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I have no way to tell if this is someone else's hand or another limb from the same body, but as this was spelled within a different time frame of the person it belonged to’s death, I have to assume it’s someone else. I growl low in my throat, my frustration getting the better of me for the moment.
Aurora shifts closer in my peripheral vision and I blow out a breath. “What kind of street do ghosts prefer to live on?” I ask as I carefully bag the hands before portaling them to my dorm room. I lift my hands above my head, stretching and turn to face Aurora, face completely serious. “A dead end.”
I swear her lips twitch before she vanishes and I tip my head back to look at the sky. “You can’t give me a break universe, can you?”
Shaking my head I take off my gloves and sanitise my hands before scrubbing at my face. I think it’s time to reach out to some of my more questionable contacts to examine the limbs I’ve been sent. Clearly it wasn’t a one-off like I was hoping.
So much for having a break for a few days…
Chapter Twenty
Nessa
Istridetowardstheforest with my shoulders back and chin held high, Corin by my side. We’ve spent every spare minute of the last two days working on my magic. Our focus has been on how to control it with the crazy power boost I’ve had, but there’s one thing I can’t seem to do now. No matter how many times we practised.
If I use my magic for anything that requires more power than a basic spell, I can’t switch it off after I’ve used it—I’m forced to send it into the academy or risk becoming a living magical bomb.
Corin can’t seem to understand it, and none of the books I’ve read have ever mentioned anything like this happening to anyone in the past.
My lips purse.More stuff to figure out. I’ll just add it to the ever growing pile, right alongside the worryingly quiet—other than his presents—Ethan. I don’t believe that he’s gone from the Academy, well at least I’m pretty sure he’s using somewhere here as a base. So far he hasn’t killed anyone on the Academy grounds again, which means he must be able to get through the barrier like I can to find new victims across the realm via a self-made portal. If he’s fixated on me at the moment, I don’t want him to target someone close to me again. Goddess, I need to check in on Lexi again. I don’t know how or when he’s going to strike next, at this point I’d rather he come directly after me, just me so I can face him head on. All these mind games are starting to irritate the fuck out of me. Not to mention, playing on my guilt. He’s killed at least one person to leave limbs for me.
Blowing out a slow breath, I shove all that back in its box for now, compartmentalising the fuck out of it and refocusing on the challenge we’re about to face. Corin and I’s runes assignment. Unicorn chuffs at me, headbutting my neck. It has me smiling and I give her chin a scratch. “I know, it’ll be fine,” I murmur to her. My steps slow when I catch sight of our professor and part of the class. Mr James has been staggering the presentations over the last several days so we all have enough time to do it properly.
When we reach them, I plop down onto the grass gracelessly, and tug my paper copy of the speech part of our presentation out of my bag. Then I proceed to reread it over and over, until I’m one hundred percent sure that I could recite it perfectly, even if I was blindfolded, spun in a circle and dropped into a half frozen lake.
I glance at the Mountain Man beside me and my brows raise slightly when I find him watching the pair that are currently doing their presentation while he fidgets with the collar of his shirt.
“Are you okay?” I ask, my voice low, but he jolts as though I shouted at him.
He clears his throat and side eyes me with those expressive irises. “Yeah, why?”
I raise my brows as my lips pull into a slow smile. “Because, you’re looking a little nervous there, big guy.”
He scowls—if it’s at the nickname or the insinuation that he has feelings, I’m not sure—but it has my shoulders shaking with silent laughter. I scoot closer to him and nudge his side with my elbow, grinning. “It’s okay, everybody gets nervous sometimes.”
Unicorn chitters at me before leaping onto Corin and strutting along his broad shoulders like she owns him. His disgruntled, but amused look sends me into another fit of silent giggles and I have to turn away so I don’t offend the pair finishing up their rune circle demonstration.
That has my humour fading. We’re up next. As though I’ve summoned it with just the thought, polite applause erupts around us and our professor stands from the stump he’s been using as a seat. “Corin and Nessa, you’re up.”
I get to my feet as does Corin, and we head to the front of the class, calm falling over me. The build up is always worse for me. It gives me time to second guess every little detail. So once we’re standing in front of everyone, that all fades away and I clear my throat, about to start when Mr James interrupts. “You’ll need to set your familiar aside before you start so they can’t influence your magic. It is policy.”
I blink, then ask Unicorn to do as he says. I wasn’t aware that familiars could have that much influence over your magic—another thing to research—but I have no problem asking her to watch from a few feet away instead of on Corin’s shoulder.
The vixen gives a little growl before leaping away from Corin to glide down to the space beside where the professor is seated and shifts, growing until she’s towering over him. My eyes widen and I take a step towards her as she opens her giant maw, sharp teeth glittering in the sun, worried she’s going toeatthe rune professor. His complexion goes whiter than Aurora as he stares at her, but after making a sound of discontent she settles in, turning her head to watch us.
I let out a breath then launch into my part of our spiel, “Good morning everyone. Corin and I have come to you with what we believe is the answer to the human world’s deforestation crisis…” We continue on, explaining their issues and how we’ve incorporated many things into our rune circle that would help, if supernaturals ever choose to.
“… so with all of that in mind, we created this rune circle and are here to give you a demonstration on how it works and show you what it’s capable of,” Corin finishes. He then walks with me further back to a patch of dirt and crouches down. I copy his movements and trace our rune circle in the soil, careful to make sure it’s exact. It would suck to mess up because of something that could have easily been avoided. Once that’s done, I finally drag my eyes to his, our gazes locking. Swallowing hard, I take a moment then let out a shaky breath, settling into a cross legged position. Holding out my hands to Corin, he takes them, the skin of his palms warm and calloused against mine. I vaguely register the professor putting up a barrier spell between us and the class, then the forest is all that I can hear.
Magic pounds through me the second I try to call it and the moment I release my hold on it, it snaps into Corin, greeting his power like they’re old friends. My eyelids flutter as pleasure rolls over me, just like the last time we connected, and my mouth parts. I find the thread of earth magic below us and grip it gently, weaving it into our magic then funnel it into the rune circle between us. The moment of truth. It lights up like a green beacon, but I don’t let my eyes leave Corin’s swirling ones. Even when the scent of rich earth, running water and the air before a rainstorm bombard me.
The rune circle amplifies the connection between us, along with the earth magic dozens of times over, until I can sense the spider web of fine strings that interconnect beneath all of the trees, at all stages of life, even those that are merely seeds waiting beneath the soil to sprout. I choose to aim the rune circle’s power at the trees in our immediate radius, which encompasses about twenty-five trees.
Once I’m locked onto them, I pulse Corin and I’s combined magic to them, watching as it rolls down their magical threads like blue and gold waves. The earth magic's delight is immediate and I smile, basking in its thanks before carefully severing my connection to it. Then I go to do the same with Corin, only to pause, panic rolling through me at the thought for some reason. My hands tighten around his and a strangled sound escapes me. My breathing speeds up, chest constricting.
Rather than get upset with me for my weirdness, Corin sends a flow of comforting magic into me and my skin tightens, goosebumps erupting on my limbs. His thumbs start to trace patterns on my wrists and my eyes pop open, once again clashing with his. I scan his features with confusion at the emotions running rampant through me, but it breaks the spell and I’m able to separate our magic, and I slowly remove my hands from his, missing his warmth immediately.What the hell is happening right now?
I’m drawn out of my self-reflection when I catch sight of the class and our professor. He’s watching us with wide eyes, his mouth ajar as though he too is struggling to process what the hell is going on. Yeah, same here buddy. Swallowing hard, I try to shake off the lust that’s still coursing through my veins, along with the echo of Corin’s magic. A pang hits my chest and I have to curl my nails into my palm hard to keep from reaching out to him, a fine tremble working its way through my body.Yeah, that’s some confusing stuff. What the hell is going on with me lately?My brows furrow only to practically touch my hairline when I become aware of our surroundings.
