19
Matt
When I askedthe new girl to join our group, I was hoping to score. As in, in bed, with her, naked. Not the kind of score where my grade and my whole future was now in jeopardy. I glanced over at Zach as we all silently made our way out of the classroom.
“Dad is going to kill us,”I said through our telepathic bond.
“Mom would kill us if we didn’t help her,”Zach answered.
I frowned. Our mother was the type to take in strays. We had two dozen barn cats living on our country property because she was constantly caring for any abandoned creature she found. The vet was a regular visitor, always working on helping some poor flea-bitten, starving animal my mom took in.
“This isn’t the same, though. She’s a mage. Not an injured bird.”
“Same thing, higher stakes,”Zach answered.
“Hey, where are you going?” I asked, realizing that Raven had passed the hall that took us to the tower stairs.
“My room is in the dungeon.” She blinked at us, her expression blank.
“For real?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Look, you don’t have to come with me. I get that I fucked up but I’ll work on it, okay? Is there like a YouTube for mages or something where I can watch some videos?”
I smiled despite myself. “You’ll find the internet isn’t a thing here, so no, you won’t find a blog or video to help you.”
She cocked her eyebrow. “Does anybody read blogs anymore?”
“You’re missing the point,” I said.
“No, I get it.” She pointed at me. “You wanted to fuck me.” Then she pointed to Zach. “You might be a genuinely nice person, but you have an asshole brother.” She pointed her finger at herself. “And I’m a colossal fuck up. Sound about right?”
There was something about her tone and the way she popped her hip when she put her hand there, that had me aching for her. There was no denying that I wanted to fuck her when we first met. But now, it wasn’t just a way to pass the time. Now, I had to conquer her. I had to know what that attitude would be like in the bedroom.
She folded her arms over her chest. She looked damn sexy in just my jacket. My cock twitched at the thought that my jacket was all that stood between me and her naked body. Which, from the brief glance I got after she burned off all her clothes, was quite stunning.
“Quit smirking at me,” she said.
“So sorry, princess, should I avert my gaze?” I asked.
“That’s enough,” Zach said. “It doesn’t matter what any of us want. You have to get better and we have to help you.”
“And how are you going to manage that? Last time you tried to help me I burned off all of my clothes,” she said.
“Magic meld,”Zach said.
I looked at him, my eyes widening in disbelief.“No way. Too dangerous. Too many consequences.”
“We don’t have a choice,”Zach said.
Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair. “Tell me, Raven, how was your training at home? Did your tutors focus on practical stuff?”
“I didn’t have tutors,” she said. “I…”
“Go on,” Zach said.
Her eyes darted from side to side as if checking to see if we were alone. Then, she looked back at me. “Fine. I just found out I was a mage the day I arrived here, okay? I’m learning as I go. I used magic for the first time on accident and then they made me come here.”
“That was not what I was expecting,” Zach said.