CHAPTER 24 #2
Suddenly feeling like an entitled princess while they slaved away, I slipped off the stool and rounded the island in search of the plates.
It wasn’t easy with three big bodies in the way, but when I found them, I stood on tiptoe, straining to reach them.
A hand came up over mine and plucked four plates off the shelf, then lowered them to my level.
I immediately recognized the hand as Thorne’s, the jagged strands of lightning tattooed on his skin a dead giveaway. Hyperaware of his body directly behind mine, so close that I could feel his heat, I accepted the plates without comment and quickly scooted away.
“As cute as it is to see our little Bambi on tiptoe, we should move the plates to the bottom shelf,” Riku casually remarked, turning off the burner.
“That’s okay,” I rushed to say, alarmed by his suggestion. “It’s not like I’m moving in.” I set the plates on the island, noticing how quiet it had suddenly become. One glance confirmed that all three of them were acting suspicious. I narrowed my eyes and firmly added, “I’m not moving in.”
“Whatever you say, Bambi,” Riku said with a shrug, coming up beside me with a steaming pan.
I held up a plate for him, and he scooped some scrambled eggs onto it.
“But I know you like it here. We have nice beds, hot water, and all the food you can eat. Plus, there will always be a pair of arms waiting to cuddle with you after an exhausting day. And a dick to help you sleep at night.”
“Riku,” Thorne snapped before I could, surprising me.
“Chill, bro. I wasn’t talking about my dick.” Riku winked at me, and I almost shoved the plate of scrambled eggs into his face.
It got quiet after that, each of us dishing food onto our plates in tense silence. More than aware that they wanted me to give in, to move in, I stubbornly set my jaw and refused to comment. One mental breakdown didn’t give them permission to make me stay here.
This little alliance between us was temporary. Temporary.
Plus, I still had to prove myself to the other students, and letting the Arcane Three coddle me more than they already did wouldn’t look good. The other first years weren’t living in Sapphire Wing, so neither could I.
Realizing the topic wasn’t up for discussion, Oz slid onto a stool with a heaping plate before him and said, “I’m curious how you knew where to find Sydney yesterday.”
Everyone froze.
About to take a bite of my eggs, I heard them plop back onto my plate as I stared at the Oracle across the island from me.
Out of the three, I knew Oz the least. We barely spoke to each other, not because he was naturally quiet or had his nose in a book half the time, but because his abilities were hazardous to a witch like me.
His keen observation skills had already made me expose my protection amulet in order to keep him from looking deeper. Now, he was poking at my walls again, trying to expose even more of my dark secrets.
Still standing beside me, Riku took one look at my pensive expression and said, “Maybe we should discuss that later. She’s probably still shaken up by what—”
“I’m curious, too,” Thorne interjected, sliding onto the stool next to Oz. One glance at the determined glint in his eye, and I knew I wasn’t getting off the hook this time.
Slowly setting down my fork, I tried to wipe all emotion from my face before saying, “Intuition. It’s kind of my thing. Something didn’t feel right, so I followed that feeling until it led me to the bathroom.”
The truth. With one huge omission.
Thorne watched me for a beat, then glanced at Oz.
When I saw what looked like suspicion darken the Oracle’s hazel eyes, my appetite promptly vanished.
Reaching up to adjust his glasses, he replied, “Intuition is kind of my thing, too. As an Oracle, I can sense things other magic wielders can’t, namely the spirit plane. ”
I tensed all over. Those keen eyes of his narrowed, picking up on my growing unease.
“When my third eye opened a few years ago,” he continued, “I was able to access abilities like astral projection. Being able to see and sense things beyond the limits of the earthly plane is something only an Oracle can do, so I’m more than a little curious to know how you managed to feel something not of this world. ”
Dear ancestors, he was referring to death. To my ability to sense it. How? How did he figure me out so completely?
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. What could I even say? Not the truth, that was for sure. Darkens shouldn’t be able to sense death, to smell it. Admitting what I could do would only further convince everyone here that something was wrong with me, that I didn’t belong.
“She also said my sister’s spirit haunts her,” Thorne broke the silence to say.
I swung my gaze back to him, my mouth still askew, then shot an accusatory glare up at Riku.
He raised both hands placatingly. “Hey, it wasn’t me. Our couch confessions never left my lips.”
I directed the glare toward the living room, but Comet kept his gaze glued to the windows, pretending like he couldn’t hear. So much for our bonding moment.
Needing to nip this in the bud before they completely unraveled me, I focused on each of them and sternly said, “Look, I feel things intensely and have a vivid, sometimes morbid imagination, okay? Even humans can occasionally sense things, so let’s drop it and finish eating.
I don’t want to be late for the morning assembly. ”
Not waiting for them to reply, I shoveled a huge bite of eggs into my mouth, ending the discussion. After a moment, they dug into their own food, everyone but Thorne.
“About that,” he said, and I felt my hackles rise again.
“I need to prepare you all for something Chancellor Grimshaw told me last night.” My hackles lowered, but the sudden tension in his voice kept me on edge.
“After what happened yesterday with Sydney, he decided to call an emergency board meeting. None of you are going to like the decision they made.”
As he began to share what awaited us in our near future, my heart sank and sank. Nope, I didn’t like this decision one bit. In fact, I hated it.
Things were already complicated here, but they were about to get a whole lot worse.