Page 79 of Crimson Shadows
“Yeah.” I glance around and then back at him. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, though. I don’t have magickal powers.”
He frowns at me. “Yes, you do. All supernatural creatures do in some form. You, as a vampire, have access to Blood Magick.”
“I do?” I frown back at him. Blackthorn told me I don’t have powers. Then I recall his magickal ability. Was that Blood Magick? I have to assume so, but why did he tell me I don’t have powers? Maybe he assumed such with me being only half vampire. But that raises the question of why I’m in this class then.
“You’re overthinking something,” Corvus mutters. “What’s up?”
Focusing on him, I shake my head and force a smile. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
We turn to the front as the professor begins the lecture, I notice a vampire glaring at me from across the room. His eyes are cold, filled with a hatred I don’t understand. I try to ignore him, focusing instead on the intricate blood rituals we’re learning about.
I get the impression I’m way behind everyone else in here. They seem to be taking in all the words as if they understand them, and I’m sitting here gawping like a goldfish, with it going in one ear and out the other.
“I can tutor you, don’t stress,” Corvus murmurs as he keeps his eyes on the professor as he calls for pairing off to practicals.
“Fuck,” I mutter, looking at Corvus. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I do. Don’t worry.”
“You keep saying that, but I’m going to fail.”
“You aren’t going to fail. Trust me. It’s innate. You’ll get it, and when you do, there will be no stopping you.”
The professor has just finished demonstrating the blood-summoning spell, and now it is our turn to try. I prick my finger with a small, ornate dagger, watching as a bead of crimson formson my skin. Focusing my energy, I begin to chant the incantation on the spell sheet in front of me.
At first, nothing happens. Then, slowly, the drop of blood quivers. It lifts off my skin, hovering in the air. Encouraged, I intensify my focus, willing the blood to move.
Suddenly, the droplet explodes into a scarlet mist. It swirls around me, responding to my thoughts and movements. With a flick of my wrist, I send the mist dancing across the room, weaving between startled classmates.
“Adelaide,” Corvus mutters as he watches me.
But I ignore the warning in his tone.
As my confidence grows, so does the amount of blood I can control. More droplets rise from my finger, joining the swirling mist. It is exhilarating, feeling the connection between my will and the blood.
But then, something shifts. The mist pulses with a life of its own, growing denser and more agitated. I feel it pulling at me, draining my energy. Panic rises in my throat as I realise I’m losing control.
Just as the blood mist is about to overwhelm me, Corvus’s hand clamps down on mine. His energy flows into me, steadying my power. Together, we rein in the wild magick, condensing the mist back into a single droplet that falls harmlessly to the desk.
Shaken, I glance up at Corvus, who gives me a small smile. “Do you see just how powerful you are now?”
“Wow,” I breathe as the professor dismisses us, and we stand up to leave the lecture hall. “That was scary as fuck.”
“Which is why next time I call your name, listen to me,” he chides gently.
“Noted,” I reply with a mock salute.
He chuckles, but it turns into a growl when the vampire who was glaring at me earlier approaches us outside in the corridor.
“Well, well,” he sneers, his voice dripping with contempt. “If it isn’t the newbie and her pet pureblood. How cute.”
I tense, frozen, but Corvus moves smoothly, placing himself between me and the nasty vampire. The movement is casual, almost lazy, but I can sense the power coiled in his body, ready to strike.
“Back off, Asher,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “You’re way out of your league here.”
Asher’s eyes narrow, a cruel smile playing at his lips. “Oh? And who’s going to stop me? You?” He lunges at Corvus, fangs bared, a blur of motion and fury. But Corvus is faster, stronger. In a heartbeat, he has Asher pinned against the wall, one hand around his throat. The display of power is breathtaking and arousing.
“Yes,” Corvus says calmly, as if he’s discussing the weather rather than holding a snarling vampire against the wall. “I am. Now, have we got a problem here?”
