Page 41 of Baneful Magick

“We have group projects!” she complained, pushing Aizel out of the way to thread her arm through mine.

“Projects?” I raised my eyebrows, looking toward Wells since he was in the same class. He nodded in agreement, not looking happy about the prospect either.

“Is it hands on?” Aizel asked her innocently. Or at least he tried to appear innocent. His wide eyes and devilish grinjustmissed the mark.

“I volunteer to help you if so, Zhara.” I winked at her, living for the noises of protest from the incubus beside me. “It’s the time for exploration, right?”

“I… I want to protest, but…” Lust reddened his cheeks like the mere idea of it was arousing to him.Well, heisan incubus.

“Don’t even finish that sentence, brother,” Echo growled, glaring at his twin. His shoulders were tense, like he was ready to fight him if he didn’t heed his warning.

“In all seriousness, what do you have to do? Depending on your answer, I’m going to be extremely jealous that I don't have the class.” I brought the conversation back around, wanting to avoid a fight between the brothers.

“We don’t have anything assigned yet,” Wells answered, his gaze on me. There was an odd light there before his cheeks heated and he looked away. “We’ll find out on Thursday.”

“I can’t wait,” I replied, shooting Aizel a challenging grin.

“Let’s talk about something that’s not going to start a fight,” Echo suggested, stepping between myself and his brother. “What class did you have?”

“Forbidden Magick,” I answered after a few seconds. “It was interesting.”

“Interesting?” Zhara piped up. “Sounds like we need details.”

I chewed my bottom lip and hoped to hell I wasn’t blushing like a fucking schoolgirl. “Yeah. We get to study magick that’s outlawed by the Conclave. Basically, Magickal History from what I understood.” It could have been about more than that, but I wasn’t fully paying attention in class… Not that they needed to know that little detail.

“Magick for all species or just witches?” Wells asked, a spark of interest lighting up his face. A small smile tugged at my lips. He was adorable when he was excited.

“Everyone. So it at least promises to be exciting all semester.”

‘All you have to do is focus in class, and you’ll actually learn something,’Cassius snidely commented.

‘I tried to focus.’

‘On something other than the professor, beastie. If you don’t hear what he’s saying, you won’t learn a damn thing.’

“Kind of wishing I had that class.” Wells ran a hand through his messy hair while Zhara seconded his statement.

“As an incubus, I take offense to that,” Aizel snarked, pushing himself between me and Zhara to throw an arm around the wolf. She blushed while attempting to keep a big grin off her face. Damn, she had it bad. The two of them got a bit ahead of us before the incubus called back that they would meet up with us later.

“Not the dorm!” I yelled out.

“Dibs!” Zhara called back, and then she was off with Aizel chasing after her.

“Damn it,” I muttered while Echo burst out laughing. Wells cleared his throat a few times, but that sounded suspiciously like laughter too.

“So where are we hanging out while they have sex in the suite?” I looked at my other two friends. “I’m not going back there to listen to them fuck.”

“We could try the library?” Echo offered. Wells was blushing and looking anywhere but the direction where Zhara and Aizel had headed.

“I don’t even want to think about the paper I need to finish tonight,” I replied dramatically. “Can we go somewhere else?”

“I’d offer my place, but my roommate is an asshole.” Wells rubbed the back of his neck. “I have to go back there to sleep, but otherwise, I try to stay out as much as possible.”

“Did he do anything?” I asked, bristling at the idea of some asshole messing with my friend.

Wells waved off my question. “Not really. Let’s just say he made itveryclear that he doesn’t like witches.”

“How?” Echo and I growled at the same time.

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