Chapter 20 Raven
Raven
The sight of a fiery dog bounding toward me while students screamed sent me right back to the orchard where ten-year-old me cowered under a tree, utterly terrified.
The rational side of my brain knew this dog creature was a shifter, not a demon, and probably someone’s idea of a stupid prank.
But my magic had never behaved rationally.
It reacted to my fear and burst from me in a blazing inferno.
Tables and chairs around me set alight. Glynda blinked away before she got toasted, and the windows at my back exploded in a violent firestorm.
The huge dog yelped when its tail caught fire.
I guessed whoever had cast a fire spell on him before he arrived ensured it didn’t burn him.
Sadly for him, my magical fire wasn’t so discerning. It burned anything it touched.
Cold water hit me in the face, shocking me enough to dowse the magical flames, and then a tall male pulled me into his arms and we were gone. Blinked away from the dining hall amid a volley of screams and angry yells.
I sincerely hoped he’d stolen me before anyone realized I’d caused yet more damage. The thought of another week of early morning detentions was unappealing, even if I loved the herb garden and glasshouses.
When the world stopped spinning, I opened my eyes to see densely packed trees and deep shadows. The male who’d whisked me away stepped back. He seemed more curious than concerned.
I leaned against a tree while trying not to vomit. Did anyone ever get used to teleporting? I hoped so, or my future sucked big time.
Once I’d recovered sufficiently to stand up straight, I stared up at the male. Glossy black hair curled over his collar, and blue eyes gazed at me. They were so pale they seemed almost colorless.
From the faint smirk quirking his lips, nothing about my chaotic magic scared him, and I saw no sign of burns on his arms or face, despite him diving into the middle of a firestorm to whisk me away.
“You were wrecking the joint,” he drawled. “Just doing my duty as a diligent student.”
I snorted. I somehow doubted this rake did anything unless it benefited him in some way. My gaze took in the swirling tattoos on his muscular chest, clearly visible through what remained of his scorched shirt. Then I focused on his aura.
He had the darkest aura I’d ever seen. Midnight blue with hints of pale lilac. Dark auras usually signaled black magic or evil, but I got the sense this male straddled the line between dark and light.
“Who are you?” I asked after a moment. The skin on my chest itched, an all-too-familiar tugging sensation urging me to step closer and touch the male. I winced as the pain behind my ribs increased. From the scowl on the male’s face, he felt the same discomfort.
He kicked away from the tree he’d been resting against.
“Zane.”
“Why did you pull me away?” Cool rain filtered through the tree canopy, soaking my overheated skin. Steam rose, dispersing some of the magical heat away from my body. The amulet around my neck still felt hot against my skin, but I took comfort from it.
Zane watched my fingers stroke the stone, and his eyes narrowed.
“Where did you get that necklace?”
“You can’t answer a question with another question,” I griped, glancing up as the rain grew heavier. Thunder grumbled in the distance, warning of another incoming storm. Was the academy a lightning rod or something? Storms hit the place with alarming regularity.
Now that the fear had faded, all I wanted to do was sleep. I belatedly remembered I’d missed my tutoring session with Miss Windborne but caring about that took energy I no longer had. I’d make excuses tomorrow morning. If she punished me, then so be it.
Zane huffed with annoyance. “Fine. I stole you away because you looked scared.” He seemed almost as surprised as I was about that. “Now tell me where you found the necklace.”
The forest swayed as a ferocious wind picked up. “We should get out of here,” I said, remembering the fallen trees from the last storm. Being squished by a giant Sequoia didn’t appeal.
“I’ll take you back to your room once you tell me about the necklace.” His jaw ticked with annoyance at my refusal to answer his question.
“Ugh, fine! I don’t know where it came from. I can’t take it off, and neither can anyone else, so I guess it’s imbued with magic. Happy now?”
He stared at my amulet for a moment longer before cocking his head to one side. “Interesting.”
“Not really.” As grateful as I was for being rescued from another disastrous magical incident, his weird behavior annoyed me. “Can we do that thing now?”
“What thing is that, pet?” His smile widened as he stepped closer. An unwelcome spike of lust shot through my core at the same time his aura sparked. The tattoos on his chest lit up, and I realized exactly what kind of magical being he was: an incubus.
“Stop that now,” I growled, surprising myself with the level of venom in my voice. “Do not use your sex magic on me!”
He laughed. “Sex magic? Pet, I’m not doing a damn thing. This is all you.”
“No it’s not! You’re making me… feel stuff… and I don’t like it!” Okay, that was a lie. I really did like it a little too much. Stars above, from his pretty eyes to his smoking hot body, the incubus was sex on legs.
“Look, if you zap me with your sex magic, I won’t want to be your friend.”
The damn incubus caged me in with his arms, pushing me back against a gnarly tree trunk.
His skin burned me, but my magic burned hotter.
It exploded from the place inside my chest and consumed us both in a violet inferno.
All I could see were two blue eyes staring back at me in surprise before the sound of a bear roaring turned off my magical valve and the fire vanished.
When I blinked, my bear had the incubus pinned to the ground. Given the size of Maverick’s bear, I was slightly concerned the incubus wouldn’t survive the encounter, but he apparently gave no shits.
“Ooh, you want a piece of me too, bear?” It took a moment to realize I’d burned all the clothes away from the incubus’s body.
He rocked his hips up, drawing my attention to a very impressive…
wait, why did his dick have metal attachments?
I leaned in to get a closer look while my bear snarled and roared.
“Happy to share, care bear,” Zane grinned before blinking away and reappearing in front of me. He dropped a kiss on my neck, causing me to shiver. Maverick roared loud enough to make the entire forest quake. A flock of agitated birds flew up from the canopy, squawking angrily.
“Maverick, stop! I’m fine!” I yelled. “He’s being a dick!” Of course, my eyes dropped to the dick in question, making the idiot chuckle.
His tattoos flared gold again, but this time, I ignored my body’s urgent desire to mount the incubus and ride him like a cowgirl.
“It’s okay, pet, no need to be embarrassed. My dick can wait for you.” He wiggled his hips lewdly before a clawed paw threw him into a tree. As the incubus lay on the ground groaning, my bear shifted back into a man. Another indecently hot, naked man.
Stars above. This was turning into a real trial. Willow had made me watch the Hunger Games, a human dystopian movie. None of the games had been this taxing. I bet even Katniss would have struggled to manage two idiotic magical males with coyote poop for brains.
“She’s my mate,” Maverick growled, the bear still present in his eyes. “You have no fucking right to touch her!”
But the incubus just laughed. “Oh, I think I do, and you know it, care bear. But that’s a conversation for another day.” Before I could question him, he blinked away for good this time.
“I don’t understand,” I admitted.
Maverick cuddled me closer, protecting me from the rain with his massive body.
“I’m taking you back to my cabin. You’re cold and wet, little witch. Once you’re warm and dry, you can tell me why that fucking asshole of an incubus had you pinned against a tree in the middle of the fucking forest.”
Rage bled through his eyes as fur sprouted along his arms. I sighed. Shifters were so possessive. I sincerely hoped jealous tantrums every five minutes were not in my future, or things would get real old, real fast.
“Please take me to your cabin, my bear.” I nestled my cheek against his furry chest. My words seemed to calm him, for he relaxed almost immediately. I guessed that, for a shifter, taking care of their mate mattered to them. Well, that was fine with me.
All I wanted was some warm clothes, a comfy bed, and at least eight hours of solid sleep.
“I’ll always take care of you, my mate.”
Maverick scooped me up into his powerful arms and carried me away.
The early morning sun peeked through the trees as I staggered into the greenhouse to find Miss Windborne waiting for me, dressed in her usual utilitarian overalls. Fully expecting a severe tongue-lashing for skipping our mental shield lesson, my shoulders slumped in resignation.
She’d been so kind to offer extra tutoring, and I’d flaked on her without so much as an apology. What a horrible, selfish witch I was. If she wanted me to clean the chicken coop for the rest of the year, I would do it. It was no less than I deserved.
“Stop it, Raven. I’m not mad at you. I’m worried.” Miss Windborne’s soft voice cut through my meltdown.
“You are?” I croaked. The door swung open behind me and I sensed rather than saw Glynda.
“Oh, Raven! Are you okay?” She shot toward me and flung her arms around my neck.
“I was so scared after you disappeared!” Stars, now I felt truly awful.
Not once had it occurred to me Glynda might be worried.
I figured she’d go back to her room and forget about little ol’ me and the fire-dog-monster-catastrophe.
If only I could forget about it. When Maverick walked me back to my dorm at dawn, I’d seen the state of the dining hall and cringed. Someone had boarded up the windows, but smoke hung in the air. I hoped there was an earth witch on staff who could repair the damage.
Miss Windborne nodded at Glynda and pointed to some seedlings on the potting table.
“Can you deal with these while I talk to Raven?” My friend nodded. She squeezed my hand, gave me a look that said we’d definitely be talking about everything later, and then strode away. Miss Windborne gestured at a bench in a sunny corner of the glasshouse.
“Let’s sit and talk,” she said in a firm voice.
I steeled my spine and did as I was told.
“From what I’ve heard, your magic exploded last night. Is that true?”
I hung my head miserably. “Yes. I got scared, and it tried to protect me.” A tear slid down my cheek, but I brushed it away, not wanting to look weak in the company of such a powerful witch.
“Yes, I saw a video of the prank.” Her lips thinned in anger. “Certain members of the student body will be punished accordingly.”
“I don’t know why anyone would be so mean,” I admitted. “Or who set me up.”
“That’s not important right now,” Miss Windborne said firmly. I sort of disagreed with her because Maverick had told me he planned to eviscerate the person or persons behind the prank, which made me want to warn them before they died in a gruesome way, but I kept my mouth shut.
“What matters,” she continued, “is that you learn to control your magic better. The whole point of this school is to teach our students how to wield their magic safely. Out-of-control power hurts everyone, and if a magic accident happens around humans, the penalties are severe.”
I knew she wasn’t trying to scare me, but her warning still did.
My magical outbursts were the reason Adam didn’t like me leaving the compound.
While my everyday magic could barely light a candle most of the time, it sometimes burst free in unexpected ways, as if a valve inside me had opened to release the pressure.
Destructive ways.
Adam had never figured out why I had so little control over what little magic I manifested. Honestly, the way my magic worked made no sense most of the time. Other witches and mages could control their magic and do cool things like teleport and create ice sculptures, but not me.
Nope.
“I think it would be helpful for you to have a magical mentor for the next few weeks. Someone to guide you in learning how to control your magic.”
“You?” I asked hopefully.
“As much as I wish it could be me, sweet Raven,” she said with a sad smile, “I simply don’t have the time.”
“Oh.” Miss Windborne was the nicest witch I’d ever met, so I couldn’t help but feel disappointed she didn’t have time to give me extra lessons beyond helping with my mental shields once a week. “I’m sorry I didn’t show up last night,” I apologized after a beat, but she waved her hand dismissively.
“The minute I got word about what happened, I understood. No apology needed.”
I expelled a sigh of relief, happy she didn’t hate me.
“So who’s going to be my mentor?” I cringed, hoping she didn’t say Demelza.
“Alaric Vane is the most powerful mage student at this school, so I’ve asked him to be your mentor.”
My jaw dropped in shock.
Oh. My. Stars.
This would not end well.