Page 7 of Group Studies

I bit my lip, trying not to smile, before shaking my obsession with Saffron out of my head. Mercedes must make him happy. I needed to respect that. He didn’t ask for my magic. Transfers were illegal because they affected free will. Even if we agreed to the transfer in advance, the sexual pull between us was virtually impossible to deny.

Though, Professor Garnet had done it. Not just once but four times now.

He’d lived part of my history and came out of it a meditation and mental magic expert. I still couldn’t believe his self-control. It helped when Saffron fucked both our brains out every time I accidentally transferred, thus easing my magics need for completion.

I let out a deep breath as the lights in my Shell came on. The door wove shut behind me. Most of my little shelves were still empty. I took the flowers out from behind my ear and quickly tied them upside down with floss I stole from the bathroom. Three little bouquets were in various states of drying. I wouldn’t lose hope for Beryl.

Stripping off my uniform, I tossed it into the lid-less chest at the bottom of my bed. The administration had recast the spell on it so I’d always have clean clothing. I pulled on my issued cream pajamas and sank into my bed. It only took me a moment to open the book back up. Grabbing the stuffed turtle Beryl gave me, I squished it against my stomach. The knitted wings Roisin, my roommate and best friend, added to it flopped across my knees.

With pencil and paper in hand, I opened my book and began to take notes. I needed to make this work.

Chapter 3

Someone squeezed my shoulder, and I jerked awake. The blurry stone walls of the Alchemy Lab came into view along with the sharp odor of one of my potions almost overcooking.

“Relax,” Tanwyn’s light voice said. “Or maybe, just stay awake.”

I nodded at the handsome tattoo-covered natural mage and reached for my hot plate. I didn’t realized he still held my shoulder until he let go. Leaning forward, I hoped he couldn’t see me flush.

“Thanks. I’ve been staying up late reading, and I’ve had a stomach ache the last few mornings,” I rambled. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Sleep hasn’t really been a thing. I need to be on Abe’s good side right now.”

Abe was Alchemist Blickenstaff’s nickname when she wasn’t around. Although I worried about using it, I felt like a real part of the class the first time I said it.

Fitting in. I could do this.

“Is there something special about right now?” Tanwyn asked, one of his dark eyebrows raised.

I blinked the last of the sleep out of my eyes and realized everything I’d said. Controlling my running mouth, I took a deep breath. There was, but I didn’t want to tell Tanwyn.

I’d spent the last three weeks dodging him and Ghalen. Since I’d transferred magic into the entire student body, the two mages had taken a keen interest in me. Ghalen wanted to add me to his harem, while Tanwyn, well, I honestly didn’t know what Tanwyn wanted.

He wasn’t like the other people imprisoned here. A Natural Mage amongst mostly Rimmed, he didn’t have a harem or even belong to one of the Institute’s social clubs. According to my best friend, Roisin, I was the first person he’d taken an interest in.

“Aphrodite,” Abe barked. “Is that your potion I smell overcooking?”

“Umm,” I said, turning from Tanwyn to focus on my potion. “Maybe?”

The click of the alchemist’s heels sounded loud as she came up beside me. Without asking, she stirred my potion and tsked. “Take it off the heat. We may still salvage it.”

I quickly did as told, giving it equal stirs counterclockwise to even out her initial swish. After pointing Tanwyn back to his workstation with a thin finger, Abe turned her attention to me and narrowed her eyes in what I’d come to recognize as approval.

A chocolate bar came out of her dimensional pocket. She popped it into her mouth. I didn’t think I’d had a single class with her where she wasn’t constantly eating. I’d no idea how she could afford it, though maybe staff got more rations than students.

I looked away from the chocolate and tried to meet Abe’s gaze. “Ah, Alchemist Blickenstaff, as you’re here,” I laced my fingers together and squeezed. “I was wondering if I could use the lab to make a few extra potions?”

Abe arched an eyebrow. The almost skeletal woman made me quake as she peered down at me through her thin glasses. Suddenly, my bladder needed to empty itself.

She brought her fingertips together. “Do explain.”

“Well,” I swallowed. “I know you’re already having me make barrier potions once a week. And I feel like, with some experimentation, I could extend those…” I lowered my voice, praying my fear would cover up my terrible ability to lie. “Maybe try something with my, well, unique magic. Just a little bit, but if I could infuse it with my magic, it might make the magic stick for longer.”

Abe didn’t look away from me as gears turned behind her eyes. Since Alrick’s fear multiplier, I used my time making potions for myself. I was willing to bet she’d rather I spent class time making something else.

I didn’t know for sure, but based on how she treated her students, Abe didn’t teach here by choice. Many of the potions we made for her disappeared at the end of class. For all I knew, she legally disposed of them. But if she didn’t…

Abe’s posture slowly rocked backward and she cocked her head to the side. Just like a lizard. The similarity was so striking I almost missed her question. “How much time are you hoping for?”

“Ah, three evenings,” I said, giving my potion another quick stir in both directions. “Professor Garnet has agreed to charge them and supervise the magic part,” I lied. “I don’t need to take up much of your time. Ah, it will either work or it won’t.”

---