Page 212 of Sigils & Spells

He sighed. “I don’t know. Hence me asking.” Why the hell was he so guarded about this?

“She’s fine,” he repeated. “Cooked dinner for Penelope last night. The two of them are getting along quite well.” It wasn’t hard to notice the difference in tone once Dylan started talking about his girlfriend. Sometimes, Daniel wondered if meeting Penelope during whatever was going on last Halloween was the thing that had gotten him through. That girl was his brother’s anchor. He could feel it.

If only he would confide in him to tell him what had happened. To tell him if it had continued. Maybe Daniel could help, but he had to know what he was dealing with in order to be useful at all. He’d never felt more useless than this past year being left in the dark to something weighing so heavily on his twin. And their mother knew what it was. She had to know. That night when he’d woken up to find them whispering together in the kitchen…clamming up fast when they realized he was awake.

A mysterious, old tome in their mother’s hands that she’d hidden somewhere in her room before he interrupted their conversation…

“Penelope is great. You found a good one.” While the words felt like small talk in the rift between them, he really did mean it. He liked Penelope a lot.

Dylan chuckled, the first hint of liveliness since the phone call began. “Yeah, she is. I can’t believe I put off asking her out so long. Hey, any lady catching your eye up there on that island?”

Daniel groaned. “One, but I don’t know if the feeling is mutual. She’s running a little hot and cold on me.”

“What do you mean?”

How did he possibly explain this without sounding like he didn’t know how to take a hint? Maybe he was too hopeful. “When I flirt with her, she flirts back. We exchanged numbers, but she hasn’t used it. I tried putting out there that I was willing to meet up to study or whatever—”

Dylan’s bark of laughter made him snap his mouth shut.

“What’s so funny?”

“You doofus.” Dylan laughed harder, then cleared his throat. “If you are going to wait for her to make the first move after using studying as the excuse for the number exchange, she’s never gonna call.” He started laughing again. “How are we related? You’re not even a little bit slick.”

“Hey!” But now Daniel was laughing with him. “I didn’t want to be creepy and pushy, okay?”

“Whatever. You have to be assertive. Make the first move and ask her to dinner, point blank. If she says no, then dial it back and see if her behavior toward you changes. If it does, back off. If she continues to flirt, give it a few weeks and try again. But if she turns you down a second time, move on. If you keep it up past that point,thatwould be what makes you come off as pushy.”

Maybe he was right. Maybe it was worth a shot.

*.*.*.*.*

Ravyn had always pridedherself on her good grades. She’d never had a problem with her attention span before, so why was she having such a difficult time concentrating with Daniel right beside her? He wasn’t purposely distracting her by talking while the dean gave her lecture on Greek mythology—something she was quite personally invested in, given her family lineage. No, what preoccupied her thoughts was the realization she could smell the sandalwood in the soap he had used. She could feel the warmth from his body next to hers in the otherwise chilly classroom. Her awareness of him had grown with each passing day they spent in there.

“Are you cold?” he whispered, and she jumped at the sound.

Get it together, Ravyn, you twit.

She turned to face him when the dean started writing on the whiteboard. “Why?”

He smiled. “You’re shivering.”

When he pointed it out, she noticed that, yeah, she was shivering. “I’ll be okay.” Next time she’d remember to bring her sweater or hoodie. The thin material of her T-shirt obviously wasn’t enough.

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be a gentleman if I let you shiver for the last twenty minutes of class.” He unzipped his charcoal gray hoodie, took it off and handed it to her.

Ravyn took it, never breaking eye contact. Why did he have to be so sweet? “Thank you.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you would all pay attention to the lesson and not the gallant display of chivalry in the middle of the room, that would be most appreciated.” The dean’s lips twitched as she tried to hide a smile when she glanced at Daniel and her. “I almost want to say ten points to Gryffindor or something.”

The class erupted into laughter.

“Thank you,” Ravyn whispered when Dean Caelan turned back around and started drawing a family tree for the gods of Olympus. As she wrote the name Apollo, a pit in her stomach knotted up. Family legend attributed their “curse” to that particular god’s wrath, so when his name came up, the Corvus women instinctively reacted to it with caution. Even her, despite not fully believing the god was real. She pulled the jacket on and shuddered, but the warm material calmed her. Daniel’s scent soothed something she didn’t quite understand.

Ravyn had crushes growing up. And sure, she hadn’t been allowed to date or go to dances or anything where she would mingle with the male folktoo much. But she had never been so flustered near a guy that butterflies fluttered in her stomach when he first entered a room and said hello. To where the smell of his soap and hint of cologne made her want to crawl closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder or chest.

She had it bad. So bad, in fact, that before she knew it, class had ended and she’d missed at least ten minutes of the lecture. A quick glance at Aoibhe’s notes as she closed her binder assured her that she could ask for the refresher later in their dorm. Slightly annoying though, since this was the part of the lecture she’d been looking most forward to: anything to help her with learning more about her family.

As they made their way into the hall, Daniel stopped her. “Oh crap,” Ravyn said, feeling her cheeks heating up. “I’m so sorry. I forgot about your hoodie.” She scrambled with her bag so she could take it off, but he put a hand on her arm, halting her.

---