Page 14 of Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1)

“When you’re under the water, move into her depths,” Professor Mordock shouted. “Give her a chance to entice you.”

I looked to my left to find him waving us farther into the lake, and when I returned my focus to the shore, Logan was gone.

The eerie feeling didn’t vanish with him.

Shaking it off, I sucked in a deep breath, diving deeper into the water. It was clearer than I expected, the winter sunlight

streaming down as I swam in a slow breaststroke. The water itself felt light and silky, and with dozens of students around

me, I decided to follow the professor’s instructions and push deeper.

Needing to breathe, because to no one’s surprise my power hadn’t connected to water particles, I popped my head up to find

I was quite a distance from the shore now. Belle was even farther out, her red hair flashing as she shot herself up in the

water. It was only a foot or so, but she looked to be having the time of her life.

This time when I dove, I focused on connecting to the water, letting that swirl of power in my chest expand. When my lungs

were screaming for air once more, I surfaced, sucked in a deep breath, and returned below. I’d felt a slight connection, and

I didn’t want to remain above for too long.

Diving down, tingles started down my spine and settled low in my gut, and with each kick that sent me deeper, the more I drew power from my essence. The energy of Weatherstone overall was strong, but here, under the water, it really kicked up a notch.

Forcing my power to swirl as hard as I could without busting my brain, I almost choked when a brief illumination shone from

my hands. My first sign of active magic since I’d exploded the lights during my bloom.

I have magic!

It was there, but it was caged. I hadn’t found the right key yet.

In my excitement, I’d failed to notice how dark the water had grown around me, until I could no longer see my hands. Lungs

straining, I kicked hard and rose through the water until it grew lighter and lighter. I popped my head above and took in

a glorious lungful of air. Just one single breath.

Before I was jerked from below, a vise around my ankles.

The unease I’d been feeling ramped up until my body was shivering uncontrollably, even as I fought and kicked against whoever

grabbed me. At first, I assumed a student was being an asshole and pranking me, but a quick glance below showed no students

in the vicinity.

Still, there were more than enough water elementals around who might be using their power against me. But why would they?

The deeper I was pulled, the less it seemed likely this was a simple prank, and as the water grew cold then icy, true panic

kicked in. My mind flashed to Logan, who was more than capable of drowning me in the lake, and I fought even harder. But there

was no breaking the hold.

I barely managed not to scream, knowing I’d take in lungfuls of water and it’d all be over.

Focusing on grasping my energy, I expanded it as I’d done before, but all I got was a flash of light.

A flash showcasing the empty space below me as whoever was trying to murder me used their magic and not their hands.

Another flash spilled from my fingertip, and for the first time my fight died off completely. As the last of my oxygen dwindled,

I swore that I saw a visage of a creature holding me, long claws wrapped around my ankles. It had deep brown, leathery skin

with a head similar to the aliens in those old movies.

Forcing light from my hands one more time with a dying need to know what was killing me, I found the space below was once

again empty. As the synapses in my brain exploded in those final moments, I accepted what was happening—acceptance masquerading

as peace—and I let the faces of my family flash across my mind. The pain I felt at never seeing them again, at what they’d

go through over my death, was worse than the dying itself.

Darkness was almost a relief as I gagged and water filled my lungs. I didn’t notice the rumble around me until the depths

of the lake erupted into arcs of lightning. I was grabbed again, this time from above, and when a bubble of air surrounded

my face, water rushed away from me, drawing from my lungs at the same time, leaving me coughing and vomiting.

Hacking coughs shook me as the two entities played tug-of-war with me and I blacked out, only coming to when the hold on my

ankles released. Whoever had saved me pulled me to the surface so fast that they had to be a water elemental, and I tried

to wrap my head around the fact that I wasn’t going to die here today after all.

Light enveloped us when my head broke the surface.

I coughed and sputtered again, choking as my lungs attempted to squeeze up and out of my throat.

When I managed to stop coughing, exhaustion had me all but boneless in the water, my savior’s tight hold the only thing keeping me afloat.

My head dropped back against their firm shoulder.

“Paisley!” Belle’s frantic tone had me forcing my eyes open. Her terrified gaze was right before me. “What the Hel happened?”

she gasped on a sob. “You were there one second and then gone the next. You moved so fast below that we lost sight of you

almost instantly.”

Lifting my head, I turned to see who had saved me, expecting it was the teacher—awkward, as I was pressed along the hard lengths

of his body to stay afloat in the water—only to meet icy green eyes.

Everything slowed. The noise around me faded to silence, and I was drowning again, only in a completely different way. Logan’s

glare was as heated as his eyes were frosty. “Trying to kill yourself before I get the chance, Precious?” Weirdly, I expected

him to sound smug or satisfied at my almost drowning, but that snap of words indicated he was pissed.

“You tried to kill me?” I choked out.

Had it been him though? I’d thought there was a monster, but I’d also been severely oxygen deprived at that point, my brain freaking out on me. Logan

released me so suddenly I almost went under again, but managed to kick my heavy legs to stay afloat.

“I saved you.” His voice was inflectionless, and his expression smoothed into neutral lines. “I’m not like your mother. I

don’t leave people to die.” I opened my mouth to protest that, but he was already leaving. “And you owe me one now. Don’t

forget it.”

Noise burst back to life, and I was hauled out of the lake by Professor Mordock in the next second. “What happened?” he asked

as he settled me on the ground, a few feet from the water. “Why did you sink into the depths so quickly?”

My throat rasped as I answered, and despite the water soaking me, every part of me felt parched.

“I got pulled under.” Panic and pain pulsed through me as flashes of dying filled my head.

“It felt . . . it felt like bands around my legs as I was dragged down. Are you sure there’re no monsters in the lake? ”

That last part slipped out because I’d already made up my mind that there were no monsters and I’d had a mental break in the

last moments of my life.

The professor stared at me, pale and confused. “Monsters? Like a giant fish? Or squid?”

Sure, or maybe a giant alien from a popular movie in the seventies.

“Are there any of the above?”

Before he could respond, I heard my name, and I turned to find Dad sprinting toward the lake. He was wearing his favorite

brown corduroy suit, and had clearly been in the middle of a class. “I called for him when you went under,” Professor Mordock

said from my side.

“What grabbed me in the lake?” I asked him, keeping my gaze on Dad. Seeing him had my eyes burning as I fought the urge to

curl up into a ball and sob, but I needed answers before I fell apart.

“There are no monsters in the lake,” he told me quietly. “Small fish, a few amphibians, but absolutely nothing with the strength

or capability to drag a student down that fast. I couldn’t find you.”

“How did Logan get to me, then?”

He was silent, and I turned to see his grim expression. “He’s a spellcaster. Even in water, their abilities far outreach mine.

You should thank him, because he absolutely saved your life.”

Did he though? The facts weren’t adding up. Because if it wasn’t a monster, and I disappeared faster than a water elemental could track, then it stood to reason that Logan was still the only one capable of the attack in the first place. But why had he attacked and then saved me?

Had it just been a way to break me?

If it was that stalkcaster behind it all, there was no way I’d let him know I was rattled. Fuck that. I’d deal with the darkness

settling in my brain and I’d come out stronger on the other side.

“There’ll be an investigation,” Professor Mordock added, when our silence extended. “I promise you, Paisley. If there has

been a magical attack against a student, whoever is responsible will not only be expelled but charged before the elders.”

If it was Logan, they’d never find evidence of it.

“Paisley!” Dad hauled my soaking form up into his arms, holding on like his life depended on it. “Sweetheart, you’re okay.

Thank the goddess. Thank the goddess.”

He held me for a long time, and I finally allowed myself a few seconds to fall apart, hot tears soaking my dad’s shirt. “What

the Hel happened?” he snapped over my head.

“She was dragged under,” Professor Mordock replied, voice subdued. “A student called for me, and I went after her, but there

was no sign, Tom. The water wasn’t murky, and I can see for many feet around me, but it was as if she’d vanished.”

Pushing my hand onto Dad’s arm, he finally released me, and I wiped away the last of my tears. The two professors were facing

off, one puffed up and pissed off, the other looking beaten.

“Logan Kingston saved me, Dad,” I rasped.

Dad’s face turned a startling magenta, and I hoped he wasn’t about to explode fire everywhere. The heat of his power had already

dried me and my swimsuit off.

“Impossible,” he snapped, flames flashing in his eyes. “Logan had to be the one to pull you down.”

Professor Mordock furrowed his brow as he looked be tween Dad and me. “He wasn’t anywhere near the water when she went under. Even a spellcaster would need to be closer than he was. That boy is a hero.”

Dad looked about as convinced that Logan was a hero as he was that his favorite football team were making it to the playoffs.

And they were dead last on the leaderboard.

“You should get her up to see a healer,” Professor Mordock pushed gently. “She was without oxygen for almost two minutes.”

And thought she saw a monster.

Dad, those flames still dancing in his eyes, gave me his full attention again. Whatever he saw in my face had the hard lines

of his face softening. “Let’s get you back to the school, Little Gem. We’ll take you to the healers.”

“No,” I mumbled. “I’m fine, I just need to rest.” From the corner of my eye, I could see Belle waiting for me, and I shot

her a weak smile while mouthing, Go . I’d see her later.

Her worried gaze flashed between Dad and me, before she nodded and blew me a kiss.

Dad wrapped his arm around me, and all but carried me to the school and up the stairs into the Ancot building. “I think you

should leave Weatherstone,” he said, the first words he’d spoken since we left the lake.

He started to direct me away from my dorm, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Dad, I feel fine. I just want to go

to my room. Please.”

I expected him to refuse, but as he examined my face, his crumpled. Just this brief moment of grief. “Okay, sweetheart. But

I will be sending a healer up later to check on you.”

There was no point in arguing, because I had a much bigger problem on my hands. “I’m not leaving Weatherstone, Dad,” I said

softly through my aching throat. “Logan saved my life so he’s not a threat.”

“But something is,” he bit out. “It’s your first day and you almost died. Who pulled you under?”

The word monster lingered on my tongue, but I didn’t mention my possible hallucination. Dad would have me in the medical wing so fast it’d

make the magic dragging me under the lake look like a snail.

“I must have swum too deep and lost consciousness.” I had no other explanation or theory I was willing to share with him.

“I don’t know why Professor Mordock couldn’t find me, but maybe he was looking in the wrong place. No one pulled me under,

especially not Logan, because why the heck would he save me?” Unless he was really into torment and had much bigger plans for me. “It’s not the school’s fault.”

Dad didn’t look convinced. “You’ve got a Grand Canyon of a plot hole in that theory, Paisley Hallistar. You’re a strong swimmer,

and there’s no way you just swam too deep. But I can’t argue the rest.”

“Mom said I could stay, didn’t she?” An unfair segue, but I needed to know. I wouldn’t let fear keep me from my future. If

Logan had been trying to scare me, he’d show his hand sooner or later.

Dad cleared his throat, flames reappearing briefly, before he deflated. “She did. She doesn’t want you to lose yourself the

way she has, and she told me that all of life has risks.”

Reaching out, I squeezed Dad’s hand tightly. “I promise to be careful. I think I’ll sit out the rest of the lake classes,

if you can clear that with my professors.”

“I will,” he said as he puffed up once more. “And, Pais, be careful of Logan. Don’t let your guard down, even if he is the

reason you’re still here with us.”

“Dad, you don’t have to worry about me developing some sort of misplaced faith in that spellcaster. He might have saved me today, but he’s bad news. We all know that. I’ll be avoiding his grumpy ass as much as possible over the next year.”

We were at my dorm now, and I pressed my hand to open it. “I’ll be back with a healer,” Dad reminded me. “Don’t sleep yet.”

“I love you too,” I rasped, waving him off.

He shook his head, looking like he’d aged ten years in a few minutes, before he leaned in and kissed my cheek. “I love you,

Paisley. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

Well, it couldn’t get any worse. Though, I was still alive, and that was more than I thought I’d have in those last few seconds.

Despite my misgivings, there was no denying that Logan had saved my life.

Why? was the only pertinent question left now.