7
Raven
Saturday should befor sleeping till noon then lounging with Makayla or Luka. Not this Saturday.
Last night Luka had returned to my dreams. He'd shown me how much he missed me. And he definitely made me want him more than I already did. I knew I needed to sort through this missing magic thing a little more before I complicated one of my few friendships at this school. But I wasn't going to last much longer at this rate.
At least I could carry the memory of the dream with me as I suffered through my first private tutoring session with Professor Halifax. I glanced at the clock. "Fuck." I had ten minutes and was in desperate need of a shower.
As I padded into the bathroom, I flicked on the lights and caught sight of myself in the mirror. My tousled hair screamedI just got laidand I smirked as I stripped off my pajamas. Even in my dreams, he left me feeling like the real thing.
The hot water rolled down my body, reminding me of the feel of Luka's skin against mine. Everything with him was so much more intense than it was with any other partner. It was like he was made to make me feel good. He knew exactly where to touch and tease. His hands moved on my skin like a familiar comfort while his mouth made me feel things that shouldn't be possible. He was everything I was promised that sex should be from movies and television and then some.
I squeezed my thighs together and tried to shake the spiking desire coursing through me. It wasn't even real, yet it left me feeling shaken.
Quickly, I soaped up my hair with shampoo and used the lather to clean everywhere else. As I rinsed off, I wondered what Luka was doing right now. Was he thinking about me? He was an incubus, after all. Was he off with another partner?
I frowned as I squirted conditioner into my hand. We hadn't talked about what our relationship was. I just knew I needed him, but I didn't know what he needed. Could an incubus even be satisfied from one partner?
Clean enough, I climbed out of the shower and dried off. Without brushing, I threw my hair into a sopping wet bun on top of my head. It would have to do.
I ran into the massive closet and froze. It was Saturday, which meant I should be able to wear my regular clothes. But then again, I was going to meet a professor.
Shit. The clock was ticking. As it was, I was going to have to skip breakfast and coffee.
Deciding to go halfway, I grabbed a pair of black pants and a white shirt. The tie could wait till Monday.
Swinging by my desk, I grabbed my still packed backpack. I had no idea what private lessons were going to entail. Would I need to take notes? Would I need my books? Was she going to stare at me while I didn't do magic?
Cause so far, every time I'd tried, nothing happened. I failed every time. My gut twisted as nerves churned. I guess it was better that I didn't have time to eat. Right now, I wasn't sure I could keep anything down anyway.
Professor Halifax was amazing. She was sort of a minor hero of mine. She didn't put up with shit from students and she didn't mince her words. She had zero filter and never assigned busy work. Professor Halifax meant business. Which both amazed me and fucking terrified me.
Rumor was that she was fae. She never mentioned it, but it did explain her stunning looks and her pointed ears. I was still figuring all of this out, but I had read through every book I could find on supernatural cultures. From what I'd read, fae were rare here as they preferred to stay in their own realm with their own laws. Some books even mentioned that if they crossed over to our realm, there was a possibility they could get stuck here. I wanted to ask her about fae, but I was terrified of pissing her off. So, I stuck to keeping my mouth shut.
That wasn't going to work today.
As I approached her classroom, I saw her framed by the doorway, waiting for me.
"You're late," she said.
"I'm sorry," I said, lowering my gaze. Maybe the shower wasn't necessary.
"Well, let's get on with it," she said, sounding annoyed.
I walked past her into the empty classroom. "I'm so sorry Dr. Green is making you do this. I swear I didn't ask.
"That's why I'm mad," she said. "I had to wait for him to make you come. You should have been working with me since the beginning. Especially once that wolf got his magic back."
I wasn't sure what to say to that. I mean, she was the spellcasting professor so in theory, she knew more about this than anyone else. But I didn't want to be a burden. I stood in the middle of the room, looking up into the empty seats where I sat with my classmates every day for class. The room looked so much larger without the students to fill the amphitheater benches that circled around the lower stage floor. I shivered, feeling small and on display despite the fact that there wasn't anyone else in here besides the two of us.
"I wasn't sure if your magic was gone forever but once that mutt got his back, I knew yours had to be close behind. When it didn't return, I asked Dr. Green to send you my way. I'm going to force the magic out of you if I have to."
My throat bobbed and my chest felt heavy. Her words should have comforted me, she wanted to help, but they sounded more like a threat than a way to fix whatever was wrong.
The door closed and I heard her heels clicking across the stone floor.
I turned to face her, honestly terrified about what she was going to make me do. "How are you going to bring my magic back?"
"There are things we can try that aren't typically used," she said. "How badly do you want it back?"
I hesitated, considering the weight of her question. It was clear she wasn't asking this lightly. I knew whatever she was getting at was something big. And based on what I already knew about this world, it was likely dangerous. I thought back to my old life. Kegs popping and sending beer all over my shoes. Lugging bottles to the bar from the back storage room, slapping my boss for grabbing my ass. The real world, the human world, wasn't a good place for me. I'd struggled. More than I realized until I was given a chance here.
On top of how awful the human world was, add in how amazing this place could be. Sure, someone had tried to kill me, and some bitchy girls tried to make me feel bad about myself. I might get picked on, but it was nothing compared to eating ramen noodles every night for the rest of my life. Plus, there was Luka. The things that incubus could do with his fingers... and his tongue...
I couldn't walk away from all of this.
"I need my magic back. Whatever it takes," I said.
She grinned, making her features look even sharper than usual. "That's what I was hoping you'd say."