Page 75 of Wicked Heirs

Seeing as though I was supposed to stay far away from Alena, that was a necessity right about now. Although, they had waived it when it came to sharing the same classes as her.

I watched thelittle angel, as Orpheus called her—in a strangely affectionate way for him—as she dropped her books while class was clearing out, and hastened to pick them up and shove them into her multicolored messenger bag.

Perfect.

As soon as the professor ofFoundations of Spellcastingleft, I went to the door and locked it.

She spun at the sound, holding her bag tight to her, her mesmerizing eyes searching mine, clearly worried and wondering what the fuck I was playing at.

Normally, Xavier would be in this class alongside us, but he’d been invited to one of the advanced classes that Orpheus was also a part of,Magic in Combat, because of the way his power had stabilized lately.

Because he’d ingested Alena’s angelic blood.

She would be well on her way to that soon too. I’d been watching her today and her magic usage had been a world away from her first shaky tries I’d witnessed previously. Not to mention, she’d also come at me with a fucking storm and actual magically-generated lightning. That had been no small feat, but the Academy didn’t know about that.

Soon it would just be me stuck in this basic class.

Because of my volatility.

For a phoenix it was an expected struggle and apparently it lasted for years before I’d finally just stabilize. Well, notjust, it would take a concerted and continual effort.

Things just… I felt like… like they just couldn’t be easy for me.

There was just so much pain and struggle.

And it made me fucking rage.

It was either that or break down and cry like a little bitch.

Not likely.

I wasn’t weak.

Just tormented.

In too many ways.

As for now, I’d finally been allowed back in this class even though she was in it. I didn’t know how the hell because they’d been adamant about pulling me. The same went for all my other classes. I was under probation but it didn’t matter. I was just relieved that I was back in and that it wouldn’t impact my graduation date anymore or push me back so much.

It must’ve been Orpheus helping me out again, convincing the dean and the faculty to let me back in.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Alena demanded, pulling me back to the immediate moment.

“You’re a real firecracker, aren’t you, babe? Coming from a phoenix, that’s a major compliment, for the record.”

She folded her arms across her chest, her messenger bag dangling in front of her. “So you’re complimenting me? What does that mean to you?”

“It means, I was wrong.” I shifted my weight, unable to hide my unease at having to own up to such a big mistake, at enacting injustice when I’d really believed it had been the opposite. “Aboutyou.”

“Yeah, you were,” she retorted, clearly having no intention of making it easy for me.

I had to respect her for that. Why should she after what I’d done?

It just further proved myfirecrackernickname for her was warranted.

She really was something.

Shit, I’d found that out in a major way when she’d ripped me out of the sky that night.

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