Page 3 of The Witch & the Dragon

What was going on? Chloe’s intuition tickled. She waved Harrow goodbye and followed the male student at a careful distance. Her magic tingled within, a sign that whatever she was doing – was good. The student walked ahead, eyes cast down, never looking back. When he turned a corner, she followed, letting her intuition tug her forward.

He went up a grand, curling set of stairs. She quietly climbed the stairs after him, and they went two floors up. He paced ahead fast, his footfalls echoing loudly in the corridor as he headed toward the balcony.

Chloe’s intuition tingled more urgently, and a jolt of adrenaline and dread hit her. She didn’t understand why she was feeling what she was feeling – but from her limited experience with her magic, she knew never to ignore the signals.

Still following silently, she picked up her pace as the male student broke into a jog. He skidded to a halt on the balcony and leaned over the marbled barrier.

Is he…?

Dread flooded her stomach, causing a wave of nausea. But for a fraction of a second, she felt something else: wind, despair, and the impetus of a rash decision.

No longer bothering to be quiet, she broke into a sprint.

Chapter Two – Tiran

What’s the point? Tiran thought. His hands gripped the barrier. What’s the damn point?

The ground seemed to shrink away from him, growing smaller and smaller, and a strange, dizzying tremor caused him to lean over more. He could visualize taking a step, climbing over the barrier, his legs dangling into nothing, the ground so far below.

They’d like that, wouldn’t they? All those parasites. Just as they crawled over the corpses of his family, they’d crawl over his.

The despair felt alien and all-consuming. After that phone call, after getting the news – it was all too much.

What’s the point?

It would all be easier if he just…

Then he heard loud footsteps approaching from behind.

“Hey! Wait! Guy on the balcony!”

Startled, he turned to see a panicked woman rushing up to him, waving her hands. “Guy on the balcony! Step away! It’s not worth it!”

What…?

“Who the hell…” Oh. One of the women he’d seen outside his uncle’s office. He’d barely noticed them. Why was she here, and why was she yelling?

“Dude!” She skidded to a halt, cheeks puffed, breathing heavily. “God, I’m so unfit. You’d never believe I used to run track in high school.” She rested her hands on her knees, hair a floppy mess in front.

“Who are you?” Tiran asked. He was too surprised, too puzzled to say anything else.

“Chloe Gardner,” she said, pushing the hair out of her eyes. “Who’re you?”

“Uh…Tiran. Tiran Umber.”

“Oh! You’re related to the professor?”

The thought of his uncle made him flush. “Yes. He’s my uncle.”

She tilted her head slightly. “Whoa. Do you hate him?”

“No.” He didn’t exactly like him either. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you here?”

“I…” She grimaced. “I thought you were going to kill yourself.”

“What?” he asked. “Why would you think that?”

“I, uh… my magic,” she said sheepishly. “It’s intuition-based. I sensed you were about to make a really rash decision. And I… well, I didn’t want that to happen.”

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