I felt the insecurity in their matebonds—aside from Hunter’s and Reed’s.
“Don’t jump to horrible conclusions,” I rasped, wrapping my hand around Dex’s wrist. “I was manipulating his magical essence, trying to get his magic back into his soul.”
Dex’s grip loosened, and he let his hand drop. “You can do that?”
“You’re the only ones that are supposed to know this, per Dad’s request, but yes. Soul eaters can manipulate magical essence and souls,” I explained to them. “That’s what I was trying to do. When Jenni’s around, it’s a lot easier to manipulate the magic in Joel.”
“What?”Bram uttered in shock.
“That’s incredible,” Reed murmured.
“Damn, trouble.” Dex shook his white-blond hair out. “Good enough of a reason, then.”
“I can’t believe you thought it was for any other reason.” I crossed my arms and scowled. “Let’s go. We’re going to be late.”
Bram groaned. “Do we have to? It’s fucking Ironwood’s class.”
“I told him to back off you,” Hunter assured him. “Let me know if he doesn’t.”
“I will,” Bram grumbled as we walked out of the door.
The walk to Practical Applications of Ceremonial magic was uneventful, and Jenni was already sitting in the second row in the front, waiting on us.
“Welcome, stragglers,” Ironwood joked as we walked in, his brown eyes searing into me as he tousled his curly auburn hair. “Now, we can get started.”
Skel and Bram squished me between them as we walked to where Jenni saved us seats. I sat next to her, then Skel sat next to me, and Bram sat next to Skel.
Ironwood’s gaze remained on me until we were fully seated. My skin felt like it was crawling underneath his stare. Ihatedit.
“That professor is weird,” Nebula hissed from my bag. “I don’t like him.”
“Agreed,” Bram and Skel muttered.
“What?” Jenni whispered.
“Nebula said Ironwood was weird,” I told her. “And that he didn’t like him.”
“Oh, he’s right.” She frowned as Voidfire came in. “None of us like him.”
Voidfire’s red hair was pulled halfway back, but it swayed as she walked in and over to Ironwood without missing a beat.
“Oh, we have one more late student, it seems,” Ironwood teased her, but she leaned over his desk and whispered something in his ear.He shook his head and thinned his lips before pulling back. “Go sit.”
She pulled away with a pout, turning around and glaring at me before taking a seat in the front row.
“Ceremonial magic is important in many facets of our life as demons,” Ironwood lectured. “One of the most important ceremonies, and most common, is pregnancy prevention. When you are sexually active, as most demons or supernaturals are in adulthood, it’s your responsibility to be prepared. As a professor at a reform academy, it is my job to teach the importance of it. Sex is fun, but sex with protection is even better.”
Voidfire and a few other demons sitting around the room giggled.
“We have talked about this ceremony in our theory class, but now is the time to bring the theory into a more practical application,” he explained. “There are boxes on everyone’s desk with candles, tourmaline, rose quartz, and moon water. I’ve sent you the instructions on our class app. Pull out your tablets if you need a refresher.”
We took everything out of the boxes and made small altars on each desk.
“We already did this,” Jenni huffed in annoyance as she perfected her altar.
“You did?” Dex gasped, stepping out of the shadows behind me. “Oh, fuck, trouble. I’m in trouble.I forgot to do the ceremony this year!”
“Good thing you’ve only been with our prepared mate then, hmm?” Bram drawled with an eye roll. “Even I’ve done this much.”
