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Once the students ahead of me are finished, I step up to my instructor, fidgeting with the strap of my bag.

Professor Huang raises their eyes. “Yes?”

“I have a question regarding…bonds.”

If my instructor is surprised by the topic, they don’t let on.

“I’m confused about the different types,” I clarify. “I know there’s fated bonds…”

My professor jumps in. “So,” they say, “there’s a lot of nuance to this subject because fated bonds—think soul mates and familiars—do not require bindingspells. Fated bonds are intrinsic, magical connections. They get lumped together in name, but truly, in most regards, they are their own thing. As for bindingspells, these occur all the time among witches and mages. They’re so normal that they get overlooked. Unbreakable oaths, for instance, are a type of binding spell. There are also other, more unnatural things that can be bound together. Take love spells, for instance. The target of a love spell may have no initial interest in the person who pines for them. A lovespell binds the two—for a time. Just long enough to create an opportunity for some real chemistry.”

Okay, this is way more information than I needed, and it hasn’t really answered the heart of my question.

“What about bonds people form between one another?” I ask.

My professor hesitates, then sighs. “You want to know about forged bonds and forced bonds.”

I nod, chewing the inside of my cheek.

“Supernaturals can form magical bonds with one another outside those that are fated from birth. The two types are called forged bonds and forced bonds. They sound similar but they are fairly different. Forged bonds are the lesser of two evils. With these types of bonds, all the parties involved give their explicit consent to the bond formed. Not that this makes the terms of forged bonds necessarilyequal. Selling your soul for some heart’s desire is technically a forged bond, though it’s commonly understood that this is no equal exchange. For this reason, forged bonds are heavily discouraged, even between family members or romantic partners.”

Professor Huang gives me a meaningful look, like they can see right through me.

I shift my weight. “Why?” I ask, my anxiety spiking.

Should’ve considered this before I took Memnon up on his own binding spell.

“People change. Hearts change. Creating immutable connections with mutable things can make for hard, unhappy lives.”

“And the other type of bond,” I say hoarsely, unwilling to peer too deeply into that sobering warning. “Can you tell me about that?”

My professor grimaces. “We don’t speak much about forced bonds because of their evil nature. Forced bonds are, as theirname implies,forced. They only require the consent of one of the individuals involved, and they can be placed on any other supernatural. There is nothing redeeming about these bonds. They are made to subject their victims to another’s control entirely. Fortunately, they require more power to complete, so the only time these can really happen is with a spell circle.”

I think this is supposed to be reassuring, but it leaves me cold. There are spell circles already in place, and these forced bonds are routinely occurring.

“Needless to say,” Professor Huang adds, “they are the highest class of criminal offense, right up there with murder.”

Unfortunately, that doesn’t reassure me either. “What happens if a forced bond is placed on you?” I ask. “How do you undo it?”

“It depends on the terms. But there’s a reason forced bonds are dangerous, forbidden spells. Because if such a spell is placed on you unto death, then only death shall break the bond.”

I cut across Henbane’s main lawn, passing by a coven sister feeding a murder of crows. Several other witches head across the grass with massive, spelled pumpkins bobbing in the air above them like witchy balloons; the pumpkins make dull thunking noises as they bump into one another.

It’s a cute display, but my mind is still in my classroom, mulling over what Professor Huang said. Did Cara, the shifter girl I rushed away from the spell circle, really come that close to being forever under the control of the woman leading it? Is that instructor, Lauren, currently under such a bond? Is Lia solely behind all of it? Was she the high priestess? The questions are going to pick at me.

My eyes still linger absently on those bobbing pumpkins when I feel an unnerving tingling at my back, like a finger stroking down my spine.

Immediately, I look toward the Everwoods, scanning the tree line for the source of the sensation. Amid all the costumed witches, I catch sight of a shadowed individual on the edge of campus. I swear I see a swath of pale gray skin, but no sooner have I blinked than the person is gone.

I hurry the rest of the way to the residence hall, trying to convince myself that I’m not being watched.

My mind drags back to Cara and to the werewolf pack she belongs to. It’s been several days since I last spoke to Kane. I meant to call him before now, but he’s still abiding by the rules of the Sacred Seven, the week surrounding the full moon. That’s when a werewolf’s powers are most potent—and most unpredictable. The pack sequesters themselves during this week for their safety and that of everyone else.

As I cross the foyer and head up the stairs to my room, I grab my phone and scroll to Kane’s number anyway.

It’s time we talked.

CHAPTER 15