Page 40 of Group Studies

I blinked and took my hand off his forehead, looking at it.

“Aphy?” Professor Garnet asked.

I bit my lower lip, trying to remember what I’d done. I wanted the image gone, and I’d willed it away—no defenses, just pure need.

I bounced on the balls of my feet and squeezed my thighs together to give me some relief from the magic still licking at my core. I used my magic, maybe. I’d done something, anyway.

Saffron’s grin turned into a knowing smirk. I wanted to tackle the Greek God and nibble his balls until pain and pleasure wiped it off his face.

Instead, I turned and smiled at Professor Garnet. “Who’s next?”

“Tanwyn,” Professor Garnet said. He turned to Saffron. “Are you feeling normal? Is there any extra magic in you?”

Saffron flexed his hands. “I feel normal. There’s no extra magic in me. She said, stop, and I stopped projecting the image.”

“After I touched you,” I added.

Instead of going back to the middle, I turned to Tanwyn and started to sit right in front of him. To my surprise, the mage pulled a fluffy white pillow out of his dimensional pocket and stuck it under my butt before it hit the ground.

“I had some extra rations,” Tanwyn said. He side-eyed Ram. “I’ll keep it for you between classes.”

I sank into the pillow. “I’m your biggest fan right now.”

Tanwyn smiled and took my hand. “Ready?”

I nodded.

Once again, the image of a big fluffy white dog appeared in front of me.

I sunk into my mage trance and repeated the process. As with Saffron, I didn’t feel my magic flow, but Tanwyn’s image cut off at my command.

Excitement mixed with worry. This didn’t feel like magic, or even look like magic. My fingers didn’t wiggle, nor did I need to draw a rune. No power shot through my skin. I simply thought of something, and it happened. I’d felt my magic move through me when I’d forced the two students to make my Shell. But like my panic during my Aptitude test, instead of having a focus I’d sprayed and prayed.

Today I had a focus. A focus I could touch.

My magic was touch based.

Joy sang in my heart, momentarily erasing all my worries. This is all I’d wanted since day one. I wiggled and squeezed my hands in front of my chest.

“Ram next,” Professor Garnet ground out, interrupting my quiet celebration.

My excitement died as the blood drained out of my face.

Why couldn’t someone else go next so I could at least enjoy this a little longer?

“Aphy,” the professor warned.

I refused to sit in front of Ram. He sent me an image of a marble statute of himself, a group of half naked women clinging to his legs. I drew out my explanation for as long as I could. Finally, I couldn’t put off touching him any longer. I reached forward, brushing my fingers against his hand, resting on his knee. The blurry object cut off.

“That wasn’t a good test,” Ram complained. “She barely touched me.”

“Good,” Professor Garnet growled. “It was a perfect test then. Any skin contact works.”

I refused to look at Ram. Standing, I snatched my pillow up and hurried to sit in front of Ghalen. Although Ram’s existence tempered it, my body still sang with need.

Being a Stolen Mage, Ghalen needed to take magic from something before he could use it. I gave him permission to use me as a source.

A figurine of Superman appeared between us. I rolled my eyes, grinning, before listing off the details for Professor Garnet. I pressed my fingers to his cheek, easily shutting down the object. Heat rose to my face as a few memories of his most recent ‘art’ joined my general horniness.

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