Page 87 of Forbidden Magic
“You didn’t do this, but someone did. Gaïa help us. This whole school is going crazy. Everything is exactly like it was when… I was here when all the mortals were found dead.” She bites her lip and looks down, bouncing her head from left to right as though she wants to shake clear an image from her mind.
My throat constricts at the dread in her voice. “You think we’re in danger?”
She pauses for a moment and meets my gaze. “The tricky thing with wars is that they always get out of control. Mortals weren’t the only ones who died that year. We’re all in danger, Julia.”
34
Stolen Hearts
The air is heavy.
The sky is murky.
The earth vibrates at my feet.
Miss Eillis escorts me to the dorm and doubles back in a hurry. Something big is going on. This is more than a false accusation. The agents weren’t here for me.
All my witchy senses are screaming at me to run. I bite half my nails off waiting for Miss Eillis to return, but when a loud knock reverberates through the first floor, it’s Trent that’s standing on the other side of the door.
I let out a breath of relief until I notice how ashen his skin is. His hair is wet like he just got out of the shower, and the whites of his eyes are redder than usual, almost blending with his carmine irises in the darkness.
“You lied to me.”
Immediately, my back tenses. His voice is hollow and just plain wrong.
“What happened to you?” I ask gently.
“You made me think you hated him. He was nothing but horrible to you.”
My mind goes blank. Did Brie tell him about Cole and me after all? I was so sure she wasn’t faking her sudden memory loss, but maybe she played me.
“How can you be into Cole of all people?” There’s a pause, and Trent’s candor hurts more with each word because I have no good answer. His fists are balled at his sides. “I thought you were different. But you’re just another Fae whore.”
A boulder blocks my airways, and a shudder slices me from head to toe. A painful numbness claws its way into my stiff muscles, but I press my tongue hard against the roof of my mouth to stop the itching behind my lids. “I have nothing to say. We’re over.”
I swing the door to shut it in his face.
His hand shoots out to stop it. “Not before I get what I want.” His glassy eyes zero in on my neck.
At first, I thought he was fighting back tears, but there’s an emptiness to his gaze that clashes with his anger. It’s like he’s standing behind a flawed glass pane. I back away from the porch, but it’s too late.
He’s on me in half a second, his long fingers scratching at my shoulders.
I send him flying back with a burst of heat and run. My feet scramble to keep me from tumbling down to the glassy hardwood, and I yank the screen door open, heading toward the gardens.
The fluorescent cedar cuts into my arms as I jump behind the thick hedge, using the tall plants as cover. What the fuck is going on? Trent wasn’t just mad at me about Cole. He was high, under a spell of some kind, mind control maybe, and his murderous glare left me no doubt that he wanted to bite me. Ducking behind a bush, I catch my breath and listen for his footsteps.
A high-pitched scream turns my heart upside down. From the corner of my eyes, I see Blane and Bailey dragging Lydia toward their room. My pulse escalates. It’s not just Trent, then.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” the vampire chimes, his voice getting louder and louder.
I watch through the dark bushes and let my fire build up. If I use too much, I’ll hurt him, but I can’t actually wrestle him into submission either.
I steel myself and stand up, holding both my hands in front of me. “Let’s talk about this.”
“No talking.” He crouches forward, his arms stretched on both sides to block a possible escape.
The magic in my fingers begs for freedom, but there’s got to be a way to shake him out of this trance.
