We hadn’t talked about him recently, and I’d never mentioned the library incident, but somehow she still knew how often hewas on my mind.
I shook my head. “He doesn’t seem the type to be this sporadic, or let it drag on for months. It’s connected to Weatherstoneand the energy it holds. It only ever happens to me here.”
My siblings and I had gone home last weekend to see Mom, and there’d been zero dark or creepy energy. No weird shadows thatI caught a glimpse of but when I’d turn there’d be nothing there. I’d even caved and visited the healer to see if I had headtrauma still, but Maddy gave me a clean bill of health. It was either psychological or...who the fuck knew.
“Okay, well, I’m back to it being your magic, and how it’s locked away.” Belle nodded as if that solidified her theory. “Youshow an aptitude for necro, and I’m guessing that could feel creepy when it’s not fully... uh, developed. I wouldn’t panicabout it.”
My aptitude for necro wasn’t strong enough for an affinity, but there was a vibe. Especially near the graveyard. The professor explained during class that inside those walls the veil between the planes of existence was thinner. There were a few spots around Weatherstone like that, including the lake. It had been part of the old battlefield that this college was built on, with skeletons littering the lake bottom. Lovely.
We pushed through the students to find Sara and Haley waiting for us at the cart. They’d already grabbed our favorites, andI could have kissed them both. Sara and I needed coffee to function as civil witches, while Belle generally got chai, andHaley enjoyed chocolate milk.
“Because I’m still mostly twelve with my food choices,” she’d explained. Not that any of us cared—not liking chocolate milkwas the first sign of a sociopath, as far as I was concerned.
“You are angels,” Belle breathed, closing her eyes as she took her first sip of tea. “I needed that.”
“Looks like you might need a double shot today,” Sara said as she handed me my cup, laughing when I gulped down a mouthful,scalding my tongue.
“The dreams,” I croaked, shaking my head.
“You need to get laid,” she told me sternly. “This is not good for you.”
I didn’t disagree with her. I’d attempted to get laid on three separate occasions.
Brenton, a third-year who was friends with Trevor—hence why that one ended before even starting.
Lewis, in our grade, who had a habit of talking about himself in the third person. By the time he said,Lewis is ready for some fucking, I was out of there.
And finally Damien, who was in our year as well, a water elemental, who ironically was as dull as dishwater.
“I need to find a warlock who gives me that spark, you know?”
Haley sighed. “Good luck with that. I haven’t even found a warlock here who can carry a decent conversation, let alone give me a spark.”
I chuckled sadly. “Girl, ain’t that the truth.”
We walked to class, munching breakfast bagels and sipping our drinks. Breakfast was served in the dining hall as well, butwe loved the cart. Outside of Belle, it was my longest relationship on campus.
“I finished that book last night,” I told Haley as I chewed. “It was really freaking good. That cliffhanger though...”I breathed heavily. “I almost threw your e-reader across the room. When is book two out?”
Her entire face lit up. “Oh my goddess, I’m so excited that you enjoyed it. It releases in June, so not long to wait.”
Grinding to a halt, the other three turned back to stare at me in surprise, but I was too busy glaring. “Haley Michaels,”I finally growled. “It’s the end of April.”
She pressed her lips together but refrained from laughing at me. “I know, friend. But I promise, it’ll be worth the wait.This author always delivers.”
Haley had done the impossible and converted me. I’d had no idea there were books filled with the sort of desperate love thatI craved, along with action, adventure, snark, and all the sexy,sexy scenes. While they didn’t exactly help the dreams, they did keep me occupied when my mind wouldn’t shut up.
“I thought we were friends,” I said with a sad exhalation. “How could you hurt me like this?”
Haley’s laughter couldn’t be contained any longer, and she spilled her milk on her hand. “I promise not to send you incompleteseries from now on. How does that sound?”
I huffed for a few seconds, before settling down. “Sounds like a plan.”
After mopping up her hand with the napkin, she linked her arm through mine. “Come on, yell at me about the cliffy as we walk.”
I did just that, and when we reached our defensive spells class, all four of us threw our breakfast trash in the can and tookour usual seats.
This was one of my favorite classes, and today we were perfecting an all-round defensive trio of spells, one that would covera whole range of attacks and could be used quickly. Other spells were more specific, such as thelingher trestoriathat we’d studied last week, which was literally used to ward off an attack from ants.
