Haley exchanged a look with me, and I had no doubt she wished she was back in her dorm reading. “One hour,” she reminded usgrimly. “Come on, let’s get a drink.”
The first table was groaning under buckets filled with ice and mixed drinks. As predicted, it was all human-made alcohol, so we just grabbed a can of whatever looked good. I opted for watermelon vodka, holding the icy can as I followed my friends back to a log near one of the larger fires.
As we sat, Sara nudged me so hard I almost dropped my drink. “Marcus is looking at you,” she hissed.
Spurred on by Belle, Sara and Haley had noticed his efforts to chat with me after class, and now the three of them were incahoots to get me laid. My gaze drifting across the crowd, I found him on the far side of the bonfire, relaxed against a logwith his best friend, Johnno.
Marcus shifted his long legs in front of him, sipping a beer as our gazes caught. There was the slightest shift in my stomach,a murmur of attraction. Only an idiot would deny that Marcus was hot, but I kept holding back.
It wasn’t as if the heat of my magic had cooled—thank you, sexy but annoying and clingy dreams—but I hadn’t acted on it. Maybetonight it was time to let go and just get laid. I wasn’t a virgin by any stretch, even if my experience was somewhat minimalcompared to Belle’s.
It was unnatural for us not to seek out sex after our magic bloomed. The heat in our blood could drive us crazy otherwise,and I could already see more than one couple hot and heavy in the forest. There’d be sex everywhere tonight, and if I playedmy cards right, I could be one of the lucky ones.
“Go to him,” Belle said as she lifted her daiquiri and took a sip. “Go and have some fun. You’re far too uptight.”
I snorted out a sad little chuckle. “Under-fucking-statement of the year. My magic is fire in my veins without an outlet.I don’t know what my issue is though. Maybe I’m waiting for him to make a move.”
My natural confidence had been known to take a back seatwhen it came to sex. I liked the warlock to take control, to take what he wanted. Within reason.
Sara prodded me harder than before. “Paisley Hallistar, do not waste that fucking sexy warlock tonight.” She turned to Haleyfor backup, but the introverted witch who identified as a book witch already had her nose stuck in a paperback.
“Haley even agrees,” said Sara with a shrug, taking her on as a wingwitch anyway. “We all voted, and you lost, so go and getyour fucking warlock.”
I got the sense that if I didn’t move my ass, one of them would drag me over. The push I needed was coming whether I likedit or not. “Okay, why the Hel not.” As I got to my feet, I could see above the bonfire, and my gaze locked on three warlocksstanding there drinking.
A heavy tugging in my gut almost knocked me over.
Logan, Giant aka Noah, and the third of their crew who I’d coined Weasel, due to his beady eyes, stood right behind Marcus.This was the first time I’d been close to Logan since the lake, and I almost ran right for him to demand answers before Iremembered it was a party.
None of us wanted to chat aboutalmost dyingat a party.
Turning away before they noticed me staring, I returned my attention to Marcus, only to find him deep in conversation witha witch.
A very pretty witch, with long blond hair and a flirty smile.
Ah, fuck.
There went that plan.
Chapter 14
“I’m getting another drink,” Belle announced. “Anyone else want one?”
We’d been at the party for thirty minutes; our countdown time updated by Haley in ten-minute increments. Especially afterSara made her lose the book. “That’s not the point of being here,” she’d scolded her gently, and Haley had conceded.
“I’ll take one,” I said to Belle. After my chance to chat with Marcus fizzled out, I’d focused on drinking and absorbing moonenergy with my friends. We’d chatted to other freshmen who crossed our paths, but for the most part it was a chilled-out nightso far.
“We’re fine,” Haley and Sara said, and Belle headed into the crowds around the tables.
Turning to Haley, who sat stiffly, hands playing in the hem of her sweater in what looked like a nervous gesture, I soughtout a topic of conversation that might distract her. “How are your family? Did your dad get his work situation sorted?” She’dmentioned a few days ago that there might be cutbacks at his job.
“Good,” she replied, her voice softer. “His hours got cut, but he’s not out a job completely. Which is a relief.”
Haley grew up poor. Her mother was a human who fell in love with a warlock she met in the mall. He was an air elemental and worked on the docks, but the pay sucked—no doubtbecause while it wasn’t uncommon for one of us to marry a human, it did come with a certain stigma.
A stigma that I had no doubt had also followed Haley through school, even though she was a near genius and was neck and neckwith Belle for top of the classes.
When she wasn’t forthcoming with more information on her family I changed the subject. “What’s this book series you’re waitingfor tonight?”
