Page 49 of Baneful Magick

As we got to the entrance of the dorm, Zhara came to a sudden halt. By the door stood a huge bone fae, at least seven feet tall, his piercing violet eyes raking over the students cowering past him. The other dorms also had supernaturals standing by them, probably to make sure students got in safely. None of them were professors, or at least none that I recognized, so they must be upperclassmen.

The tension in Isla immediately faded when she saw him. Ignoring Zhara and me, she rushed up to him, calling something out.Bones? Really?

Something about the fae shifted. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, but the moment Isla reached out and touched him,I sensed the change. The air became thicker, and the magick surrounding the two of them swirled.

I didn’t know how anyone could be oblivious to it, but Zhara seemed too unsure of the bone fae to be paying attention to the atmosphere. Shifting my focus inward, I called on my gift to look at the two of them.

What I saw left me in awe.

Purple and ivory power wrapped around black and green tendrils of magick. Their power mixed, teasing each other, and I’d never seen anything like it before. Bitterness coated my tongue, and I forced my magick away so I wouldn’t have to see more.

I shouldn’t have been hit so hard by this. It was well known that female witches often had multiple partners, with each partner helping to stabilize their magick. I just hadn’t expected to see those signs with Isla andhim.

It was unheard of for supernaturals of other races to provide that balance for witches. Either Isla was truly an outlier, or our species’ prejudices had sunk so far into our history that we believed their biases to be fact and were missing out on the opportunity to create meaningful bonds outside of other witches.

The connection between the two of them seemed obvious to me, as did the interest from Echo, though I wasn’t sure if Isla realized it or not. Did she have any idea howIfelt? I clenched and unclenched my hand, the shadow of her skin against mine clear in my mind. Her yanking her hand back from me was also crystal clear as well.

Figured the one person who had sparked my interest, especially after the bullshit with my last coven, would probably never give me the time of day.

“Wells?” Zhara pulled me from my melancholy thoughts.

“Sorry. Just wondering what’s going on.” I forced the lie out with a tight smile. Zhara’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t call me out.

“That’s the fae that brought Isla here,” she whispered. My eyebrows raised, recalling a bit of what Isla had said in passing when I met her and her friends.

“Bones doesn’t know what’s going on either,” Isla told us when we approached. “You’re positive they didn’t say anything at all?”

“Witchling…” He sighed, annoyance and good humor there in equal measure. “Just make my job easy and get inside. Everyone will be updated with what Greywood wants to share when they want to share it.”

“Everyone already knows a student is missing. What you’re saying is that we might never be told more than that, and, if that’s the case, we just need to accept it?” Isla asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Probably,” the fae replied with a fierce grin. “Now, get inside and stay there. I’ll know if you decide to do anything stupid.”

Isla snorted. “As if I would get caught.”

“Isla,” he growled, eyes flashing in warning.

“Try that with someone else, Bones.” She smirked before reaching out to touch his arm on her way inside. “Stay safe out here, Bricriu.”

His face went slack with shock as he stared at the doorway. A moment later, his expression smoothed out, then he nodded for us to go inside.

Students were talking in hushed tones, questioning what was going on, but I stuck by Zhara and followed her to their suite.

“Where the fuck were you guys?!” Aizel grumbled as I shut the door behind us.

“I went to get Isla and Wells from the library,” Zhara told him with an eye roll. “Which I told you.”

“That’s where I said I was going before I left the dining hall,” Isla pointed out, dropping her bag on the ground. “Think this means I can just forget about my paper?”

“Not likely,” I told her, amused when she kicked her bag in annoyance.

Echo watched her every move closely, but when she stilled, his gold and green eyes focused on me. “You staying here tonight?”

“If you don’t mind,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. “Zhara said?—”

“Make yourself at home.” Echo tipped his head at the couches. “They’re pretty damn comfortable.”

“They are,” Isla agreed, watching Echo walk past her to the kitchenette. “Did you guys hear anything on the way here?”

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