“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 anythingmost 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 youneed?”
“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.
