Montgomery’s scowl faded away. “Yes, indeed.” He shook his head. “Never mind. Let me get to the point. I’m here about the wolf shifter murders.”
A prickle of discomfort washed over me, most likely a subtle truth spell. Thank fuck I’d paid a fucking fortune for a rune that blocked such magic. A bear could never be too careful.
“Oh? I hear you have Tiberius Vane here. Has he found anything?” I’d met the mage a few times. The man reeked of arrogance and power, the worst possible combination of traits for a mage in charge of tens of thousands of magical beings.
Montgomery pursed his lips. “Not yet. We have a suspect, but no evidence.”
I leaned against my desk and pasted an expression of mild interest on my face. “Who?”
“Not important right now,” Montgomery said dismissively. “I’m here because I’d like you to go over the crime scene. The investigators sent by the Shifter Council found nothing amiss, but I’d like a second opinion.”
I nodded. “Of course. Now?”
“Ideally, yes. I’ve asked Professor Lightfoot to cover your next class.” Lightfoot was a wolf shifter, the nephew of the current Shifter Council Leader. He’d have the students running laps of the playing field while he browsed females on the Plenty of Shifters dating app. The man was a pussy hound. Literally.
“Sure, no problem. I’ll not bother getting changed.”
“Thanks, Wilder. I appreciate your assistance. As you can imagine, given the nature of the deaths, the incident is causing concern within the magical community. Nobody wants a repeat of the Xavian Vanyx case.”
“No, definitely not.” I shuddered.
Montgomery clapped me on the shoulder before leaving. I thanked the goddess he didn’t have a sensitive shifter nose, or he’d have picked up way more than I wanted him to know.
The man was no fool. Like Vane, he came from a powerful mage lineage, which meant I needed to be fucking careful.
Perhaps if I played my cards right, I could send the investigation off on a useless tangent. My mind made up, I stripped and locked my office before heading out and shifting into my bear.
29
Raven
Glynda shot me a curious look as I fidgeted in my chair. My thighs still burned from my bear’s attentions, and since he’d stolen my panties, I was bare beneath my skirt. Stars above, did that make me a slutty witch? Probably.
After the incubus blinked me away, I’d nearly vomited. Unfortunately, instead of taking me to my room, he’d brought me to the library, right at the back of the stacks where the dustiest and most obscure texts lived.
Before I could cuss him out, he’d planted a kiss on my lips and vanished, leaving me with an ache in my chest. Two minutes later, Glynda appeared with a pile of books in her arms. She’d dropped them when she saw me, sending both of us into a major coughing fit thanks to all the dust.
Deflecting her questions about how she’d missed my arrival, I joined her and two other witches for a study session before our next class. Not that I got anything done. Maverick had melted my brain.
“Miss Blackstone. Have youfallen asleep?”
I woke from a power nap to find Glynda furiously stabbing my leg with a pencil while Professor Oakman glared at me. Several witches nearby snickered.
“Um, sorry, no!”
“Then pay attention!” He grumbled to himself while moving books around on his desk. “Today, we’re going to discuss witch’s familiars. Most of you will not meet your familiars until your third year. Some of you may have to wait even longer, and a small minority will never have one because fate decided not to bless you with this special gift.”
“What’s yours, sir?” a witch with long red hair called out from the second row. No sooner had the words left her lips than a gorgeous tabby cat appeared from a door behind the professor. She hopped onto the professor’s desk and surveyed the class with disdain.
“Class, meet Angelica. She and I have been friends for several decades.” Oakman’s eyes narrowed as his gaze drifted over each of us. “My use of the word friend is deliberate. Familiars are our friends. Not tools to make us more powerful, as some believe. The witch-familiar relationship is a partnership of equals. Familiars choose to bond with their witches, so abusing the relationship for selfish means is wrong.”
The cat butted her head against the professor’s hand, and he petted her with an affectionate smile.
“Angelica helps ground my magic, and when I run low, she can channel for me. In return, I protect her from predators and give her all the head scratches she wants.” He cooed at the cat, who purred loudly in return. It was clear to all of us that the two had a close and loving relationship. I wondered whether Kenji and I would ever achieve that. Or why he’d chosen me, a weak elemental witch.
Stars above, it wasa mystery.
“Now, who can tell me about the first witch familiar on record?” Several hands shot into the air, including Glynda’s. The professor began a discussion about the various famous witch-familiar partnerships from the history texts, including Valentina Blake and the eagle who’d saved her life after she fell into a raging torrent of water.
