“A fight broke out and he got pulled away. I was the one who made the decision to take off back to the school on my own. Thisis on me.” She sniffled hard, pulling back. “How are your injuries?” I asked, checking in on her as well.
Wiping her cheeks, she forced a smile. “Actually, fine. We went to the healers first, and then Trevor convinced me to speakwith Headmaster Gregor. He took me seriously, and Annabeth...” She took a deep breath. “She got expelled. I came to yourroom first thing this morning to tell you, and that’s when I found out what happened.” She sniffled loudly. “I burst intotears and tracked Trevor down for all the updates. Your brother wasn’t a complete douchenozzle last night.”
“Yeah, he can be decent when he wants to. But that’samazing news about Annabeth. Now I just need to figure out who Weasel is.”
“Weasel did this to you?” Haley asked me, pushing herself up from my desk chair. “Logan’s friend?”
I nodded. “Yep, the bastard. He jumped me when I left the party and used his air energy to zip us to the graveyard. Wherehe could beat the crap out of me in private.”
All three of them raged and cursed for a few minutes, before Belle shot to her feet. “I’m going straight to the headmaster.He’ll deal with this just as he did with Annabeth.”
“Wait,” I said, scrambling after her as she raced for my door. “Don’t go to him yet. Let me get a few hours’ sleep, then wecan figure it out.”
Sara crossed her arms, face thunderous. “We won’t let him hurt you again, Paisley. This ends today. Let us know when you’reawake. We’ll just be in Belle’s room down the hall.”
“Okay,” I said, before a yawn overtook my face.
They left me then, with hugs and kisses on the cheek, and I spent ten minutes holding my crystals, drawing in their soothingenergy. I didn’t touch them daily, as I used to, but today I needed them.
After that, I crashed into bed for hours, and to my surprise didn’t have any nightmares; the aftereffects of being healedkept me in a deep sleep. When I finally woke, I was left with a desperate need to pee, and a worry that I shouldn’t be leavingmy room alone. The healers had exchanged my bloody, ruined clothes for a set of light gray cotton pj’s in the healing ward,and I left them on as I poked my head out of my doorway.
For a Saturday afternoon, there were plenty of students around, and I felt I should be safe to duck to the bathroom quickly.I made it there without issue, finished up quickly, and washed my hands. I also splashed water on my face to hopefully adda little color back into my cheeks.
On my way back to my dorm, I stopped to grab a drink from the wall-mounted fountain. It tasted like heaven on my parched throat, and as I dropped the paper cup into the recycling, a shadow washed over me, sending me stumbling back against the wall, arms raising to defend myself.
Logan didn’t react to my defensive pose, and he wasn’t close enough for me to feel threatened, so I cleared my throat andstraightened my pj’s in an attempt at dignity. “You really shouldn’t sneak up on a witch who got jumped last night.”
His expression remained neutral as he ran his gaze over me, but I couldn’t miss the darkness in those icy eyes. Energy radiatedbetween us, almost visible in the air, and it wasn’t my imagination that the lights flickered as Logan’s power seeped fromhim. He wouldn’t attack me in a crowded hallway, right? There was no way he’d be so stupid.
“Logan, I’m tired and hurt, what do you actually want?” He might terrify me, but I refused to let him know that.
Moving faster than I could react to, he grasped the edge of the flimsy pajama top, and slowly lifted it. Maybe it was shockor curiosity, but I found myself frozen and watching as he examined my ribs, which were still painted in faded yellow andgreen bruises.
Logan’s hand twitched, his bare skin brushing against my side, and I flinched. But it wasn’t pain. It was a dark, druggingsensation, caressing my skin, and burning into my energy. I tried to breathe normally, to hide his effect on me. “You don’tlook surprised,” I choked out, needing a distraction. “Did you thank him, as he said you would?”
To deflect how this spellcaster destroyed me with a simple graze of skin, I’d gone straight for goading—abrilliant movewhen he was a billion times more powerful and possibly trying to kill me. Still, I did need the name of his friend.
“Walter is no friend of mine.” His voice was flat, that flare in his eyes from before as strong as ever.
Walter.Surely that would be enough to find that bastard.
Logan released me suddenly, and I shivered at the loss of his energy. Mine had been frolicking nicely with ourbest friend. The spellcaster noticed the goose bumps. Of course he noticed. He yanked his dark hoodie off, leaving him in a nicely fittedblack shirt that hugged his muscled chest, and I choked out a surprised gasp when he gently dropped the warm material of hishoodie over my head, the length falling down my body.
“You’re cold and still healing,” he said as he stepped back. “Don’t leave your room again tonight.”
He was gone before I could get my addled brain to form words. I slumped against the wall, desperately sucking air into mylungs. With that air came the scent of Logan, surrounding me in his hoodie. It was a combination of minty evergreen, and energyso rich it heated my blood. A desperate need to tear it off overcame me, but my fingers remained tangled in the hem of thesoft material, and I was still wearing it when I made it back to my room.
By this time I was exhausted, so I fell back into bed, and despite the absolute chaos of my energy and equilibrium—thank you, Logan Fuckface Kingston—I slept like the dead once more.
When I woke early the next morning, the pain was almost completely gone, and I pulled myself out of bed. As I stood, Logan’shoodie fell down my body, and with a grumble I ripped the freaking thing off, neatly folding it and shelving it in my wardrobe.
Iwould begiving it back to him later.
After a quick shower and change of clothes, I marchedthrough the school to the front office. Ms. White was the only witch in there today. “Hello, dear,” she said, glancing up from her paperwork. “How can I help you?”
Her expression gave no indication that she remembered who I was.
“I need to speak with Headmaster Gregor.” I forced a polite smile. “It’s about the attack on Friday night.”
