Page 30 of Baneful Magick

“Well, if it isn’t Isla Hallowes,” I crooned.

She jolted a bit, but then I could just barely make out the smile filling her face.

“Bones,” she answered with a breathless chuckle. “Where the hell did you come from?”

“From circulation. Hellsing is pulling books for me,” I told her as I dropped my bag on the table and carefully settled down in the open chair beside her. It wasn’t easy to comfortably fold my seven-foot frame in any chair, especially these small study tables, but after a little bit, I finally got semi-comfortable.

She had a laptop in front of her with a bright screen that made me want to squint even with my glasses on. Besides that,she had two open books, but they weren’t close enough for me to make out what they said.

“Studying already? Aren’t you a good student.”

Isla rolled her eyes at my teasing. “Familiar Care is going to be tedious. We have an essay due the second damn day of class, which is the complete opposite of my self-defense class where the professor didn’t seem to give one fuck about introducing anything. He just wanted to get out of the classroom. I think I’d rather have that than this essay.”

“Ah, Professor Falke.” I nodded a few times. “Gruff but a good teacher. Remember you said you wanted another teacher just like him after you’ve done the first week ofrealclasses with the man. He’s a very talented educator but brutal at times.”

“I can take brutal over these damn essays,” she muttered before she repositioned herself to face me. “What brings you here? Are you also being a good little student or just following me around campus?”

Snorting at her frustration, I had opened my mouth to reply when a throat cleared behind me, interrupting our small talk.

“I think it goes without saying it should be quiet in a library,” Hellsing softly chastised, but beneath the words was a steely warning. “At least manage a whisper, Bricriu.”

“Just catching up with a new acquaintance,” I told him, not the least bit put out by him calling us out. “Wanted to see if she needed any help with her lessons. Though I will say that you’re on your own with Familiar Care. You can keep that witchy bullshit to yourself.”

“That makes sense foryou,” Isla deadpanned. “I’d hate for animals to think I was a chew toy. Pity.”

I choked just as Hellsing roughly coughed behind me. A breath later, he maneuvered around my chair to place a stack of books on the table in front of me. Once his hands were free, the librarian shifted his attention to Isla, inclining his head at her.

“A bold joke, witch. You’ll do well here. But you both must whisper, or you’ll be studying in your own rooms.” Isla nodded at his last warning then watched him walk away.

“Is he always like that?” she whispered seriously, obviously taking his warning to heart.

“Yes. Do you always make inappropriate jokes and give odd nicknames?”

“Yours isn’t odd,” she huffed softly. “You’re a bone fae. Bones makes the most sense in the world.”

“Doesn’t mean most would call me that. We are a feared type of fae, after all. People willingly give us parts of themselves.”

“Humans,” she corrected me. “I don’t know how they do the whole tooth fairy thing... Seems foolish to give away any part of my body to anyone, much less one of the fae.”

I blinked slowly at Isla. Not many people knew much about bone fae or the fact that tooth fairies were connected to us. Granted humans created a rose-colored version of the nasty creatures but most didn’t realize they were real. What kind of run-ins with the fae has this witch had?

“You do have some sense of self-preservation then. I wasn’t sure,” I whispered back.

“I could always call you Bricriu if you wish.” She tilted her head before clicking her tongue. “But I don’t think you mind the nickname at all. I think you just complain about it as a reflex.”

“No comment,” I replied haughtily, more than a little disconcerted that she could call me out after just a few interactions. Most people didn’t bother to get to know me well enough to be able to call me out on anything.

She chuckled at that before looking at her computer screen, her keys loudly clicking in the hush of the library. Not wasting any time, I cracked open the books Hellsing had selected for me. I grabbed my large hands-free magnifying glass and carefullyplaced it over the book, shifting it until the words became clear enough for me to read them.

I waited for the inevitable snide remark or teasing, but Isla just typed away, not the least bit concerned with what I was doing. Slowly, my body relaxed, tension draining from my shoulders as I leaned close, reading through bits and pieces of the books.

It felt... odd.

Nice.

Safe.

I wasn’t sure that I liked it. I’d only felt this way once before, a fleeting moment, and it had ended in disaster.

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