“Desperateis a little harsh,” I breathed, but she wasn’t entirely wrong.
“You’re powerful, Pais,” she whispered as she nudged me. “I know it, you know it. We just need a little boost to unlock yourpotential.”
All possibly true, but not from Logan Kingston. He’d been associated with my two near-death experiences, and I trusted himas far as I could throw the stadium seating.
“Sure,” he said, shocking the shit out of me. “Come down here,Ms. Hallistar.”
I felt the flush of heat in my cheeks as every single person in this room stared at me. He’d thrown out a challenge, and sinceI refused to witch out, I got to my feet. Sidling out of the row, I descended the four stairs to the main floor. Logan didn’tmove, his gaze still firmly on me, the echoes of a smirk on his lips as he made me go to him.
This power play had me clenching my teeth hard enough to crack them, but I’d come too far to back out now.
“No affinity,” he said softly when I stopped before him. “Poor Precious, always rushing to catch up.”
His face in that park flashed through my mind again, and I wondered if I’d fallen because I’d been chasing him. Withno further memories forthcoming, I’d probably never know. Especially as my current dreams about him were very much in the present and very muchnot when we were children.
Standing close to him had my energy swirling hard and tingles racing down my spine. Not those disturbing ones, but the sortI was coming to recognize as strong magic. “Are you going to do anything or just stare at me?” I snapped, annoyed with theentire situation.
Witches gasped around the stadium, and I barely stopped myself from sneering and asking why their brains were in their vaginastoday, before I realized how hypocritical that would be. I was hardly immune to Logan’s many charms.
“Brace yourself,” Logan rumbled, and then he lowered his voice until I was fairly certain these next words were just for me.“Try not to gasp too loudly, Precious.”
I wanted to snap at him again, this feeling of being out of control grating against my composure, but his power locked aroundme before I could utter a word. The strength encased me whole, as if I were bound in metal. I couldn’t move, or scream, oreven pee myself through sheer terror. Logan wasn’t hurting me, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying, especially asthe sensation of him digging into my essence increased.
He held me in stasis for what felt like an hour but couldn’t have been more than a minute. His expression morphed from indifferenceto annoyance to frustration. His brows drew together, and he was standing close now. “Your energy is unlike any affinity I’vefelt,” he said, and I was thankful that this time he kept his voice low. “I need to go deeper.”
“No,” I groaned, pushing through his hold. Or maybe he released me.
His hands grasped my biceps, and I was surrounded by minty evergreen as his touch burned through the material of my uniform. There was a brief pause, as if the universe held itsbreath along with everyone else in the room, and then I was struck with an inferno of his energy.
Wind howled through the room and water drenched us both, followed by multiple flickering flames above our heads, as if we’dset off fireworks.
Half of the students rose out of their seats, but I was too busy staring at Logan to notice what they did next. His eyes narrowedon me, and standing this close I could see a darker mossy ring around his pupils. Releasing me slowly, he waved a hand anddried us both, all the while that penetrating stare never wavered.
“You’ve been holding out on us, Precious,” he drawled, his bored expression returning.
I shook my head. “I—I don’t understand.”
Did my power bring those elements out to play? If so, why in Selene was I so useless in class? Logan dismissed everyone soonafter, and I remained in a shocked stasis, trying to figure out what had happened. I felt him turn toward me, but unable todeal with the intensity, I shook my head and raced from the room.
A few seconds later the girls found me, and thank the goddess they had my bag. I’d completely forgotten it was even in theroom. Sara’s eyes were wide as she opened and closed her mouth, attempting to speak but failing.
“What she’s trying to say is that was really intense,” Belle explained dryly.
At least I hadn’t been the only one feeling overwhelmed by the sheer energy we’d created together.
“I don’t know what happened,” I whispered, and none of them appeared to know either, as we all just stood in silence. Bellehad been trying to help me with her question, but I was more confused than ever about my affinity, and more importantly aboutmy connection to Logan.
The spellcaster affected me, and despite his snarky “best friend” moniker, we hadn’t seen each other in almost twenty years. We’d been children the last time we were together.
There had to be more here, an explanation for our connection.
I just couldn’t remember what it was.
Chapter 18
That evening as I walked with the girls to dinner, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It was that eerie energytimes a hundred, as if the very walls themselves were stalking my steps. “What even happened in spellcaster class?” Sara asked,finally recovered from her shock. “I swear, you used multiple elements. Was that from Logan’s power? Or yours?”
I didn’t want to talk about it, and at the same time it was all I’d thought about since. “I wish I knew. I really wish I knew.All I felt was an explosion of power, and then the elements were everywhere, and I couldn’t tell if it was Logan or me.”
