34. Chapter 33
Nightmares plagued her sleep for most of the night.
Every time she closed her eyes, her mind would replay Briar’s attack until she jolted awake or barely slipped into consciousness for a few seconds before drifting off again.
But Ezra calmed her each time. The last time she startled awake, his magic brushed against hers and soothed every nerve and thought.
And for a few hours, she slept peacefully.
When she woke next, the sun shone in her face from the window next to her bed.
She slowly came to, yawning quietly as her eyes blinked open.
Then she froze. A heavy, burning-hot weight was around her waist. Even breaths fanned against the back of her neck.
And with a shift of her hips, Ezra was only a few inches away from her.
Her shirt had ridden up at some point during the night, and his hand curled gently around the curve of her stomach.
With another move of her hips, she could feel him hard against her.
Her body stiffened, and she tried to move back.
He’d probably be…well, knowing him, he’d likely be arrogant with what he had down there.
As she moved again, he shuffled behind her until he paused.
His hand loosened its grip, and he pulled back quickly with a tired groan.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Ivy. I didn’t mean t—”
“It’s okay,” she said, clearing her throat and flipping over to face him. He’d already sat up to get some distance between them. His curls were wild and stuck out at odd angles as his face reddened.
“You’re sure?”
She nodded. “It was nice. The cuddling…I mean.”
“Yeah,” he murmured, his lips stretching into a smile.
“It was, wasn’t it?” He settled back into the bed, and his hand cautiously slid over her hip.
His eyes, still laced with sleep, looked at her as if he were seeking permission.
She inched closer, and he slung his arm around her again, his hand resting against her back—notably, above her shirt.
“Are you…?”
The word he was searching for hung in the air.
Okay. Alright. She was neither of those things.
What happened last night would never leave her memory.
The five masked people. Briar hiding out in the forest. Her attack.
Rhea working to keep those secrets. She wasn’t convinced finding Briar before she was supposed to was what led to the events last night.
It could’ve happened at any point had Rhea been late in bringing her more potions.
Briar must’ve had protective enchantments on her hideout, constantly draining her of magic, which led to her being unable to fight back.
“No,” she whispered, her hand sliding beneath her cheek against the pillow.
Ivy recounted what happened to Ezra, pausing whenever tears sprang.
She wasn’t sure how much she had left inside.
But as she told him the story, his hands moved in gentle strokes on her back while he listened.
“I watched her get attacked. I just stood there and watched beneath Rhea’s stupid spell. What if I—”
“Ivy, you were outnumbered,” he said. “She was right in keeping you hidden.”
“I could’ve tried to stop them.”
“And they would’ve taken you, too.” His voice cracked slightly, and his fingers gripped the back of her shirt. “And you said your hand hurt while it was happening?”
“Yes.” She pulled her hand from under the sheets, unfurling her fingers to show him the scar across her palm.
“After I became friends with Briar, she…she said she found a protection spell in a book, but it required us to mix our blood. We went into the woods behind her house…I don’t remember anything else after that.
When I tripped into those mushrooms by the lake, it showed her cutting our hands open, though it could’ve been a hallucination. ”
“So you did some kind of ritual together.” He slid his hand from her back to take hers, and his thumb brushed against the scar. “Clearly it did something, except I’m not sure if it was for protection like she said.”
“Why were we so naive?” Ivy sighed, watching as he continued to caress her palm. “Messing with blood magic…stupid and illegal.”
“You were fourteen,” Ezra snorted. “As far as we know, whoever took Briar is unaware of your connection. We can use that to buy time to find out more about what’s happening. As much as I hate to admit it, considering they’ve been sending you those letters, both Briar and Rhea gave us that much.”
Ivy scowled. He was right. Again.
“You hate when I’m right.” He grinned. That dimple of his appeared, and before she could think better of it, she pressed her fingers against it until her entire hand cupped his cheek. “You’ve wanted to do that for a while, huh?”
“You’re so annoying,” she said, rolling her eyes.
His hand slid to her waist, his fingers caressing the bare skin, igniting sparks as they met. He raised his eyebrow. Was he actually expecting an answer to his question? How cocky could the man be?
“Fine, yes,” she said. “It’s been driving me crazy.”
“In a good way, I hope.” His voice lowered, and she tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat.
His grin softened into a lopsided smirk, but the small dip in his cheek was still there beneath her fingers.
While the first thing she’d notice about him was his eyes, his lips were just as captivating.
When he wasn’t smiling, they’d rest in a down-turned shape.
His lower lip was slightly bigger than the top, which had a gentle slope in his cupid’s bow.
Her thumb brushed along the edge, and he tensed under her touch.
They were soft, and she couldn’t help but let her mind imagine how they’d feel against hers.
Would he kiss her slowly? Or would their first kiss brim with fire and need?
She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious.
“Ivy.”
Her name on his lips was like a spell—mind-altering and intoxicating. She could get addicted to the way they curled around the letters. And how his lids were half-closed as he flitted between her eyes and her mouth.
She bit her bottom lip, and his hand gripped her tighter. “Ezra, I—”
Her door swung open with a loud creak. “Hey, Ives, are you o—” Maeve said, but cut herself off as soon as she spotted them. A smile stretched across her face, and dusty pink came to her cheeks. “Oh, I, uh…I didn’t know you were busy.” She closed the door with a giggle.
Ezra’s hand loosened as he shook with laughter.
She joined in with him, her hand falling into the small space still left between them.
Whatever moment they found themselves in was gone for now.
Perhaps it was for the best. She shouldn’t get distracted, especially with Briar in actual danger.
She wouldn’t let herself get pulled into these feelings. Even she couldn’t believe that lie.
Later that night, the four of them sat in her living room studying.
It was partly to distract herself from what had happened the night before.
Not that it was working. She had reread the same page of her alchemy textbook at least ten times already.
Her mind would play Briar being taken over and over again, as if she were rewinding a movie.
No matter how many times she rewatched it, she couldn’t tell how they took her.
It was as if she were pulled into the ground by their magic.
Ivy didn’t understand how it was possible.
Maybe they obscured everything enough for them to move her.
The last exam floated back to the forefront of her mind.
She knew there was a tunnel there. And Briar confirmed that they existed somewhere.
But was it real? Or another illusion? She needed to know for sure.
She closed her book and tossed it to her side on the couch before standing.
Maeve glimpsed absent-mindedly at the disruption, and it wasn’t until Ivy neared the front door that the others snapped to attention.
“Where are you going?” Maeve asked.
Ivy slipped her shoes on and knelt to fasten the buckles. Her clunky Mary-Janes weren’t the most practical for finding a secret tunnel, but she didn’t want to delay. “The exam hall.”
“What? Why?” Ezra asked.
Rustling came from behind her, and by the time she stood again, the three of them surrounded her.
“I’m finding how these students are being taken,” she said, reaching for her jacket.
Maeve placed her hand on top of Ivy’s and shook her head. “The blueprints don’t show nothing on them,” she said, her voice panicked. “We don’t know what kind of magic’s in there outside the exams.”
“We could get pulled into anomalies or get lost,” Liam added.
“That’s all nice and logical,” Ivy said tightly, shaking her head at them. “But Briar said there were tunnels right before they took her. She was there, and all of a sudden she was gone. She couldn’t have disappeared into thin air. There has to be something.”
Ezra placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ivy, it—”
“And at the last exam, I saw a tunnel. I know there was one, and someone was watching us from inside it,” Ivy said, her voice growing louder and more frantic. “I can’t keep sitting here and waiting an—”
“Ivy,” Maeve interrupted. “I get you’re hurting. But putting yourself in danger ain’t gonna help.”
Tears clouded her vision. She knew Maeve was right. She hated being…useless. Briar was right there. Ivy could’ve helped. She could’ve protected her. Wasn’t that the point of the ritual?
Then a pair of arms wrapped around her. Maeve pulled her into a hug. Her raspberry body spray clung faintly to her soft curls. Ivy wrapped her arms around Maeve in return and let her tears fall quietly.
“We’ll think of a plan,” Maeve said, her voice calmer. “The next exam is only a couple of weeks away.”
“We can have a look about, see if we can find anything,” Liam said, cocking his head to the side and chuckling. “So long as murderous creatures aren’t attacking us.”
She pulled back from Maeve’s embrace, smiling, though she knew it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m sorry, I guess I was being reckless.”
“You don’t need to be sorry for this, Ivy,” Ezra said, his voice soft. She glanced over at him as his hand slipped into hers. “You’ll find her again. We’ll make sure of it.”