Page 54 of Savage Desire

It seems I’m meant to stumble over one hurdle after another. The last thing I need after them mentioning that Ineeda coven, and that it was my mind magic pushing me to the brink of insanity today, is more than I can bear.

My first instinct is to want to scribble it all down in my journal, and if what he says is true and they’re storing my information, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t continue my life without journaling, I would never survive, but where do I get a new one? One thatisn’tspilling my secrets.

Entering the main academy building, I follow behind Lincoln and Asher, who stalk ahead while Tatum and Wylder keep a step behind Minnie and me. A comfortable silence drifts along with us and I’m thankful there’s no need to talk as I try to battle the panic twisting inside of me as well.

Taking the next left turn, we grind to a halt, facing the door at the end of the hall with a black plaque in the center.

Professor Whitmore.

Lincoln wastes no time trying the door handle, and to my surprise, it swings open without resistance. Asher glances back as his friend steps inside, shrugging like he’s just as shocked, and the rest of us follow them in.

The room is massive. A wide window lining the far wall offers views across the manicured lawns with the dorm buildings in the distance. Rich green curtains hang on either side, matching the finishings on the sofa to the left and the stitching on the grand chair that sits dominantly behind the desk. The entire right wall is filled with books of all shapes and sizes, but it’s the cabinets to the left that have everyone’s attention.

Following after the others, I nervously press my lips together as I hang back, letting them do their thing as my pulse throbs with panic. But when they try to open the cabinet labeledFlorentines, nothing happens.

Lincoln tries three more times, confirming the lack of access, and all five sets of eyes turn my way.

“It’s spelled shut,” Asher states, his eyebrows furrowing as he itches his temple.

“Witch, you’re up,” Lincoln states, cocking a brow at me, and I shake my head.

“It’s not as simple as that,” I explain, twisting my hands together nervously when it’s clear they’re going to need more of an explanation than that. “There are words to say and things to do and?—”

“Do you need this?” Wylder asks, reaching into the backpack I didn’t realize he had, only to reveal a grimoire. Not just any grimoire. My fucking grimoire.

Cutting the distance between us, I glare at him, snatching it from his hands. “Where did you get this?”

“Your room,” he says with a shrug. “You didn’t even notice it was gone, Little Witch,” he adds with a wink as the irritation coiling in my stomach becomes uncontrollable.

“You’re an ass,” I grunt, stepping back from him with a huff as I pin the leather cover against my chest.

“I’m aware. Let’s get this thing open, and then you can hate me later,” he offers, and my eyes narrow.

“I hate you now.”

“Of course you do.” I can sense the eye roll he’s holding back and it makes me even more annoyed.

“There are boundaries here and you all keep overstepping them. Are you forgetting that quadrants aren’t supposed to mix?” I bite, feeling my face heat but not in a blushing kind of way that reveals my embarrassment. No. In the red angry kind of way.

“Well aware, Little Witch,” he grunts, and it almost seems like I’ve hit a nerve or something, but that can’t be possible.

“Then stop,” I snap, my chest heaving as I try with all that I am to put a barrier between us.

His eyebrow arches again as he steps toward me. “And if I can’t?”

I gulp. My mouth is bone dry as I scramble for a response.

“The magic, focus on that instead of whatever the fuck this is,” Lincoln interjects, jump starting my thoughts as I whirl around to him.

“You can shut up as well,” I hiss, and he lifts his hands in surrender, but the eye roll is clear.

“With pleasure.”

Eyeing Tatum and Minnie, they stand side by side, watching the shit show that is my life, but don’t add anything to the mess and I’m silently thankful to them. Before I fall any farther down the rabbit hole with these two assholes, I open the grimoire.

I have no idea what I’m doing, but as I lean it against the desk, I find a worn page detailing the contents, and a few flicks through the sheets later, I find a header that reads;Disengage.

Maybe that might work?

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