Page 103 of The Black Witch

I received your correspondence, and it has become clear to me that you are in a situation that is quite horrifying.

I have arranged to have you moved to lovely housing in Bathe Hall. You’ll have a private room waiting for you there, and will only need to share the spacious common area with a quiet Gardnerian scholar and one Elfin girl (to fulfill the University’s ridiculous integration rules).

Both the room and the common area boast a beautiful view of Verpax’s Central Gardens. You’ll have your own lady’s maid, as well as a private dining area with the menu of your choice. It’s warm and comfortable in Bathe Hall—nothing like the North Tower with winter fast approaching, I would imagine.

After you move, I will promptly take over your University tithe, which will relieve you of any need to work in the kitchens.

All you need to do is fast to Lukas Grey.

Once you are safely fasted to Lukas, you can put this unfortunate and frightening chapter behind you as a harsh but necessary lesson in the realities of the world we Gardnerians are faced with.

Please do not write again until that felicitous occurrence has taken place. Once it does, the Lodging Mistress has instructions to move you to your new lodging immediately.

Your attentive aunt,

Vyvian

I crumple the letter in my fist and toss it out the North Tower’s hallway window.

Stubbornly set on the harder path, I shoulder on.

* * *

One evening I spot Lukas with Fallon Bane outside the main dining hall, her military guard hanging back a bit. I feel a stab of jealousy so strong, I almost drop the basket of warfrin root I’m lugging.

You’ve no reason to be jealous, I chastise myself.You’ve no claim on him.

Quickly spotting me, Fallon gives me a once-over as she takes in my mussed appearance—my flyaway, sweat-soaked hair and hands stained warfrin green right up to the wrists. She shoots me a gloating, triumphant look and makes a point of putting her hand on Lukas’s shoulder.

Maybe he’s decided to view her magical affinities as exciting after all, I bitterly consider. It’s been over two weeks since I last saw him and vowed to stay away, intimidated by his aggression and his fiery magic, as well as Fallon’s territorial claim on him.

Lukas turns and catches my eye.

My stomach clenches into a tight knot as I remember the warm, seductive feel of his kiss, the overwhelming power of his magic. I force my gaze from his before he can detect any of the hurt in my expression and hurry away.

A few nights later I find a bundle of violin music waiting for me on the stone bench in the North Tower’s hallway. It’s by a composer Lukas knows I admire, written out in the composer’s own hand and signed with a flourish. I feel a sharp pang of regret as I hold Lukas’s gift in my medicine-encrusted hands.

We fit together, Lukas and I. Fire to fire. Branches twining tight.

I think back to Aunt Vyvian’s letter and how much my situation would improve if I gave in and fasted to Lukas.

But that black fire of his. It’s too much.

I shake my head as I flip through the music ruefully.

It’s no use. Rafe is right about Lukas Grey. Affinity match or no, he’s too powerful, too unpredictable. And too worldly for me.

He belongs with Fallon Bane.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Revenge

“It is the nature of Icarals to draw evil and tribulation into the world,” Priest Simitri gently tells me as I wipe away tears, once again lingering behind after his lecture has ended.

I love Priest Simitri’s classes. Unlike Guild Mage Lorel, who is fair but dauntingly stern, Priest Simitri is refreshingly full of smiling excitement for both his subjects, ecstatic over all things flora as well as the grand sweep of Gardnerian history.

And he’s not only an enthusiastic and patient teacher, he’s become my supportive confidant, as well—as kind to me as Uncle Edwin.

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