Page 16 of Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1)

“I ’ m getting another drink,” Belle announced. “Anyone else want one?”

We’d been at the party for thirty minutes; our countdown time updated by Haley in ten-minute increments. Especially after

Sara made her lose the book. “That’s not the point of being here,” she’d scolded her gently, and Haley had conceded.

“I’ll take one,” I said to Belle. After my chance to chat with Marcus fizzled out, I’d focused on drinking and absorbing moon

energy with my friends. We’d chatted to other freshmen who crossed our paths, but for the most part it was a chilled-out night

so far.

“We’re fine,” Haley and Sara said, and Belle headed into the crowds around the tables.

Turning to Haley, who sat stiffly, hands playing in the hem of her sweater in what looked like a nervous gesture, I sought

out a topic of conversation that might distract her. “How are your family? Did your dad get his work situation sorted?” She’d

mentioned a few days ago that there might be cutbacks at his job.

“Good,” she replied, her voice softer. “His hours got cut, but he’s not out a job completely. Which is a relief.”

Haley grew up poor. Her mother was a human who fell in love with a warlock she met in the mall. He was an air elemental and worked on the docks, but the pay sucked—no doubt because while it wasn’t uncommon for one of us to marry a human, it did come with a certain stigma.

A stigma that I had no doubt had also followed Haley through school, even though she was a near genius and was neck and neck

with Belle for top of the classes.

When she wasn’t forthcoming with more information on her family I changed the subject. “What’s this book series you’re waiting

for tonight?”

My question wiped away the semimiserable expression she’d been wearing. “Oh, it’s amazing. It’s about gods who were banished

from the world for centuries, and now they’re back and want revenge. The first book was fucking perfection, and left me with

a moderate cliffhanger, so now I’m desperate. If only there was a spell to get these books out faster, but I can’t really

complain.”

Sara shook her head at us and went back to flirting with the fire elemental on her right. He had the sort of golden surfer

boy looks she liked, and at least one of us was on their way to getting some action tonight.

“She’s one of my favorite authors,” Haley continued, “and is independently published, which allows her to release at least

four books a year. I don’t have the patience to wait for these yearly releases.”

I wasn’t what you’d call a reader. I loved the concept of it, but getting my brain to focus long enough to finish a novel

was hard. I’d started and abandoned more books than I could remember. “Maybe you can recommend a series for me to start.”

Haley’s enthusiasm was addictive, and maybe I just hadn’t found the right books yet.

Her eyes grew even wider, and she bounced on the spot. “I’ve been desperate for a friend to share books with,” she gasped

as she rapidly hugged me, pulling away just as fast. “This might be the best day of my life.”

“Just point me in the right direction,” I told her. “Did you bring all your paperbacks with you to college? Do your parents mail them to you? How do you get these new books when they release at midnight?”

Her lips twitched. “The hardest thing I’ve ever done was leave my books at home. I smuggled in a few for emergencies.” She

patted her pocket, because apparently a party was an emergency. “For new releases, I’ve figured out how to manipulate my e-reader

to prevent it shorting out around magic. Back home I live in a human suburb so there’s no issue. Here, thankfully, it’s holding

up so far. I have a second, backup one, of course, if you want to borrow it.” Her genius was showing, and I loved that about

her.

“That would be amazing. Make sure you load your favorite sexy series on there for me to start.”

Haley bounced to her feet, shoulders back with her new mission. “I’m heading to my dorm to get it ready for you.”

“We’ll walk with you,” Sara said, getting to her feet as well, with the help of a surfy warlock. Turned out our resident party

girl had found a new interest, and she was out of here.

“I’ll wait for Belle,” I said, shooting them both smirks. “Enjoy the rest of your night and I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

Sara leaned down and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “See you later, witch.”

“Be careful,” I murmured, and she shot me a cheeky smile.

“Always.”

The three of them exited the party, just shy of Haley’s one hour, and she couldn’t have looked happier about it.

Alone now, I noticed Jensen in a crowd with his friends, and missing my brother, I was about to head in his direction, when

Belle stumbled toward me. She held two cans in her hands, but her face was pale, and in the flickering light of the fire I

noticed shiny tracks on her cheeks.

Panic grasped me as I rushed to meet her. “What’s wrong?” I asked, taking hold of her shoulders to examine her closely. “Are you okay?”

“Annabeth,” she rasped, sounding both pissed and in pain. “Sh-she jabbed me with an iron attack spell, and it knocked all

air from me. I didn’t even see it coming.”

She pressed her hand to her ribs, and then worked up the side of her green sweater so we could both see the dark spatter of

bruises already forming.

A litany of curses spilled from my lips as I raged at that fucking witch. An iron attack was designed for blunt force trauma,

and could break ribs if wielded by a strong enough witch or warlock.

“It looks bad,” I said, barely keeping it together. “I’m going to fucking kill her. I don’t know how, but if I have to throw

her into the lake and watch the monster take her down, I’ll do just that.” I’d told my friends about my hallucination, and

while none of them believed it was real, I’d had to mention it anyway.

Belle laughed briefly, before it died under her groan. “Fuck, remind me not to do that again. I mean, not that I don’t appreciate

your possibly mythical lake monster taking her down, but for now can we just get out of here?”

“You need a healer,” I said shortly, my gaze darting around to see if I could find Annabeth.

Belle didn’t argue, which told me how much pain she was in. “I can go back on my own,” she huffed, holding her side. “I don’t

want to ruin the party for you.”

I leveled my best glare on her. “Like I would let you walk back alone while injured with that psycho witch running around

out there.”

“Come on, killer,” Belle said with another strained laugh, noticing me still checking the crowd for Annabeth. “I love you for caring, and as badly as I want to see you smack her around again, it’s not worth putting you in her crosshairs. She’s been avoiding you, and I want to keep it that way.”

Belle was the best friend a girl could have hoped for, and I thanked Selene’s light that Dad hadn’t dragged me out of college.

I was closer to Belle, Sara, and Haley in a few weeks than I’d been with Trina and Olivia in years of friendship.

Friendships were weird in that way, but I wasn’t going to question it.

As we set off to leave, Trevor intercepted us. “Sister!” he exclaimed, sounding as if he’d indulged in more than plain old

beer. “Where in the warlock have you been?”

“Brother,” I shot back dryly. “We’re heading out. I’ll chat with you later.”

“But the party’s just started,” he complained. “Stay for one drink with me. I’ve waited forever for Baby Sis to make it to

Weatherstone.”

Drunk Trevor was annoying and adorable, and I wasn’t surprised when Belle caved. She hadn’t said anything to me about it,

but there was this weird tension between her and my brother, even as they shot jabs at each other more often than not. “Stay,

Pais. I can get my way back, and I probably don’t even need a healer.”

“You’re injured,” I said, crossing my arms as my stubbornness kicked in. “I’m taking you to a healer.”

Whatever intoxication Trevor had been displaying vanished like magic. “Injured?” He focused on my tiny friend, his gaze running

over her as he assessed for injuries. “What happened? Are you hurt as well, Pais?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “This stupid witch is bullying her, and she got Belle with an iron attack.”

Trevor pressed closer for a more thorough inspection, but Belle waved him off. “Hands to yourself, warlock,” she said. “I’m fine. Just some bruises on my ribs.”

My brother’s hands twitched at his sides. “Paisley is right, you need to see the healers. I’ll walk with you to make sure

you get there safely.”

I waited for Belle to object, her dark eyes watchful. “Thank you. I’d appreciate the escort.”

Whoa, okay. That was odd. Trevor better not ruin my friendship due to his playwarlock ways, or he’d be the one with bruised ribs.

The three of us headed away from the party, and near the edge of the forest, a hand landed on my shoulder. I spun, fists flying

up, and Marcus jumped back, hands held up before him.

Trevor was already in front of me, but I grabbed his biceps before he could do anything serious. “No, wait. He’s my friend,”

I said quickly. Leaning around my brother, I smiled. “Sorry, Marcus. Belle here was just attacked by a witch, so we’re a little

on edge.”

Trevor relaxed enough that I could step around him, and I saw Belle tugging on his hand. “Paisley will catch up,” I heard

her whisper. “Let’s give them a second to talk.”

He didn’t want to leave; I could see that quite plainly, but when I narrowed my eyes with a clear fuck off, brother in them, he grimaced and pointed a finger at Marcus. “Hurt my sister and I’ll rip your fucking arms off and beat you with

them.”

He didn’t wait for a response, turning to march off with Belle, not bothering to look back. Cranky asshole.

Marcus, to his merit, didn’t leave, and he showed no indication that my brother’s threat phased him. “Sorry about that,” I

said, clearing my throat. “My brother is a tad overprotective, and a giant dick, but I love him.”

He tilted his head. “Can’t fault him for being protective of you. I shouldn’t have just grabbed you like that. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Damn, he was smooth. “Why did you grab me?” I asked, cool breezes ruffling my hair as they whistled through the trees nearby.

A fraction of his confidence fell as he rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve been wanting to chat with you all night.”

And yet he hadn’t approached me until now.

“How are your classes going?”

Great, we were talking about school. Excellent start. “They’re going better than I expected,” I said with a shrug. “The amount

of information we’re learning is intense, but I enjoy it. I like flexing my magical muscle.”

“No sign of your affinity yet?”

That sprinkling of unease that swirled in my energy swelled. “Nope. There was a low-level bonding moment with a dog in Nature

Sprites for the Newly Bonded, but not enough to call it a familiar. My strongest reactions have been during the lake, where

I almost drowned, and during Necromancy in the Wild, in that forest—” I waved my hand to the eastern perimeter “—I actually

felt the heat of my power emerge.”

“Being a necromancer would be a great affinity,” Marcus said, and it was clear that he meant that. “If I end up being a spellcaster,

I’m almost disappointed not to explore that final frontier of energy.”

“Professor Longhorn hasn’t indicated that he’s seen a necro affinity yet, but my magic is locked away. We’re all searching

for the elusive key.”

Marcus’s eyes softened. “You’re too hard on yourself, Paisley.

It’s only been a few weeks, and from what I can tell, you’re doing pretty well for a witch without an affinity.

” His words replaced the unease with warmth.

“You’ve got your entire four years of college to figure out your affinity.

It’ll probably take them that long to declare mine too. ”

For a vastly different reason to mine. Marcus showed a strong aptitude for too many affinities, but the classification of

a spellcaster was a lengthy process. “Logan Kingston is a spellcaster,” I said suddenly. “His first class is this coming week.

I wonder if you’ll find a resonation with his energy during the lesson.”

He shrugged, taking a sip of his beer. “Whether I’m a spellcaster or not remains to be seen, but I am looking forward to this

class. How often do we get firsthand experience with a powerful spellcaster? I heard that Logan is classified as one of the

strongest in the world, and he’s not even finished college.”

Of course he was. I’d expect nothing less. Wishing I hadn’t brought that warlock up, I was trying to figure out a subject

change, when Marcus stepped closer. “Would you like to catch up on a weekend? Just... the two of us?”

I stared at him, wondering why I wasn’t jumping at the opportunity. Maybe because I’d been looking for mindless sex to quench

the fire, but his question and the way he stared at me spoke of more. “That sounds—”

An explosion rocked the party grounds, and Marcus grabbed my shoulders, spinning me behind him while he searched for an attack.

Near the largest bonfire, I saw a kaleidoscope of lights followed by shouts as a fight broke out. “Shit.” Marcus shot me an

apologetic grimace. “My friends are in there. I need to help them, but I’ll find you after, okay?”

“Go, help your friends,” I said with an encouraging smile. If my friends were here still, I’d have been right on his ass to

help them. “I’ll catch you later.”

Marcus still hesitated, but as the fight grew louder, he shook his head and took off.

Jostled by others, I was pushed farther back in the crowd, until I stood at the edge of the forest again.

Exhausted, I decided to catch up with Belle and Trevor.

If I took the shortcut, I might catch them before the healers.

Walking along the side of the building, I stuck to the shadows, wondering what stupidity had made me take the darkest, eeriest

path. Not that I was worried about an attack, with everyone distracted by the fight.

As if those thoughts tempted the Fates themselves, when I turned the corner a roughly hewn bag was jerked over my head, cutting

off my screams. It tightened around my neck, and I panicked and clawed at my throat, before I was cracked on the head, pain

exploding through my brain as everything went fuzzy.