Maeve
“YOU DIRTY LITTLE WITCH,” LYRA squeals, rolling over in her bed so she can look at me where I’m seated at my vanity.
“What happened?” Poppy asks as she steps into our loft, her lavender hair in two short braids and a cup of tea steaming in one hand.
“Maeve kissed the sexy new history professor,” Lyra says.
Poppy’s pale purple eyes widen, and she blinks at me. “Professor D’Arques?”
I meet her eyes through the reflection in the mirror. “That’s the one,” I say.
“Not this again.” Alina climbs the stairs into the loft behind Poppy, Yuki at her feet. Her tone is tired as she says, “I thought we were done with dating the faculty after Lyra.”
“I’m notdatinghim. I just . . .”
“Want to fuck him?” Lyra supplies, flashing me a smile as she twists a curl around her finger.
I point at her with my hairbrush. “Exactly.”
Poppy tries to hide a smile behind her cup of tea.
“This was expected with her”—Alina throws a glance at Lyra—“but I’m confused. I thought you weren’t interested in anyone.” She pads across the loft and sinks onto her bed, and Yuki leaps up onto the mattress beside her. “What changed?”
I look at myself in my vanity mirror, searching my eyes for an answer to her question.
What changed?
Alina’s right: For the past three years, I’ve had zero interest in getting romantically involved with anyone. Part of it was boredom—no one caught my eye or piqued my curiosity—and part of it was that I’ve been focused on my academics. But the moment I walked into Severin’s classroom the first day of the semester, something shifted, and nothing’s felt the same since.
“I wish I knew,” I say, drawing my hairbrush through my hair.
“Do you have a class with him?” Lyra asks Alina, and she shakes her head. “Well, there’s your answer. Once you see him, you’ll understand. Right, Poppy?”
Poppy’s brown skin turns a shade of red, but she says, “Well... yeah.”
“Ha! See? Even Poppy thinks he’s a treat.”
“I didn’t saythat.” Poppy takes a seat on her bed and sets her teacup on the nightstand. “And he’s Felex’s great-uncle, you know.”
Lyra purses her lips thoughtfully. “Felex? You mean Aric’s roommate?”
Poppy nods.
I already knew that. Felex and Aric were roommates the four years they were here, and the half vampire could be an absolute dick when he wanted to be. But I kind of liked that about him; he was fun.
Not as fun as his uncle though.
I think of Severin’s hands on my waist, his mouth tracing my jaw, and my stomach goes tight. My purple eyes stare back at me in the mirror, telling me the truth I’ve been trying to deny.
“What are you going to do?” Poppy asks.
All three girls are staring at me now, waiting.
For a moment, I pretend I have an option, like I could choose to justnotkiss my professor again. But I know that’s wishful thinking. And there’s something else too, something I’ve not yet started to understand.
“When I’m around him,” I say softly, “my magic feels... different.”
Alina tips her head and narrows her eyes. “Different how?”
