Page 6 of Blood Witch

“I knew you were a little nobody. No family. No powers. How did you even get into this school without being an elemental?” Dram demanded.

“She must be boning one of the admins,” one of his friends offered, and again, they all laughed.

Typical male bullshit. If a woman did anything, it was because she’d pimped herself out.

Ugh.

Could they be more tedious?

“Fuck off, Dram. Seriously. It’s just garbage.”

I tried to appear disinterested, but my heart was beating double time. I felt my vision get fuzzy, and I was careful to avert my gaze, in case my eyes had turned red. That whole phenomenon was getting worse lately. My eyes used to be black, not brown or hazel, but actually black.

I always thought they were cool. Anyway, they would occasionally get red around the rim of my irises when I was angry or hungry. But now it was the whole thing. My eyes turned red on a dime with the slightest provocation, and these jerks were provoking me big time.

Not smart.

Not smart at all.

CHAPTER3

I felt my magic stir.It was sluggish, but there. I’d never had an affinity for any of the elemental magic offered for study at Westwood, but lately, I was learning more and more about myself and my brand of power.

It was all about the blood. Like the time slowing thing. I could hear the blood rushing through their veins as this pack of mean boys taunted and teased me.

Such jerks.

Didn’t they know what I could do to them?

“Come on, freak, tell us what you’re doing with the blood,” Dram demanded, and I bit back my anger.

If I denied knowing anything about the blood, they would just hound me like dogs chasing after a rabbit. Only, I wasn’t cute and defenseless. Holding on to my last bit of patience, I reached out, fast as lightning, and ripped the plastic bag from Dram’s hand.

“It’s just garbage. You know about garbage, right Dram? Doesn’t Daddy have a whole slew of garbage trucks? In fact, the entire Pile fortune was founded on top of a trash heap, right Dram? Or should I call you Junk? Yeah, I like that. Junk Pile is right up your alley,” I sneered at him, knowing the exact moment his rage would take over his composure.

Dram reared back to slap me, and I grinned, relishing his loss of control. Only, his hand never connected with my face. Instead, a single hand with long fingers and impossibly pale skin was holding it back.

Shocked, I locked eyes with the stranger. Except for his wardrobe, the male was the exact color of moonlight. He seemed to glow in the dim corridor, and I was struck dumb. A collective gasp sounded, and the boys backed up as one, all except Dram, who was unable to break the stranger’s hold.

“Is this what they teach the wizards at Westwood Academy? To taunt and bully?”

“Hey, man, let me go!” Dram mewled like a whiny baby.

The good news was everyone’s eyes were on Dram and the newcomer. No one noticed the empty blood bag on the floor, so I stepped on it, hoping the long, black maxi skirt I’d changed into would cover what my chunky-heeled boot didn’t.

“I suggest you get back to class,Junk Pile. Learn some manners before you talk to a female,” the stranger grumbled, shoving Dram into the wall before turning his attention on me.

I steeled my expression as the man stared. He was dressed in black from head to toe—like me. But his eyes were silver, not gray, or blue, but pure silver. Bright, metallic, and glowing with magic.

I would have been hypnotized by them were it not for the runes etched into his skin, trailing down his face like tear drops. The bits I could see of his neck and wrists revealed he had even more of the mystic cuneiforms tattooing his body in patterns I could not quite make out.

Hopefully, that will all change, a lustier part of myself I was not all that familiar with whispered, and I startled hard.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, but you looked like you could use a little help,” he explained.

“I was fine,” I managed, though my voice was muted.

“Fine, huh? So you wanted him to hit you, then?”

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