Chapter 31 Raven
Raven
The text blurred before my eyes. Once I’d read the same paragraph five times, absorbing nothing new, I slammed the ancient tome shut. Kenji looked up mid-snooze from where he lay sprawled on my bed.
“Waste of time reading that.”
“Since you refuse to answer my questions, what choice do I have?” We’d reached an impasse in the witch-familiar relationship. Despite my many questions, he remained annoyingly silent on all things important. Such as explaining the origins of the valuables he routinely deposited in my room.
I’d suspected the kitsune had criminal leanings, and his casual talk of Dog the Bounty Hunter’s imminent arrival was less of a joke and more of a clear and present danger. Unfortunately, the book Professor Oakman lent me contained nothing useful.
The author apparently knew very little about kitsunes and had resorted to making a ton of stuff up. It was the mage equivalent of word salad.
“I need a break,” I huffed. Glynda had gone to read a book she’d downloaded. Some romance featuring morally gray men. I hadn’t asked for details. It sounded smutty.
The sight of my canvas herb bag reminded me I still needed some orange trumpet flowers. Now was a good time to collect some. Since the murders, the campus had been quiet. Everyone was too afraid to venture out after dark, even though the wolves had been killed in their supposedly secure room.
Knowing someone had breached a ward to get to them had freaked me out, but Maverick assured me I was safe.
He refused to say how Zane got to them in case anyone ever questioned me.
I already knew Zane had access to my bedroom, so it wasn’t a stretch to guess he’d done something similar to the wolves.
Those two hadn’t seemed that bright. If Zane had shapeshifted into a pretty female, they would have invited him in for sure.
I pulled a sweater over my tee and grabbed my bag. “Back soon,” I told Kenji, but he just grunted and started snoring.
A light drizzle dusted my face as I trotted across the quad toward the sports field. As I ducked around the corner of the gymnasium, I heard loud laughter, followed by an angry yell.
“Hold him down,” said a voice I recognized. A prickle of anxiety shot through me at the thought of some other poor student being attacked by the wolf shifter who’d tried – and failed – to get the better of my bear.
A sensible witch would have run off to get help from a member of the faculty, but it was late and I doubted any of them were around.
If I’d remembered to pick up the phone Maverick gave me, I could have called him.
Unfortunately, I’d left it back in my room.
Unlike the other witches, who seemed to have their phones permanently glued to their hands, I wasn’t used to carrying a phone.
More often than not, it stayed forgotten in my room.
Gritting my teeth, I followed the path to find out which poor magical Anson had picked on.
When I reached the entrance to the building, seven males had the merman and his troll friend pinned down. It had taken four of them to hold the troll, and from the way they cursed repeatedly, it wouldn’t be long before he escaped their clutches.
The merman was in trouble, however. Unlike the troll with his huge muscles and leathery skin, the merman’s physique was more suited to swimming, which made sense given his kind spent most of their time underwater.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I reached the group. The merman stared at me and shook his head. The wolves had shoved fabric in his mouth to stop him from talking. Or to block his magic. Perhaps the merman could use his voice like a siren?
I sighed inwardly. There were too many gaps in my knowledge. I really needed to read up on the rarer magicals. Or make more of an effort to befriend them.
“Ooh, it’s the witch who burned your dick!” one of the more stupid wolves cackled. Anson shot him a look that promised murder and he soon shut up.
“Fuck off, witch. The coach isn’t here to save you this time.”
I frowned. “Why would I need the coach to save me?”
“Err, she makes a good point, An. She has magic…”
Anson growled as his wolf tried to force a shift. His sickly green aura darkened until it looked almost black. He shoved the merman down and sneered as his muscles bulged with angry aggression.
Was the incubus nearby? Stars above, I hoped so. I could really use his help right now. Also, why were wolf shifters such assholes? I’d not met any decent ones so far.
“She might have magic, but I have a wolf, and he’s keen to rip her throat out,” Anson snarled before his clothes burst and he shifted into a massive black wolf.
The wolf towered over me, its huge fangs dripping with saliva. This was bad. Really bad. Both the troll and the merman struggled frantically against their captors, but there were too many wolves. All of them hyped up on rage and testosterone.
Anger issues seemed to be a shifter trait. I resolved to mention it when I had my first tutorial with the student adviser assigned to me, whoever she or he was. At least I would if I survived. My odds were not looking good currently.
The defensive magic in my chest flared to life. The amulet tucked beneath my tee warmed as I channeled as much power as I could access. It wasn’t a huge amount, but hopefully it would be enough to scare the wolves into submission.
Focusing on the snarling wolf preparing to pounce, I sent a fireball his way. He yelped when it scorched his chest, but instead of retreating, he roared in anger. Two more wolves shifted and began circling me like the predators they were.
The merman slumped as if he’d already given up, and I clenched my jaw in annoyance. Just because my magic was glitchy didn’t make me less of a threat.
Annoyance at having to deal with stupid, pea-brained wolf shifters who had small dicks fueled my magic. It roared to life. Seconds later, a firestorm erupted around me. I heard screaming and smelled the acrid scent of singed fur.
Stars above, this was bad. Had I accidentally incinerated everyone? I tried to pull my magic back the way Alaric had showed me, and after a minute, the flames died down, revealing all seven wolves in their human forms.
The shifters lay moaning and whimpering on the scorched ground. They had all sustained burns, but to my surprise, the merman and the troll remained unharmed.
“Fucking witch!” Anson cried while cupping his dick. I noted with satisfaction that he’d lost all his hair. The burns I’d inflicted were already healing, but hair didn’t grow back in the same way, so he’d be bald for weeks.
As would all his little friends. Little being the operative word. Huh. There was me thinking all shifters were goddess-blessed in the dick department. Only it turned out that the rumor was an urban myth. Probably one perpetuated by incel shifters.
“Thank you,” the merman said after spitting out the tee the shifter assholes had used to gag him. His troll friend grunted something similar.
“You’re welcome!” My gaze slid over the merman’s blue chest. Stars above, the merman was ripped.
Not bulky like the shifters but still ripped, with broad shoulders and defined abs.
Handsome too. I loved how he’d braided his blue hair with tiny shell beads.
His blue-green aura reminded me of photos I'd seen of the ocean.
It swirled around him, pulsing in time with the magic in my chest.
My eye caught on a silver tattoo, but the moment he saw me looking, he half-turned to hide it.
How had the wolves taken down such a strapping male and his troll friend so easily?
It made no sense. Sensing the merman’s embarrassment, I hurriedly reined my interest back in while mentally cursing my overactive libido.
Being a soul-bonded mate of a lusty shifter must have broken me somehow. At least that was my excuse.
“Did the wolves ambush you?” It seemed like the cowardly thing a wolf like Anson would do.
The merman grimaced. “They used a paralysis spell on us as we were leaving the pool building. Probably one they bought from a mage, seeing as how the mages hate us islanders.” My jaw dropped in shock.
I knew the lesser magicals were being targeted by mage supremacists, but I hadn’t expected it to be a problem here at the academy.
“The shifters are stupid because the mages look down on them just as much, only they’re less obvious about it.”
Was Alaric one of the mage supremacists? He could be, but something told me not. While he had been a dick to me, I’d never seen him bully a lesser magical.
“I’m so sorry! That’s awful.”
The merman shrugged. “We knew we’d be targets when we enrolled.”
“Did you have a choice?” I asked curiously as we walked away from the groaning shifters, who still hadn’t dragged themselves up from the ground.
Personally, I hoped they ended up stuck there all night, unable to shift and heal themselves, but realistically, they would all recover soon, so it was best if we got away before they had another go at me and my new friends.
“Yes, of course. Why?”
“Oh, just wondered.” Stars above, was I the only student on campus who’d had no choice about coming here? The minute I thought about the circumstances of my enrollment, I remembered Willow and my witch family.
Not being able to talk to them bothered me immensely, but all I could do was hope I’d see them again.
If I had a phone number, I could have called them, but I didn’t.
I’d looked on social media at Glynda’s suggestion but found no trace of anyone I knew.
Hardly a great surprise given how obsessed with privacy Adam had always been.
“Hulder and I owe you,” the merman said when we reached the dorms. Hulder grunted in agreement. Stars above, they were sweet.
“You don’t owe me a thing,” I replied. “I’m never going to stand by and let someone get bullied.”
“You’re not like other witches,” the merman observed.
I snorted. “No, they have better control of their magic.”
“Maybe they do, but you’ll learn that here.”
“I hope so.” So far, the best parts about being at this school were Maverick, Glynda and finding my familiar. The rest of the experience had been a mixed bag.
“Thank you again, witch.”
Something about his lyrical voice called to me. Pulled at the magical tether in my chest. But I forced the feeling down. I had enough going on in my life without adding a new attractive male to my harem.
Still, it didn’t stop a blush from tinting my cheeks.
“Call me Raven,” I told the merman.
He tilted his head and smiled. “And I’m Kai.” We stared at one another for a moment while the troll male scuffed his toes impatiently on the gravel.
“Hi, Kai,” I replied eventually, feeling like a clueless teenager from the silly human series about vampires Willow enjoyed.
When the awkwardness grew excruciating, I mumbled something about needing my bed and moved to leave. Kai mumbled something awkward in return and then waved goodbye as he and Hulder took the path to the dorm where the lesser magicals lived.
Why they were called lesser escaped me. Just because they were different did not make them less than. Stupid Mage Council and their bullshit laws.
I ducked my head as I entered my dorm building, exhaustion hitting me hard.
Yet again, my trip to collect orange trumpet flowers had ended in disaster, but I lacked the energy to care.
I would try again another night. Even if I no longer felt like giving Alar-dick a nasty case of explosive diarrhea, I knew a wolf pack who would enjoy the experience.