Page 87 of Tempest

“Well—we wanted to explore the prevalence of prejudice against women against the backdrop of witchcraft in the eighteenth century.”

“Again.” Morgan turns away from us and sits at the head of the table. “Not the most imaginative topic I’ve heard, especially at Titan Falls. The next thing you’ll tell me is that you’re looping in the Salem witches in your research, too.”

Muffled laughter from the rest of the class follows.

Clover sears them all with a targeted glare.

Morgan opens his binder and clicks open his pen. “Now, if anyone else has—”

“Sarah Anderton and her daughter were executed for assisting noble wives in poisoning their husbands. How do we know her clients were all female?”

Morgan slowly raises his head from his notes, regarding Clover with the same oddly cold stare my cat gave me a few hours ago.

Bolstered, Clover adds, “Certain texts that I found in TFU’s library indicates some of those clients were men wanting women in their lives dead. These men buried the Andertons under the guise of witchcraft yet used those same witches to meet their own dark desires. I’d like to explore that more thoroughly. And,” Clover adds when Morgan opens his mouth, “I’d like to argue that Sarah Anderton’s daughter was deleted from all known texts by these same men, as she was the one who predominantly worked with them in offing their female loved ones.”

Morgan purses his lips. “You have my attention.”

“Good.” Clover sits back, a confident smile lifting her lips. She holds his stare a little too long.

My gaze bounces back and forth between them, waiting to see who will break first.

“I also want to unearth her name.”

Now my brows jump. “What?”

“The daughter’s name. I want to be the one to discover it.” Clover lifts her brow at Morgan. “Is that interesting enough for you, professor?”

The other students murmur their disbelief with their neighbors. I regard Clover with an uncomfortable mix of pride and dread. I’m not sure I want to know how she means to figure out the daughter’s name and what part she wants me to play. Probably none of it will be good.

And probably karma for what I’ve done behind her back.

“Oh, you hold my interest, Clover.” Morgan’s dimples flash. The girls around me bite their lips, but Clover just sends him a cocky grin. “I’m more than looking forward to reading your paper on the subject. Both of you.” Morgan shakes his head, laughing at some internal thought. “I can’t wait to see what the two of you uncover within these walls.”

His words carry a curious undertone, but I’m jostled out of my focus when Clover elbows me and whispers, “He’ll be so fucking turned on by my work, I’ll have him between my sheets by the end of the semester.”

Choking on nothing, I try to cover it up by rustling my loose papers.

Clover giggles, and I spend the rest of the class pretending to pay attention while daydreaming what it would be like to have Tempest between mine on a regular basis.

* * *

“Okay, hear me out,” Clover says, perching on her bed and facing me while I sit on mine. My knees are up with an open notebook resting on my thighs.

I don’t look up from my handwritten scrawls. “Nope.”

“But whyyyyy.” Clover flops to her back, rolls, then cups her chin in her hands and flutters her lashes. “Once. That’s all I ask.”

“Hang on.” I rest my pen under my jaw and stare at the ceiling as if pondering. “Still nope.”

“It’s the one way I can think of to impress Professor Morgan. Otherwise, he’ll fail us.”

“That’s a bit dramatic.”

“It’s one séance. You don’t even have to say anything. I’ll be the one summoning the Anderton daughter.” Clover sticks out her lower lip. “Besides, I thought you don’t believe in spirits, so why does it matter if you sit across from me while I chat to them.”

“It’s not the why.” Sighing, I lower my knees. “It’s the where. I’m not comfortable sneaking into Anderton cottage.”

I rub my lips together to prevent anything more from coming out. Further explanation would require mentioning Tempest’s name, and calling him out loud has the same effect as summoning a dark spirit. All my sins would come to light in front of my best friend and his sister.

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