Page 48 of Baneful Magick

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.” I ignored his warning and closed the door behind me then placed my laptop bag on the table.

Wells didn’t respond or move an inch, so I bent down and picked up the things he had obviously knocked off the table. The quiet room was full of tension that seemed to build instead of dissipate as I cleaned up the mess.

“Isla… thank you.”

“Forget her, whatever her name is?—”

“Allison.” Wells barked out a laugh.

“Whatever.” I shrugged and sat down across from him. “She’s a fucking bitch. Don’t let her get under your skin.”

“Easier said than done,” he muttered, finally looking up at me with glassy green eyes. “My family… It just brings up a lot of shit.”

“They don’t like that you got invited to come here?” I asked.

Wells grimaced. “No, they did not. I was disowned the moment I accepted the invitation. My sisters and brother didn’t care, but my mom and dads… Let’s just say that appearance is everything in their lives, especially to my mom.”

“I’m so sorry,” I consoled him gently. “Family isn’t supposed to be like that.”

His broken laugh turned into a sob as the tears in his eyes finally fell. I wasn’t good with emotional people, but I couldn’t just let him sit there without trying to comfort him. I reached across the table and placed my hand over one of his. Hugs werenotmy thing.

Wells jolted at the contact, but he turned the hand over so he could grip mine tightly. I didn’t bother with placating lies.Instead, I silently let him know I was here, squeezing his hand while he let it all out. After a few minutes, the tears stopped but he didn’t let go of my hand.

“Your moms didn’t care?”

“Ma didn’t,” I told him with a long sigh. “Mom did. She knew someone who went here a long time ago. They lost contact, and Mom never heard from her again. She doesn’t know what happened to her friend, so she didn’t react the best when my invitation was delivered.”

“She wouldn’t be the first to disappear from Greywood,” Wells commented cryptically.

“What do you mean?”

“I overheard my dads saying to my mom that they knew of a few people that got in here, thenpoof.They went radio silent. Families heard nothing after a few months, then that turned into years. They were just gone.” Wells looked down at our hands, making me just now realize that neither one of us had let go.

Cheeks heating, I pulled back. He let me slip away, looking up at me with a piercing gaze. I focused on grabbing my laptop and refusing to look back at him.

“I need to finish the last bit of this paper before tomorrow, or I’ll be in trouble on day two of my damn Familiar Care class.”

“Isla…” Wells reached for my hand again.

Before he could touch me, the door to the room slammed open, making us both jump.

“There you guys are!” Zhara gasped, her chest heaving. Zhara’s eyes were wide, and I could practically see waves of fear coming off of her.

“Z?” I asked, my brow furrowed.

“The conservatory is in lockdown. A student has gone missing.”

Chapter 18

Wells

TUESDAY

“You can bunk with us tonight. We can figure out the sleeping arrangements later.”

Zhara nodded in agreement. “Better to have everyone together.”

Isla scanned the grounds as we made our way to their dorm, likely looking for anyone or anything that might harm us. Her body stiffened the closer we got, so whatever she was looking for must not have been there.

---