Page 20 of Dance With Death

“Well then.” Leif strokes my hair. “I’m honored.”

“I hope you are teasing me. I do enjoy your company. I find you fascinating.”

“Oh, man. You really are funny.” Leif turns my face to his.

As Leif’s lips meet mine, I’m not immediately engulfed in his arms as usual; instead, his large fingers remain as gentle on my cheeks as the kiss he gives me is. Since our first kiss, when I mentioned the possibility I might break his fingers, Leif is often cautious, although, my preference for hard kisses does tease out a less gentle side on occasions when we’re alone.

I’d never expect a connection like mine and Leif’s to draw worry from me, but before I tangled myself with all these people, I didn’t have worries to draw away. Nor did I expect to get a thrill from watching the affection I give make another person happy.

Leif looks at me as if I’m the sunshine breaking through his gloom, and he kisses me again, the soft buzz from his touch tingling across my face. I dip my head, not entirely comfortable with our public display, and Leif winds an arm around my shoulder to hold me to him instead.

“What is your opinion of the mysterious creature?” I ask. “Do you agree that a shifter stalks the campus?”

He shrugs. “I’ve never seen anything. A mysterious animal is part of the academy’s myths, like the ghosts. As if the humans don’t have enough supernatural in their lives...”

“Yet, the mythical dog suddenly appears again after Holly’s disappearance—and Logan claims it’s wolf sized. There could be a connection to Holly and Viktor. He uses shifters to create constructs and and he could use wolf shifters too.”

Leif’s jaw clenches again and he picks at the edge of his coat. “Yeah.”

Oh. I place my fingers on his hand. “Sorry. But you’re not a shifter, remember?”

“Mmm.” Silence ensues again as Leif’s mood strays towards unhappiness, and I kneel to briefly press my lips to his. The smile returns. “Is there anything you wanted to investigate while we’re out here?”

“No. Not anymore. I’d like to return to the academy and prepare for tonight.”

“Tonight?”

With a smile, I stand and gaze at the world around me. “Looking for stray shifters on campus, Leif.”

7

ROWAN

I retreat to my familiar spot in the library and spend the afternoon lost in potions and transmutation homework. If only the mustiness from the old books stacked around me could infuse knowledge using the magic in those books. With constant research into Violet’s cases, and my own exploration of magic before I met Violet, I’m behind with my studies. Not the practical side; I have no problems with grades when I create the more complex potions or transmute elements, but I have assignments to finish.

I promised to contact Violet if somebody messages her Instagram account while she’s with Leif—she isn’t impressed that nobody replied to her semi-threat yet. I’ve added Violet’s account to my phone so two of us could keep an eye on things, but mostly because Violet doesn’t really know how to use the app. I also kindly added a profile picture for Violet, and I smile before slipping the phone into my pocket since she hasn’t managed to change the image.

My mind drifts towards Holly several times. Where is she? I’m as concerned as Violet that there may be something threatening human students happening inside the academy. But is that possibility better or worse than Viktor being responsible for Holly’s disappearance?

I passed Mrs. Eldridge when I entered the echoing library, and we exchanged pleasantries. Once, I would’ve paused to chat, but now we both eye each other with a mutual suspicion. In my recent visits, I’ve snuck a look at which books she’s shelving and where, but nothing stands out as unusual. Even snooping around her desk area when she walked away to help another rare library visitor revealed nothing odd.

But there must be something. Somewhere. The woman has keys to out of bounds areas and a book listing confiscated items.

Where would we start with investigating threats within the academy? Mrs. Lorcan’s room, but she’d hardly leave evidence of anything around. No. We need to find a weaker link, and Mrs. Eldridge isn’t someone I’d count as weak.

The only female voice I usually hear in this part of the academy is Violet’s when we meet, but I’m drawn away from a history assignment by several girls’ voices coming from between shelves close to me.

I attempt to ignore the girls, but the whispering becomes more irritating than if they had a loud conversation. “This is a study area,” I say, as I round the bookshelves towards the desks.

Marci, with a stack of old books on the table in front of her. She’s with her mini coven and the human girls from the caféteria earlier. Why is Darwin’s head girl involved? Isabella discourages human involvement with supes and here she is—again.

Although Marci regards me impassively, the two human girls startle and place their hands in their laps. Isabella’s friend, Helen, turns pink but smiles at me. Now that’s odd.

“This is a study area,” I repeat.

“We are studying.” Marci gestures at the hefty, blue-spined books—human history books—but I swear there’re thinner-spined ones beneath that are spell books.

“Only books containing magic are shelved in this part of the library,” I say pointedly. “Are you teaching the human girls spells?”

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