“Calm,” Alice whispered, placing her hand on their arms—she’d sat between them to settle their ire. “We’re all upset, butwe need to get it together. Trev, you’re two seconds from starting a fire with Jensen fanning the flames.”
Trevor turned to glower at her, but Alice was just too sweet. “Okay, fine,” he groaned. “You’re right. I just... I don’tlike that guy. He’s not to be trusted.”
As he said that, his flinty eyes met mine. “Zero percent trust here,” I said, holding my hands up to profess my innocence.“Actually, is there aless than zerofigure I can use? Because that’s where I’m at. He’s clearly an asshole, and I prefer to spend my time around people withsouls.”
A devastatingly gorgeous, broken asshole.
Trevor held my gaze for a few seconds, before he finally relaxed. “We’ll see,” I heard him mutter, as he turned to face thefront.
As the hall grew crowded with witches and warlocks, the college faculty filed onto the stage to sit in a long row off to theside. There were thirty at least, but no sign of Dad, who must not have returned from Mom yet, allowing me the illusion ofbeing a college student a little longer.
The noise of the room died off when Headmaster Gregor stepped up to the small podium on the stage. I’d seen photos of himin the Weatherstone brochure, and he looked exactly as I’d expected: a small, wiry man in his sixties with dark skin and afull head of graying hair. He pushed his thin-framed glasses up on his long nose and swept his gaze across the hundreds ofstudents in the hall.
“Welcome,” he said, voice clear and echoing, his magic amplifying the sound so we all could hear. “Welcome to the new year of Weatherstone. I’m pleased to see so many strongmagical families returning, and an exemplary influx of freshman.” He straightened his orange tweed jacket, and if I hadn’t known he was a powerful necromancer, I’d think he was a librarian with how bookish he presented. “Weatherstone will be the home where you find your affinity and coven. Don’t waste your time here, use these years to build on your natural gifts and form magical alliances. For you’ll need these in the future.”
Alliances were everything in our world. Weatherstone gave you the connections you needed to have a future. I knew my dad wouldnever have made it as a professor here without having attended first. Every single professor here was once a student.
“Students need to familiarize themselves with our rules,” Headmaster Gregor continued. “They’re in your welcome pack, andposted in the office. More importantly, we must reiterate that the safety of our students is our priority. If you have anissue, see one of your professors. Do not take magic into your own hands. The energy we are blessed with is volatile, andin your young ages I know it can be hard to resist fighting back, but there’s always a diplomatic solution. We have zero tolerancefor using attack spells on classmates. Keep that in mind.”
“Logan better keep that in fucking mind,” Trevor grumbled under his breath.
I forced my lips together to prevent the snort of laughter emerging. My brother was the epitome of volatile energy, and Ireally hoped he didn’t get himself kicked out this year.
Or killed.
Headmaster Gregor continued with a few more welcoming notes, and then waved his hands to dismiss us with tingles of his dark energy. I shivered at the touch of necromancy, even though he’d done nothing except project his natural power.“We’ve prepared a feast for you all, as a welcome. Here’s to the best magical year.”
Noise erupted once more, and the students were on their feet to file out of the room in a rush. Jenna, of course, wanted tobe the first to leave, and I was relieved when Trevor said, “You know, you’d get out first if you sat at the back of the room.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “You just have to move faster. Getting a little sloppy in your old age?”
Trevor lifted his shirt and slammed his hand against his visible abs. “I’ll have you know there’s not a sloppy bone in mybody, including—”
The rest of his argument was lost in the waves of students pushing us forward, and I held on to how normal we were acting.The Kingstons might be trying to kill us all, who the Hel knew, but they couldn’t take this away from us. If they ever did,then they’d really have won.
When we reached the dining hall, it was to find a room as large as the one we’d just left, filled with long rows of tables.Students rushed in to grab spots, and I realized how hungry I was. It had been many hours since I’d had breakfast with myparents.
“It’s normally a buffet,” Alice explained, as she sat on one side of me, Jensen on the other, with Jenna and Trevor acrossfrom us. “But tonight they’ll feed us family style.”
A shiver ran down my spine as magical energy filled the air and huge trays drifted in on currents of air. Air elementals workedin the kitchens to whisk food our way. The trays landed in sync across the room, and when ours landed, it held ceramic blueplates, crystal glasses, silver utensils, and mountains of food. Enough food to fill my brothers and then some.
My stomach rumbled appreciatively, and I snatched up a plate so fast that I knocked Trevor’s hand out of the way. “Too slow,”I said with a smirk as I heaped food onto my plate.
He shook his head, eyes narrowed. “I still don’t understand where you put it all. You outeat me, and you’re a skinny little thing.”
Excuse the fuck out of me. “Did you not notice the boobs? I amnotskinny.”
Trevor paled and flinched, as if I’d punched him in the junk. “What is wrong with you?” he rasped. “You don’t have boobs.Brothers don’t notice boobs on their sisters. You need help.”
He turned frantic eyes on the others, and they ignored us both to pile their plates with roasted meats, mashed potato, greenbeans, and whole corncobs.
“Mind your business,” I said, waving a spoon at him. “Trust me, the food is going to all the right places.”
Jensen snorted. “He looks a little green, sis. I think you finally broke him.”
Trevor was a touch green, and for a moment I thought he wasn’t going to eat until he shook his head and reached for what wasleft on the tray. The rest of dinner went down the same way, with delicious food, lots of jokes, and the sense that if thewhole year went this way, I’d never want to leave Weatherstone.
When we were finished, it was still far too early for bed, but I found myself sleepy and content, a huge yawn overtaking halfmy face. “Come on, little sis,” Jensen said, all but hauling me up from the table. “Let’s get you to your dorm. You’ve hada big day today, and tomorrow you have classes.”
