived the virus, but whatever. Let’s get this spell cast so I can head back and get the fuck off campus.” He pointed to the metal bowl and smirked. “The first step is drawing blood.”
Having studied the spell a thousand times, I knew the steps by heart, but the thought of cutting myself still lacked appeal.
“Pathetic witch,” Kenji muttered from his perch on a chair, but I ignored his unwanted commentary. “Can we speed things up? I’m hungry.”
