Page 48 of Bonds of Magic
“And Noah’s giving you lessons on…how to be one?”
“Yeah, kinda.”
He grinned. “So I was right. Youaregetting sex lessons.”
I couldn’t help laughing at how triumphant he sounded. “It’s not like that. Believe me, Noah is not interested in me.”
He’d made that plenty clear. I still felt a wave of shame break over me any time I thought about how I’d thrown myself at him. He’d talked about taking advantage of me, but it had really been the other way around. I’d more or less attacked him. No wonder he’d recoiled.
And now he was out in Pointe Claudette or wherever, probably meeting up with that guy and having the hottest sex of his life. I wanted to sink through the floor. I’d had a lot of firsts taken away from me, and then I’d wasted my first kiss too. Great job, me.
“Then whatisit like?” Ash asked, and for once, he seemed genuinely interested. He was leaning forward, arms on the table, without a hint of a leer. Felix looked like he wanted to know more, too.
So I told them. I didn’t go into detail about what the dreams were like, but I gave them the gist. I talked about what it was like,falling asleep and entering that starry sea. Talked about learning to anchor myself in a dream, so I knew what was happening. Talked about how Noah had taught me how to do that.
It was a little embarrassing, explaining why I had to dream like I did. But on the whole, it felt good to finally share this secret I’d been keeping locked up for so long. Neither of them looked grossed out. That counted for something.
It counted for a whole lot, actually.
I didn’t mention the part where Noah had discovered he could see into my dreams if he touched me. I still didn’t understand that, but it felt private.
“They keep telling me I have to learn to control my powers,” I said in the end. “Because I guess if I don’t learn, then someone else could try to control me. But there’s still so much I can’t do.”
“Wait, though,” Felix said. “You said Dean Mansur set Romero up to teach you. That makes sense, in a way. He’s a Historian. He’s not an incubus, but he could probably figure out a lot through research.” He cocked his head to the side. “But why Noah? I know Romero got hurt, but why would the dean replace him with Noah? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Unless he’s also an incubus,” Ash said, excitement filling his voice.
“He’snot,” I said quickly. “That much, I promise you.”
I was telling the truth, as far as I knew—though I still wished I knew more about what had happened to Noah.
“I can’t really explain why he’s the one giving me lessons,” I said, feeling uncomfortable. “It’s not my place. But he’s not an incubus. I hope you guys understand.”
“Not an incubus, got it.” Ash gave me a flippant thumbs up.
“We understand why you can’t tell us more,” Felix said.
“And I understand that you delight in torturing us,” Ash added, “holding back information to punish me, specifically.”
“Yes, Ash. My world revolves around you, so of course, this entire revelation revolves around you too.”
“Naturally.” He brushed an imaginary piece of lint off his shoulder. “I expect nothing le….”
He trailed off and narrowed his eyes, looking at something behind me.
I turned and saw Sean, Rekha, and Tim standing in a little cluster on the far side of the refectory. Nothing unusual about that. But the fact that they were talking to Valeria Martinez, Erika’s sister, was weird.
She was three years older than they were, and I’d never seen them interact before. None of those three had been friends with Erika either. I couldn’t imagine what they were talking about.
“I didn’t know those three even knew Valeria,” I said.
Ash wrinkled his nose. “Me neither.”
“It stands to reason,” Felix said. “Sean and Tim are Hunters. So’s Valeria. So they have that in common. And Rekha’s always with them.”
“Do Hunters have to go through the same interview and application process as the rest of us?” I asked.
Felix nodded. “They do, but it’s more of a formality. Unless they do something totally egregious, they’ll be accepted. And sincethey can’t do magic the same way other witches can, it’s really their only option.”
