Page 48 of Shattered & Returned

Then, an instinct, a pull.

I glanced back.

Ravencrux’s burning gaze locked on me. My breath caught in my throat.

The distance between us collapsed. The world narrowed to that single thread of awareness between us.

He was beautiful like a storm was beautiful, wild, untamed, and impossible to look away from, even when it promised nothing but ruin. I’d known it from the first moment, yet knowledge had never been armor against him.

The air hummed with forbidden desire. His jaw clenched, as if he fought to keep himself in place instead of reaching for me. My skin burned, every nerve alight.

Heat flooded me, shameful and undeniable, even with death at our feet. Even with suspicion thick in the air.

All I wanted was to eliminate the space between us. To taste the hunger in his darkened gaze, the one that promised ruin and revelation in equal measures.

The danger only made the craving worse, a knife’s edge of need pressed to my throat.

I tore my gaze away. Forced myself to move. The tower’s wards prickled against my skin as I crossed the threshold, the ancient magic sighing around me in recognition.

Angelina was dead. I might be next.

Yet all my mind could conjure washim, the memory of his hands claiming my body, his gaze chasing me into the dark. Fear and desire twisted together, inseparable.

Chapter

Seventeen

Bloom

Coven’s Brew

Iskipped breakfast, still unnerved, bracing for the school’s inevitable interrogation. By the time I’d gotten through two classes, my stomach growled in protest. In the hallways, every conversation revolved around Angelina’s murder. I received enough cutting glares to last a lifetime, unkind whispers trailing me like arrows.

“Did you see Angelina?” a boy called out, his voice too loud. “Her neck was snapped like a bird’s.”

“We never had a murder here until the new girl arrived,” a girl said, deliberately not lowering her voice as I passed. “They say she brought the dead to our gate too. Thank the gods for the ward.”

The accusations coiled in my gut. The thought of facing more over lunch at Midnight Banquet Hall made my appetite vanish.

“We don’t have to eat there,” Sindy said, appearing beside me as if she’d sensed my dread. “I know another place.”

Relief unspooled the tension in my ribs. “Thank you,” I said.

We slipped out of the Celestial Dome, following a winding path along the border of the Fae Copse woods. A small structure came into view. Coven’s Brew Café stood like a relic of another time. Its black iron framework supported stone walls that tangled with red and black vines.

“The owners are a mage couple,” Sindy said as we approached. “Antonio’s from Colombia, and Wei’s from Singapore. They specialize in exotic teas and cakes.” She dropped her voice. “They also deal in potions and curses, if you know how to ask.”

“Love potions are illegal though, right?” I asked.

“Nothing’s illegal here except fucking a professor,” she said.

My heart skipped a beat. If only she knew…

A chime announced our entrance. Inside, wrought iron tables dotted the space. Purple candles burned in skull holders despite the daylight. Glass cases held pastries too exquisite to eat, some glowing faintly with enchantment.

The mage couple greeted Sindy like an old friend. Antonio, tall, brown-eyed, his left temple inked with sailor’s tattoos, gave us a nod. Wei, shorter and sharp-featured, his hair knotted tightly back, studied me but stayed silent. They seated us near a window overlooking the shadowed fringe of the Fae Copse.

We ordered the cheapest items; two turkey sandwiches, tea, and sponge cakes. Sindy had credits with them from handling their bookkeeping and insisted I didn’t need to repay her.

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