Page 37 of Shattered & Returned

Ravencrux flicked his wrist. The heavy door groaned open.

“Now run along,”he taunted.

Chapter

Thirteen

Bloom

The Golden Boy

Istormed out of the lecture hall, my pulse still racing, equal parts fury and exhilaration. Nero Ravencrux was insufferable, arrogant,unbearable, and yet, he’d been the one to unlock my magic. My palms tingled, the echo of summoned wind and light humming under my skin.

All my life, I’d believed my affinity lay with plants. But now? Now I’d discovered the truth Mom had hidden from me. I was a Weaver.Windanswered to me.

“Bloom?”

I startled at the voice. Sindy leaned against the hallway wall, pushing off as I approached.

“Sindy? You’re still here?”I asked, still shaking off the intensity of what had just happened.

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes, and her gaze held something new—reassessment.“I waited for you. Lunch?”

I nodded, murmuring thanks.

“So,”she said, falling into step beside me.“What was that about?”

“What was what about?”

She quirked a brow.“Professor Ravencrux doesn’t keep students after class. Ever.”

“Never?”

The twin Gothic domes rose behind us—Celestial Dome, its pale spires housing first-year classrooms, and across the courtyard, the obsidian monolith of Abyssal Dome where upperclassmen studied. Between them loomed Midnight Banquet Hall, our destination, its arched windows glowing blue in the overcast light.

“Never, ever,”Sindy repeated, our footsteps echoing on the worn cobblestones.“What really happened in there?”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. I couldn’t stop it. This man had turned me into a perpetual furnace of embarrassment today.

“Nothing,” I said defensively.

Nero Ravencrux had sealed that lecture hall for a reason.

“Obviously,”she said, rolling her eyes.“There’s the whole ‘no fraternizing with professors’ rule?—”

“Why would you even suggest that?”I cut in, too sharp.

Things had gone so much further than she could imagine, and I was the biggest liar. I bit my lip. The devil professor brought out the worst in me.

Sindy winced.“Sorry. I just meant it’s unusual. You’re different, Bloom. Everyone noticed when Sebastian took an interest in you, and that alone was shocking enough. He never chases women; they chasehim.But Professor Ravencrux?”She lowered her voice.“He didn’t so much as glance at anyone before you.”

“I’m not their type,”I muttered, staring down at my thin wrists.“Look at me. I’m practically made of glass. A sore thumb sticking out, just like Dante said.”My voice turned bitter.“This is probably just some twisted game to them. But I can promise you,”I jabbed a finger in the air, “I’m not sleeping with Sebastian either. Or any professor.”

The lie tasted sour.

“Gods, they’re both impossible,”Sindy sighed, oblivious to my inner turmoil.“And they don’t even know I’m alive. If you hadn’t spoken up, Professor Ravencrux would still be calling me ‘Girl Two.’ So, thanks, I guess.”

“It’s nothing,”I said, kicking a pebble.“Why does he even do that? ‘Boy One,’ ‘Girl Two’—it’s ridiculous…and lazy.”

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