Page 23 of Baneful Magick

What the hell was I even thinking? I was here to learn and live through it. Anything with sex needed to wait at least a few fucking days until I figured out what the hell I was doing. I only had experience thanks to a handful of ex-boyfriends in my academy years, so no way did I need any potential messy boyfriend or benefits situation to pop up in my life now.

‘So glad you havesomeboundaries, beastie.’

‘Oh, how convenient, you’re here for commentary now,’I snarked as I cleared my throat, trying to break the heat between Echo and me.

“Let’s find your greenhouse, witch, before you compliment me too much for your own good,” he said smoothly.

“I didn’t realize friendly compliments were out of bounds,” I replied with a half-shrug trying to play it cool. “But duly noted. Let’s go.”

Releasing his arm, I stepped away from my new friend and moved ahead, keeping my focus on trying to find that greenhouse, but there was nothing. Not even a hint of the building that I had stumbled upon.

‘You need sleep.’

‘I need answers about this, Cassius. A building doesn’t just up and disappear.’

‘Isla, you could just be forgetting where it was. It was the middle of the night?—’

‘Don’t try to gaslight me. I know what I saw. It should be around here.’

As I had my silent conversation with Cassius, Echo explored the nearby patch of trees before coming back to me with a slight shake of his head.

‘If you won’t give me anything and I know the conservatory won’t either... I need something.’

‘Beastie...’he started to reply, but I could feel him stop himself from saying anything else. Frustration rose up. He was always like this. Somewhere inside, I knew that he was just trying to make sure I was safe or was attempting to make me feel better about not finding the greenhouse. But right now, it wasn’t working. I was being pitched into the middle of chaos at Greywood and told to just figure it the fuck out. Having yet another thing to figure out was my tipping point tonight.

Cassius didn’t say anything, but I could tell that he was holding back. There just seemed to be some kind of knowledge in his withdrawal as he tucked himself away in my mind.

Asshole.

“There’s nothing here.” Echo came to a stop near me. He didn’t seem the least bit annoyed by our excursion. If anything, he seemed more at ease than he had been all day. Some hidden tension was gone now that we were outdoors.

“It was here or around here,” I said back, instantly hating that I was lashing out at him. “Sorry. I just... I would have sworn it was here, and now...”

“Isla…” He started reaching for me in an attempt to provide comfort, but I stepped back, shaking my head. His face fell, along with his hand, and he turned away from me, refusing to let me see his reaction beyond the tension in his back.

I had messed up. Me rejecting his offer of physical comfort had hit a nerve. It hadn’t been personal, though I doubted he would believe me right now. When I was upset or angry, being touched was the last thing I wanted. No hug or simple touch to the shoulder ended well, which was something my brother had found out the hard way more than a few times. Demir always liked to push my buttons though, so that very well could have been on purpose.

The tension between us grew more strained the longer I said nothing, and Echo’s body language continued to become more distant, so I forced myself to clear my throat and tried to salvage the night.

“Sorry this didn’t end up being?—”

“It’s fine.”

I sighed at that. His anger was clear in both the way he kept his body angled away from me and the lack of warmth in his voice.

“No, it’s not. When I’m upset or frustrated, I tend to lash out first and ask questions later, especially when I get touched without expecting it. Ask my brother. He got more than one black eye thanks to trying to comfort me when I was pissed off. I don’t exactly want to deal with a pissed off brother andsuitemate because I gave you a black eye right before classes start.”

Echo didn’t respond at first, but he slowly thawed. Looking at me out of the corner of his eye, he studied me, trying to gauge just how honest I was being. I gave him a weak smile, hoping he’d take the explanation as the olive branch it was intended to be.

“You have a brother?” he asked.

“More than one. I’m the second oldest of seven. No idea what my moms were thinking, to be honest. But anyways… Should we try to find something else to do besides relying on my awful sense of direction?”

Gold and green eyes warmed up, accepting my explanation and realizing that I wasn’t trying to be a jerk. The mischievous gleam that had been there earlier tonight came back, lighting up his whole expression in the process.

“I have a few ideas.”

This was going to go one of two ways… fun orsomuch trouble.

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