Axl laughed, a low, husky chuckle. “Yeah, Asher grew up in the water. I mean that literally. Before his parents died and then after, because no one could keep him out of the ocean. Somehow he found Alex as a hatchling. It’s like … the odds are almost incalculable, considering the rarity of these creatures.”
He shrugged and went back to his book, but I knew the truth. It was fate. Alex and Asher were meant to be together, for whatever reason.
Ready for my next study, I pushed those books aside and dropped my hand on the table again. “Jessa Lebron.”
I expected even fewer books with her in them, but twenty books zoomed off the shelves, flying through the air and neatly stacking in front of me. “Whoa, okay.” Amanda hadn’t been kidding about the famous thing.
I reached for the first on the stack, flicking through quickly to find it detailed the Lebron family lineage. It spoke of her father and grandfather, who were powerful shifter alphas. Jessa came from a long line of famous wolves. The next few books were similar, and then I got to the ones on the dragon marked.
I was mesmerized, reading for over an hour about the race, which was persecuted and locked away to prevent the rise of the dragon king. Fate decided he would rise though, and there had been a great battle.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, and Axl was immediately focused on me.
“What?”
“Jessa had a dragon,” I said softly. “She used to be a dragon and a wolf shifter. Like … at the same time.”
Axl held his hand out and read the page I’d been up to. Jessa had to sacrifice her dragon soul at the end, and now that dragon was the queen of all beasts in Faerie. I mean … what the fuck? No wonder she could fight.
“She’s been through a lot,” Axl finally said, reading it much faster than me. “Kidnapped, tortured, her sister going through all of that too. I’ve heard she’s very tough.”
I shook my head. “You have no idea. She’s teaching my Advanced Attack and Defense, and she is legit chick goals.”
Axl looked confused and amused as he handed the book back.
The rest of my time was spent studying the Lebrons and Compasses—when I asked for books on them, I got about fifty. Apparently being the first natural-born quads to possess the souls of all four races was kind of a big deal. No wonder they ruled the American supernaturals.
“So Jessa’s twin, Mischa, was kept in the human world with her powers blocked,” I said after sending all the books back. I was still deep in thought, and something told me I wasn’t going to make the gym tonight. My mind was occupied with everything, and my body itched to swim. It was how I dealt with stress and information overload. “I wonder if she’s close by as well. I’d really love to talk to her about how she dealt with it all.”
Axl gave me his full attention, which was quite the feat since he usually couldn’t tear himself away from his studies. “I’m not sure she’ll be able to relate quite the same. From what I read, she’s pretty much a normal wolf shifter, while you’re something very much more than normal. You’ve come so far from the early days of having no idea who you were … powers locked away. You fit in now like you were born and raised a supernatural. I don’t think this Mischa could do much but commiserate with you about the early difficulties.”
He had a point, but I still thought it might be nice to have someone who understood everything I’d gone through. Or at least some of it.
Waving goodbye to Axl, I left the sanctuary of the library and was surprised to find it was dark outside, and freezing as snow fell about the Academy. Sometimes the random weather changes werereallyrandom.
It would be fine once I made it under the magical barrier of the commons, but I had to make it there first. Ducking my head, I rushed along the path and through a few archways before warmth engulfed me from magical fires that had been scattered around the commons, staving off the cold. Music was playing, small nymphs and fey singing in their melodic voices over in the corner.
I headed for our table, ready to eat everything I could get my hands on.
Asher was the only one there; the tables on either side of him were empty. Usually everyone got as close as they could to the Atlanteans, but since the Clovers were disbanded, pretty sure the other students thought their table next to ours was cursed.
I had no idea why the one on the other side was free. Maybe Rone was here earlier. His glare was a great supe deterrent.
“Hey,” I said as I slid in next to Asher, almost gasping as his power collided with mine. I wasn’t sure I’d ever forget how it felt when our powers first exploded. Even now, when the two mingled together like old friends, it still shocked me.
Asher, who was reading an old parchment, lifted his head and smiled that perfect grin, those dimples slamming into my lady parts and bringing them to life.
“Hey,” he said softly, leaning over to press his lips to mine. He started to say something else, but just as his mouth opened, the barrier above us fell. Before I even had time to look up, a slash of bright light—lightning?—struck the pair of us, blasting us apart. It happened so fast and then I was flying through the air. Heat burst to life inside me, and one thought registered just before my head slammed into the table and I was knocked out cold.
Asher pushed me out of the way.
12
Iwoke to an aching head and sore tongue. I had apparently bitten it, and now it was fat and half filling my mouth. “Open up, Maddi,” the healer said. The blond, curvy woman was a witch I hadn’t met before, which was odd, because I’d spent a lot of time in the herbalism wing last year. “I can’t help you if you don’t open up.”
Since I was desperate to find out what had happened to Asher, I did what she asked.
The warmth of her magic washed over my face and into my painful spots, and within a few minutes I felt back to normal. “You got lucky,” she said conversationally. “The male they brought in received the bulk of the blast. Looks like you mainly just got an outer hit of energy.”
