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Still smiling, I push to my feet from the couch. I think this calls for a coffee. Shuffling to the stove-top kettle, I fill it up before turning on the gas stove's element with a click, and open my cupboard to grab a cup. That’s when I notice it.That scent. I freeze, hackles rising as it washes over me.Ethan. He’s been here. Letting out a slow breath, I force my body to relax and set my mug down on the bench. I don’t move to investigate until Unicorn snarls from where she’s hovering in front of my cracked bedroom door.
If he’s watching me, I want him to underestimate me as much as possible. And believing that I didn’t even notice that he’s been here? That will tell him that I’m weaker than he assumed. I can tell that he’s not physically here right now by his lack of magical signature. I have enough magic to establish that my apartment is empty, even if I don’t know how to see through glamours yet.
Stepping away from the bench, I walk towards my familiar. “What’s wrong, Unicorn?” I ask. She chirps and lands on my shoulder, growling quietly, eyes never moving from my room. Sucking in a deep, measured breath, I mentally prepare myself for what I might find and nudge open my door with my foot.
My room is almost the same as I left it, except for my window. It’s open, the cool breeze swirling through my otherwise untouched room, but that’s not what has my attention. Even though I know for a fact that the window was latched and locked before I left earlier. No, that would be the photograph pinned to the sill with a bloody knife. Beneath that on my window sill is a thick lock of braided hair, each end tied with a ribbon. It appears to be real.
Swallowing, my eyes narrow as irritation bubbles up in my chest.How dare this bastard violate my space like this.As I stalk towards the window my magic flares, brought out by my strong emotions, but I stagger to a stop when, unlike my usual magic, something strange and powerful bursts to life in my sternum. It sears through my chest, bringing tears of pain to my eyes and I shove the magic down quickly. “What the hell was that?”
My eyes dip down to my chest, tugging my shirt away from my body to check that I don’t have any visible marks on my skin. It was like a searing poker was pressed to my insides. Not pleasant at all. Shaking my head, when I don’t find any marks I focus on the most immediate threat. The photograph, lock of hair, and knife.
My eyes scan it and the window, before I send out a soft blast of my magic to feel for any residual spell or rune. Thankfully that painful experience doesn’t flare again, but unfortunately no residue is there either. Either Ethan didn’t leave a magical trap for me, or he scrubbed his signature from the space. I suppose I’ll just have to take the risk. Shrugging a shoulder, I dip out of the room and grab a pair of gloves and take a picture of the knife, polaroid and lock of hair, before slipping the gloves on. I reach out and tug out the blade, and catch thephotos, then bag the knife. What first appeared to be a single image is actually several all pinned behind the first.
Biting my tongue, I leaf through the photos. They’re all of me and all from a distance. “Looks like someone’s been stalking me,” I murmur to myself. And by someone, it’s clearly Ethan. If what happened last term wasn’t enough for me to point the finger at him, the note scrawled on the top photo is.Getting cosy with the enemy, huh?The photo is one of Corin and I from this afternoon, facing each other, hands linked as we practised joining our magic together.
I grit my jaw and a low growl starts up in my chest. I have no idea what to make of that. Is he trying to let me know that Corin’s the enemy to him—Ethan—or that Corin isthe enemyto me? Or are we both Ethan’s enemy? But if that’s what he meant then why would he specify Corin. Clearly I need to look into Corin more. I don’t like the uncomfortable seed of doubt that Ethan has managed to plant. I’m too cautious to not double check that I know Corin isn’t a threat to me.
Eyebrows drawn low, I drop the polaroids into a separate bag. Then I take my time examining the lock of hair. It’s dark, almost the same shade of black as mine, but seems to have a slight curl to it. I try using my magic on it again, but I come back empty on any residue. The lack of any information from the person it came from is frustrating to say the least. Giving up for now, I put the lock of hair in another bag before setting it, the knife and the polaroids in a magically locked box that’s hidden under my bed. I tug off the pair of gloves and throw them in the bin with a groan.
Wrapping my arms around myself I close my eyes, casting my magic around every corner of my dorm, not leaving anywhere out, not even the empty room that used to be Lexi’s. My magic will pick up anything from hidden cameras and technology to anything that’s been touched by Ethan’s DNA. I come up empty, other than a trace amount of his magic which is lingering all over my dorm. He must have used a spell to cover his other tracks. Just like I would have if I were in his position. With him having done that it makes it virtually impossible to feel where and what he’s actually done in my apartment, which has my skin crawling. I let out a centering breath then, still focused on my magic, and I throw up barrier after barrier around the place, layering them until I have six separate layers protecting the space, all that only certain people have permission to go through. Only me, Unicorn, Lexi, Corin, Dylan and Oscar, for the moment.
The lack of a permanent barrier was a gross oversight on my part, especially when I’ve been leaving my window open for Unicorn to come and go as she pleases. I’ve been using a portable barrier to protect me which leaves my apartment vulnerable when I’m not here, and I have been meaning to put up a permanent one. It was never a top priority of mine—having another barrier keeping me safe anyway—but I now see that it should have been. It seems that time is now.
When it’s done, I fall back to my bed with a grunt and don’t bother changing before curling up in a ball. I do use a cleaning rune to sanitise it though, and the rest of my dorm, just in case. My eyes linger on the ceiling, sleep evading me for the moment even with the exhaustion weighing down my limbs. I bite my cheek, mind racing. I should tell the guys. They were involved in trying to find him last term and proved that they’re willing to help me with stuff like this, but… I blink, irrational anxiety tightening in my gut.
I don’t confide in anyone other than Lexi. Even my parents only know the parts I choose to share about some things, and I love and trust them so much. There are just so many what ifs. What if I tell them and it ends up being too much for them and they leave? What if me telling them gets them all hurt? Or worse,killed. I couldn’t handle that.Can’thandle it. I may have only known them for a few months now, but I’m already fucking attached to them. Enough that I definitely don’t want them to die, or be hurt because of me. What he did to Lexi was more than enough, so if something else happened to any of them, I don’t think I would ever be able to come back for that.
At this stage I’m not telling Lexi either. She needs to focus on her own mental health and getting better. I’m not going to fuck all that up by telling her that the guy who abducted her, is now stalking me. Yeah that would be really helpful,not.
My eyebrows draw down and I suck in a steadying breath, resolving not to tell anyone about it for now. Who knows, maybe this is only a one off?
With that now sorted out, I roll over, tucking my hands under my head and let sleep drag me under.
Chapter Fourteen
Nessa
Fingerstrailacrossmycheek in a feather-like caress and I sigh, leaning into the touch. The mattress dips behind me before an arm curls around my waist and their body heat radiates from them, tugging me back so their hard length is pressed against my ass, only thin pyjama pants separating us.
“Hello, love,” his deep voice rumbles through me and I arch back into him, baring my throat. My breathing picks up at his touch and the scent of clean laundry and old books washes over me. A breathy sound falls from my lips as his hand slides around the top of my throat to loosely grip it. His thumb strokes my jaw in a tender movement and I make a needy sound, head tipping back as need pools low in my gut.
His other hand trails down my body before dipping to the apex of my thighs and I shoot up into a sitting position as I wake up, adrenaline and lust coursing through me as remnants of the dream I just had with Dylan linger in my mind. Skin flushed, chest heaving, and the pulsing between my legs, reminds me that I didn’t orgasm.
As some of the fog from sleep dissipates I glance around my dorm room and sigh.Goddess, I need to get laid. I flop back with a thud, groaning at the arousal still announcing itself between my thighs. Running my hands through my hair roughly, I hold out for all of thirty seconds before giving in. “Fuck it,” I growl.
Rolling onto my side, I reach into my side table and pull out my trusty wand. Good old Harry has been my trusty buddy for a while now.
Having grown up in a supernatural household with people that all have uncomfortably good hearing, I had to get creative and modify a barrier rune that takes little actual magic to use. It soundproofs the room of my choice from others but allows me to hear sounds from the outside.
I quickly activate the runes I already inscribed on the bed head then kick off my underwear. I toss off my oversized shirt and turn on Harry, settling back on my bed. I set the vibrations to low and let my head drop back, closing my eyes as I build off of my dream with Dylan and get lost in the fantasy.
I trail the toy over my collar bone, and down lower, tracing loose circles around my bare breasts as Dylan’s light scruff scrapes against my throat. His minty breath puffing against my shoulder before he places a sharp nip to the sensitive skin below my ear. A breathy sound falls from my lips and a shiver rolls over me.
Goosebumps prick my skin as my core clenches around nothing, and I stop teasing myself, dragging the smooth toy down my stomach. I pass the head over my lower lips, coating it in my wetness before circling my clit. My back arches, heels digging into the mattress as pleasure courses through me and I groan at the sensation.
Dylan’s lips trail along my chest before closing around my nipple and I jolt at the phantom sensation. Ready for more, I up the vibration speed and with how amped up I am it only takes a few strokes before I’m right on the brink of coming. My breathing speeds up and my body clenches, ready to fall over that cliff, when someone knocks on my door.
I jump, pausing for a moment, letting out a strangled sound of frustration, before returning to my actions with renewed enthusiasm.I’m too fucking close to stop now.
