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Ravencrux merely chuckled, low and dangerous.

“What a little spitfire you are. We’ll see if that spirit holds when we summon your magic.

” He turned to address the class, his voice booming through the room.

“Many of you have manifested, but some haven’t.

Today is your last chance to awaken what’s in you. ”

The classroom dimmed as Ravencrux snuffed out the overhead witchlights with a casual flick of his fingers. Morning sunlight streamed through the arched windows in golden shafts. Dust motes swirled in his wake as he moved.

“Magic answers to will and responds to intention,” he continued, prowling between desks. His rich voice dropped to a velvet murmur that sent a shiver down my spine. “And sometimes, it needs proper motivation.”

He stopped first before a curly-haired boy, regarding him with indifference.

“Boy One,” he declared. “Your magic is cerebral. It’s been waiting for your puny mind to make room for it.”

A snap of his fingers summoned a glowing sigil midair. The boy widened his eyes as the intricate lattice of light sank between his brows, suddenly, irrevocably awakened.

“Th-thank you, Professor,” he stammered, touching his forehead in wonder.

Ravencrux was already moving on to a tall girl who fluttered her lashes at him. He didn’t spare her a glance.

“Analytical magic,” he pronounced, flicking his wrist. “Ideal for deciphering dead languages and dismantling wards.” The girl doubled over as a stream of water droplets levitated from her palms. “Girl Two manifested.”

I bit back a laugh—he didn’t know a single student’s name.

Every male was “Boy One,” every female “Girl Two.” Not even bothering with proper numbering.

Yet no one protested their anonymity. The classroom buzzed with anticipation as he worked his way through rows of students like a gardener pruning weeds.

Manifestations erupted in his wake: a tremble of earth sent pebbles dancing; shadows merged into a songbird; one student’s fingertips sparked with blue fire before it sputtered out.

My palms dampened as he neared, thighs pressing together to suppress the heat rising at his proximity. I fought to banish the memory of his face between my legs. It was like trying to smother a wildfire with bare hands.

“Girl Two,” he addressed Sindy beside me.

“Her name is Sindy Vexley,” I corrected.

The room stilled. His head tilted, those winter-green eyes sliding from Sindy to me. “Is it now?” The way his gaze lingered sent liquid heat down my spine.

I knew better than to bait the devil—and he was every inch the devil, no matter what title he wore—but I couldn’t stomach him reducing my friend to a number. These other students might be strangers, but Sindy mattered to me.

“Sindy’s a talented witch,” I said. My friend flushed scarlet, squeezing my hand under the desk.

Ravencrux’s lips curved. “And how would you know Miss Vexley is talented, Miss Aurelius?” His voice dripped mockery. “Or is this blind loyalty speaking?” He raised one elegant hand. “Shall we test your generous assessment?”

The words rolled off his tongue like a rushing river—ancient, liquid, and alive. The class sat frozen, breath held in reverence. Only I seemed to recognize the dead language flowing from his lips. How did I know it?

Before I could ponder further, he plunged two shimmering fingers into Sindy’s chest. She shuddered as he withdrew a swirling, oil-slick orb. The moment it left her body, her eyes cleared, bright and untroubled as a summer sky.

“Witch Vexley,” Ravencrux stated, crushing the dark orb in his fist. “I’ve excised the generational curse clinging to your bloodline. Your earth affinity will flourish, provided you don’t court the shadow and practice black magic.”

Sindy nodded in gratitude, like a bird pecking at scattered grain.

“Professor Ravencrux.” A bold voice cut through the silence.

The pretty tall girl stood without permission, her earlier coyness replaced by calculation.

My defiance had emboldened them all. She arched her back just so, ensuring he wouldn’t dismiss her as another nameless Girl Two.

“We’re all so grateful for your personalattention.

” Her voice dripped honey. “I do hope you’ll grace us with more demonstrations. ”

Ravencrux turned his head slowly. The girl preened under his gaze. She had his attention now.

“I am not some fucking public service,” he bit out, each word sharp. “Do not fucking disturb me again while I’m working.”

The girl collapsed into her seat, tears welling. A pang of sympathy hit me. But really, what had she expected? The devil was an asshole. I knew that better than anyone. His tongue might work miracles, but his patience was nonexistent.

Then his sharp gaze found mine, and my heart hammered. The classroom, the students, even the air itself seemed to still.

“Miss Aurelius,” he purred, my name dripping from his lips like dark honey, and my stomach fluttered wildly. “Have you been waiting like a good girl?”

That was inappropriate, but I was the only one he hadn’t reduced to a number.

I resisted the urge to lick my lips, my mouth parched even as heat rose between my thighs. Thank the gods for panties. How did his voice alone unravel me like this?

His nostrils flared. Could he actuallysmellmy arousal? My cheeks burned; his gaze darkened in response.

“Yeah?” My voice came out embarrassingly breathless as he stepped too close, his scent of sandalwood and something dangerously elemental wrapping around me. “Well.” I waved vaguely at the remaining students. “Not many left.”

He’d worked methodically, front rows first, then back, leaving our section for last.

Ancient words rolled from his tongue. Light and shadow twisted together, forming a swirling column around me. Heat flared in my chest, an ember sparkingto life and dancing along my ribs, then guttered out like a flicker of candlelight in a storm. A phantom flower withered before it could blossom.

I’d felt something. Memories surfaced: cracked earth healing under my fingertips, dying plants straightening their stems.

But that fragile spark wasn’t enough to bloom into true magic.

I wasn’t enough.

Disappointment seeped from my pores like cold sweat. I’d wanted—needed—to show him something worthy, and instead I’d been laid bare before the class as hollow. A dud.

Snickers rippled through the room, sharpest from the girls in the front row. Their laughter pricked at my skin. What was I doing here? Why hadhe bothered with me when his eyes saw everything?

I wasn’t being modest. After years of letting Mom shape me into her vision, I’d sworn to face only truth, no matter how brutal. And the truth was, I had nothing. Tears burned behind my eyelids.

“You’re not magicless,” he said softly, seeing the devastation I couldn’t hide. I’d never learned to mask my emotions. “You were born with a shield so strong it guards even against yourself. It keeps your power locked away with all the rest of you.”

I blinked in confusion even as I heard the truth in his words.

“Give me your hands.” He crouched beside me, his body heat radiating to me.

Every female eye in the room burned into me, envious, jealous, downright venomous.

His hands hadn’t touched anyone until now.

I wasn’t sure giving him my hands was a good idea.

My pulse already raced just from his proximity; actual contact might undo me.

The last thing I needed was to make a fool of myself in front of everyone.

“Now isn’t the time to be shy, Miss Aurelius.” That smirk. Those damnable green eyes glinting with knowing amusement. He remembered exactly how I’d gripped his hair, how my thighs had trembled against his temples yesterday?—

Heat flushed up my neck and entire face.

Defiance warred with self-preservation. Refusing him was dangerous; this man thrived on unpredictability. With reluctant surrender, I offered my hands.

His fingers curved around my wrists. The slow circles his thumbs drew against my pulse points sent electric currents straight to my core. Every suppressed gasp, every withheld moan, only amplified the ache spreading through me. My body sang for him, a live wire humming under his touch.

Shit, shit. I locked every muscle, fighting to keep my face blank.

“How interesting.” His voice was honey and smoke. “Your pulse is…quite rapid.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. He was toying with me, reveling in every hitch of my breath. My face burned crimson, and not from the class’s stares.

“Maybe whoever brought me here made a mistake,” I said, quick to accuse others and defend myself.

His thumb pressed against my racing pulse. “You’re exactly where you belong.” That low, private timbre. Then, sharper: “Close your eyes.”

I obeyed. Better than drowning in that bottomless gaze.

He began to chant, all hard consonants, flowing vowels, and harsh commands that mortals weren’t meant to speak. Worse, his voice took on a cadence that coiled low in my belly, molten and relentless.

I clenched my thighs. Shit, I’ll come just from his voice.

A small comfort: the entire class sat equally entranced. But soon even their presence faded. There were only his hands anchoring me, his breath mingling with mine, his voice weaving a spell I never wanted broken.

Something primal uncoiled in the hollow place where my deepest pain lived—a shadowed beast shaking off centuries of slumber.

Memories that weren’t mine tore through my mind like shrapnel:

Mulled wine bitter with cinder.

His laughter against my bare shoulder.

An elegant hand sliding possessively up my ribs, cupping my breast.

The scent of burning roses.

A kiss that tasted like devotion and damnation.

Then pain .

The noose’s bite. The stool kicking away. Falling, falling ? —

Impact. Bones snapping on jagged rocks.

Drowning in black water, crimson hair swirling like red smoke.

I wrenched free with a gasp, nearly toppling from my seat.

My eyes flashed open. Ravencrux’s arms locked around me as I trembled, not from the classroom’s sudden frost, but from thewrongnessof those memories.

My lungs burned, yet…no asthma attack. As if the visions had scorched the weakness from me.

The lecture hall had gone arctic. Frost crackled across desks.

And his eyes?—

Dark fury stared back at me, the kind that erased kingdoms.

This wasn’t magic awakening. This was somethingunearthed .

Forbidden, my mind supplied.

He straightened abruptly, putting cold distance between us as he retreated to the dais.

“Class dismissed.”

The ordercracked through the room like icy wind. No one dared to protest. Students scrambled, their hushed whispers clinging to the frost-laden air as they fled.

I rose on unsteady legs, collecting my scattered notebook.

“That was…” Sindy’s fingers brushed my sleeve, her eyes round with concern. “Bloom, whatwasthat? Are you okay?”

“Fine.” The lie scraped my tight throat. “Let’s go.”

“Miss Aurelius remains.” Ravencrux’s voice froze us both.

Sindy looked pale and worried.

“Go.” I nodded at her as I shoved down a flutter of anxiety in my chest. “I’ll find you after.”

The door clicked shut behind her. Silence followed.

Alone with the devil.