Page 43 of Bonds of Magic (Vesperwood Academy: Incubus #3)

CORY

I stared at Noah. “Are you serious?”

His eyes held mine and never wavered. His hand reached towards me on the blanket, but I didn’t take it. I didn’t trust this. Didn’t trust him.

“I’m serious,” he said. “I actually—” He broke off and looked down.

”You actually what?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Right. Can’t tell poor Cory anything. Have to keep him in the dark in case he does something stupid.”

“I’m not worried about you doing something stupid,” he said heatedly. “I’m worried about hurting you. Hurting you is the last thing I want to do. Don’t you get that?”

“No, I don’t. Because as far as I can tell, that’s exactly what you’ve been trying to do. Or was there some other reason you told me hooking up with me was a mistake?”

Cat, who was sitting on my lap now, cawed as if to punctuate my words. Noah’s hand slid closer, and Cat pounced, their beak flashing down to bite his skin. He hissed and drew his hand back.

“You’re not the mistake,” he said, rubbing his hand. “I am. Or, what I did was. It’s because I’m trying not to hurt you that I can’t be with you like that. It complicates things, and clouds my judgement.”

I didn’t respond. I was still pissed off, and I didn’t trust myself not to say something humiliating if I opened my mouth.

After a long silence, Noah said, “Things with Lew and me—they were only ever physical. Nothing more.”

“That’s what you said to me, that night. That it could only ever be physical between us. I get it. I’m okay with that. And don’t tell me not to be,” I added. “I make my own choices. Now tell me the thing I don’t need to know.”

He rubbed a hand over his face, the back of it angry and red where Cat’s beak had marked him.

“All I was going to say was that I tried, Cory. With Lew. On Imbolc, before you were attacked. I went out to Pointe Claudette, looking to blow off steam. I met up with Lew and I—” He laughed mirthlessly. “I tried, but I just wasn’t interested in him anymore. All I could think about was you.”

“Really?” I could hear the hope in my voice, no matter how hard I tried to sound skeptical. I hated it.

“Yes, really. God help me, all I could see was your face. You’re all I’ve wanted since I met you.”

He put his head in his hands, and I stared, completely unsure how to handle this. Noah was the one who was strong and steady, but here he was, sitting on my bed, sounding completely lost.

“You have no idea what it’s like,” he said after a moment. “Wanting something you know you shouldn’t. Having your body tug you one way, while your common sense pulls you in the opposite direction.”

“I know more about that than you think,” I said quietly.

He looked up at me. “Cory, you’re half my age. I understand that you’re an adult, but do you get why this is freaking me out a little?”

“You think you’re the only one? I’m freaked out admitting I want you. The morning after I stayed at your cabin, I felt so ashamed for giving into what I wanted. What I was always told was wrong.”

“I could kill your dad for making you think that.”

“Luckily, you don’t have to.” I frowned. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Thirty-two.” He winced.

“Well, then I’m not half your age. I’m older than that.”

“Not by much.”

Noah reached out again, and this time, Cat let him. He touched my cheek, his rough fingers warm against my skin.

“I’m so sorry you grew up in the home you did. I’d undo it if I could. But the best thing I can do now is try to keep you safe going forward. Though God only knows how I’m going to do that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t want you to worry.”

“If it’s about me, I’m going to worry anyway.”

He slid closer on the bed and took my hand in his. “Will you promise not to put yourself in danger, if I tell you? Please, Cory. This is serious.”

“I can’t promise when I don’t know what you’re going to tell me,” I pointed out. “But I’m not trying to put myself in danger. I can promise you that. I just want you to tell me what’s going on. Treat me like a person, not a parcel you have to keep from dropping.”

He gave me a long look, then nodded. “I’ll tell you as much as I can.” I began to object, but he held up a hand to forestall me. “I will. I promise. But the particulars of this situation mean that knowing some things puts you in danger.”

“How?” I was sick with frustration over the number of things I didn’t know.

“I’ll try to tell you. Just…listen. How much do you remember of the conversation we had in Isaac’s office, the night you were attacked?”

“The night Erika died,” I said. “Me getting attacked barely matters, next to her death.”

“It might feel that way. But we’re pretty sure you were the prime target. Do you remember anything the dean told you that night?”

I cast my mind back. Most of that night was shrouded in confusion and pain. My memories were like shards of glass. They hurt when I tried to pick them up.

“Someone’s after me,” I said slowly. “They want to kidnap me to use me somehow.” I grimaced. “And the dean thinks it’s safer to have me here, where I could hurt other people with my presence, than to leave the school.”

“Isaac is right,” Noah said. “The potential for your power to be misused, if you were taken…”

“But how? You’ve never explained how that would happen. I swear, I would never do anything to hurt someone.”

“You wouldn’t have a choice,” Noah said.

“And that really is as much as I can tell you about it, until Isaac decides it’s safe for you to know more.

The only other important thing is that we think someone on the faculty might be in league with A—” he cut himself off sharply.

“With the person who wants to use your power.”

A . The person’s name started with an A. That tickled something in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t remember what. Had Noah said that person’s name to me once? It felt like it was in my brain somewhere. But I couldn’t bring it to the surface.

“One of the faculty?” I repeated.

“At least one. Possibly more. We’re not sure. But if Erika was in a trance when she made that door, someone had to put her into it. We think it might be one of the wardkeepers. Isaac has me investigating, trying to find out for sure.”

I frowned. “If one of the professors here wanted to kidnap me, wouldn’t they have done it by now?”

“Not if they don’t know who you are. Only that you exist.”

“I don’t get it.”

“The man who killed Erika. I don’t know if you remember this, but you told us he said he thought he’d have to search for you for weeks.”

That sounded vaguely familiar, but that night was too clouded for me to be sure.

“We think that these people know you exist. They know that there’s an incubus at Vesperwood, but they’re not sure who it is.

That’s why it’s so important to keep your nature a secret.

That’s why Isaac wants you admitted to Horizon.

We can’t convince people you’re a regular witch, but if we can convince them you’re a Hierophant, we can throw them off your scent. ”

“But I am a witch,” I said, astonishment filling my chest.

In all my surprise at Noah’s appearance, I’d forgotten to share that bit of news.

He looked at me sharply. “What?”

“I did magic.” The shock of it was still fresh. “Professor Kazansky assigned Rekha Bakshi to tutor me. I thought it was going to be a waste of time, because I’m an incubus. But somehow… somehow, in the library, I was able to make a light.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m telling the truth,” I said.

“I believe you. I’m just thinking it through. Your mother was an incubus. She’s the one who disappeared after you were born. Incubi can’t stick around in the waking world for very long. Not easily, anyway. But if she was an incubus, that means your father has to be a witch.”

All the excitement and marvel inside me went flat.

“No.”

“Cory, it makes sense.”

“No it doesn’t. My dad never did anything remotely magical. He would have hated stuff like that.”

“Maybe he did. Maybe that’s why he never used his powers. But he had them. And he passed them onto you.”

“No!” I shouted, and Cat flapped up into the air in surprise. They gave me a reproachful look when they settled back down to the bed, closer to the foot now.

“No,” I said more quietly. “My dad didn’t pass anything down to me.”

“I know you don’t like him. And I don’t blame you. But you can’t deny—”

“He didn’t do anything to me,” I said. “And I want nothing to do with him now that he’s gone. Do you get that?”

My chest heaved. I stared at Noah, daring him to contradict me.

“Alright,” he said finally. “Maybe he didn’t pass anything onto you. Maybe there’s some other way that you’re a witch. I’m not an expert in that area. But if you can do magic, that adds a new dimension to things. I’ll have to tell Isaac. But this should make your identity easier to mask.”

“I’m not sure I can do it again,” I said quickly. “Honestly, if Rekha hadn’t been there, I’m not sure I would believe my own memory. But she was, and she saw it.”

“If you did it once, you can do it again. It’s not the sort of thing you can keep bottled up. That much, I do know. If it’s manifested once, you can bet it’ll come back.”

I swallowed, unsettled. I’d been so thrilled that I could do magic, but if the power came from my dad? That soured it a bit. Soured it a lot, actually.

“Who are the wardkeepers?” I asked, changing the subject.

“This is what I meant about needing you to promise me you won’t do anything rash,” Noah said. “I can tell you. It might even make you safer. But you have to promise me you won’t go chasing after them yourself.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Maybe not. But it’s what you’re getting.”

Eventually I nodded. “Okay. I promise. I won’t try to go after them myself.”