“Hey, that tiny sip knocked me on my ass, babe, and I’m a lot bigger than Gabby is,” Stefan said as he rubbed her back. “It should’ve thrown her for a loop.”
“But it didn’t,” Delmare snapped. “It didnothing.” She didn’t turn into Stefan, but she didn’t shy away from his touch, either. Stefan’s concerned gaze remained on her.
“It wasn’t your fault, Delmare. Gabby is obviously messing with things she shouldn’t be,” I raged as I paced around the room. I threw my hands up in an obvious bout of frustration. “She did incredible things in the King’s Contest. She performs advanced magic in class. She can put an illusion on hundreds of people. Hell, she levitated atreelast semester! No, it wasn’t the potion. She’s pulling power from a source that’s not her own. That’s why she was able to overpower the effects of the potion.”
Delmare’s eyes cleared, and Stefan stood straight.
Emma raised an eyebrow. “Do you think she might have an Unseelie necklace, like I used in the Contest?”
“She couldn’t use it unless she has Unseelie blood, though,” Odette said.
“She just might,” Theo said. “Just how much do we know about her, anyway? I bet she’s got night court blood in her.”
“I don’t know what she is, or what she’s using to get so powerful,” Emma said.
My knuckles cracked as my hands became fists, and I added, “Neither do I. But we need to find out.”
Chapter Fourteen
Emma
While Ethan was at the competency trials I’d gone to the cathedral, and prayed to the goddess Milonna to stop Gabby and Elijah from being successful.
For whatever reason, my prayers had been ignored. Gabby and Elijah had freaking passed, and their coronation was being planned at this very moment.
Did the gods want them on the throne? Why? Was their bloodthrist and desire for battle so great, they wanted the Arcanea to slaughter and enslave all the other races? I knew the gods liked honor and glory. But was starting another brutal war worth it?
I didn’t understand. Milonna felt so far away from me, and I didn’t know how to please her, or earn her favor. I was supposed to be her champion, but I felt like I was doing a terrible job.
On March twentieth, I met Kiara at ten a.m. for our Protection Against Dark Magic course. The classroom was circular, with stone floors and walls, the desks set up in an oval beneath tiny windows.
Professor Mara taught this class. Her glittering blue robe sparkled like starlight as I took a seat next to Kiara.
“How are you doing?” Kiara asked.
I shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Ethan’s been down all week.”
And it’d been a hell of a time pulling him out of it. I was quickly learning when Ethan was in a bad mood, it was best to give him space. And no one quite got under his skin like Elijah.
Kiara frowned. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you guys. I wish I could.”
“It’s fine.” I stopped myself from being resentful. We needed Kiara, but it was too late. Gabby and Elijah had passed their trials, which meant they’d be king and queen by the time the semester was over.
Unless the Phantom did something crazy to stop them. Which was exactly what I was worried about.
“Pay attention, everyone,” Professor Mara said. “Today we will be learning the difference between white magic and dark magic.”
She strode in front of a rolling chalkboard. As she did so, drawings began to emerge— the shapes of wands and crystals. “As we all know, illusion magic isintention,” Mara said. “The emotion with which you cast a spell means everything. And while Seelie magic is typically cast using the best of intentions, Unseelie magic is not. Now, though most Seelie fae struggle with casting dark magic at all, each of us are still capable of harnessing the magic of our extinct cousins, to a point.”
Professor Mara rapped her knuckles on the board. “If a Seelie fae tries to perform advanced dark magic, they will die. This is because dark magic is not a quality that our bodies naturally possess, unlike Unseelie fae. White magic harms none, while black magic is done for evil or selfish intent.”
Kiara frowned, but she didn’t speak up. Professor Mara continued her lecture. “Now, the witches and warlocks of the Miriamic Coven in the West primarily harness black magic for their powers, and obtain their magic from demonic sources.”
“That’s not true,” Kiara whispered under her breath, but only loud enough for me to hear her. Around us, other people were nodding introspectively.
“Witches use wands or crystals for purposes of storing their magic. Arcanea have no desire for these kinds of items, as we consider them objects of demonic lore,” Professor Mara said.
Mara rattled on and on. With each word, Kiara seemed to get only more pissed. I knew her. She wouldn’t speak up— she was too shy.
