“I guess. That’s how they found the body.”
“What body?”
“The person she accused me of killing.” I toss my arms in the air, feeling frustrated. It’s clear he doesn’t believe me, even though he says he would know if I was lying. “I thought she brought me to the school to be a test dummy for the other novices’ powers, like my father did my whole life, until she accused me of murder and I overheard her talking about Elora to—” I snap my mouth closed. I can’t say his name out loud. I don’t even want to think it.
“To?” he prompts while his eyes narrow into slits. I just made him suspicious.
I try to deflect. “His name isn’t important.”
“It is to me.” He drops his chin, sharpening the planes of his face.
“One of them,” I whisper. It’s the best I can do. My throat feels tight even thinking about him.
Sunny’s face softens. “One of your mates,” he assumes correctly, and I nod. With a heavy sigh, he scrubs his hands over his face, muttering a curse. I instantly feel guilty, and I can’t pinpoint if it’s because I’m not being loyal to the male in front of me or the ones who never bothered to find me after I was taken.
MOROS
My brain is fried. I can’t think straight, and it’s my own fucking fault. The minute I allowed my instincts to take over and flood the room with pheromones, I knew I fucked up. Her desire blossomed, mixing with mine until the only thing I wanted to do was be inside her and show her we are magic together.
“Can you…” The plea in her voice allows my thoughts to snap back into focus long enough for me to drop my gaze from her flushed cheeks and parted lips. It takes me another second to gather the strength to take my hands off her and back away.
When she makes the smallest move, like she might inch closer, I have to stop her. She’s too raw, and I’m consumed with my need to touch her. I’m being selfish.
She tries explaining what she meant about magic not affecting her, but I must only be picking up bits and pieces, because none of it makes sense to me. “Why call you a void then and not a shield?”
Briar loops her arms together, covering her abdomen. “Because that is what Syrinx wanted me to be. A real void has more than the ability to block magic, she can also take it. The headmistress probably sent me here when she realized I wasn’t ever going to live up to her expectations.”
I’m still slow to process her words, but something she says grabs my focus. All too clearly, I see her on the field with icy air escaping her mouth when she spoke after being attacked with cold magic, and things fall into place. “Take magic?”
Her lips thin, curling down in the corners. I can’t tell if she’s pissed or disappointed at my question. “I’m not going to snatch your wolf, Sunny—I wouldn’t even if I could—but just so we’re clear, I can’t.”
“She thought you could?” It sure seems like it to me too, now that I know what was going on earlier on the field.That’s why the water at her feet started to refreeze and why it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.
“She wanted me to be able to. Not every person who has mental magic does it the same way. Just because magic is useless against me like it was Elora, that doesn’t mean I can suck someone dry by stealing their magic and using it myself.”
Holy shit. If Briar is capable of such a thing, she would be the most powerful trainee here. No one could touch her. “That’s what she could do? Suck them dry?”
“I guess. That’s how they found the body.” She shrugs.
“What body?” I need to get my head screwed on right. Why the hell am I having such a hard time following along?
“The person she accused me of killing,” she snaps then drops a bomb about her father using her. I make a mental note to find out more about him and her past, but she stops short, not finishing her sentence, and the abrupt way she freezes makes me question who she overheard Syrinx speaking with.
“To?” I prompt.
“His name isn’t important.”
“It is to me.” I need to know who hurt her. I can sense her pain across the room.
“One of them,” she confesses, and I realize it isn’t just pain making her voice small, but sorrow.
“One of your mates.” I scrub my hand over my face, feeling like shit for pushing her again. “Sorry I’m so thick, princess. Being this close to you is doing a number on my… everything.” I wouldn’t usually admit such a weakness, but I don’t have anything to hide from her.
“It’s okay. I don’t blame you.” Her gaze goes to the floor before she casts a critical eye around the room. A twinge of embarrassment flushes through me as I kick a heap of fabric under my bed. This room is nothing like my real home, but it’s the best Frostburn has to offer trainees. I’ve seen the nest, so I know this is a step up from that, but that’s of little comfort.
“Gods, it’s so much warmer in here. I’d only need like five blankets to be able to feel my toes again. I might have taken out an elite already if I knew I would get a door.” Briar chuckles softly, making her comment seem lighthearted. I try to focus on that and not on all the ways I could keep her warm much better than ten blankets. To distract myself, I snap the heavy fur off my bed and approach her slowly with it held between my hands.
“I don’t have five, but I’ll get them.”
