Page 18 of Baneful Magick

I was looking around for a good place to sit when Zhara motioned me to follow after her. The wolf led the way to some empty seats in the middle of the top row. I sat down in the seat beside hers, looking around to see who else was here. Aizel flopped down on the seat beside me, and Echo claimed the one of Zhara’s other side.

A group of centaurs walked in, quietly talking to each other in the back of the room. The bitchy witches from earlier walked in and claimed spots in the front row after shoving someone’s books out of their way.Guess they’re just going to be assholes to everyone.

Others came in as well—vampires, werewolves, a few angels, demons, and a couple fallen angels that stayed away from the two previous groups. I thought I even spotted a lone kelpie slipping in down at the front.

“Mind if I sit here?” The deep voice interrupted my observations. I looked over to find a witch standing there in a long-sleeved white henley and jeans. He had fluffy light brown hair and a horrible case of bedhead that made him look barely functional at the moment.

“Sure.” Aizel nodded at the seat beside him.

The stranger nodded in thanks and sat down, his long legs aimed toward the side so his knees weren’t hitting the back of the chair in front of him.

“I’m Wells,” he said with a half-smile once he got comfortable.

“Isla.” I smiled at him. “This is Zhara, Aizel, and Echo.”

He nodded and rubbed his face, obviously fighting to wake up. The poor guy looked like he’d had a rough night.

“Didn’t get much sleep?” Zhara asked, leaning forward to see him past me and Aizel.

“No.” He laughed softly. “It took a few hours for myescortto get me here.”

“Put up a hell of a fight?” Aizel asked, excitement brightening his voice. “That’s a story I need to hear.”

“Sort of. The guy ran into my younger sisters first, and they gave him hell until I had to step in to save him. If I hadn’t, there was no way he would have gotten me here.”

“Your sisters sound awesome,” Zhara commented.

“They are,” he replied with pride. “But damn, did they scare the shit out of this guy. Then they just laughed and ran off like it was nothing. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a demon so shaken.”

“Oh, you got a demon?” I asked, curiosity making me lean across Aizel so I could focus on the newcomer better. “A fae brought me here.”

“We met him,” Echo interjected, a note of jealousy coloring his voice.

“He didn’t.” I shrugged after tipping my head to indicate Wells. I didn’t know if Echo was jealous of the attention I was giving Wells, but the petty part of me liked it. A healthy dose of jealousy was attractive in a man, after all.

“Did your kidnapping not go as planned either?” Wells asked.

“Oh, I just went with him and didn’t fight. Threw him off, that’s for sure, so I guess you could say it didn’t go howheplanned it anyway.”

Wells looked like he was about to comment, but then all of the doors in the back of the lecture hall suddenly slammed closed. I sat up straight and glanced around, trying to figure out what was going on. In the front of the room, a door to the left opened, and my mouth went dry.

The fae that had brought me my invitation sauntered in with a devil-may-care attitude. He didn’t have on the coat I had loved so much. Instead, he was wearing a black button-up shirt and matching slacks. He looked fucking delicious, and my mind filled with the memory of the sweet scent of him.

‘If you could fucking focus for one minute?—’

‘Iamfocused,’I retorted, my gaze on the fae. He smirked at all of the students who were frozen and watching him just as intently as I was. It was obvious he fucking loved the power and attention he had right now.

‘With something other than your pussy.’

‘Shut up, Cassius. He’s probably about to give us a bunch of information.’

‘Then stop imagining what it’d be like to fuck him.’

Alarm bells filled my mind at his growled warning. The last time Cassius had given me this level of attitude was with my ex-boyfriend. Of course, he had been right about that asshole and the fact that I was addicted to fucking him.

Zhara shot me a concerned look when I shook my head. I waved her off, trying to ignore the pissy man in my head. When I pulled my attention up front again, it was to find a familiar red and orange stare settled on me.

“Now that I have everyone’s attention…” he crooned. A blush heated my cheeks despite myself, and I prayed that my new friends didn’t notice. “All of you have the opportunity to live up to your full potential here at Greywood. This school is for the outcasts, thedangerous, but dangerous doesn’t mean harmful to others. We are the other side of the scale, using the baneful magick that provides the balance that is needed in the world.”

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