Chapter 1
Nemea
“Do muses only come to writers or do artists have them too? If artists get them, mine needs to be fired.” My blank sketchbook taunts me with its utterabsenceof any inspiration, the white paper as blank as my head.
Audra chuckles from the next bench over. “Trouble coming up with ideas, Nem?”
“I have the exact opposite of any sort of spark. How do you do it?”
I look up from the evidence of my failure as an artist. As usual, for this week’s assignment in our precious metals class, Audra’s nearly complete and it’s only Tuesday. An elaborate jeweled collar, made of precious stones and platinum. An ornament befitting a deity, which was the theme of our assignment.
“Contrary to appearances, I have dry spells. This assignment just happened to speak to me on a deep level.”
I eye the sparkling creation on her bench, watching as she attaches a clasp, then lifts it to her neck to check the size. When she pushes her hair back, she reveals a deep purple bruise right over the pulse point at the side of her throat. I narrow my eyes.
“I see,” I say with a knowing nod. “So the trick toinspirationis getting laid on the regular, huh?”
She reddens, and I smirk. When I catch her surreptitious glance toward the front of the studio, I turn, eyes widening whennone other than ourteachersmiles back at her, then rises to come toward her bench.
I gape when Steven, our beefy, plaid-shirted ursa teacher, reaches Audra’s bench and leans into her personal space to inspect the ornamentation now circling her throat. His green eyes reflect the emeralds she spent all morning painstakingly securing in each small, leaf-shaped setting. I don’t need to know how to read auras to feel the raw sexual energy sparking between them.
“Beautiful work, Audra,” he says in his growly voice. Her eyelashes flutter and her flush deepens.
I lift one eyebrow as I glance between the pair, locked in a stare that sayseverythingabout how she got that hickey.
“Get a room,” I mutter, before turning back to my work.
I tap the tip of my pencil on the edge of the pad and force myself to sketch, trying to ignore the exchange going on behind me and kick-start my creative gears into motion. The conversation is all about Audra’s technique, but the whole undertone of desire is franklydistracting.I haven’t had sex in too long, and it’s hard not to notice all the banging going on around me. Not literally in this room, thank fuck, but there are signs more obvious than Audra’s love bite. There’s also a common rumor that the real reason members of the Bloodline come to this art school, consciously or not, is to find mates. Me, I’m here to learn what flavor of elemental powers I possess. I don’t need a mate. I need to understand why I’ve been an outcast most of my life.
The St. George School of Art is a haven for students like me. All of us are hybrid humans who carry higher race’s blood, with a strong potential for magical abilities, if we can harness those latent talents. Since each higher race possesses power over a single element, those of us with strong bloodlines from any race can manifest that power to a degree.
Dragon blood carries power over fire, ursa blood over the earth and metals, turul over the air, and nymphaea over water. The founder of this school, April Vincent, discovered this in the process of her glassblowing and metal-sculpting work. She possesses a mix of ursa and dragon blood, which is why her glass and metal sculptures are so breathtaking—and loaded with magic.
For some of us, like Audra, our talent appears quickly, the second we touch the element we’re most attuned to. She’s got ursa blood, and a lot, it seems, judging from the way Steven hovers. It hits me that Steven has a boyfriend… another ursa male who teaches one of the pottery classes. Does that mean Audra’s bangingbothof them? Shit, I don’t need to let my mind wander downthatpath.
Before I realize what I’ve done, I’m looking at a photorealistic sketch of an enormous erectdick.
“Argh! This isn’tworking!” I slam my pad down and bury my face in my hands.
“What seems to be the problem, Nemea?” Steven says in a gentle tone that somehow calms me. He rests a hand on my shoulder and nudges the corner of my sketchpad. I press down on it, but he wrests it from beneath my elbows.
It’s my turn to blush when his eyebrows lift and his lips twitch.
“I see,” he says. “Don’t give up hope—believe it or not, this actually fits the brief. Did you know the phallus was a popular ornament in ancient times? Fertility-focused jewelry was quite common. Also, consider adding a dance class to your schedule if this was the first thing that came to you. You might have nymphaea blood, and their magic manifests most easily through performance art.”
“Why can’t there be a quick and easy test to find out what mix of Bloodlines I have?” I ask. “I’m happy to donate blood if it means finding out what I should focus on.”
Steven gives a sympathetic look, but shakes his head. “Only a god could tell you for certain.”
He says it as if I should know. I blink, drop my jaw to speak, then stop and clear my throat before trying again.
“So I need to find agodto get answers. Any tips on how I do that?”
He tilts his chin toward my penis sketch. “Fashion the right offering, and you might lure one to the mortal realm to tell you. Be careful because not all gods are benevolent.”
My eyebrows shoot up because I realize heisn’tjoking. “Tell me more.” I lean toward him, propping my chin on my palm. “About luring gods, I mean, not about whether or not they’re benevolent. I justreallyneed to know what element I’m supposed to be attuned to.”
He chuckles. “If you’re short on magic, you’ll need material that’s infused with power. Most precious stones possess their own power. Audra’s emeralds, for example, can call to Gaia or another fertility god or goddess without additional magic. Materials found in nature have traces of elemental magic. A bird’s feather, a seashell, even a chunk of granite, if presented pleasingly. And don’t discount the power you have already imbued into this sketch. You wouldn’t have been accepted to St. George if you didn’t have the potential. It’s inside you. Use it near the god’s chosen element and they may hear your call.”