Page 18 of Make Me

The Stonemont Triad has been particularly attentive to their new sweet friend, and he had an inkling as to why. But it wasn’t his secret to share.

“Holly, Claire, Assistant Desmond,” Zack greeted as he slid into the seat across from Claire. His usual seat was occupied by Desmond, but from the subconscious way Claire leaned into him, he didn’t think she minded.

“We’re outside of class,” Desmond said. “You can just call me Desmond.”

Zack nodded as Claire questioned Desmond’s title.

“Assis—Desmond is an assistant teacher in my advanced spell work class,” Zack explained. He placed his hand on the orb to order his food.

“Oh, that’s right. Holly mentioned that you did that while you were getting your mastery.”

“I do. That’s why I’m curious to hear the story about your Spells and Potions class.”

“Wait,” Zack said, pausing his order. “It was your class that had the explosion. I heard about that. Are you okay?”

Claire felt like the little sister he never had. He had heard about the explosion earlier but hadn’t thought anything of it. He hadn’t realized that was Claire’s class.

Claire blushed. “I’m fine. I screwed up the potion somehow.”

“I was an assistant teacher for that class last year,” Desmond said. “If Professor Benton used the same first potion, a cough syrup, that he did last year, that should have been impossible.”

“I guess I’m an anomaly. Or the first to make that mistake.” Claire shrugged. “I think I was distracted by Runes. Besides, it’s got to be difficult for Professor Benton to teach a blind student.”

“How did you mix it?” Desmond was persistent, and Zack didn’t blame him. That was a simple potion that should have been easy to do. Unless it was messed with…

Zack glanced around the dining hall and caught sight of Vivienne glaring at their table. The witch had been walking around all last year spreading rumors about how she was the Stonemont Triad’s Fourth. She wouldn’t be happy that the Stonemont Triad’s attention was on Claire.

“Well, I crushed the berries with the provided mortar and pestle and then scraped it into the bowl. Then we crumbled up the dry leaves and mashed that waxy material into the mixture. Finally, I poured the contents of the vial into the mixture. That’s when it began to sizzle and then exploded everywhere.”

“So it didn’t begin to sizzle until you poured the mixture in?” Desmond asked.

“Yes.”

“The cough syrup potion?” Zack asked.

“Yes, it was our first one.”

Zack and Desmond exchanged a look. “I think I agree with Desmond on this one,” Zack said slowly. “That’s nearly impossible.”

“I guess I’m just that talented.” Claire tried to joke, but from the way her shoulders curled in on themselves, she didn’t believe her words.

An angry fire danced in Desmond’s eyes as he caught the movement, but he seemed to swallow the anger as he explained the contents of the vial had probably been switched. To cheer up the sweet, blind witch, Desmond launched into a dramatic story of how he’d screwed up a potion in his lab one time, and it had resulted with his eyebrows getting burned off. The story had its desired effect on Claire, and her sightless eyes seemed to get brighter as he spoke.

Zack smiled and ate quietly, sharing a conspiratorial look with Holly. who smiled and rolled her eyes at him. Desmond—in fact, his whole Triad—seemed to be head over heels for Claire. Witches didn’t have the same hangups as shifters did about intermixed matings because they were more focused on power. Powerful witches and wizards tended to stick together, and therefore, during the Great War, fewer witches found themselves on opposite sides unlike the shifters.

Desmond’s father, Coven Leader Frederick, likely wouldn’t bat an eye if Desmond turned out to be soul flames with Claire. His own coven leader, Aiden Ashcraft, would probably throw a stink, but that was just because the man was an asshole like his son. Brent had tattled to his father about the company Zack had been keeping, and he had gotten a lecture from the coven leader about making better connections at the Academy right before he returned for his second year. But it would take more than a stern lecture to keep Zack away from his friends.

“Oh, Claire!” Holly said when Desmond finished his story. “Share your good news from earlier today with Zack!”

“I love some good news,” Zack said.

“Professor Andy stopped by after Herbology and had me try the rune for the earth element again, and I did it!”

“What! That’s great!” Zack exclaimed. “Great job, Claire!”

He was happy for his friend and the news slotted another piece of the puzzle together that had been bothering Zack’s brain. Their new friend had all the signs of being powerful with four proficiencies, but she couldn’t do very much with her magic yet. It was a conundrum because with four proficiencies, she should have the ability to level mountains, yet she could barely move the elements around. It was almost like her power had been bound, but Zack didn’t sense any bindings on her.

Claire smiled, “Thanks! Professor Helene said that sometimes when we put too much pressure on our magic to perform, it can actually cause it to get defensive.”

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