Page 8 of Baneful Magick

Iforced my body to stay relaxed in bed although all my senses were on high alert. Something was off, but it wasn’t in my room. I could feel something different, somethingsinister, nearby.

‘Do you know where it is?’I asked him, but the spirit remained silent and watchful. It felt like he was preoccupied.

I didn’t take it personally. The fact that Cassius had even given me the warning at all showed just how far our bond had come. In the beginning, he wouldn’t have done that. Hell, he’d build up my dread and anxiety until whatever happened was so much worse than it could have been. At one point, I was almost medicated because of him terrorizing my mind.

But our relationship changed the older I got, thanks to me finding myself and my backbone. One time, I got so pissed I covered every mirror I passed at the academy for a year so Icouldn’t see him. After I lashed out a third time, not even my classmates disturbed them. Mirrors were the only way I could see the spirit that resided inside of me.

Anyway, over time, we went from childhood enemies to tentative friends. Eventually.

Slipping out of bed, I grabbed the loose tank top and silk shorts that I was planning to wear to sleep before I got too hot. No use facing whatever this was naked as the day I was born. Cautiously, I made my way out of my room, carefully checking every nook and cranny as I went to make sure my family was safe.

‘They aren’t inside,’I commented to Cassius.‘I’m going to check my garden.’

‘Take a weapon.’

I snagged a baseball bat one of my siblings had left by the door. Ignoring the ache in my hands, I played with it a bit. I got used to the weight then slipped outside. Every sense was on high alert, trying to figure out where the silent threat was coming from. I couldn’t even put my finger onwhatwas off, but something was. Then it hit me all at once when I placed a hand on my garden gate.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

The crickets were silent, and there wasn’t a single rustle from a squirrel or bird flying through the forest surrounding our home. The fae earlier didn’t stop the animals in their tracks so it couldn’t be him. What the hell could make the entire forest freeze in fear?!

A gentle breeze blew by, and that’s when I felt it.

Cold. Curious. Calculating.

‘Isla. Behind you.’

Cassius never called me by my name.Ever.

I turned around, keeping my bat firmly in my hand, and saw that I was in fact not alone. In front of me stood a type of high fae that I thought was only a legend.

He was tall, probably close to seven feet, but I'd be lying if I said that was what caught my eye. His hair was pulled into a single braid down his back, which only emphasized the bony horns that jutted from his temples and curled up and back. They weren't smooth, like the solidness of a femur. Instead, they were ridged and segmented, almost as though they were stolen pieces of spinal column.

My eyes traveled to his, noting the way their lavender stare dismissed the bat in my hands before switching back to my face.

A bone fae.

He smiled at me, the expression showing off his fanged teeth. They only made him look more sinister. His body was a mix of thin skin stretched over bone, with none of the raw, red sinew of exposed muscle. It was as if the skin had worn away along his jaw and cheeks, leaving behind stretched lines of remaining flesh.

His body was partially adorned with bones, though I couldn't be sure whether they were affixed to him like they were some kind of clothing, or if they were a part of him. Skulls rested atop his shoulders, and each of his movements made the bone fixtures shift. There was a soft, hollow clinking sound each time they clicked together.

It was oddly soothing, though I doubted that was the intention behind the noise. There was no hint of fear when he faced me, but then again, I doubted my skills with poisons could protect me from him if he wanted to hurt me.

“This is new. Not going to run from me?”

“I’d hate to be boring,” I sassed, ignoring my internal warnings to run. I took what reassurance I could from Cassius’ silence.Silence has to be better than warning me to run orfight, right?“Another fae in my garden… I guess I should feel privileged.”

“Fancy talk will get you nowhere, witch. You’re coming with me.” His voice was so deep, I felt the hum of it in my bones.

I shrugged, attempting to hide my shuddered response to his tone. The weird thing was that even though he had distantly felt like a menacing presence, I felt nothing but safe now that I was standing in front of him. There was almost a sense of ease that enveloped me, and it relaxed me. I knew I should feel wary, but I was so worn out from the party and the conservatory situation that I didn’t have it in me to panic.

Plus, if I could survive graduating from a witch academy, I could survive anything. Or at least that was what I told myself.

“Okay. Could I at least grab my things first?”

“What?” he asked, the smile slipping away as his brow furrowed.

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