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On cue Aurora appears, that same grim expression on her face and I groan. “How the hell are you and Ethan connected? Why are you helping me?”
All she does is stare and the frustration swells up inside of me, making my hands shake and magic both new and old writhe dangerously inside me. Then I swallow and force out a slow breath, controlling myself. I can deal with this another time, go somewhere to release my frustration. A thought pops up in my head. I should go back to Aurora’s resting place, explore and release the tension in my magic. I just need to let go, plus no one will expect me to go there, so I should be safe on my own.
I blink away my thoughts.Present from Ethan that is probably a body part of some sort, focus Nessa.Scrubbing a hand through my hair, I slap on my game face and give Aurora a nod before following the trail. It leads me to a hollow tree this time, and contains… something. I swallow hard, and blink repeatedly trying to get my brain to catch up. It's a human torso…a child's torso going by the size and choice of clothing.
I steal my emotions, shoving away the horror and disgust, forcing myself to be analytical about this gift just like the others. The head, and arms are missing, as are the legs. The rest of the body—from what I can make out through the clothing they are wearing—is still intact. The same stasis spell is in place, but it’s stronger than the others were, probably because there are all the organs to preserve as well. The torso is dressed in clothing that a young teenager would wear; a baggy black t-shirt, and comfortable shorts. It doesn’t give me much to go on gender wise and I cringe, already reaching for my phone to contact the guy off campus who has been helping me with examining the body parts, and giving me all the information I could possibly need to know about them. Hopefully he’s awake.
I’ve known Ridge for a few years after we crossed paths when I was hanging out in a shady bar watching a Drákon member. We got to chatting and he told me about what he does for a living—examine dead people. He seemed rather intrigued by me and since then he’s been a reliable contact for all things involving dead bodies.
He picks up on the second ring, low voice rough with disuse. “Hello?”
“Why hello, Ridge, how are you going?” I infuse a happy tone in my voice to avoid revealing to him that something is up, but it has the opposite effect.
“What’s happened?” he says, more alert, voice lilting slightly due to his intrigue. Great, I’ve piqued his curiosity. I’m eighty-percent sure the man is a sociopath.
I let out a slow breath. “I’ve been left another present, this one a child's torso… I need your help, I can’t…” I swallow around the lump in my throat and turn away from the body, too many memories of that afternoon.
For a few moments the line is silent before he makes a sound low in his throat, like he’s lost in thought. “I have no problem examining a child. I can be there in ten, just fill me in on your location.”
I let out a breath of relief, tension easing, and relay directions before hanging up. Looks like it’s going to be a long night, or early morning depending on which way you want to look at it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nessa
Itrudgeintomyafternoon class with a groan, scrubbing a hand over my face. I’m fucking exhausted. Exhausted and hungry. Unfortunately, not for food. I was honestly hoping it was all a fever dream, biting Dylan and loving the taste of his blood. After meeting the mysterious guy in the forest, and finding Ethan’s present, I snuck back into my room and promptly passed out, but it barely made a dent in my lack of energy. Lexi and her mate were quiet when I got back, but I could still sense their presence in the dorm so I wasn’t worried.
Knowing that I have some major potential of causing another explosion, I told Unicorn she couldn’t come to the class, so she’s flying around outside the classroom window. As though my thoughts have summoned her, she glides past, black and white skeletal wings shining in the sun.
My mind flashes back to the guy from last night and curiosity picks at me. If he is a student here, why haven't I run into him before last night, especially if he likes to spend time in the forest. I’m there almost every day. I let out a sigh and find a seat, all but collapsing beside Dylan. Of course my first class of the day is potions, that’s just my luck. All of the guys getting a front row seat to my failure.Again.
To make matters worse, as our professor outlines today's task at the front of the classroom, there’s a knock on the door and who should peek his head in but the guy from last night—or well, really early this morning. My eyes narrow on him. It’s a little strange that I ran into him last night and now he’s in the same class as me, but for now I dismiss it as a coincidence. I am exhausted, craving caffeine and about to be put through an entire class of humiliation, so my ability to sugar coat my words is currently missing.
So when the professor gestures for him to take a seat, I wave him over to the spare cauldron at the bench to my right, across the aisle beside me. Spotting me, he grins, brushing his blonde-tipped black hair out of his face and heads in my direction. “Why hello again,” he offers, sliding onto the stool I gestured to.
Corin’s eyes on me from the row in front of us has my skin tickling, but I don’t turn to look at the suddenly tense man in front of me, or Dylan who’s beside me to the left, instead remaining focused on Mr. I-like-to-sketch-in-the-forest-guy.
“Hi,” I say slowly, turning in my seat a little to the guy so I can see his expression properly while I talk to him. “I didn’t happen to catch your name last night.”
He flashes me a grin as he sets his backpack under the bench. “Foster, and yours is?”
I have the most uncanny feeling that he already knows what my name is but doesn’t want me to be aware of that. I don’t let my expression falter, instead I give him a smile, quirking an eyebrow at him. “Nessa, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”
He doesn’t answer—I expected as much—his eyes slide to mine, and my smile kicks up a notch. “So, potions, huh?” I question, voice casual.
“Yep.” He leaves it at that and my lips purse, eyes narrowing. I suppose that’s all I’m going to get for now. Shifting in my seat, I glance forward and find Corin studying Foster and me over his shoulder with curiosity. When I search his expression, I can safely say I have absolutely no idea what the man is thinking. Seems to be common with me.
Shaking my head, I refocus on the task at hand. The potion. Gosh dang, I’m most likely going to blow shit up,again. Le sigh. Smiling to myself, I get up and grab the ingredients I need from the front of the class. The professor has everything written up on the board in large words and the page number for our textbooks, so we can find the method to prepare the potion.
I complete those steps with ease, it’s no different than the theory I’ve studied extensively. It’s now time to add my magic though, I’m preparing for when the potion goes downhill—or explodes—and I fail. Readying myself, I throw up a protective barrier to contain any potential explosions then I try something different. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I’m hoping it will help with my recent lack of control. I visualise my magical core—or I attempt to. Instead of the usual dark blue mass of my magic, I’m shoved away from that part of my mind completely. My eyes jerk open as I suck in a surprised breath.What the hell is up with that? There is definitely something odd going on with my magic still.
I roll my lips in before raising my hands to hover over the cauldron. Fuck it, guess I’m just going to have to do it the same way as I did last time. I call on my magic and once again it’s like there is a brief war inside me, then that new—foreign feeling—magic smashes my old magic out of the way and tries to burst from me and into the cauldron. Before it can though, hands clamp around mine and a hiss comes from their owner as he stops the flow of my magic before it can leave my fingertips. I peek open my eyes, my golden irises darting from his hands curled around mine, up his muscular arms, before landing on Foster's chocolate brown eyes. I swear I can physically feel the men around me tense at Foster’s hand on my wrist, but they wait, watching, ready to intervene if I need them to.
I swallow hard, tongue darting out to lick my lower lip as our magic brushes against each others. A shiver rolls down my spine as a confusing concoction of emotions swirls through me. What is it with this guy? In fact, it’s getting to the point where I’m just gonna blame the Academy. Way too many guys who speak to something inside me and my magic, attend this fucking Academy.
Fosters thumb strokes over my wrist and it jolts me back to the present. “If you do it like that, it’s going to fry your potion and ruin all your hard work,” he murmurs, voice low.
My eyes narrow ever so slightly as they roam his face, trying to gauge how truthful he’s being.I mean, clearly that was the expected outcome, but how the heck did he know that?When all I do is stare, he cracks a smile.
