“Come now, Bella, be bad with me. I won’t tell.” Calder winked at her as he pulled out another foil-wrapped chocolate and held it out to her.
His use of the childhood name Seren called her brought her back to her purpose in the courtyard. “Only my sister calls me Bella, and only my friends call me Ara, and we are not friends, Calder Darkmore.”
A mischievous smile tugged at the corner of his full lips. “I apologize, Miss Marudas. You are quite correct. How bold of me to assume that the woman meeting me in the dead of night would object to my use of her nickname.”
Ara's face grew hot as she realized she quite liked the feeling of being called a woman. She straightened, putting some distance between them in the small dark corner. “You may recall that I am meeting you for my sister,” she paused and then relented, “but you can call me Ara. What should I call you?”
“If I had friends, they would call me Cal.” He smiled, but the distant look in his eyes betrayed the lightness in his tone.
Ara’s heart wrenched at his words, but were they designed for her? Was it a ruse to get her to feel sorry for him? Surely, Calder Darkmore had friends and plenty of them, though every time they locked eyes at an event, he was alone. She steeled herself.
“What is it you want with my sister, Calder? Or, for that matter, me? We have no association. I’ve only seen you at social events,” Ara said, her voice firm despite the trepidation she felt. “And the wand. That little stunt could have gotten Seren expelled.”
Calder pulled the wand out of his jacket pocket, and Ara saw what looked like a worn, leather journal tucked away inside. He twirled it between his fingers. The carved wood shone in the light before he offered it to her, closing his other hand around hers when she reached out to take it.
“I’ve wanted to meet you for some time, Ara. You can’t tell me you didn’t feel the same pull to me at those events as I felt to you. The way our eyes would meet no matter who else was around?”
Ara’s heart raced as his words echoed her own thoughts from earlier that day.
“And this wand?” He asked, twirling it around again, the tip sparking in the night. “This wand has been in my family for centuries until a traitor absconded with it in the dead of night. I thought it only fair to do the same. Your sister being the one to help me was a happy coincidence that led me to you.”
Ara thought about the rumors she had heard whispered about Professor Atwood and why a wizard had been allowed to teach at a school of witches. She knew the Darkmores were a powerful family. Calder himself was a much talked about subject among the students, especially the triplets. The first time she had seen him, she knew why. He was charismatic and handsome and radiated power. What he wanted with her, she did not know.
“Why me?” Her voice was quiet as she retreated inside of herself, where self-doubt lived. “What do you want with me? I’m of no importance,” The look Calder gave her was so intense, she felt herself become smaller within it.
“Never do that, Ara,” he said, his voice strong. “Do not diminish yourself. Your power and cleverness in the trials last year were talked about even among the dolts of Mistral Hall. When Seren told me her last name, I knew she was your sister. Forgive me for taking the opportunity to meet you. I truly couldn’t resist.”
His compliments were like a soothing balm to her soul, but she needed to help her sister. “Calder, the Pavor wand. Seren will be expelled if it isn’t returned to Professor Atwood.”
Calder nodded. “She’ll get it back. Once, we’ve finished with it.”
Ara blinked, her mouth falling open before she recovered. “We? What are we doing with it?”
“Ara, your power is roiling under the surface.” Calder trailed a hand down her arm, and she thought she could feel it even through the sleeve of her thick wool uniform. “I can feel it, but you hold yourself back. It’s the reason Ariminta is ahead of you and will stay ahead of you. She will exploit every weakness of yours she can find.”
She moved her arm away from him and thought back to the morning and Ariminta’s jabs at how she grew up, her constant accusations of cheating, and couldn’t imagine two more years like that. It would likely affect her placement with the Imperial Witch if Ariminta’s claims of being well-connected were true. She needed that placement to take care of Seren and their mother, but she also wanted it. She could enact true change within their world the same way Olympia had.
She tilted her head back to look up at him, her words coming out in a whisper, “What do I have to do?”
Calder held the wand up. “We use this and unlock your powers. We remove the mental barrier you have erected around yourself, and we unleash you on the world.”
Ara shook her head, wary of his words, remembering Seren’s warning of his charming ways. “Why would you do this for me?”
Calder shrugged, a distasteful look crossed his face as he said, “I don’t like Ariminta.” He paused, and his eyes softened. “And there is something about you, Ara. Something that calls to me. Do you feel it, too?” He pressed her hand to his chest.
“Your dislike of Ariminta isn’t reason enough, Calder.” Ara swallowed hard and moved her hand away from his chest. She did feel it. The pull between them was magnetic, one she wasn’t sure she could resist. “I don’t believe you. There is something you aren’t telling me.”
Calder sighed, his shoulders dropping and the mischievous glint leaving his eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. You would think I was crazy.”
“Try me,” Ara said, the change that came over him at his words was more endearing than his earlier mask of charming flirtation.
Calder placed his hand over his breast pocket, right where the small book Ara saw earlier was. “Do you believe the Age of Unity existed?”
Ara sucked in a breath, and Calder’s eyes shot to hers, recognizing what he saw.
“You do,” Calder’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “Ara, I believe you are the vessel. Not a rarity at all, but the vessel returned to the world.”
Ara shook her head, but deep within, where her magic nestled, she felt it might be true. All the times Ariminta accused her of cheating had been times when her magic had pulled her to do something, whether it was knowing Ariminta’s moves before she made them in the trial, or this morning, when she knew the antidote to the poison without knowing what the poison was.
