Page 35

Chapter

Twenty-Six

Bloom

Tabula Rasa

“ W here are we going?” I asked.

Sebastian’s fingers closed around my wrist, not tight enough to hurt, just enough to guide. “You’ll see.”

I’d never ventured to this part of campus, the far west side. We slipped between two shop buildings into an alley where the moonlight couldn’t reach. Maybe that was the point.

When Sebastian led me down a set of worn stairs to a nondescript door, my skepticism prickled until I sensed the ward humming around it. My magic had sharpened since Ravencrux helped me discover I was a Weaver. Could I weave a ward myself? A shield?

Whatever lay beyond that door pulsed with danger. My left eye twitched, a silent warning to turn back. If I were alone, I might have. If I weren’t still hollowed out by the image of Nero and Morrigan, Idefinitely would have.

But sanity had abandoned me hours ago, incinerated by Ravencrux’s disloyalty. Tonight, for the first time, I welcomed danger.

“It’s dark,” I protested half-heartedly, out of habit. “Maybe we shouldn’t go in? It could be dangerous, you know.”

Sebastian let out a low, amused chuckle, showing his perfect white teeth. “You might not believe it, but you’re a wild card with a streak fiercer than anyone here.”

I doubted that. I’d never been one for recklessness—outside the pages of books, at least. Then my mind flickered to my first-day escapade with the forbidden professor. No one would guess it just by looking at me.Mom would roll over in her grave.I exhaled, shoving the shame aside. Not now.

“C’mon,” he urged. “You’ll enjoy this, Bloom. Trust me.”

With a resigned sigh, I followed him down. Each step carried me further from the girl I’d been before the academy. Homeschooled girl. Dutiful daughter. A nobody in a forgotten French town. Virgin who’d almost surrendered herself to a wicked professor who never wanted more than a conquest.

The door swung open, the ward dissolving. The bass hit first, rattling my ribs. Then the smell of sweat, alcohol, weed, and the metallic tang of magic clung to my throat. My lungs tightened in warning.

“You okay, Bloom?” Sebastian’s voice cut through the cacophony, golden eyes studying my face. “We can leave.” It sounded more like a challenge than concern.

“I’m fine,” I lied. If I could survive seeing Ravencrux with Morrigan, I could get through this. “Show me everything,” I added, relieved when my voice came out smoky.

Tabula Rasa.The name was etched on the door— blank slate. Freedom from rules.

Sebastian had brought me to an illegal underground club.

Sindy would’ve loved this. She adored anything dark and illicit, smuggling forbidden books under her bed. The club sprawled across three low-ceilinged rooms, the center one awash in wine-red and summer-blue hues, a rebellion against the academy’s gothic monotony.

Students clustered around makeshift bars, downing drinks and substances I couldn’t name.

Others danced, bodies slick with sweat and desire.

In my old life, I’d have been scandalized.

But that was before I’d broken the cardinal rule and hooked up with a professor, and not just any professor but Nero Ravencrux, the devil .

Sebastian didn’t spare the crowd a glance as he steered me toward the far end, where a riot of shouts erupted. He hadn’t brought me here for the typical debauchery. I was utterly out of place anyway. Everyone would’ve seen it and eaten me alive if Sebastian hadn’t accompanied me.

“The fighting ring,” he said, his sensual lips brushing the top of my ear. “Where magical gangs settle territorial disputes.”

My pulse spiked. Sindy had warned me about the gangs, and we always tried to steer clear of them. But now Sebastian was leading me toward those cutthroats. I wanted to slow down, turn around and flee, but my feet only quickened their pace after him.

The redhead murders still hung over me; if I was next, I might as well swim in the same waters as my hunter.

This could be the perfect place to glean information.

Sebastian had pinned the murders on Nero Ravencrux.

Even though I wasn’t a big fan of said professor, I needed more than accusations to condemn him.

A circular arena dominated the space, surrounded by bloodthirsty spectators. Inside the ring, two students circled each other. The girl on the left wore sigil-etched leather. Her opponent, a boy with half his head shaved, twisted his fingers in complex patterns, leaving a trail of blue frost.

“Ice Pike versus Ember Fang,” Sebastian explained. “Fighting over the east wing study halls.”

They were fighting over a study hall?

“Is it allowed to have a territorial fight in the academy?” I asked. “And they’re using magic in an illegal ring!”

Sebastian’s smile carried a cruel edge. “Rules only matter if you’re caught.”

The girl lunged, her sigils flaring. Fire erupted from her fingertips. The boy countered with a shield of ice, steam hissing between them. The crowd roared.

“Drink?” Sebastian pressed a glass of amber liquid into my hand. I hadn’t seen him fetch it. From the bar? But then it was chaos all around, distracting.

I hesitated. Mom’s warnings echoed: “Good girls don’t drink with pretty boys who smile too easily.”

And I’d read about date rape in books. How those assholes tampered with drinks. Sebastian was definitely a bad boy type. He carried the vibe wherever he went. He didn’t know I was a potion master. I could smell drugs. If he’d tampered with it, I’d dump it down his throat and more.

I lifted the cup to my lips and sniffed at the contents, trying for subtlety but obviously failing, since Sebastian was staring at me with amusement on his curled lips.

“Trust issues, Bloom?” he purred. Even amid the crowds’ gleeful shouting, his voice reached me clearly. “If I’d wanted to harm you, I’d have done it already. You don’t need to fear me. I don’t hunt redheads.”

I studied him, but his expression gave nothing away.

“I can’t imagine what you’ve been through,” he added, his voice softening, “with a murderer on the loose, targeting you. But I’m here to help.”

A small breath of relief departed my lips. At least he didn’t know about Ravencrux and me and the true reason for my grim face.

“And I think you need a drink,” he said. “It’s just tequila. Women usually like it.”

I nodded my appreciation. “I do need a drink. Thank you.”

Now that I was sure the drink wasn’t drugged, I wanted it to dull my senses. I’d been planning to get some herbal potion drink from the mages’ café, but this would do. Tonight, I didn’t want to feel. Didn’t want to think.

I knocked back the shot in one movement, gasping as liquid fire scorched my throat and bloomed hot in my chest. My eyes watered, but I refused to cough.

“Another,” I demanded, the word raw in the back of my burning throat.

Sebastian quirked an eyebrow, but he obliged without comment.

The second shot went down smoother. The third made the room soften at the edges, my body lighter, my thoughts slower. The fourth transformed the brutal fight before me into something almost beautiful. Ice and fire dancing in violent harmony. Blue and amber magic entwined in battle.

Ice Pike crashed into the wall, blood streaming from his nose. I cheered with half the crowd, though I had no idea why. I was usually turned off by violence.

Booze worked wonders.

Even if Sebastian drugged me, I wouldn’t give a fuck.

What was the worst that could happen? He’d bet on my recklessness and brought me here, but he hadn’t anticipated my self-destruction, now laid bare by Ravencrux’s betrayal.

Why did I care so much? I didn’t want to feel anything.

A few meaningless trysts shouldn’t have mattered.

“I never figured you for this scene.” Sebastian laughed, arm draped around my shoulders. “I’m positive that we can be friends.”

“Maybe,” I said, not recognizing my own voice, smoky and wild. “All my life, I was told to be a good girl, but being a good girl won’t keep me safe. Mom was wrong.”

And good girls didn’t do their professors.

Sebastian leaned closer, his fingers tightening on my shoulder as he hung on my every word. “Tell me more about your life.”

I smiled at him as I downed another drink. Sebastian had an endless supply of them.

“Later,” I offered, my words slurring. My eyes caught the sensual, scandalous dancing in the other room. “Let’s dance.”

I wanted recklessness, scandal—to match the secret I’d already buried.

While everyone around us howled with cheers or disappointed curses, I held Sebastian’s hand and dragged him toward the dance floor.

Alcohol emboldened me while making everything spin.

Even in my moment of drunken recklessness, I knew that Sebastian wasn’t safer than Ravencrux, just dangerous in a different way.

The golden boy had fangs too; he just hid them better behind gorgeous smiles and charm.

But I’d rather be here, drunk and reckless with Sebastian and his hidden fangs, than alone with thoughts of Ravancrux and Morrigan.

Anywhere was better than in Ravancrux Tower tonight.

“Have you had success with your mission?” Sebastian asked as we reached the edge of the dance floor.

“What…mission?” I asked, my voice sounding strange in my ears.

“Gathering evidence of Ravencrux murdering the redheads,” he said, his deep voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Do you need more help?”

The question sliced through my alcoholic haze. The horrific photos of women who looked so like me, it could have been my corpse in those images. The implication that Ravencrux was involved.

I swallowed. That was one of the reasons I’d joined him here—to uncover the truth about the murders.

“Are you sure Ravencrux is the only suspect?” I asked, my head throbbing. I’d probably consumed too much alcohol.

Before Sebastian could drag me deeper into murder theories, I kicked off my dress shoes, letting them clatter against the stone floor.

Club music pulsed through me.

“Let’s just dance,” I called, my tongue twisting loose from alcohol.

In France, I’d danced alone in forests where only trees witnessed my movements, twirling to music that existed solely in my mind.

Mom would have lectured about propriety and restraint had she caught me.

But here, where the bass vibrated through my bones and drums matched my heartbeat, I surrendered.

“Agreed,” Sebastian said earnestly.

The crowd enveloped us as we moved together. Sebastian’s hands found my waist, confident and somewhat possessive. I leaned into the rhythm, my body remembering steps it had never learned. The booze made me bold and effortless, melting the rigid boundaries of the girl I’d been.

Sebastian pressed closer with each song, until his body aligned with mine from behind, his arousal evident against me.

Academic curiosity, I told myself, as his minty breath cooled my temple.

My body remained unmoved, aware but unstirred.

Not like with Ravencrux, whose voice alone could set me on fire, whose presence made my flesh throb with painful need.

Even now, drunk and dancing with another man, my body remembered his touch, craved it again, like a forbidden flame in my soul.

Sebastian conjured two more drinks from a passing tray. We clinked glasses and downed them in unison. Heat bloomed in my chest, liquid courage transforming me into a wild thing who refused to care about tomorrow’s regrets.

I closed my eyes and giggled, letting lights paint patterns against my eyelids as I moved against Sebastian, pretending I could dance away the memory of a man who’d never been mine to lose.

The bass vibrated through the soles of my bare feet, numbing my heartache one beat at a time.

For a precious moment, the ache in my chest eased a notch.

Suddenly, my senses sharpened. My left eye twitched, and the top of my right earlobe grew warm: a warning of danger and reward at once. Sebastian’s hard muscles flexed and tensed against me, his rhythm faltering.

The crowd parted like a tide, silence rippling outward from the entrance.

I opened my eyes.

Shit.

Nero Ravencrux stood there, formidable, imposing, and coldly furious. His eyes found me immediately across the chaotic space, zeroing in on Sebastian’s hands gripping my hips, on the empty glass in my fingers.

His face hardened to ice, each line of his body deadly. His irises shifted between emerald and winter-green before darkening with a rising storm.

Was he looking for me?

Why wasn’t he with Morrigan? Why was he even fucking here? Or had they finished their tryst, so he came looking for trouble?

His presence made me ache and seethe at once. The professor ignored everyone else, staring at me with a look of pure betrayal.

I glared back, icy as a blade. The feeling is mutual, asshole.