Page 225 of Sigils & Spells

“Stop!” She laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder. “It’s awful. Truly. I do not know how to dance.”

Leaning in closer to her, he said, “Dancing doesn’t have to be an exact science. You do it because it feels good.”

Her breath caught at what she didn’t think he’d meant as a double entendre. She caught his gaze, and everything else seemed to halt all around them.

“For real, get a room,” Gabe said, breaking the spell, and laughter erupted around them. Realizing they were very much in the middle of class, Ravyn cleared her throat and faced the front.

The rest of the hour went pretty fast. They were working on a study guide today and Wednesday to prepare for their Friday test. Most appreciated, to be sure.

When everyone was packing up, Daniel hesitated and leaned toward her. “Ya know, I was sure you wanted to break up for some reason.”

Her head shot up. “Why would you even think that?” Then she remembered how she’d blown him off all weekend. “I’m sorry. I’ve been overwhelmed lately. I told you’d I’d be bad at the whole girlfriend thing.” It wasn’t just class and being his girlfriend that had been overwhelming. Everything she couldn’t share with him weighed heavily on her. She didn’t know how to protect him unless she stayed away, but by staying away…he was still enmeshed in all the other supernatural beings surrounding them. One of which had a deep connection to his family.

Was she being selfish? She’d asked as much to Aoibhe, who’d told her,“We all deserve happiness. Everything has consequences, but trying to stop Fate usually results in worse consequences than allowing life to happen as it should.”

In a way, she’d agreed. Ravyn’s family had tried to prevent her from living her life. Now she hadn’t shifted yet, and she was at a school with multiple supernatural beings, not to forget the ghost of Amelia Kasper, the woman in white, also on this island.

It all had to be connected somehow.

“It’s okay,” he said, and smiled. “But just know if you ever need to talk about something that’s bothering you, I’m not the type to turn you away because dealing with conflict is difficult. I’m a good listener, and I consider myself to be pretty understanding sometimes too.”

Ravyn smiled back. “I know. If there was anything to discuss, I would.” The lie tasted bitter, but there was no way to avoid it. Not if she wanted to keep him safe.

Doubt crossed his features before he hid it by turning to collect his things.

Daniel walked her to the dean’s office so she could turn in her prospectus and discuss her paper. He waited until Dean Caelan met up with them in the hall before leaving her. As Ravyn followed the ginger-haired woman into the office and the door closed behind them, she sort of wished Daniel had stayed with her.

“Ms. Corvus, I cannot wait to see what topic you plan to write on.”

Ravyn glanced at her, and then stared harder. How did one open their third eye to see things ordinary people could not? She’d never asked Aoibhe explicitly what she and Gabe saw when they looked at the dean, and now that she was alone with the woman, her curiosity ate away at her.

“Ms. Corvus?” Dean Caelan said with a frown. “Your prospectus?”

Snapping out if it, she retrieved the report and handed it to her.

The dean looked over it, flipping through the pages to get the gist of the topic. She nodded. “Black birds are one of the most common death omens, appearing in most, if not all, cultures in some way, shape or form.”

Why did that feel like her professor, the dean of the university, had just called her basic?

The woman resumed relaying her thoughts as though she hadn’t mildly insulted her. “Are you focusing on one mythological pantheon, or doing all of them?”

That was a good question. “Depending on the amount of research material I can find, I’ll probably do multiple mythologies. I doubt I could ever be as efficient as to touch on all the cultures that saw death omens in crows and ravens.”

This answer seemed to appease her, and she closed the report, clasping her hands together on top of it. “Crows are such fascinating creatures, don’t you agree?” The dean didn’t wait for a response, just nodded, and continued, “They can mimic voices, you know. A fact that convinced many that they were witches’ familiars, if not witches in disguise themselves. Have you ever seen them up close?”

What a strange question. “No.” Which wasn’t a complete lie. Her living family members shifted into ravens, not crows or rooks. They would joke that because she was named Ravyn, she definitely would be one of the others.

“Magnificent creatures. If one could transform into any animal at will, a crow would be the perfect pick.”

Chills overcame her at the comment, and once more she concentrated on trying to open her third eye. Nothing came from it though, and it frustrated her. How were the others seeing something she couldn’t?

Without warning, the dean started to laugh. “You’ll never see clearly if you don’t trust your own vision.”

“What?” she asked, blinking rapidly. Surely, the woman hadn’t known what she was doing.

“You need to trust your gut. The body tells us all we need to know, but most choose to ignore the signs. Also trust your dreams. Meditation helps.”

Ravyn could only stare. “I’m not sure what you mean, Dean Caelan.”

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