Page 15 of Savage Desire (The Savage Six #2)

15

POLARIS

“ A gain, Polaris.”

The command comes and my heart thunders as I take a deep breath, trying to still and calm the stress coiling inside of me.

“I can’t,” I snap for the fifth time in a row.

“You can. Again.”

My heart ricochets in my chest at her order, and I snarl. Anything nice I was starting to think about Professor Juniper is gone now. I dislike her more than ever, even if she is pushing me to be a better version of myself.

Dammit.

I take a deep breath, focusing on the subject as I mutter the incantation under my breath.

“Ignis. Combustum. Caleo. Ignis. Combustum. Caleo. Ignis. Combustum. Caleo.”

I press my thumb and forefinger together, rubbing them in slow, tight circles as I press the grains of sand into my skin. My left foot twitches, grinding deeper into the sand markings drawn on the floor.

“Focus, Polaris. Concentrate,” Juniper coaxes, and as if at her command, a puff of light emerges on the tip of the wick and the candle begins to burn.

I sag in relief, overwhelmed and slightly overjoyed with the fact that, again, a candle is lit by my ability.

Standing straight, Juniper shakes her head. Her hair doesn’t move an inch from its coiled position in a bun at the base of her neck. She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You're not done yet.”

I sigh, looking around the room in a mixture of disbelief and exhaustion, clawing for an excuse to be finished already. “You have so many candles, it's harder than it looks,” I grumble, noting the fact that there must be over one hundred in here and I've only managed to light four.

She shrugs at me, giving me a pointed look. “I’m waiting for you to work smarter.”

Her words make me pause. Sweat beads over my brows and causes my clothes to cling to my back. Who knew you could sweat from such little movement, and she’s telling me to work smarter?

Yeah, the dislike is growing stronger.

I turn toward her with a glare. “Smarter?” I repeat, and she shrugs, fueling my annoyance. “Why didn't you say that before?” I grumble, still bewildered by what smarter even means.

The pointed look on her face is enough to make me wither on the best of days, but not today, not when my magic is heightened to levels I’ve never felt before.

“I’m not here to hold your hand. You need to learn to critically think for yourself,” she states, and I huff.

If that isn't the truth, I don't know it is, but I know a truth that falls hand in hand with that and it hurts; I've never had to do that before, think critically I mean. As if sensing my thoughts, she gives me a tight smile. “I know it's not the norm for you, Polaris. That's why I'm pushing you. Please remember all of this is coming from a place of support and understanding. I've been in your shoes, I've walked the same path, Florentine’s and all.” She pauses, eyes raking over me as she taps at her chin. “Maybe what you need is to feel intense pressure in order to push yourself further.”

I scoff. “I don't need any more pressure than I’m already under.”

If she thinks I’m only dealing with the remnants of being a Florentine then she is truly mistaken because I am sinking in this damn place. On top of the disadvantage I’m at, I’m dealing with wolves that ignite feelings inside of me and vampires that do nothing but cause issues.

It’s been three nights since the wolves’ full moon party, and it’s taken all of my strength to avoid everyone, even those that don’t need avoiding. They’re just simply a by-product of the mess unraveling before me.

Besides, the last time someone tried to put me under pressure to make me push back was Wylder in combat class, and all he made me do was throw sand in his face and run.

It did nothing to make me think clearer, react better, or find a hidden pocket of strength. It just reminded me that I’m a coward.

“Whatever you're thinking, stop it right now,” Juniper blurts, putting a pin in my thoughts. “You stay positive and you stay focused. Just because your mind is thinking it, doesn't mean it's true,” she states, her words of wisdom doing little to break down the disaster that I am.

I opt not to answer, focusing on the candles instead.

Exhaling, I crack my neck in an effort to rid the tension from my shoulders like I’ve watched Wylder do before he fights.

I just need to focus on the candles and not allow any distractions. I promised myself after Tatum dropped me off at the dorms the other night that I would use all of my energy to grow and be ready for whatever stands in my path, because as infatuated with them as I am, they’re not my key to survival. I am.

“Okay, I can do this,” I say, zeroing in on the next candle as I suck in a sharp breath.

Taking another pinch of sand from my pouch, I run the grains through my fingers, just like she taught me. The room dims in my periphery, only the white wax visible to my gaze.

“You're not working smarter, Polaris,” she states, and I frown, trying to let her words run straight off my back. Before I can mutter the incantation under my breath, words come from her lips.

Confused, I break my stare-off with the inanimate object when a flash flickers in the far right corner of the room, opposite to where I’m standing.

It's a shadow at first, one that makes me falter, one that grows bigger and more recognizable with every breath. When I understand what she's doing, I gasp.

The shadow steps out of the hollows of the dark corner of the room, revealing a familiar face. One I hoped to never see again.

Mrs. Stephens.

Her head sways from side to side as she tsks me. “Polaris, you are a failure.” Her words boom through the space and I panic, taking a step back as I glance around the room, searching for Juniper, but she's gone… nowhere to be seen.

“What the fuck is this?” I blurt, eyes widening as my feet lock in place, watching the woman slowly start toward me.

“When I get my hands on you, I'm finally going to punish you like I've always wanted.” The snarl is a direct match to the woman who haunted me for years, leaving horror coiling in my veins.

Closer and closer she comes, making my palms sweat and my pulse spike as I try to remain calm, but it’s impossible to disguise the fact that I’m flailing desperately under her presence.

She's just a shadow, a reflection of my pain, a nightmare from my past, a memory I can eradicate from my mind if I just focus.

A cackle bites through the air. Her cackle. “If you think lighting a single candle is going to keep me at bay, you're truly mistaken,” she snarls, her words lashing through the room and whipping down my spine.

Think smarter, Polaris, think smarter.

She looms closer, the room drawing in, and I go from being a free woman with no sigil to the small little girl who feared this woman tremendously. The panic strikes, rising higher and higher as she comes to tower over me, when the world stills.

A snap ripples through me and the words finally burst from my lips as heat rises through my body.

“Ignis. Combustum. Caleo. Ignis. Combustum. Caleo. Ignis. Combustum. Caleo.”

All at once, the room is alight, every candle burning bright as Mrs. Stephens disappears back to the shadows. Frozen in place, I look around the room, watching as every candle flickers with an ember burning bright down the wick.

I choke out a breath when I feel safer, my hands falling to my knees as I hunch over, swallowing down the bile that threatens to burn my throat. Trying again, I inhale to the count of four before exhaling, but I wobble again, unable to calm the panic that consumes me, and as I do, I release the energy trapped within my body, and another spark of ember burns through the air, cascading over the cabinet to my left.

Gaping in horror, I watch as the flames engulf the furniture until Professor Juniper suddenly appears, dousing the room in darkness once more. My mind swirls with panic as my back stiffens, the darkness offering no inkling of comfort.

“I’m so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry,” I rattle off, a teetering mess as I fall forward onto my hands and knees in the center of the circle. Slowly, the room brightens once more, only this time without the carnage of the woman that haunts me, who strengthens my fears with every breath I take.

“Don't be sorry. That was amazing,” Professor Juniper promises, and I shake my head, one palm flat against my chest as the other keeps me from face planting as I try to catch my breath.

“That was a disaster,” I grumble, unsure whether or not I’m going to puke.

Juniper plants her hands on her hips, bringing her attention back to me as she lifts her eyebrow. “You just caused the fire with your magic, Polaris. Let that sink in.” She says it like it’s a good thing, making me pause.

I caused a fire.

I caused a fire.

Me.

The trepidation lacing through my body calms as understanding slowly washes over me just as the bell chimes through the air, drawing class to an end.

I'm saved by the bell. Well, saved doesn't seem like the best word now. Despite the distraught tingles still shooting down my spine, I feel like I’ve made… progress?

Juniper starts heading for the door, forcing me to push back up onto my feet as I take another deep breath. More than anything, stepping back out there makes it impossible for me to hide away.

This is exactly the kind of distraction I’ve been looking for.

“That was excellent progress, Polaris. You’re becoming more of a witch every day. Keep practicing. I need to get you to the heavier stuff sooner rather than later,” she states, making me blink at her in disbelief as she places a thick leather book against my chest.

“Heavier stuff?” I ask, confused how that could even be possible right now, and she gives me a soft, knowing smile.

“You're a center. Your magic will be stronger in the mind,” she says, tapping her temple.

“I don't know what that means,” I admit, and she offers me a wink.

“Then we’ll start with that, next class.” She grabs the door handle, ready to reveal us to the actual classroom again, but I’m rooted to the spot.

“You can't keep pulling me out of every class. That’s going to cause issues,” I grumble.

“I’m quite sure I'm the professor here. How about you focus on the spells in this book. Take care of it. Grimoires aren't for everybody,” she offers before swinging the door open, drawing the conversation to an abrupt end.

I don’t get a single moment to prepare myself before I walk from the room and back into the classroom with the leather-bound book enveloped in my arms.

Bryony is waiting for me as expected, a chirpy smile on her face. “All good?” she asks and I nod, falling into step with her as we head out into the hall. Her eyes caress the book against my chest, but to my surprise she doesn’t say a word.

I think it’s clear I’m closed off at the moment. The morning after the moon party, she had a list of questions for me, but when I didn’t have anything to offer in response, she finally let it drop. I thought that might put some distance between us, but instead, it’s only made her kinder, calmer, and more patient.

It’s as if she’s biding her time for something.

Or maybe I’m just being ridiculous.

“Are you ready for lunch? I’m starving,” she murmurs as we step outside into the midday sun, and I sigh at the same time my stomach grumbles.

With the heat of the sun hitting my skin, the remaining trembles connecting me to Mrs. Stephens drift off and I remember she’s not here. A conversation is going to be needed with Professor Juniper next time, though, because I cannot handle seeing that bitch again.

No. Way.

With my new book in hand, a grimoire as Juniper called it, I’m excited to get through the day and avoid the wolves and the disaster that seems to follow me so I can sink into the pages tonight. I’m ready to learn more. Desperate, really.

As we cut across the perfectly manicured lawns, a burst of anger bites through the air, making Bryony and I jolt with surprise. Not just the two of us, everyone, as all eyes search for the source.

“What's going on?” she murmurs, pointing in the distance, and I shake out of my funk, bewildered by what she means. “Oh, shit,” she blurts, grabbing my hand and tugging me along at her side.

I have no idea what’s going on as we hurry, following everyone else as they form a circle, and when I spy the impending carnage awaiting in the center, I gulp.

“Is that…”

“Yeah. It’s Declan, the wolf that killed Dean, and then…”

Bryony’s words trail off, but I understand.

Veronica.

Declan is the wolf that killed Dean, the creepy vampire who was connected to Veronica through the blood kin curse, and she died right along with him.

I don’t recall Declan at all. I only saw the aftermath of his actions, but now that he’s here, among the students, he seems disheveled and mad. Really mad. His clothes are crumpled and dirty, ripped with dark-red stains splattered over what seems to have been a white t-shirt. His hair sticks up in every direction, his hands are coiled into fists at his sides, and the snarl on his face is menacing.

He doesn’t look happy at all. Neither does the guy facing off with him.

A vampire.

“I’m not leaving here until your blood is on my fucking hands. You’re all going to pay, every last one of you,” Declan snarls, eyes narrowed at the supernatural standing across from him. One I’m slightly more familiar with.

Blaze.