Page 51 of Forbidden Magic
“I’ll see you a seven. Don’t knock. Send a flare to the East window, and I’ll open the door for you.”
I wet my lips, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth. “I still don’t know where you live.”
“You’ll figure it out.” With a grin, he taps the stack above my head before sitting back in his chair.
I turn on my heels and hustle out. Lydia is sitting on the steps outside, sketching the gargoyle with a pencil.
“How did it go?” she asks.
“Where does Cole live?”
She ties her sketchbook back shut and returns it to her bag. “I don’t know. With Flynn in Winter Hall?”
I miss a step. “You know where Flynn lives?”
My roommate turns bright red. “I might have heard it mentioned.”
There are a few dorms that could qualify as houses… unless Cole lives in Fairy. No, he wouldn’t have invited me there. Right? He’s not in a dorm, but I’ve been around the Academy a lot these past few weeks, and I have no idea where Cole might live.
“He invited me ‘to his house.’ To study.”
“Of course.” Lydia nods emphatically before she breaks and snorts into her hand.
I smack her shoulder but follow suit. I’m not naive or delusional. Cole Desirys doesn’t invite girls to his house tostudy, and I’m weirdly okay with that. It’s stupid and vain, but it’s the first real sign that he might not find me ugly at all, and my chest is both too tight and too warm to entertain the thought for long.
No, I know why he invited me over, and I’m going to go regardless.
I’ve never been a coward, and that prince’s tie needs yanking.
20
Pillow Fights
The Divination excursion goes according to plan until we get into our tents. Allie, Lydia and I end up with Vivianne and Tammy—a pink-haired beauty that looks more like a Care Bear than a shifter. It’s cozy, so we all have to fight for a space, but the floor is cushy and totally unnatural. I bet this tent has a built-in spell that makes it as fluffy as a king-sized mattress.
We’re rooming with the cheerleaders… so to speak.
There’s noteam, but there’s enough pep and school spirit in the air to nauseate me. Matching gold pajamas shimmer under the bright spot above our heads, and I think I found the Academy’s equivalent to a sorority. Lydia is clearly a better fit than me since she seems to be quite caught up with the school’s gossip. Next thing you know, she’ll volunteer to braid their hair.
“Where’s Jessa?” Tammy asks when she comes back from the bathroom, a small cabin up the hill from where we made camp.
Vivianne rolls her eyes and rubs lotion into her face. “She said she wouldn’t sleep in our tent because she didn’t want to catch anything from the mortals.”
Tammy pops her bubble gum loudly. “Ugh. She’s a total bitch.”
I watch the panther shifter with more interest. She’s taller than all of us by a good foot, and her long legs seem to be in her way as she shuffles around to get comfortable. She’s the only one who’s got a dark comforter like me instead of a pastel one.
“You’re just jealous,” Vivianne chimes.
“Fucking jealous. She can go to hell with her perfect blue hair, porcelain doll face and size-zero waist. The boys are all drooling over her. It’s Jessa this and Jessa that.”
Vi’s eyes soften, and she pats her friend’s hand. “Fred dumped you for her again, hey?”
Tammy’s shoulders drop. “That panther is lucky that my parents want me to marry a pure-blood shifter, or else…”
I bite my tongue and jerk a glance at Lydia, knowing she’ll cover the bases.
“I thought Jessa was with Cole,” my loyal roommate trails off.
