Page 2 of Research with Rivals
Across the room, Landon gestured toward me and Ambrose’s gaze followed. I flinched and tried to find the section of the book I’d been interested in.
Core to my understanding of the magic was that the intent of the wielder drives everything. It wasn’t so different from other forms of magic. Each of the four fae courts wielded an element, and, as we continued to learn, additional magical gifts. I might have been only half-Vesten, but I inherited the gifts of my court. Vesten had fire magic, and when I called it, it answered. I might not have flashy control over it like other Vesten, but I blamed my missing father for that, not the magic.
I leaned onto the table top and held out my palm. With little more than a thought, it filled with a lonely flame. The light flickered against the papers and plants on my carrel. I sighed and watched how it danced with my breath before dousing it.If only the other Vesten magic I’d inherited were that easy to control.
My shoulders tensed as something unruly inside me awakened at the thought of myothergift. Honestly, my emotions had been all over the place in the last few minutes. I was surprised she hadn’t made herself known sooner.
With a deep breath, I chose to ignore that particular problem, as well as the one unfolding across the room where the trio continued to talk. I was hired to conduct blood magic experiments and I would do so.
Setting aside my book, I picked up the knife and glanced again at the ceramic pot. This was the next test in a series about blood magic and bindings. I had tested with inanimate objects, but the core of this test was to determine if two things that didn’t like each other could be made to stay together. To truly test it, I needed to test something that had a preference. A rock didn’t care if it was placed in a stream or next to another rock. Living things had opinions.
Like me, for example, I didn’t like anyone using the study carrel across from mine, so I hid the chair in the closet every morning.
For this test, I found two plants that didn’t particularly like growing together, and the experiment would try to force them to do so. The rose and the morning glory fought over nutrients, and it was common for morning glories to overshadow roses, starving them of sunlight. This experiment would bind them in this pot. It would be a success if both plants flourished—but without magical intervention, the rose should be dead in a week. This was a low-risk test with living things. It wasn’t like I was experimenting on humans or fae.
Only a few drops of blood were necessary, rather than a full vial for something particularly complex. The magic just wanted proof of the wielder’s investment. The walls of my carrelshielded me from view as I pressed the knife against the tip of my finger and spoke. “Bind. I want these flowers to grow together, to coexist in this habitat.”
The blade pierced my skin, and a small bead of blood welled to the surface. I turned my finger over, holding it near the dirt. Slowly, but surely, a single drop slipped from my finger.
“Evelyn—”
“Eeep.” I squeaked as I jumped at the interruption. My solitary study carrel wasn’t enough to keep him away.
“What are you doing?”
I scowled up at Ambrose, who stood beside my desk, and grabbed a cloth for my finger in the process. My face pinched further at my interrupted experiment. I wasn’t even sure how much of my blood had landed on the soil. Had my intent been clear?
“Announce yourself before you stalk over here,” I hissed.
Ambrose’s lip twitched, almost like he wanted to smirk. But that wasn’t us; we didn’t smirk at each other. We begrudgingly read each other’s papers and passively-aggressively commented on the method of experimentation and resulting conclusions.
“This is not me stalking,” he said.
Something inside me warmed, and I shifted in my seat. His words begged the question of what it was like to be stalked by him—to be his prey. Would he give immediate chase? Or would he prowl and take his time?
My cheeks heated.Where had that come from?I might have a guess, as the thing inside me—the second magic of the Vesten fae—fully woke from her slumber.
And now I was thinking about his shifter form.
In addition to wielding fire, most Vesten could change into animals, but you weren’t supposed to ask what kind. My mom and I learned firsthand how rude the Vesten found the question. With my father gone, my human mom attempted tofind me a Vesten mentor. She was turned away by everyone she approached. Some slammed doors in her face. Only one had the decency to explain that asking about such things was taboo. You learned from your family, that was how it went. They did not offer suggestions for those with no Vesten family members in the picture.
I took a deep breath to collect myself and push the unwelcome thoughts away. “Do you need something?”
Landon and Tatyana made no effort to hide as they watched the encounter from across the room. I may know why Ambrose was here, but I certainly wouldn’t make this easy for him.
Ambrose glanced over my obvious experiment and frowned. “Have you had this test reviewed?”
His forearms were exposed as he leaned over the wooden wall surrounding the desk. Whatever he had been researching before Landon and Tatyana’s interruption must have had him stumped. Ambrose was always annoyingly put-together, except when his studies overtook him. When that happened, he messily rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt. I cataloged his frustrations as small wins for myself.
I pulled my gaze from the exposed pale skin and met bright hazel eyes and the slightest upward tilt of his lip. It was gone before I could name it.
“I’m not sure it’s any of your concern.”
He straightened, and his arms fell to his sides. “It’s everyone in the library’s concern if those plants grow so large they block the exits and trap us in here.”
Quickly, I checked the plants to see if something unexpected occurred. The two flowers looked unaffected. “I assure you, I followed procedures and took the utmost care in my experiment.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously at the plants, and he mumbled. “Not sure it helps when living things are involved.”
