“The words you’ll learn are loose representations of the spells you’ll cast,” Rowena continued. “Even more important is the intention behind the spell, which will come later. First you must learn to speak the language like a native. Trust me, it will improve your spellcasting every time.”
By the end of the class, we’d written down twenty words that we were to memorize and practice saying. Rowena wrote the word on her board, and then followed it with how it was to be said, breaking each syllable down. It was hard to get my tongue around some of the sounds, and we were warned that if we didn’t master these basic fey words, we’d never be able to move on to the more advanced ones.
Definitely a future Maddison problem.
With two classes under my belt already and no drama to be seen, I was actually feeling pretty damn good about being back at school.
“Lunch now,” I said excitedly to Simon as we left the classroom.
He laughed and shook his head. “I feel your enthusiasm, but I actually have one of my electives now: Ancient Spells.”
“Oh, cool,” I said, almost meaning it. Without Simon I’d be braving the common area on my own. “What made you take that class?”
We stopped walking and he shrugged, stuffing some books into his satchel. “My parents are historians. Record keepers for a prison town near Munich. I’ve kind of developed a love for history from them. It runs in the family. Even my older sister, who graduated last year, is now a historian.” He shuffled his feet. “We all like to know how things originated, you know. Learn about the building blocks for what makes up our modern world.” He jerked his head toward the door behind us. “This is my room, so I guess I’ll see you in our next class together.”
“Have fun,” I said, waving as I walked away.
The history thing was cool. The events of the past explained so much of the present and future. And it always repeated itself.
If only we could start to learn from it, then the world would be a better place.
12
When I reached the commons, it was raining again, and the magical barrier was back in place, keeping us dry. The feeling of spring was gone from the air; it legit felt like late fall. It was messing with my mind—I was not used to living in a place where the weather changed every five or six hours. I mean, I knew there were states in America that often experienced four seasons in one day, but I’d never lived in one.
The other first years I’d been with dispersed, moving with their friends toward free tables. I searched for the closest table that was empty and settled in. Placing my hand on the shield, I said, “Lunch.”
The selections today were all different from last night’s dinners, and I ended up choosing a salad and tacos because they were favorites of mine. I also got some water and orange juice, which arrived immediately.
While I waited for my food, I cast a look around the school, searching for Ilia and Larissa. The commons was not as filled as it had been the last few times I passed through. Now that school was back on, it appeared everyone had different lunchtimes.
There was no sign of my friends, and I made a note to ask them about their schedules the next time I saw them. According to my parchment, I had two hours until my next class, which was a nice little break. Even though I was actually pretty excited to continue with this magic learning thing.
A tingle of energy rushed across my skin a moment before the food arrived, and even though I wasn’t starving, the smell of corn, salsa, and chili mince was enough to have my stomach growling. The Supernatural Academy cooks, whoever they were, made a mean taco.
“You’re at our table, new girl.” His voice was a low rumble and my eyes flew open as I swallowed quickly. I had to tilt my head a long way back to find his face, and the moment I did, I swallowed again. I hadn’t been able to place his face last night, but today I recognized him. The fifth Atlantean.
Jesse was green-eyed, dark-skinned, and a lion shifter. He was one of the biggest guys I’d ever seen in my life, well over six and a half feet and built like a linebacker. He was also really hot. Atlantean-level hot, because I was starting to think that they were definitely their own race of supes.
Before I could break down all of his pretty pieces, I finally registered his words.Their table.
Ah, fuck. Nerves skittered across my insides, making me squirm.
“I didn’t know there were set tables for lunch,” I said in a rush.
Jesse swung himself into a chair directly across from me, and I still had to look up at him.
“We claimed this table in our first year,” he said, “but since you’re new here, I won’t give you too much shit about sitting your pretty ass in our space.” He flashed me a half-smile, the white of his teeth extra bright against his dark skin.
“I’ll move then,” I said, already gathering my stuff together.
Just as I was about to stand, he waved a hand. “You can stay if you answer some questions. You’ve got some of my brothers curious, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to find out some fun facts about you.”
I narrowed my eyes, hands clenching in front of me as I released my plate, letting it clatter to the table. My fear of these unknown Atlanteans faded as a sliver of anger swelled in my chest. “I’m not a sideshow amusement. I just want to eat my fucking lunch. Is that too much to ask?”
Jesse’s smile grew, and then he threw his head back and laughed. “Are you sure you’re not a shifter? Because that sort of fire is rarely seen in the other races.”
Charming and scary.They were literally both.
