Boon sighed. “Yeah. Give me twenty-four hours.”
My bear grumbled, unhappy about waiting that long, but I wasn’t about to push my luck with Boon. He could easily tell me to go fuck myself if he felt like it.
“Fine. Call me on this number when it’s arranged.”
“A thank you wouldn’t go amiss, you grumpy bastard. So you going to tell me why you want a job at Starfall after all the bitching you did back in the day about elitist pricks?”
“No.” I heard him chuckle as I ended the call. Hell would freeze over before I told him my soul-bonded mate was a witch. The asshole would never let me live it down.
5
Raven
Dozens of pairs of eyes stared at me when I walked into the common area of our dorm house. A few of the witches sitting on chairs and sofas seemed friendly, but most looked wary or downright hostile.
Not at all comforting, but maybe this was normal. I had no reference point to compare against since Adam had never let me enroll in the local school.
“Hi,” I said breezily, trying not to feel self-conscious in my academy-issued pink sweats and sweatshirt as my gaze drifted to the table of snacks along the back wall. My stomach grumbled loudly, reminding me I’d eaten nothing all day. Where was a witch supposed to find food anyway? Maybe they expected me to conjure my own food out of the ether? I almost snorted at the thought.
“Raven, hey.” Moira, the witch who’d showed me to my room, appeared from nowhere. I blinked in surprise. How did she do that? The mage had performed the same trick. Was this advanced magic?
Moira smirked, and I realized I’d voiced that one out loud.
“Not advanced magic, no. Some witches can teleport instinctively. It’s useful for sure.” She scanned me from head to toe. “You might find you have that skill once your full powers are unlocked.”
I shook my head sadly. “Nope. My powers are weak.”
A few of those listening to our conversation lost interest at that point. I guessed they were the elitist types who only fraternized with the more powerful magicals. Well, that was fine with me. I planned to serve my time and keep my head down. The sooner I could graduate, the better.
“Don’t be so sure, Raven,” Moira said. “Starfall doesn’t take the weakest students. Those people go to a mainstream magical school. If you’re here, you’re in the top five percent of witches in terms of power.”
That made no sense. Adam always told me I could barely light a candle. And given I’d had zero success at doing the more complicated spells, I’d believed him. He had no reason to lie to me. A more powerful witch would have been far more useful to him. As it was, I’d always been a burden. Another mouth to feed.
It was why I’d put so much effort into learning about herbs and the natural world. I figured if I knew how to use the herbs and plants we had access to, I could help with the potions we made and sold.
“The mage who brought me here must have made a mistake.” I shrugged.
Moira shook her head. “Okay, whatever. Guess we’ll find out once you begin lessons.”
“Even if she does have some power, she’s way behind now, so it won’t matter,” scoffed a pretty blonde witch sitting nearby. Her gray aura told me all I needed to know. She flicked her shiny hair over her shoulder and smirked. “We don’t need more weak witches at the academy.” I noticed a small, mousy-looking witch with a soft peachaura cringe at the blonde’s words before she shrank down in her chair and hid behind a book.
“Fuck off, Demelza,” Moira snapped. “Nobody asked your opinion.”
Demelza glared before casting a spell at Moira. A cushion burst into flames next to Demelza. She shrieked before someone threw water over the mini inferno.
“You reap what you cast, bitch.”
The blonde cussed up a storm while furiously mopping up water from her scorched, wet white jeans. Her aura darkened ominously.
“You’ll pay for that, you ginger whore!”
“Goddess, please do try to come up with some new insults before tomorrow,” Moira said with an eye roll while I tried not to laugh. So these two were not friends. Interesting, but also unsurprising. Demelza seemed unpleasant. Probably not best-friend material. Oh well. I’d try to find less nasty witches to be friends with.
“Sorry about that,” Moira said with a sigh. “Demelza has a personality defect. Ignore her. She’ll most likely leave you alone.”
I tried not to frown. Catching the attention of a bitchy witch was hardly a good start, but not my most pressing problem.
“Is there somewhere to get some food?” I still hadn’t read the student handbook. After sleeping for hours, it seemed a poor use of my time when the day was almost over.
