Page 31 of Reckless Witch

My heart pounds. What he’s threatening is monstrously wrong, but it’s the law and he can enforce it. I glare. “This is about you being pissed that Stony tackled you and was about to kick your ass.”

The vampire steps so close I swear I can feel his heat. His eyes lock onto mine. “Order her to leave.”

The need to blast him with my magic is so strong, the sigil heats again. Fucking dragon fire.

“Do not further test my good graces,” he says.

A man pushes through the crowd. Ethan. He glances from the vampire to me, then to Stony. His gaze snaps onto the sigil. “Put magic from your mind, Leilah.”

I keep my eyes locked on the vampire.

“Enough, Raith,” Ethan says.

Raith? The name is a punch to my gut.

“Raith Vanderkoff.” I step so close I can see myself reflected in his perfect dark eyes. “I should have known. Trying to prove that you’re better than the newest High Potential? Is this how you get your kicks? Or are you just trying to finish off the last Crowe for good?”

Those eyes turn colder. “You’re here to learn, Ms. Crowe. I’m here to teach.”

Stony growls. If you’ve never heard a pig growl, it’s because they don’t.

“Get that familiar off the grounds, immediately.” Without another word, he turns and walks away.

Ethan watches him for several heartbeats, then faces me. “Raith is right. No familiars allowed.”

I try to slow my pounding heart. “She has nowhere to go.”

“You must have a friend.”

“A friend who will care for a forty-pound pig?” I say. Past his shoulder, I notice Miss Mack, almost hidden behind the audience of students. A tiny curve of her mouth causes me to return my attention to Ethan. “You’re telling me that no other witch has their familiar here?”

He shakes his head. “Who can we call?”

I’m at a loss. I can’t leave her. I found her a squealing piglet on the road, little more than hide and bones. She might die without me.

“I’m leaving.” They can try to rip my power from me. I sure as hell won’t make it easy for them.

Shock flashes across Ethan’s face. “Don’t be a fool.”

I shake my head. “I won’t leave her.”

He steps closer and whispers, “You realize the moment your powers are stripped, you will no longer have a familiar?”

I blink.

“Don’t do this,” he warns.

Stony bumps my leg. My throat closes with emotion. Stony begins to shimmer. In the blink of an eye, she morphs into a hawk.

“Stony,” I gasp, but she’s not listening—not that she ever does. She unfurls gold-tipped wings and lifts off the ground. I reach for her, but she evades my grasp “No!” I stumble after her.

She swoops toward me but stays out of arm’s reach, voices a hawk scream, then lifts higher. I choke back a sob and stare until she’s out of sight.

Then I whirl on Ethan. “When is this sigil coming off?”

He hesitates, then says, “When you graduate.”

Or when I kill Raith Vanderkoff.