I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded to myself.
You will die with your purity and that’s okay. Forget Ariyon, he’s a jerk.
I took a moment to center myself and brush off the fact that the only man in the realm who could touch me hated me. Then I got lost for twenty minutes and finally reached the correct classroom in the correct building. I was willing to bet the class was almost over. Still, I needed to go inside and introduce myself to the teacher or something.
Drumming up the courage, I opened the door and peeked inside. The teacher was a woman with long strawberry-blonde hair, and she stopped speaking when I popped my head in.
“Fallon Bane?” she asked, and I winced at her use of my birth mother’s last name.
“Yes.” I stepped inside.
“I’m Mrs. Bardot. I’ve been expecting you. Take a seat, please. We are almost finished.”
I entered the room and glanced around, and my heart sank into my stomach. Ariyon was sitting next to the only empty seat.
Kill me now.I avoided his gaze, horrified that after our exchange I would have to sit next to him.
Eden gave me a friendly wave and I waved back, unable to feel the relief of being in a class with her.
All I could feel were those steel-grey eyes on me as I crossed the short distance to the chair and sat with my face forward.
“As you know, fire magic is a warrior’s first line of defense.” The teacher went on with her lesson and Ariyon leaned toward me.
“Hey,” he whispered.
My head snapped in his direction to see him smiling at me, and that smile was enough to make my stomach flip over.
“Umm, hi?” I returned. Was he insane? Why was he smiling? He’d just told me we weren’t friends and to leave him alone.
“For the record, I don’t hold your mother’s sins against you,” he whispered.
My brain absolutely short-circuited. I stayed silent, unsure what else to do. It was like this guy had two personalities.
He stuck out his hand. “I’m Ayden. My twin brother helped save your dad.”
My mouth dropped open as the reality of the situation crashed in on me.
“Twins?” I asked. We had one set in Isariah but they didn’t look alike.
Reaching for his hand with my gloved one, I shook it.
“Well met,” he offered.
“Well met,” I returned in greeting, and he smiled happily.
They were nearly identical in every way, though now that I looked closer, I noticed that Ayden’s hair was about two inches shorter.
My mind went wild with the possibilities. Could Ayden touch me like his brother, and I wouldn’t feel pain? Or was it only his brother, and if that was the case, was it only because he was a healer?
I’d lived my entire life okay with never being kissed until a few days ago. Now I wondered if there were more boys here at school with magic that didn’t ignite my curse. Unfortunately, the only way to find out was to have them experiment and touch me. And that sounded like really horrifying research.
“And that’s all for today!” Mrs. Bardot said. “Tomorrow, we meet in the lab where we put all of this to the test.” A bell chimed above the door, and the students stood and gathered their things.
Eden ran over to my desk. “What do you have next?”
I glanced at Ayden, who was packing up his bag. Understanding shone on her face; she must have realized I’d just met the twin.
“Telekinesis level one,” I told her.
