“The woman knows her theater,” Alistair continued with a gracious tilt of his head toward Embry, before announcing in his posh accent, “And I must say I do look dashing in an apron.”
“Unfortunately, the character has never looked dashing a day in his life. Might want to go dowdy for the audition if you actually want the part, chap.”
The entire group wheeled toward the voice slinging unsolicited advice. It belonged to a tall figure blazing down the center aisle on long, confident strides. Embry’s heart double-beat as another surprise surfaced: That face belonged to a student she didn’t know. Worse? Oakley did.
“You didn’t tell me you had this class, too! What does that make? Like six?” Oakley exclaimed, slipping out from under Alistair’s arm and grinning at the newcomer. Then, to Embry, shesaid, “This is that other senior transfer I was telling you about—Balthazar Hale.”
Embry’s first thought:Great name. Her second thought:The perfect name for him.
This boy looked like James Dean for the Instagram set. Dark hair polished to shining, sun-tanned skin, and a motorcycle jacket over his Raven’s Head uniform. He grinned in a way that lit up his whole face, even at a distance. Even more stunning, he had magic written all over him. Of course, they were at a school for the magically gifted, but that didn’t mean all the students exuded magic. But this one certainly did. Even at a few paces away, he practically glittered with power to Embry’s finely attuned witch senses.
“Oakley Riddle, we meet again,” Balthazar drawled, offering his enrollment sheet to Jonesy. “I’m lucky to snag a spot in this class, Miss Jones. The section was nearly full.”
“That would be because we have too many men in this class already,” Alistair sniffed.
Ames elbowed him hard. “Or because Embry and I are totally awesome recruiters.”
“In any case,” Jonesy said loud enough to dissuade any more cheeky remarks, “we’re happy to have you, Balthazar. And I get the feeling that you are familiar withInto the Woods?”
Balthazar smiled, blue eyes twinkling under his dark hair, like Superman come to life, minus the cape. Goddess alive, now that he was close enough that she could register his features properly, Embry suspected this was the most gorgeous person she’d ever seen in real life. Even her well-controlled hormones couldn’t ignore that, and her heart began to race.
“Yes, ma’am. I was in a summer production in New Orleans two years ago. Over the course of the run, I played both princes, the Wolf, and the Baker.”
Embry’s mouth nearly hung open. Sure, he was handsome,but nothing truly beat competence on the scale from inanimate object to sexy as hell.
“But it sounds like some parts are already spoken for?”
Jonesy was quick to dispel this. “We’re just spitballing—nothing will be set in stone until next week. And you’ve just handed me extra options for my cast, Balthazar. I love options, don’t you?”
Rye nodded in agreement as Jonesy nearly twirled in place. She’d gone from down and out to winning the musical theater lottery in basically twenty-four hours. “Excellent! Now, if everyone will get seated, we’ll discuss the audition process and how to properly prepare.”
Ames and Fairfax led the group to their preferred row of seats, and Oakley insisted Balthazar come, too. This had the effect of making Alistair pout. Therefore, Embry made the snap decision to start the matchmaking right that moment by inserting herself between Balthazar and the fresh pairing of Oakley and Alistair. This would give them a chance to stoke that spark she’d seen earlier and had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she would be seated next to the new, good-looking arrival. She was just being both protective and polite.
And so, as they settled into the theater seats, Embry proceeded to properly introduce herself as she would to any newcomer, hot or not. Or at least she tried. “I’m—”
“Embry Woodcross,” Balthazar supplied in an enthusiastic whisper, blue eyes dancing like ocean waves. “Your reputation precedes you, Princess.”
Embry sewed her mouth shut, but in truth she wanted to gape.Princess?She should’ve recoiled at the simple drop of the word. It was diminutive and presumptive, and should’ve been everything she hated about high school boys (Alistair’s jokes about her “queen bee” status notwithstanding) and yet, that word out of his mouth was…nice. As was the confirmation that outside of Raven’s Head,the town, the island,shewas somebody. So, she played along and squinted at him. “It does?”
“In certain circles, yes.”
“Certain circles in Romania?” she guessed, using the only bit of information she had on him that he hadn’t shared already. Romania typically meant vampires, but this boy was tanned to a golden brown. Not even remotely undead.
He laughed. “Certain magical circles are very aware of the Woodcrosses.”
Embry tilted her head. If he were a witch, he’d tell her given the knowledge he’d alluded to. Instead, he locked eyes with her, leaned in just a fraction, sumac and cinnamon—andmagic, Embry was sure of it—drifting off him, sweet and spicy and clean, and teased her with a wry grin and what he wasn’t. “Not a witch. Not a diviner. Not a vampire…” He trailed off. Daring her to guess. Trusting her to know.
Embry took in every inch of this magic-oozing boy. The black leather jacket, the dangerous shine in his eyes, theconfidence. It all added up to one specific subset of magical person. So secretive and insular she’d never met one. Almost as rare as Oakley. But one she didn’t need to research, because witches were just as aware of them as they were of people like her. Embry’s eyes widened. “No.”
Balthazar cocked a brow. He was going to make her say it. And suddenly, though she’d just met him, Embry wanted to be right. “A sorcerer?”
His smile flashed, and it felt like a reward. “Very good, Princess.”
CHAPTER 6
FULL MOON ABOVE
BY THE RISING FULL MOON, EMBRY WAS IN A FABULOUS MOOD.She’d improved on the lives of both Oakley and Jonesy, and it was only Tuesday. It was a job well done.
