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They both look at me before nodding. “Any progress is good,” Gideon says. “Any amount of trust you put in us is a fucking gift. We’ll take it.”
Hardin snakes a hand around my waist and pulls me into him, brushing a kiss against the corner of my mouth. The metal of his lip ring is a delightful contrast to the softness of his lips. “We’ll take anything you’ll give us, love.” His voice is rough and heated, and I know he means more than just my trust. They will take any portion of me I’ll give them, whatever I’m willing to share with them, emotional or physical.
I want to say more. I want to reassure them I’m working on it, but my stomach chooses that moment to let out a growl that rivals that of a bear, and the moment breaks. Hardin sniggers against my neck before he pulls away and turns me toward my bedroom. “Go grab some shoes and we’ll get you fed.” He swats my ass as I go to do as he said, making me squeal in surprise.
I ignore the flush spreading over my cheeks and the heat between my legs and retreat to my room to dress for the day.
Fifteen
“I finished the book,” I say, dropping the unimaginatively named tome onto the table between us.
“You did?” Fielder’s eyebrows raise as he looks at me, like he’s not sure he believes me.
I nod and hoist myself onto the table, letting my legs dangle, ignoring when Professor Masters makes a noise of protest. “Yep. Multiple times, actually. It’s obvious bullshit.”
His lips twitch as he tilts his head. “The book that all witches use as a basis for learning magic is bullshit?”
“Yep.” I pop the ‘p’ on the word.
“And why would that be, sweetheart?” Gideon asks, sounding amused as hell. At my expense.
I point an accusing finger at the book. “It says that you’re limited to the elemental magic within your faction, but that’s not true.”
Gideon chuckles. “It is true.”
I arch a brow at him and lift my hand in the air between us. “Fire. For Hawthorn, yes?”
“Blade and tether,” Fielder corrects gently.
I roll my eyes before I snap my fingers. Flames spark to life between them. Both Fielder and Gideon leap to their feet, drawing the attention of Professor Masters, who lets out a surprised sound.
A second later, water douses the flames and Gideon is staring down at me, furious. I draw back, not understandingwhyhe’s angry at me. “What did I do wrong?” I squeak out. He must realize how scary he looks because his face softens somewhat and when he grips my shoulders, it’s gentle.
“Don’t do magic until that door is closed.” He jerks his chin toward the still open portal. And I mentally kick myself for being an idiot. Of course, I shouldn’t do that. Not everyone at Septem Stellae is a witch.
Fielder steps up next to me, leaning close to whisper in my ear. “How did you do that?”
Wordlessly, I unbutton the cuff of my shirt and roll it up so that the runes I’d drawn in ink there during statistics are displayed. The one for fire is fainter than the others, like I’ve rubbed the ink away with my fingers or something.
“I was just practicing drawing them, doodling. Nothing specific. Harkins was droning on and on, and I started thinking it would be nice to have something happen to just stop the monotony of his voice. There was this huge gust of wind. It blew practically everyone’s books off their desks. The windows were open, so they all thought it was just a freak gust. But it didn’t come from the windows. It came from me.” I run my finger over the air rune and frown at it. “It was faded earlier, like how the fire rune looks now.”
“Why are we all staring at Rosalind’s wrist? It’s a lovely wrist, don’t get me wrong, but why?” Hardin wraps an arm around my waist and rests his chin on my shoulder as he stares down at the runes on my skin.
“Sweeney just called fire magic.”
He laughs and then scoffs. “No, she didn’t. There’s no way she did.”
I scowl over at him. “I did. And I would show you again, but I got in trouble last time.” I look ruefully up at Gideon. His lips twist delightfully.
Ezra finally joins us, and we’re a complete unit. He also looks down at the ink on my skin, but doesn’t ask about it. As we watch, the faint fire rune strengthens until it looks as fresh as when I’d first drawn it.
Gideon’s large hand cups my wrist, his fingers running over my skin. I can tell he’s trying to work things out in his head, putting pieces together from a childhood of learning witchcraft, and trying to slot this new information into what he’s already been told.
A throat clears near us. We turn as one to see Masters has slipped closer, his gaze focused on my wrist, like everyone else’s. Gideon moves his hand to cover the marks, curling his fingers around my wrist and using his grip to lift my hand and brush a kiss over my knuckles. I’m sure it’s to make the move look casual, but it doesn’t stop my heart from picking up its pace, or my cheeks flushing.
The teacher frowns and looks at me. “Did I see you cast fire magic, Miss Sweeney?”
I’m not entirely sure what to say, because the reaction of the guys indicates it might not be the best thing to admit to. Hardin laughs, his forehead dropping to my shoulder. “Oh, fuck, we got you so good. You should see all of your faces.” He points at them like they’ve been tricked. Likewetricked them. Oh.Oh.Okay, so he’s covering for me.
