Page 17 of Bonds of Magic (Vesperwood Academy: Incubus #3)

He took one hand off the gun to gesture at the large sphere of light that contained the spinning orbs, and the gun immediately drooped. The sphere dropped with it, hovering inches above the ground, and Crystal let out a little shriek, her hands going to her cheeks.

“Not to worry, not to worry,” Karve said, bringing his free hand back to the gun and struggling to bring it upright again. “Just got away from me a little bit, but here we are, no harm done.”

As he slowly brought the tip of the gun back up, straining with the weight of it, the sphere rose again, resuming its rotation in the middle of the room. Crystal let out another gasp, but didn’t take her hands away from her face.

“Alright, now how do I reverse the process,” Karve said, talking to himself in a way that didn’t inspire confidence. “Is it the second lever, or the first?”

He tugged on a silver lever on the underside of the device, and more steam whistled out of the top vent. The sphere began to expand, and the smaller orbs fragmented, exploding into miniature galaxies, rapidly expanding outward.

“Hm, no, that’s not right. This, perhaps?” he said, seemingly completely unaware of the fear on Crystal’s face, or the way the entire class was backing away from the rapidly increasing ball of magic.

He turned a dial, different from the one he’d used to bring the gun to life, and the device began to shake again. In response, the sphere of light stopped expanding, but it too began to shake, and grow even brighter, which I didn’t think was a change for the better.

The sphere was almost touching the bookcases now, and we’d all backed as far away as we could, peering out from between the stacks. I didn’t know what would happen if the sphere touched one of us, and I didn’t want to find out.

“Can you do something?” Ash hissed at Felix.

“Not my kind of magic,” Felix said, his brow furrowed. “But if I understand the separating device correctly, what he needs to do is—”

“Ah, no, of course not,” Karve said loudly. “Here we go.”

He tapped out a sequence on a set of keys along the side of the gun, which caused a new window to open, displaying a crystal knob that he turned firmly to the left as he called out a second incantation.

Immediately, the sphere contracted, and the tiny metal galaxies reformed into the liquid metal orbs they’d been a minute before. We watched in awe as the orbs unraveled back into metal ribbons, then knit together to reform the acorn pendant and delicate chain that held it.

“If you’ll simply reach in and grasp it, Ms. Marks,” Karve said, “you should find that all is in order.”

Hesitantly, Crystal stepped forward. The sphere of light was back to its original size now, and the necklace hung limply inside it.

“Go on,” he said, nodding at her.

Tentatively, she reached her fingers into the sphere. Then she snatched the necklace and brought her hand out quickly, like she thought the sphere might bite her.

“Excellent, excellent,” Karve said. He turned the crystal knob to the right, and the sphere of light disappeared. A final whistle of steam emitted from the vent on the top of the gun, and then it went silent. The whole room was silent, all of us too stunned to speak.

Karve dropped the gun to one side, then beamed at the class.

“So, who has questions?”

***

Four nights later, I had my next lesson with Noah.

I decided to shower beforehand. I would have preferred to do it after, but I was always so exhausted after my lessons that I just collapsed into bed. I was rushing a bit, because I’d stayed late at dinner talking with my friends, and I needed to get clean before Noah met me at my room.

His face filled my mind as I showered, thinking about how he’d looked at the end of our last lesson. Shocked. Amazed. Wanting.

I knew it wasn’t me he wanted, but I couldn’t help thinking that would have been nice. Noah had seen me in that dream, after all. Once the initial surprise had worn off, I’d found myself feeling less embarrassed and more curious. And, okay, turned on.

My cock grew hard as I thought about it. I didn’t know much about Noah’s preferences, but I remembered what I’d seen at the Balsam Inn. How commanding he’d been. How strong.

Would he have wanted me to suck him off, after watching me do it in the dream? Had he even seen that part? He said he looked away.

Would Noah ever want me to touch him? Or was that going to remain a fantasy for the rest of my life?

Of course, he had touched me. Touched my hand, at least. He’d always been so standoffish, but he’d been sitting right there on the edge of the couch, his hip pressed against my thigh, his hand over my own. What had drawn him there?

Using Noah as my anchor had worked again that night. I’d remembered who I was, and I’d been thinking of him the whole way through. Finding out he’d been watching for a little bit of it? A shiver went down my spine. That was kind of like hooking up with him, wasn’t it?

I knew I was pushing the clock, but I leaned back against the tiled wall of the shower stall and stroked myself. I still felt ashamed, but I was so hard. I wanted relief.

I closed my eyes and let my mind dance over images of Noah touching my hand, my face, my hips. Noah laying me down on the couch and covering my body with his own. Noah tearing my clothes off, desperate to get to my—

A gust of cold air blew into the shower stall, and I opened my eyes to find Sean staring at me.

“What the fuck?” I grabbed at the curtain, pulling it in and wrapping it around my waist, but not before he got a good look at what I’d been doing. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he said, a lazy smile on his face.

I glared. “Do you open random, occupied shower stalls all the time, or are you stalking me specifically?”

“You wish,” he scoffed. “I thought someone had left the water on.”

“‘Cause you’re so concerned about the environment?”

“Relax. I couldn’t see your feet. And I didn’t think anyone would be in here at this hour.”

I frowned. Could that be true? I had been standing to one side, so maybe my feet weren’t as noticeable. But it still seemed weird that Sean had barged in.

“I should have known it would be you,” he said, that lazy smile growing wider. “Should have counted on you being a freak who jerks off in public.”

“It wasn’t public, it was a private shower stall,” I said, my cheeks heating.

“That other people use when you’re not in it.” He arched his eyebrow. “Maybe that was your plan. Maybe you were waiting for someone to come in and join you.” His smile looked downright predatory now.

“Whatever,” I said, letting the curtain fall. “I’m leaving now.”

I was probably already late to meet Noah. I should never have let my imagination run away with me.

“You sure you want to?” Sean nodded down at my cock, which was, to my embarrassment, still hard. “I could take care of that for you.”

“Not interested.”

I tried to shoulder past him, but he put a hand on my chest and pushed me back.

“Come on, Cory. You don’t have to pretend. All you have to do is what comes naturally to you. You’ll like it, and I’ll like it. Win win.”

I shuddered, remembering my last encounter with him in a bathroom. The way I’d let him talk to me. Touch me. The way I’d liked it.

But I didn’t want to like it. My last lesson with Noah, he’d told me I didn’t have to listen to anyone’s bigotry. To let anyone make me feel small. I wasn’t quite there yet, but I knew for sure that I wouldn’t be hooking up with Sean again. I had some self respect, at least.

“Come on,” Sean said. “I promise I can make you feel good.” He nodded at the conditioner dispenser on the wall. “We’ve got some lube right there. Give me five minutes, and you really will beg me to fuck you.”

“I’m. Not. Interested,” I said. “Can’t you take no for an answer? Or has no one ever said that to you before?”

“I’d take it from a real man. But not from you. From you, I know it’s a prelude to a yes.”

“Fuck off.” I pushed forward again, but this time he slammed me back against the shower wall, pinning my body with his own.

Somehow, he’d gotten both of my arms above my head and was holding them there with one hand. Fear rushed through me, and I writhed, trying to get out from under him.

“No. No. No .”

I said it over and over, but Sean wasn’t listening. He was too busy laughing and teasing me, biting at my neck and shoulders. I tried to knee him in the balls, but he was pushing my legs apart and I couldn’t get the leverage I needed.

The harder I fought to get free, the more he laughed. He was enjoying this. Hearing me say no, shoving me against the wall, ignoring my pleas—it was all a turn on for him.

Fear turned to panic as I struggled. I did not want this. Not again. Not ever. I wasn’t going to be a victim. I wasn’t going to take it.

“Get off,” I shouted, trying to slide out from under him.

I hipped up, trying to shove his body away, but he just laughed. He brought his face close to mine and whispered, “You don’t have to pretend, Cory. I know you want it.”

He bit down on my ear lobe, sucking it into his mouth before releasing it. His lips traveled across my cheek, my jaw, moving towards my mouth

No. I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t want to fuck Sean, but I really didn’t to kiss him.

I turned my face away and yelled, “Stop!” as loud as I could, hoping the volume would surprise him into letting go. It didn’t, but he did pull back, and as I kept yelling, the door to the bathroom slammed open.

We both jumped and stared as Noah walked in.