Chapter 51 Raven
Raven
“Where are we supposed to find a pegasus feather?” I groaned. While the grimoire Kenji had borrowed from Montgomery’s office – I refused to call it stealing, as I fully intended to make Kenji return it – contained a spell that might work, the list of ingredients it required was insane.
“Hmm.” Glynda chewed her pen and stared into space. We’d chosen a quiet corner in the human history section of the library, where nobody ever came. The last thing I needed was someone like Demelza listening to my plans.
“Or a mermaid’s scale.” I stabbed the list with my pen and scowled. “Why couldn’t our ancestors have created spells that used stuff we can easily find, like mushrooms or chicken bones? It’s like they tried to make their magic spells as difficult as possible.”
“I’m stumped on the pegasus feather, but we have a merman on campus, so maybe one of his scales would work?”
The thought of asking Kai for a scale had me squirming. It was obvious the merman didn’t want to spend time with me. I’d seen him earlier while crossing campus. He’d changed paths to avoid me. Hurtful, but I could take a hint.
“You could ask him, I guess.”
Glynda looked confused. “Why can’t you ask him?”
Kenji chuffed in amusement from his perch on a window seat. He lay on his back with a plate of sausages resting on his fluffy white belly. When I threw him a glare, he gave me a middle-claw salute.
“Um, I think he hates me.”
“But I thought he saved your life when you fell into the pool? That doesn’t sound like he hates you. When students hate each other, they usually try to kill each other.”
My jaw dropped. “What? Is murder sanctioned on campus?”
“No, but accidents happen. Like the two wolf shifters who died under mysterious circumstances.” The gossip about their deaths had finally died down, much to my relief. I was a terrible liar, and if anyone pulled me in for questioning, I’d spill everything in seconds. Not even joking.
“Yeah, that was, um, sad.” I forced what I hoped was a distressed face while Kenji choked on a sausage.
“Is he alright?” Glynda looked alarmed, but I waved my hand dismissively, anxious to move the conversation on from dead wolf shifters.
“He’ll live.”
“I’ll make sure to shed extra hair in your bed tonight,” Kenji growled once he’d finished choking. “For being so mean.”
“You shed hair every night. It’s hardly a threat.”
“Not my fault my coat’s changing. It’s a sign of maturity.” He preened happily. “Once I turn gray, I can unlock my new powers.”
“Since I don’t know what your current ones are, I won’t bother asking what the new ones will be.
” Honestly, Kenji refused to tell me anything most days.
He was like a vault when it came to kitsune secrets.
I sometimes wondered if perhaps he didn’t trust me, which hurt, but then I remembered he had access to all my thoughts.
“Information about a kitsune’s abilities is only divulged on a need to know basis. When you need to know, I’ll tell you. It’s safer that way. Witches have been killed in the past because power-hungry mages wanted access to their kitsune familiars. I’d prefer it if you didn’t die in a gruesome way.”
“What? I thought kitsunes were incredibly rare.”
“We are, but it wasn’t always the case. Mages hunted us for our powerful abilities and also our pelts.” Kenji’s lip curled up and he growled at something over my shoulder. When I looked up, I saw Alaric on the floor below, searching for something, or someone.
Kenji growled again before disappearing, leaving his empty plate behind.
“Oh good, now that you two have finished your telepathic conversation, we can continue our task,” Glynda said with an eye roll.
I winced. “Sorry, he does ramble on.”
“It’s fine.” She half smiled. “I’m a bit jealous, actually,” she admitted wistfully. “I can’t wait to meet my familiar. My mom says a witch-familiar bond is the closest one we’ll ever have aside from a soul-bond. It sounds amazing.”
“Trust me when I say it’s far from amazing to wake up to Kenji’s butthole in my face.”
Glynda snorted with laughter. “Okay, I can see your point.” She looked over my shoulder and hurriedly closed her notebook.
“Witches,” a familiar voice purred. My magic went crazy when Alaric brushed against me. Tiny flames burst into life before I quickly shoved my hands into my pockets and prayed Glynda hadn’t noticed.
“Alaric,” Glynda said with a tight smile. “Something you need?”
“No, but I hear you need some help with a tier-ten spell.”
I stared at the table while she pretended we hadn’t been discussing pegasus feathers and mermaid scales. “Tier ten? That’s way beyond what we know.”
“Zane asked me to help, so I’m here.” He glanced around. “But we need to go somewhere more private. Tier-ten spells are powerful, and first-years wouldn’t usually have access to that kind of magic. Questions would be asked if anyone overheard us.”
Glynda nodded. She seemed happy to be our spokesperson, which was just as well. I could barely contain my magic, let alone say something intelligent. The mage was pure hell on my self-control.
Maverick must have sensed my emotional turmoil because I felt him in my head. I forced myself to relax so he wouldn’t come looking for me and cause a scene. The mage might be a complete asshole to me most of the time, but I knew he’d never hurt me.
“You have teleportation magic, yeah?”
Glynda’s eyebrows shot up. “How do you know?”
“I know a lot of things. Take us to my room.”
“I can’t go somewhere unless I’ve been there before,” she replied. “My magic has limits until I find my familiar.”
My head snapped up. I didn’t know that. Was that why my magic had become so unstable?
I palmed the amulet that had fallen free of my blouse while pondering this. Alaric glanced down and frowned.
“Where did you get that?” he asked.
“Um, I think it came from my mother. I’ve always had it.” I shoved the amulet out of sight and grabbed my notebook and pen. Alaric’s eyes bored into me like burning lasers, but after a moment, he focused back on Glynda. “Can you take us to the back of the mage dorm?”
She screwed up her nose and nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to teleportation magic. My stomach churned when my feet hit the grass at the back of the mage dorm. Glynda had dropped us by the fire escape, where Alaric had a private entrance.
Entitled dick.
I wondered what it had been like growing up as the golden child of a high-ranking mage. Something told me he’d never wanted for anything. No doubt there had been servants pandering to his every whim, witches falling over themselves to get close to him, and unlimited material things on tap.
It made me feel even more nauseous to think of all the witches who’d had their witchy hands on him. Which was stupid.
I had no claim to the mage. Not one he welcomed anyway.
Even if there was a soul-bond linking the two of us, he’d made it more than clear he would never acknowledge it, and I wasn’t about to be his dirty little secret.
“Come in.” Alaric stepped aside to let us into his apartment. I took it all in with wide eyes. His space was much larger than my room, and a lot more luxurious. But not as over the top as I expected.
He had a sectional couch facing a large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, surrounded by gaming paraphernalia.
A floor-to-ceiling window overlooked the forest rather than the quad, with a small Juliet balcony and doors that opened inward.
The walls were pale gray, and the floor polished mahogany.
A thick rug across the center of the room added a touch of softness to the decor, along with a few scatter cushions in various shades of blue.
The whole aesthetic was masculine but tasteful. Not at all what I expected.
To one side lay a kitchen area, with white counters and navy blue cabinets.
I saw an oven and a large refrigerator, but judging from the stacks of pizza boxes, he and his friends either ordered in or ate in the food hall.
I noted the top-of-the-range coffee machine, which sparked jealousy.
Of course he had a barista coffee machine, whereas I had to make do with the generic coffee served in the food hall.
I spotted a door off the living area, which most likely led to the bedrooms, but I refused to think about where Alaric slept.
“Nice,” Glynda said as she gazed around. “Good to know the elite students get way more creature comforts than the rest of us.”
She seemed envious rather than pissed off, but it wasn’t as if our rooms were damp and drafty. I quite liked my little space. It was larger and more comfortable than the attic room I’d had back on the farm.
“There are benefits to being the Mage Council leader’s son,” Alaric smirked, reverting to his usual asshole self.
The subtle reminder of his status compared to ours dulled Glynda’s shine. Her shoulders drooped, and she stared at the floor while fidgeting with her bag.
My temper rose, and I imagined hitting him with a blast of fire magic. Alaric was no better than we were. Just because his father was all-powerful didn’t mean he had the right to make Glynda feel small.
“Don’t be a dickhead,” I snapped. “You’re the one who offered to help, so if your only motivation is to make us feel pathetic, we’re leaving.”
Alaric recoiled in surprise at the sharpness of my rebuke. Maybe I needed to put him in his place more often. The mage deserved it.
He threw his hands in the air. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you’re inferior. The whole species-supremacy stuff is not something I believe, even if my father spouts such bullshit on the regular.”
“I know we’re not inferior,” Glynda said through gritted teeth. “I may not be the most powerful witch at Starfall, but I have skills.” In a rare act of assertiveness, she held his gaze for a moment before Alaric nodded and looked away.
“Damn right, girl!” Glynda and I high-fived each other. Nothing like a spot of bestie bonding to lift our spirits.
“Yeah, whatever.” Alaric rolled his eyes. “Now show me the spell you’re struggling with.”
Deciding it was best to move on before he told me to leave, I handed him a copy of the spell. Glynda and I had gone through the Hawthorne grimoire, and this locator spell was the only one she deemed powerful enough to work across continents.
We both agreed there was a strong possibility Rasmus had fled to Europe, as that’s where his ancestral home had been. The castle had since fallen into ruin, but he might still be in Romania.
Alaric scrutinized the sheet of paper, giving me an opportunity to admire his sculpted cheekbones, tousled blond hair, and emerald-green eyes. Stars above, the mage was handsome. Almost too pretty for a guy.
Glynda caught me staring at him and grinned.
“Bad idea,” she mouthed.
I pretended to slash my throat and die choking on my own blood to illustrate what I thought of getting naked with the mage. Glynda slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her giggles as Alaric caught the tail-end of my Oscar-winning mime act.
“Do I need to summon a healer?” he asked in all seriousness. “You look like you’re having a seizure.”
“Um, no, all good!” Consumed with world-ending embarrassment, I dashed across the room to examine a small painting of a horse in a gold frame. There was no other artwork in the apartment, so it stood out.
My cheeks cooled down as I stared at the painting. Upon closer inspection, it was seriously bad. Like, so bad, the horse appeared to have a broken leg. Or was that a very long penis? Honestly, it was difficult to tell.
“Wow, this is terrible. Who painted it?”
There was a long pause before Alaric scowled. “My mother.”
Oh. Oops. Kill me now. Glynda stuffed her fist in her mouth and choked. She edged toward the door as if she wanted to leave. Honestly, I couldn’t blame her. If I carried on opening my mouth and sticking my foot in it, Alaric might murder me.
“Well, um, I know nothing about art, so it’s probably amazing! Yeah…” My voice trailed off as I stared at the horse with five weird legs and crazy eyes.
He burst out laughing. “No, it’s fucking awful. My aunt painted it, and Dad made me bring it to keep her happy. I hate the stupid thing, but Arron thinks it’s amusing, so we’ve kept it on the wall.”
I exhaled in relief. At least the drama had successfully distracted him from my embarrassing improv. Dragging my eyes away from the painting, I focused on the stupidly handsome mage and contemplated my life choices.
All of them had been questionable up to this point.
Aside from meeting my bear.
“Have you collected all the ingredients?” Alaric asked with a frown when he saw my attention had drifted away into a sexy and very sordid fantasy involving my bear and… the mage. Bad witch!
I smiled brightly. “We have all the herbs, but we’re stuck on the pegasus feather and mermaid scale.”
Alaric handed the list back to me. His fingers brushed mine and sparks flew into the air, but we both pretended it hadn’t happened. Glynda fixed me with a look that promised I was in for an interrogation later, but I ignored it.
“My father has a few pegasus feathers. I can steal one this weekend. I don’t think he has any mermaid scales, however. You could try asking Kai Seathorne. He’s the male version, but one of his scales should be enough.”
“Will it hurt to take a scale?” I gulped. Honestly, hurting people was more Alaric’s specialty, not mine.
“Yeah.” Alaric smirked.
Goddess, save me. The last thing I wanted to do was cause the gentle merman any pain.