Page 106 of How to Flirt with a Witch

While Sky goes and slides in next to Hayley, Natalie comes to my table—which is as unoccupied and lonely as ever—and sits across from me.

“An Alchemist, Jaques, took his kids to Fort Langley today,” she murmurs. The place name is familiar—a little historical village an hour east. “We just got a call from him. They spotted the Madsen siblings skulking around by the cemetery. He’s keeping an eye until we can get there.”

I sit taller, my heart pounding. “We?”

Natalie nods grimly. “They’re searching for something.”

“Someone tipped them off about a curse in the area?” I venture.

“Seems like it. Fiona just told me about a curse there last night, and now, here they are.” Her scowl deepens. “Can you be ready to go in five minutes?”

I slap my laptop shut and scoop my textbooks, phone, notebook, and pens into my backpack. “I’m ready now.”

We head to my room to drop off my bag, where I put on a jacket and the gauntlet—which I still haven’t had to use.

“Just a pit stop in the Alchemy wing to get a vial.” Natalie guides me with her hand hovering near the small of my back, hesitating beforemaking contact. Her feather-light touch sears through my layers, sending a flutter through me.

I want her to keep it there, but she drops her hand before anyone can round the corner and see.

I’ll take what I can get, I guess.

I study each door we pass, curiosity about the unexplored rooms eating away at me. “In the Library wing, I felt magic in the air. Is that normal?”

Natalie arches an eyebrow. “It’s… rare.”

“Do you feel it when you walk down that hall?”

A pause. “No.”

I suppress a self-satisfied smile.

But when I look up, she’s frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

She glances sideways at me. “I’m taking you away from studying again.”

Somehow, I don’t think that’s what she was frowning about. But I wave a hand. “I’ll catch up later.”

“Don’t you have midterms? What about that sociology essay?”

I resist the urge to kiss that concerned look right off her face—Alchemists trickle through the hall all around us.

“I’m keeping up just fine, Natalie. Don’t worry, school is important to me, and I’m not letting anything slip.” It’s the truth, even if I’m a little more stressed than I otherwise would be. “Anyway, I don’t need you to oversee my studying.”

She stops at a locked door, Alchemy 13. “You’re missing out on the university experience because of me. You should be going to class in person and seeing your friends.”

“It’s notbecauseof you,” I tell her firmly. “Stop blaming yourself for the fact thatIstumbled on a cursed kitten.”

Attending lectures is too dangerous after what happened with Oaklyn, but I don’t mind studying remotely. Sure, some aspects suck—I’m still in a group chat with Clayton and the others, which means I watch their plans fly by without participating in any. And I care about this more than I thought I would. I guess I was starting to consider them friends, after all.

But it’s hard to feel sad about missing out on study groups and beer gardens when I get to help track down curses with Natalie every couple of days—we found fourteen in January. Not to mention I get to have her naked in my bed.

I bite my lip, hyper-aware of the way her arm brushes mine as we stand a little closer than necessary.

She puts her palm on the lock of Alchemy 13. It clicks. When she pushes open the door, icy air blasts out, prickling my cheeks and the tip of my nose. I recoil as white vapor curls before us, my breath misting in the doorway. The dark room is a walk-in freezer, the frosty walls lined with dozens of shelves of glass vials—all tubular, thumb-sized, and full of that shimmering amber substance.

Natalie sees my awe and smiles. “The Alchemists make it in large batches. Saves time.”