I sucked in a breath. I knew it wouldn’t be the end of it with Keuric, that it wasn’t fully dealt with yet, but I wasn’t going to let him ruin this first class for me, or any of my experiences at Loxley Academy.
I tapped my foot on the polished dark marble floor as I gazed around the room for the umpteenth time, because I wanted to remember every little detail of my first class.
I was sitting at the back near the door.
The walls were shimmering black tile with a silver-like geometric print throughout that gave way to vaulted ceilings above with matte metal beams. Tall, pointed windows lined each side, the protective glass panes shielding species who didn’t do well under sunlight.
Modern tempered quartz desks lined either side of the space in two rows, each desk a two-seater with metal chairs, which were surprisingly comfortable thanks to the leather padded seats. Each desk had a magical interface embedded in the desktop for each student to use, which was a combination of tablet technology and shimmering gold or blue magic imbued into it.
At the far end was the Lecture Station where the professor conducted their lessons from. It was a large orange circular construct that looked a lot like a sun, which magically pulled all the texts, data, and information for the lesson from within when the professor merely pressed their hand to it. Even non-magical beings could operate it, because it responded to their energy signature, not only magical essence.
I stared down at the interface on my side of the desk. It laid out the syllabus for this class, but nothing more yet. Not until the professor arrived.
Arcane & Elemental Synergytaught by Jornol Dryvan, a Dark Fae.
It was sanctioned by HICI which meant, not only would it be applicable to hybrid beings, but there would also be a HICI Educator present.
I looked up every now and then at the students filtering in.
I didn’t see anybody I’d gotten to know, just faces I vaguely recognized from being around campus the last week, and at that party.
Isabella and Marian, the vampire couple that I’d made friends with—first encountering them down the dorm corridors that first day here, then hanging with them at the party last night—weren’t gonna be in this class. With them being vampires, a class that had a magical focus didn’t work.
I’d also gotten to know a Light Fae princess called Octana Reyolde. She was supposed to be in this class because she had a magical power set, and she was a first-year like me, but she’d been called away by her father, King Heryn, for anupdate meeting, which she had to attend every week. It was one of the conditions of him allowing her the freedom to leave the Light Fae Realm and attend Loxley Academy. It was brutal and controlling, and fucked-up.
I knew that Christalyn was gonna be in this class, as she’d told me last night. Although she was a second-year, as a young Celestial, there was a mandate from Haven Initiative that she had to interact with as many different magic-wielders as possible—something about it being the key to stabilized control for somebody with her extreme power level.
But Christalyn was Winter’s friend first and foremost and I didn’t want to gravitate toward her too much. He could use more friends. Unlike me with my relationship with Torvek, Winter didn’t have anything like that.
Besides, I found it easier to make friends—at least surface-level friends—while it wasn’t the same with him. He was the kind of person who stayed in the corner and chilled. The bubbly and chatty mingling thing really wasn’t him.
I frowned as Winter’s scent rolled over me.
He wasn’t supposed to be attending this class yet. As a first-year hybrid being, he needed to complete four sessions of a prerequisite course beforehand.
Hold on.
It wasn’t just the sandalwood.
There was… a lot more to it.
I turned my head and started when I tracked it not to Winter, but to Vaxan.
Oh.
They’d been together.
I could smell Winter all over him. There was a clean scent of a shower too, and a minty scent which I was discerning as Vaxan’s own, but I could still smell Winter lingering on him.
Vaxan wasn’t all tense and rigid like he’d been at the party last night. He seemed much more relaxed now, even finally not in his leather Basilisk gear, the armor replaced by a sleek black blazer with stylish and edgy chrome spikes all over it. He had a black dress shirt on underneath, a couple of buttons undone, and it was only half tucked in to his black leather pants. He still had the crown on, though. He really was sexy as fuck. I was pretty sure he’d noticed me eye-fucking him last night when I’d encountered him at the entry into The Caverns. Given my limited sexual experience, I wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to that sort of thing. I’d even considered trying to rectify that lack of experience—with him. He was reserved and on the periphery, poised and regal but with a primal edge that came along with his animal nature. And I guess I usually gravitated toward the quieter men. Maybe it was some sort of comfort for me, because I was definitely the opposite with my out-there, bubbly personality, just not when it came to sexual situations.
But now he’d clearly been with Winter that was a no-go.
Vaxan caught my eye and gave me a kind smile. Then he took a seat directly across from me on the right row.
I was about to get up and go over to thank him for his assistance last night, but then Christalyn sauntered in wearing another pair of her jeans with all the zips and cool chains on them, paired with a flowy lavender tank. She took a seat beside him against the wall and the two of them started chatting. Well, she started chatting. He tensed up. I knew a little bit about the Basilisk history with the Celestial Plane, so that made sense. He wasn’t a fan. He was probably entertaining her company purely because of Winter.
He caught my eye and raised an eyebrow, likely wondering why the fuck I kept staring.
