“Oh, phew.”I relaxed.“I’ll tell Montgomery Oakman is harassing us. Maybe that’ll persuade the professor to back off.”
“I don’t trust Montgomery either. None of the mages can be trusted.”
“What about Alaric?”A knot formed in my stomach. I hadn’t seen the storm mage since our,ahem,moment in the library, and was beginning to wonder if he was avoiding me.
“The storm mage is your mate. He’s different. But his father…”
It was rare for Kenji to have an open and honest conversation with me. Mostly he bitched and whined about my lack of skills, Fig, and anything else he could blame on me. So for him to express concernabout the mages, and in particular, Oakman and Montgomery, was worrying.
“Goddess, Raven, can we please go before I throw up?” I turned to my friend to see she’d turned a nasty shade of green. Almost as green as the hand that was currently the subject of a tug-of-war between Fig and Zane.
“For fuck’s sake, get that hand away from this dorm!” Maverick yelled. “If we’re caught with it, one of us will end up in the fucking penitentiary! And it won’t be me,” he added with a glare in Zane’s direction.
“Calm your tits, care bear. I’ll deal with it once the pig stops fighting me over it.” The hand tore apart. Fig ran off with two fingers, leaving a few bones and chunks of rancid flesh behind. Glynda gulped hard and then rushed to the bathroom. We all heard her emptying her guts in dramatic style.
Honestly, I didn’t blame her. The smell had me seriously considering a vegan lifestyle.
Zane picked up what remained of the hand and then blinked away. I stared down at the stain on the tiled floor and pulled a face.
“Go, little mate. I’ll clean this up. Fucking incubus,” Maverick muttered before he pulled a bottle of bleach from a cupboard and squirted it all over the floor.
“I’m so sorry about the, um,thing,” I apologized as Glynda and I reached the entrance to the main building.
“It’s fine.” Glynda’s wan complexion said it was anything but fine, but I decided it was best we moved on. “I’ll see you in Miss Windborne’s class later,” she said before hurrying away.
There was no sign of Kenji as I stomped up the stairs to Montgomery’s office. The headmaster’s personal assistant, a snooty witch called Mrs. Peabody, sneered at me when I arrived.
“Take a seat. The headmaster isverybusy.”
I guess Mrs. Peabody was not a fan of cross-species mate bonds. It seemed no witches were apart from Glynda. Faking a smile, I sat on the hard wooden bench outside Montgomery’s office and waited for what felt like forever. Certainly well past the time I was told to be here.
Was this a power play? It sure felt like it.
I fidgeted with my bag, read some of my mage politics textbook, and then, after another thirty minutes, stood to go.
“I’m going to be late for Professor Oakman’s class,” I explained when Mrs. Peabody raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at my audacity.
The door behind me swung open. A shiver ran down my back as Tiberius Vane strode out of Montgomery’s office. He barely gave me a second glance, which left me free to scrutinize him as he exchanged a goodbye with Montgomery.
The Supernatural Council leader’s suit reeked of wealth, and the watch around his wrist twinkled with gems.
I could see where Alaric got his looks from, but Vane senior was about as warm as a polar ice cap and gave the impression laughter was for losers.
“I’ll be in touch about the thing we discussed, Montgomery.” The headmaster dipped his head before Vane strode away.
“Miss Blackstone, please come in.” No apology for keeping me waiting. Clearly my time wasn’t important.
“I can come back if you’re busy. My next class is about to begin, and I’d hate to miss Practical Magic.” It wasn’t the worst class, all things considered, even if Professor Oakman was a bit too interested in Kenji for comfort.
“Professor Oakman’s been called away, so the class has some assigned reading, which I’m sure you can catch up on later. Now please take a seat, Miss Blackstone.”
Hmm, okay, that was a surprise. I could have sworn I saw Oakman earlier. Perhaps he had a family emergency.
Montgomery spent the next twenty minutes quizzing me on how I was finding my classes. Then, just as I’d begun to relax, he threw me a curveball.
“I understand there have been some changes in your personal life since the solstice, so I think it’s time we test your magic once again.”
“Wait, what?”
