“Was this the sole reason you sought me out?”
“I wanted to let you know that you should be safe from now on. They’re casting a blanket across the school’s energy today.Which will cut off strong magic. It’ll remain until they make headway on tracing the magical essence.”
My chest felt tight as Logan stepped in and solved another problem for me, almost as if he’d done it on purpose—when I wassure he didn’t give enough fucks to make my life any easier. “That’s good news,” I managed to say.
“It is, isn’t it.” His tone and expression remained light, but the moss around his irises was back. “I don’t want you to growcomplacent, though, so in light of your continued involvement in almost dying, it might be time for you to stop followingme around and start working on your affinity. You almost got yourself killed last night.” The moss grew and grew until I wasstaring into darkness.
“Following you around?” I wondered how hard I should be denying it, and also if I could manage to throw myself out of thewindow by the buffet before anyone stopped me. That was how badly I needed this conversation to end. “A little cocky, don’tyou think? I have better shit to do than stalk the amazing Logan Kingston.”
A genuine laugh rumbled from him, and I liked the sound far too much. “Playing dumb doesn’t suit you. I’m a spellcaster. Ifelt your energy from the first day you trailed my steps, and you’re one of the worst stalkers I’ve ever come across. I’dsuggest you don’t bother with that as a future career if your affinity never kicks in.”
He was just jabbing at wounds today, wasn’t he? “Appreciate the career advice,” I sniped back. “So, oh powerful savior, how do you suggest I go about honing my magic and figuringout my affinity? I’ve been trying, you know, but my energy won’t cooperate. Surely, you’ve heard, since you’re aware of . . .everything.”
Logan leaned in closer, and I tried desperately not to breathe in his scent. Why did he always smell so good? I should havesearched his room for an aftershave brand and ignored the guitars. “You will train with Noah and me.” Any mirth he’d displayedwas long gone now.
“Wait, what? Train with you and Noah?” No fucking way. I couldn’t even be in his presence for two minutes without turninginto a hormonal mess; the last thing I needed was daily contact. I had to remain immune to Logan if I wanted a hope of stayingaway from him.
“Cute that you think it was a request—you will train with us. I’ll be in touch soon, so until then, no wandering the hallsat midnight.”
The stubborn glint in his eyes told me I wasn’t getting anywhere today by arguing, but there was no way he could force meto do this, so I just said, “We’ll see. Also, will your father be at parents’ weekend?” Now that the event had been broughtto my attention once more, I was concerned with Mom, Dad, and Rafael all in the same location.
His expression closed off, and I wasn’t looking at my “best friend” any longer. This was a scary spellcaster, a virtual stranger.“My father is none of your business,” he said, and he was on his feet and gone before I could kick him in the shin.
Noise returned, and I wondered if everyone had fallen silent when Logan appeared, or if I’d been trapped in his powerful bubble.He had a way of silencing the rest of the world when he was around.
“What. The. Hel. Was. That?” Belle dropped into the chair Logan had vacated, staring at me. “Did he seek you out? Did he mention last night? Are you two going to be hookingup now?” She was two seconds away from hyperventilating, and I had to laugh at her eager expression.
“Calm down. Logan stopped by to tell me that they’re casting a blanket over the school today, so we should be safe for a while,and he also...”
“Also what, witch?” she shrieked.
“Told me that he will be training me until I figure out my affinity.”
She just stared at me, and stared, and stared until I felt uncomfortable enough to add, “It’s not that big of a deal.”
This time she snorted, looking more like herself. “You must be kidding yourself. This is a huge deal, Paisley. He’s a spellcaster.They never train anyone. It’s almost as if he’s worried about you. When is your first training session?”
For my own sanity, I ignored thehe’s worried about youcomment. “Apparently he’llbe in touch, but I would guess soon.”
She sighed like I’d just eloquently spilled a beautiful love story. “Come on, weirdo.” I shook my head and got to my feet.Belle joined me as we dropped our trays into the mess, and as we left the room, students stared our way. Stared and whispered.
I was pretty sure I knew why, but I still checked. “Do I have food on my face?” I looked down at my shirt and skirt, makingsure I hadn’t gotten my period and bled everywhere.
Belle barely even gave me a once-over. “It’s Logan. None of us have ever seen him sit with a witch in the dining hall. Therumors were wild while you two chatted.” She side-eyed me. “Even with the blanket, you might need the same level of protection.Logan just won the Hottest Warlock this year.”
My groan was audible. Of course he fucking did. Now I’d have to deal with Trevor complaining about his dethroning on top ofbeing stuck with Logan for this training.
Ignoring the multitude of morons in the room with toomuch time for gossip, we headed for Ancot. I caught sight of Trevor and Dad in the distance, but they were deep in conversation, so I left them to it.
“Are you going to tell your parents or siblings what happened last night?” Belle asked, following my line of sight. “ShouldI not mention it to Trevor if we cross paths?”
They were friends, so it wasn’t a weird question. But her face was twisted in a way that I didn’t understand. “With the blanketgoing up, I think it’s best not to stress them out with what might have happened. I didn’t die, and we all should be safernow. I don’t want to leave yet, not when I’m closer to figuring out my power.”
Her expression was softer than it had been all morning; she’d finally forgiven me for not telling her about my midnight plan.“I’d be heartbroken if you weren’t here, but I also don’t want you getting hurt. Having Logan train you might be a good thing,Pais. Worst case, you can ride his face—”
I shoved her before she could finish that sentence. We weren’t exactly in a private space.
She snorted laughter, and I had all the regrets over spilling my guts about last night.
