Page 37 of Baneful Magick

“Point taken.” Aizel winked at me then took a bite of his sub.

Echo was busy eating his fried rice, so he just nodded in agreement. He had opened his mouth to say something when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

It was Demir responding to my note. I had left the paper open beside me on the grass. Not even trying to suppress my smile, I grabbed it, watching him write out his reply. He still had that sprawling cursive, but I could tell he was irritated by the hard, abrupt end to some of the letters.

“What’s that?” Echo asked, leaning close. He respected my privacy though, remaining far enough away that he couldn’t read the note unless I tilted it toward him.

“My brother sent me enchanted paper so we can communicate. He was pissed cause I didn’t respond until last night when I remembered his note. Imayhave mentioned having two guys as suitemates…”

“You did what?” Aizel asked, coughing hard enough I was concerned he was starting to choke.

I reached out, hitting his back a few times until he waved me off. Echo, for his part, just appeared curious, his eyes bright with laughter.

“Do I want to know what you told him about us?”

“Nothing specific.” I shrugged innocently. “I’ll save traumatizing him for when we’re in person. It will be much more enjoyable that way.”

“Better than our sisters,” Echo grumbled. “They have no filter.”

“We know way too much about their personal lives,” Aizel agreed.

They allow coed roommates?! That’s insane. Is that even safe? They could take advantage of you.

Grumblings of protest came from both brothers who were now crowding around me to read.

I’m also going to circle back to that horse people comment, bats. You’re still a little shit.

Quickly, I wrote back, inspired by the twins’ comments.

Well, they certainly can’t take my virginity. That ship sailed a long time ago. And I look forward to you yelling about the horse comment… Did you want a sugar cube to calm down?

“I have questions,” Aizel started, but I cut him off with a shake of my head. When they had gathered close, I caught a glimpse of Echo’s watch. I only had twenty minutes of freedom left.

“Too bad. I need to grab some stuff for my class, and I want to enjoy your reactions to my answers.” I gathered my trash and shoes before standing up.

Neither incubus moved to join me, but they stared up at me with frustrated expressions.

“Can we at least ask about the horse comment?” Echo ventured.

“Nope,” I responded with a wink. “No hints at all. I can’t wait to hear what you come up with later though.”

Echo cleared his throat loudly, but his green and gold eyes danced with glee as Aizel’s mouth opened and closed a few times.

“We can talk over dinner tonight. We could see if Wells wants to join us,” I threw over my shoulder as I hurried to our dorm. “Don’t want to be late the first day!”

I waved a hand in acknowledgment of their response that they would take care of finding Wells so we could all meet at our suite and go out together. It was a shame we didn’t have cell reception up here. Maybe we could find a good way to stay in contact without needing to hunt each other down on campus.

After touching up my makeup and putting away the notebooks I had grabbed for herbology, I put on my shoes and ran out the door. I managed to make it across the quad and slip into the lecture hall two minutes before class was going to start.

Keeping my disappointment inside, I walked down to the front and grabbed the only seat left. Front and center.

Shit.

I had just settled into my seat when the professor walked in. My brain stuttered to a complete standstill. It was the fae that had given me my invitation to Greywood, the same one that had given the welcome speech.

Orange and red eyes briefly met mine, making the right side of his mouth tilt up in a grin before it disappeared. He didn’t have on that coat again, having worn black slacks knee-high lace-up boots that looked fucking amazing on him, and a white button-up this time. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal the hint of ink further up his arms.

I was in trouble.

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