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27
Raven
“Luka.”I waved to the incubus as he approached Professor Halifax’s door. The others were already inside but I wanted to check on him again after this morning’s gym class. He hadn’t come to lunch and I was worried about him.
His brow furrowed when he saw me and he hurried over to where I was standing. “You okay?”
“That’s what I was going to ask you,” I said. “You didn’t come to lunch.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I needed some space.”
“From me?” I asked, surprised the words came out. They sounded needy, like I was making it about our relationship. “From my magic, I mean?”
It had weighed heavily on me since not seeing him at lunch. Our magic had connected in gym, there was no denying that. I wasn’t sure how much of what he did was because of me. I was pretty sure I’d sent him extra magic.
Watching him look so uncomfortable had sent a shockwave through me. I had to help him and while I didn’t mean to send my magic, it was the result.
“No,” he said. “It’s just that nobody knew that I could control people like that. It’s not exactly a welcome skill set.”
“What about other incubi? Can they do that?” It seemed like it would be a normal thing for an incubus. They could create dreams and travel into the dream world. Being able to make people physically respond while sleeping didn’t seem too far of a stretch.
“Not really,” he said. “It’s something my family can do but most incubi can use fire elemental magic and manipulate dreams. They can’t transfer that to a physical body.”
“But your family can?” I asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“So why would anyone be surprised?” I asked.
“I guess I didn’t want them to know,” he said. “I know it sounds stupid, but it’s not a power I enjoy. I’ve seen it abused. Nobody should lose their free will.”
“I agree,” I said. “But we know you’re not going to do that.”
“I did it today,” he said. “I was trying to avoid it, but it just sort of happened. I lost control. I haven’t done that since I was a kid.”
There was more to this story than I was getting. “What happened, Luka?”
“Please don’t make me talk about it now,” he said.
“Help me understand then,” I said. “Help me know what I can do to make you feel better.”
“You can’t give me access to your magic again,” he said. “I can’t be trusted.”
“Luka, that’s not true. I trust you with my life,” I said.
He shook his head. “If you knew what I did, you wouldn’t be saying that. Just promise me, will you? Promise me that if we have to, you share your magic with Ben or Matt or Zach. Anyone besides me. There’s something unstable in me and I can’t lose control around you.”
My heart ached seeing him like this. I wanted to help. I wanted to heal him. Luka was usually so carefree and sarcastic. Whatever had happened in his past was something so dark that even he couldn’t laugh it off. I wanted to protect him and wished that I could erase whatever was causing him pain. “Okay, Luka. If that’s what it takes, I’ll share magic with the others before I give it to you.”
“That’s not what I asked,” he said.
“I can’t promise that I’ll never share it with you,” I said. “You have to know how much you mean to me.”
He nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it. Life or death only.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Now, is there anything I can do to cheer you up?”
He grinned. “I can think of several things but we can’t really do any of them in this hallway while the others are waiting for us.”
