Page 51 of The Soulmate Bakery

My chest constricted at the understanding in her eyes. ‘Yes, well, the spell is forbidden because it changes you fundamentally. Orion caught me as I was casting it, lost his mind, and practically dragged me to my mother.’

‘I suppose it makes sense you being angry with him,’ Sofia said, with a little grimace. ‘Even if he was looking out for you.’

I paused, head tilting to one side to look at her. ‘You think that was him looking out for me?’

‘I mean, yeah. He always seems to do that,’ she continued, absently.

‘What do you mean?’ Sure, he’d been helping me with my spellcasting and even Silas, but that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with solving the curse.

‘Orion always seems to be there when you need him, you know? I know he’s probably super bullheaded, but it’s pretty nice to have someone in your corner.’

‘He only looks out for me because I’m Raven’s best friend,’ I said, but the words failed to ring true.

Sofia’s eyebrow raised in an ‘OK, if you say so’ gesture, and Orion’s voice floated in my head: You and I, Reverie, have always been something.

‘Do you think you’d forgive him?’ Sofia asked.

‘What?’

‘If Orion apologized for getting your second point, would you forgive him?’ Sofia clarified.

I never ended up answering her question because Raven came back, armed with two bowls of popcorn – one maple syruped and the other saltier than the sea for Sofia. We ended up not watching anything but talking the rest of the night.

It was perfect, and I could almost put Orion totally out of my mind.

But Sofia’s question still lingered.

CHAPTER TWENTY

So, it turned out attending classes was way more entertaining when you’ve got the school’s golden boy as your partner. Once you get over all the confused looks people give you and the way more people suddenly talk to you because you’re sitting beside someone popular.

Aside from studying together, our lunch break and in the corridors, potions class was our other place to talk. Or in our case, play very intense games of noughts and crosses while our professor explained things on the board.

‘I’m going to win,’ the werewolf murmured under his breath, his pencil tapping against the countertop. He was resting his cheek against a closed fist, and his smile reached his eyes. ‘And then you owe me a favour.’

I scoffed and looked down at the game we had going again. I was going to win, I knew it, but Silas couldn’t see it. I didn’t think he would be a sore loser, but he was the kind of guy who really loved winning.

So, I put my nought where it shouldn’t be, and Silas won.

‘All right, all right,’ I sighed, dramatically. ‘What favour do you want?’

Silas’s blue-gold eyes glinted, before he dipped his hand down to rummage through his bag. From there, he pulled out a jersey – more specifically, a jersey with his number and last name on it.

‘I want you to wear this at the next game. It’s our last game before half-term and the festival, and I need my lucky charm there in all her glory,’ Silas said, his smile so genuine it was infectious.

I took the jersey from him, holding the fabric in my hands, and grinned back. I was playing it cool but inside my head I was letting out the biggest scream. This was a big deal – his jersey. This felt like a sign things were going right. All I had left to do was confess my feelings to him. Tell him the truth about everything that had led to this point.

‘Fine,’ I mock sighed. ‘I’ll wear it. But I won’t like it.’

Silas grinned, like he knew I was lying. He was about to say something else, when we were interrupted.

‘Maya,’ Sofia hissed, and I looked up just in time to see Professor Malt coming towards us.

‘Ms Reverie, Mr Moon. Since you two appear to be whispering so much – answer one question each,’ Professor Malt said, his thin, reedy voice filling the classroom. ‘Give me one property of wolfsbane – not experienced by a werewolf, Ms Reverie.’

Usually that question would’ve made panic swell through me, but Silas and I had actually spent some of our sessions studying.

‘Fatigue,’ I said, calmy, even though Professor Malt’s looming presence was slightly terrifying.