Page 89 of The Cursed Fae

Both of her gray eyebrows shot up. “Depletion? Well, no,” she admitted. “But just because you won’t die doesn’t mean you should try it.”

“I understand, ma’am. I’m very sorry.”

She pursed her lips. “I intend to keep a closer eye on your progress. Expect frequent practical quizzes until I am satisfied you can control your magic. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She offered me a wry smile. “I will say one thing for the human world—they taught you impeccable manners. That is all, Ms. Sable. You are dismissed.”

Laz was leaning on the wall in the hallway, and my hackles rose as he fell in step beside me. His expression suggested he’d overheard.

“Guess that means no more fun time for us,” he teased as we headed up to the astrology attic.

After the day I’d had, I did not appreciate him making light of the situation. “Probably for the best,” I snapped.

Laz blinked, as if my attitude wasn’t totally justified. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get away to see you yesterday, I had to be with my family.”

“Why didn’t you tell me how risky that spell was?” I bit off each word.

He shook his head. “People are overreacting. We’re both fine. It was a little dicey there for a minute, but not a big deal.”

I rounded on him. “Astrid had to—” I stopped myself just in time. “Give me a year’s worth of calories,” I finished instead. “I haven’t eaten an entire box of chocolate in one sitting since the tenth grade when Oscar Harbalm broke up with me after a week.”

His lips twitched.

“Don’t you dare smirk at me.” I jabbed a finger in his face. “I’m mad at you.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him. “I’m aware. And I am sorry. Honestly. I thought with me there to supervise, everything would be cool.”

Laz brushed his lips across my knuckles. “You should be upset with me. I screwed up. This is on me, not you.”

The fact he finally admitted the gravity of what happened eased my fury. He didn’t know what Astrid had to do for me.

As he leaned closer, I shoved against his chest and stepped back. “Come on. You actually have to teach me something today.”

Another student showed up towards the end of my tutoring and handed me a folded slip of paper; apparently Canterwald wasn’t kidding about the pop quizzes. Laz gave me a frantic overview of the most basic spells on the way to her office.

In my humble opinion, my test started out pretty well. I executed a deflection beautifully, or so I thought. My professor did not agree.

She shook her head and scowled. “It’s a spell, not a slap of magic. You need to pronounce the words correctly and enunciate. Do it again.”

I repeated it four times before she deemed my performance acceptable. Then she walked me through shielding spells before letting me attempt one on my own. It took a few tries, but I finally cast a tiny magical shield around a marble.

“The good news is you are not a thoroughly hopeless case.” She peered down her nose at me. “You simply lack focus. You may go,” she said, waving a hand toward the door.

I scurried away before she changed her mind, Laz on my heels.

“Want to hang out tonight?” he asked as we walked. “I’m having dinner with Tina and my parents, but we could meet up afterwards.”

With each passing day, I added to the pile of reasons I shouldn’t trust Laz. But something about him called to me. No one matter how many times I told myself to stay away from him, I didn’t.

“I can’t,” I replied. “Already promised Astrid a girls’ night.”

“Another time,” he said, reaching for my hand and giving it a squeeze. He brushed a kiss on my cheek in the hallway near his father’s office, then I headed toward the dorm.

Back in my room, I tossed my bag on the floor and flopped on the bed to video call Lena while I had some privacy.

“Hey!” She waved at the screen with a mascara wand. “You have perfect timing. I need opinions on outfits.”

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