Chapter Three #2
The image of the angel from her vision was still stuck in her head.
Something about him made her want to keep him a secret.
It didn’t make sense, but she didn’t want to share even the memory of him with the others.
Not until she could purge him from her mind.
She’d known from the moment she saw him that she would end up sculpting him.
She wanted to carve him from marble, to highlight his impressive form and his magnificent wings in their full glory. She wanted to show him with his sword raised in triumph even though she hadn’t witnessed the end of the battle.
The process was exacting. It would take a lot longer to carve him in marble rather than modeling him from clay to cast in bronze, but seeing the end result in polished stone would be worth it. If it came out the way she imagined it would, she could submit it as her final project for the semester.
As they made their way up to the main entrance of the greenhouse, Ava said, “I think I’m going to bail on breakfast. I just want to go home and crawl back into bed.”
“I don’t blame you. I was thinking about doing the same, but now I’m freaking craving pancakes.” Lana sighed. “I also have Demon Studies in a few hours, so it’s not worth taking a nap.”
Ava said goodbye to everyone, then parted ways with the group since she headed in the opposite direction.
The snow was still falling, and she wrapped her thick scarf around her neck and face to protect herself from the chilly air.
At least her house was close by, so she only had a few blocks to walk.
Concentrating hard, she tried whispering a warming spell and breathed out a sigh of relief when it worked.
She had no idea why her magic worked sometimes, but it failed when she really needed it.
That was something she was going to have to figure out, but the problem was she didn’t even know where to start.
A loud beeping sound made her reach into the pocket of her coat for her phone.
She frowned down at it when she unlocked the screen and saw an icon pulsing with purple light.
It was a new app that she damn well knew hadn’t been there a few hours ago.
She stopped walking and simply stared at the pulsing light on her screen.
Despite the warming spell she just cast, a cold shiver ran down her spine.
She debated with herself for several more seconds, then gave in and clicked on the app. The screen turned black before the words Arcane Assist appeared in large purple letters, making her curse. Her fear was now confirmed. She knew what that app was and where it came from.
She just wasn’t sure why she had been chosen as its next victim.
A goddess had created the Arcane Assist app in order to help people, but it was still in the early stages of being tested.
The reason Ava knew about it was her twin brother had been one of the first test subjects.
As strange as the app’s sudden appearance had been on his phone, Remy had been all for it since it had led him to his mate.
The difference was that Ava wasn’t sure if she was ready to meet her mate.
Okay, that wasn’t completely true. Of course, she wanted to find her mate.
But she wasn’t sure it was the right time for it.
Her life was complicated enough already with her magical mishaps.
Adding relationship drama to the mix might just push her over the edge.
Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to ask her mate to deal with her magical mess.
Perhaps she was overthinking things. The Arcane Assist app was meant to help people under various circumstances, just like humans used artificial intelligence chatbots. At least, that was what she had been told. She had her doubts, though.
The gods could be misleading when it came to their goals.
It seemed too convenient that Remy and Starla happened to be thrown together on the first try.
If it wasn’t the main objective, matchmaking seemed to be a lucky byproduct.
Maybe she was just being paranoid, but fate could be tricky.
Still, the magical app had appeared on her phone for a reason, and it wasn’t exactly something she could ignore.
The letters on the screen disappeared in a puff of smoke that blew across the screen, then more words appeared.
Welcome to Arcane Assist-Beta Version, your magical assistant app. Having trouble at school? Need help learning spells, hexes, and charms? Arcane Assist is here to help! Are you in need of assistance?
She hesitated before clicking the big yes button.
It felt like a trap.
Ava wondered what would happen if she just closed the app. If she pretended she hadn’t seen the pulsing icon at all. Her thumb hovered over the edge of the screen, poised to swipe it away. One simple motion, and the moment would be over.
But she couldn’t do it.
Curiosity had always been her weakness. It was why she pushed at clay until her fingers ached. Why she took a chisel to marble and carved away until it revealed its secrets to her. It was especially why she’d followed her brother into trouble more times than she could count.
She had been chosen for a reason. By a goddess, by fate, by whatever unseen force liked to play with people’s lives. That should have been enough to make her close the app. Yet if it was truly meant to help, if it could help give her even a scrap of control over her magic, then it was worth a try.
Fuck it.
Clicking the big yes button, she waited until a new message appeared.
How may I assist you?
The possibilities were endless, but she wasn’t quite sure what to ask for.
Obviously, the magical app knew she was struggling in her magical classes by the leading questions it had posed.
That was a good place to start. Typing in the blank space provided, the first question she asked was if the app knew what was wrong with her magic.
Unfortunately, I am unable to answer that. Is there something else I can assist you with?
She wasn’t surprised the app couldn’t answer that for her. Maybe someone else could, though. She typed out a request for the app to find someone who could help her figure out why she was having problems with her magic.
After a few seconds, she added that she would prefer someone who didn’t go to school with her.
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to tempt fate in case her mate was a student at Trifecta University.
Added to that, she didn’t like the idea of someone spreading rumors about her magical issues around campus.
Pressing Enter , she waited for a response. It took a few seconds before another question appeared on the screen.
Would you be willing to test out our new video connection feature?
Smiling, she pressed the yes button.
Great! I will notify you once a magical tutor has been assigned to you.
That arrangement seemed to simplify everything.
She believed the magical app could find someone who could help her improve her magical abilities.
She needed a mentor to guide her, not some grand twist of fate waiting to upend her life.
Without the risk of awkward encounters or destiny’s meddling, it felt like a safe and straightforward solution.
Satisfied, Ava slipped her phone back in her pocket.
With that settled, the gloom of her day began to lift, replaced by a sense of anticipation.
Even the falling snow didn’t seem to bother her anymore.
Instead, it felt like her walk home had turned into a journey through a magical winter wonderland.
For a moment, it was as though she had managed to outsmart destiny itself.
Admittedly, it was an exaggeration, but the strange sense of satisfaction she felt was undeniable.
It might be a small, fleeting victory, but it offered her a newfound hope.
Perhaps that meant she could finally gain some control of her magic… and her future.