Thousands of books filled hundreds of dark wood shelves, spanning into the distance. I loved the peaked roof and lofty ceilings,with shelves built into every nook and cranny. Two librarians hurried past me then, and I felt the currents of air as theyused their affinity to move books to their appropriate shelves.
It was still early evening, and all the desks in my immediate vicinity were occupied, so I lifted my bag higher to ease theheavy load and moved through the rows.
The lighting inside wasn’t too bright, just a calming glow, and with my tension completely gone—along with that sensationof being watched—I decided I’d be spending a lot of time here.
I reached another section of desks surrounding a huge fireplace designed to exude heat in all directions. It had a glass protector,and its flume exited the highest point of the ceiling. Peering around, I thought I was out of luck again, only to find onedesk in the corner still unclaimed.
Dropping my bag on it to reserve my spot, I hurried off to find the books I needed. The classification system here was brilliant,and it took me less than ten minutes to findThe Highest Protection Is the One You CreateandDefending Your Energy: Magical Spells for Those Who Want an Extra Boost of Defensive Power.
Feeling quite pleased with myself, I was returning to my table when a shadow loomed over me. Strong hands wrapped around my arms, and I was hauled deep into the stacks before I could utter a sound. Screams built in my throat, as memories of that bag being jerked over my head pressed in on me. “Breathe, Precious.” His low voice broke through my raggedbreaths, and for some fucked-up reason, I calmed. As I lifted my head, I found Logan staring at me.
His expression was hard, but his eyes weren’t as icy as usual.
Shaking him off, I backed away as far as I could go until I hit a shelf. Fighting the urge to rub at my arms where he’d touchedme, branding his energy into my skin, I glared at him. “What are you doing, Logan? Do you want your fucking hoodie back?”
Goddesses be damned, Paisley. You’re an idiot.
Logan tilted his head, and whatever softness I’d imagined was gone. “Explain yourself.”
Wondering if he was about to attempt to murder me thrice, I started to sidle down the aisle, only for him to growl and slamhis hands on either side of my head, effectively trapping me. “Explain,” he gritted out a repeat of his last statement.
“Explain what?” I shot back, clutching the heavy textbooks in my hands, debating if I should swing them into his face. Hewas too close at the moment, so I pressed them into his chest, which didn’t move him in the slightest. Even worse, as I touchedhis shirt, there was a spark of energy that had me yanking them away.
Logan didn’t appear to notice. “You come here pretending to have no affinity, to barely have power, and then you touch allthe elements in one class. Are you a spellcaster?”
It finally clicked on what his irritation was about; this suspicious asshole thought I was a sleeper cell of a witch, pretendingto be a lame little lamb. “Sorry to be an annoyance,” I told him blithely, and it was a straight-up lie, because I loved toannoy this prick, “but I genuinely have no idea what my affinity is. What happened today was because of your spellcaster energyand nothing else. It wasn’t me. It was you, bro, so you might want to back off.”
“I am not your bro,” he seethed. “And you better stop lyingto me, Precious.” He brushed a strand of my hair back, grazing his fingertips over my ear and sending tingles through my energy. “I abhor liars.”
Swallowing roughly, because my throat decided to dry up, I snapped, “I abhor assholes, so I guess we’re even.” Realizing howthat sounded, I hurried to add, “And I’m not lying. I have no reason to lie. Also... stop calling mePrecious. Where the fuck did you even get that from?”
The light green of his eyes briefly flickered darker, that mossy ring expanding. “Precious Gem. You don’t remember?”
Gem.
“My dad is the only one who calls me Gem,” I whispered, trying to figure out why I was panicking so hard. Those memories thatwere just out of reach had my pulse racing. My breaths were harsh and rapid.
Logan leaned back suddenly, lifting his hands. “I know. I know everything about you, Paisley Hallistar.”
Forcing a normality in my tone that I didn’t feel, I chuckled darkly. “You thought I was a spellcaster. You don’t know shitabout me, and I really need to study, so... get out of my way.”
Logan eyed me for a long moment, and just as it appeared he was about to back away, tingles raced down my spine. The bad ones.TheI’m being stalked in the hallwaytingles. With it came a feel of heat in the necklace hanging under my shirt.
Unable to help myself, I turned left and right, searching the long aisles of shelves.
Logan missed nothing, his sharp gaze turning to look along the shelves as well. “What did you feel?”
Moistening my lips, my breaths were ragged as I shook my head. “Nothing. I’m just reacting to being trapped in these shelveswith a psychopath who’s already attempted to murder me twice.”
Expecting more anger, all I got was a slow smile as he played with the ends of my ponytail, running it through his fingers. “If I wanted to murder you, Precious, you’d be dead.”
Jerking my head away from him, I felt the heat of my power, and there was a cracking sound as Logan’s head jerked to the side.He blinked, and a rumble filled his chest as he stared with a look of disbelief. “Did you just witch-slap me?”
“N-no,” I stuttered out, because there was no way I’d slap a spellcaster. I might despise him, but I knew Logan could crushme like a bug. “Unless my magic did that on its own. I don’t have an active affinity, and I certainly don’t have any controlover it.”
Logan showed zero shock, and to my surprise he didn’t look angry.
Nope, it was even worse.
