The second the thought popped into my mind, Demelza’s hand flew to her chin in alarm. I laughed out loud, and even Glynda smirked.Hilarious.Then I slammed shut and locked the steel door in my head and resolved to put more effort into shielding my thoughts.
The mug of coffee to my left flew up in the air and tipped all over my head. Demelza clapped her hands in delight as rivulets of coffee dripped down my face.Wonderful.Yet another trick I needed to get the hang of. Still, at least it had been tepid, not boiling hot, so I didn’t have to worry about first-degree burns.
“Nice work, Cassie,” she chortled while grinning at her blue-haired witch friend. “A coffee makeover suits the troll.”
Glynda sank down into her chair, her face pale. I sighed. The last thing my new friend needed was more negative attention, yet thanks to me, she’d ended up in the firing line.
“So clumsy, little witch,” a familiar voice scoffed from behind me. “You really need to stop making a mess in here.”
The tether in my chest yanked hard while magic sang in my veins. It took all my effort not to leap out of the chair and climb that hot mage like a tree. What was wrong with me?
“Just making new friends,” I said with a bright smile. “And it was an accident.” Yeah, it wasn’t, but no point in causing a scene. Not until I learned a few defensive magic skills anyway.
When I looked over my shoulder, the mage who’d dumped soup all over me stood there wearing an expression of amusement. His crisp white shirt hugged his torso beneath the academy-issued blazer.
The way his foot tapped incessantly on the tiled floor belied his relaxed posture.
“An accident.” He cocked his head to one side and smirked. “I guess accidents happen a lot around you.” Before I could reply, a glass of orange juice flew over from Demelza’s table and dumped itself all over my head.
Glynda gasped in shock while Demelza barked out a surprised laugh. I had no proof, but from the way Alaric’s smirk widened, this fresh prank was him being an asshole.
I tried not to react, but stars, it was hard. The stabbing pain in my chest made me want to curl into a ball, but I forced it down. Angry magic surged through my veins as more people started laughing.
Why was he being such an asshole? I’d done nothing to deserve it.
A ball of flame jumped from my fingers and hit his crotch. He yelped in surprise when a scorch mark appeared on his perfectly tailored pants.
“Oops,” I said with a smile. “An accident.”
Green eyes flared with rage, but his aura continued to swirl and dance around mine. And when he leaned in so close I could smellthe ozone and smoke-tinged scent of his skin, my magic sparked with excitement.
“Be careful, little witch. I don’t play nice.”
Demelza scowled. “Ignore the half-breed troll abomination. She’s not worthy of your time, Alaric.”
“Half-breed?” Alaric looked between me and Demelza in confusion. “She’s a witch.”
Demelza scowled at being contradicted, but she brushed it off.
“Maybe, but a super dumb one who doesn’t know how to use a fucking phone.” She laughed scornfully. “Only the island trash are that dumb.”
Alaric rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He threw one last smirk at my coffee and orange juice makeover and then sauntered off.
The pain in my chest eased, and I exhaled. The next job on my to-do list was to take a shower and find a laundry. At this rate, I’d have no clean clothes left.
With Alaric gone, Demelza and her crew soon lost interest in tormenting me. Once they’d stopped throwing insults, the other students in the vicinity carried on with their conversations.
Glynda picked at her shirt unhappily but didn’t abandon me, which I was grateful for.
“I’d better clean up,” I told Glynda, grabbing my cheese roll.
“Don’t worry, I’ll sort it,” Glynda said while chewing her lip.
“No, it’s my fault. I provoked her. I’ll go find a cloth or something.” There had to be cleaning stuff somewhere. Drink spillages happened all the time.
Glynda shook her head, and with a quick flick of her wrist, the mess vanished. “I’m sorry, I’d clean you too, but I haven’t learned that spell yet. The only reason I can do cleaning magic is that my mom used to work for a high-level mage and he was an OCD neat freak.”
My mouth dropped. “Wow. There’s a cleaning spell?” Stars, if only I’d known that. It would have saved me so much time back at the compound.
