Night Witch (Weatherstone College, #2)(76)

A sob slipped through my tightly pressed lips, but I didn’t let tears fall. I’d never fully move past my guilt over what happened to Gerard, but I also understood what Logan was saying. This wasn’t all my fault. Outside of self-defense, I’d never deliberately hurt anyone.

“There has to be a point to all of this.” My words were mumbled against Logan’s chest. “To my affinity. Why would reapers exist without a reason for our magic?”

Every other affinity fulfilled some role in our magical world, and there was no reason to believe reapers were different. Logan held me tightly, keeping my broken pieces from shattering, and eventually I had myself together enough to continue into Weatherstone.

We didn’t speak as we ended up in front of Logan’s dorm. “I want you in here with me,” he said, pressing his palm to the scanner. “Where I can protect you. I’ll get your stuff from your room.”

“Don’t forget my babies,” I said, hoping my herbs were still alive and well. I hadn’t had a chance to reinforce my magical watering spell, but it had only been a few days.

Logan’s lopsided smile did dangerous things to my body. “I’d never forget about your babies,” he teased. “And I’ll give you plenty more to love in the future, Precious. All the babies.”

Fuck. Me.

“Are you talking about plants?” I rasped.

Logan snorted before shaking his head. “Sure, baby. Plants.” He pushed the door open for me to enter. “Do you want your crystals?”

I shook my head, which still spun at his reference to babies. Not that I couldn’t imagine a family with Logan, but definitely no time soon. “Leave my crystals there for now. With my powers unlocked, I need to be careful about boosting my magic.”

“Soon I will figure out a way for you not to have to hide. I promise.”

He left to grab my stuff, and I got to work unpacking what I had in my overnight bag, thinking about my crystals and the hope that one day I could embrace my full affinity.

Already my reaper powers surged strongly inside, and if the council was searching, they’d find me easily enough. Find and destroy me with their misguided fear and hate.

After classes today, we had plans to meet up with our friends and figure out the next steps.

Rafael might be dead, but I was far from safe.

Belle’s reaction had proved that, and she was only the tip of the iceberg.





Chapter 36




“Ms. Hallistar! I’m impressed. I expected to see more weakness after your days off sick, but here you are, showing the true skills of a spellcaster.”

Professor Damone’s normally unflappable features slackened as she watched me draw air around myself and funnel it up through the specially made glass tubes in her classroom. The rest of her was as put together as always, from the tight chignon in her blond hair, to the perfect eyeliner she always wore. But her expression . . . I’d stunned her.

The air wrapped me in its embrace as my magic flowed with the element and back into my center. It was hard to remember when I’d been locked down and working against my own powers. The icy strain of reaper magic wasn’t present when I touched elements, keeping me safe from revealing my secret.

Professor Damone, like all my professors today, had presumed that my spellcaster side was finally blossoming. None of them looked any deeper than that, which would hopefully be the norm moving forward. I’d already spoken to Mom at lunchtime, and after she chastised me for not stopping by home before heading back to school, she’d offered to send a suppression potion with Dad. That’s my last resort, I’d told her, and even though she sounded worried, she didn’t argue with me. A suppression potion wasn’t a long-term option. It couldn’t be.

My magic whispered that hiding her nature had weakened Gran to the point that she hadn’t survived childbirth. Our magic was innately part of our essence and strength, and I would have been surprised to find any suppressed reaper living to old age. Cutting off our magic long-term was destructive to our health and well-being.

Ever since I’d felt that connection to Gran at our family crypt, I’d had a closer link to my affinity. A part of her spirit remained within me, and I was sure it would help me learn to control the monsters and make reaper-related decisions moving forward.

By the time class was over, I all but bounced from the room, feeling stronger than I had in forever. The curse had been draining me for so long I’d forgotten what feeling good was like.

It was amazing.

Amusement washed through my newly cemented connection to Logan—who was in one of the few classes he couldn’t miss—and with it came a fizzle of excitement in my stomach.

Sensing him the way I did now, a true connection, had never been described in the texts. I knew bonded and married magical pairs had a connection, but I could feel Logan in my essence. Our magic was freely linked, even over distance. It was almost as if his energy was there beneath my fingertips, ripe for the taking. Not that I’d be taking any to leave my mate weaker, but it was an interesting sensation all the same.

Sara met me at the door of the classroom; she’d been working with a few seniors today. “Your magic is on fucking fire,” she said, slinging the arm not holding her school satchel around me. “You’re going to kill it as a spellcaster.”