Page 27 of Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1)

Our stomachs went on strike after we finished, demanding equal food for work, so we packed up and left the room. In the dining

hall, to no one’s surprise, the twins found me not five minutes after I sat.

“Where the Hel have you been, little sister?” Jenna demanded, shuffling my friends along so she could drag a chair in beside

me. “I know we saw you last night, but there’s still a monster on the loose. I was worried about you.”

“Sorry, we were in the library all day trying to figure out how someone created that creature on Weatherstone property.”

Her fierce expression eased a touch. “Did you find anything?”

“Nope, it shouldn’t be possible,” I said, trying not to let the darker thoughts creep in. “No affinity can do this without

using dark magic.”

“And dark magic leaves traces,” Belle added, listening in.

Alice nodded, taking a seat on the other side of me. “That’s what Dad said when I spoke to him earlier. The professors are

in crisis mode, and the school is all but locked down until they figure out what happened. The council should be here tomorrow.”

Weatherstone had no options but to take this seriously; a college of this reputation would do almost anything to protect itself.

The death of students was not a good look.

“I’ve missed you, little sis.” Alice hugged me, and I sank into the familiar warmth of her embrace. Herbs might remind me of home, but my family was home.

“I missed you too,” I mumbled through my emotions, chest tight. “Have you heard from J?” Jensen was away for a month at the

beach, as part of more intense studies he’d taken on for his element. I didn’t like the feeling of him being in another state,

and I tried very hard not to think about the end of this year when the twins would graduate.

Alice chuckled, her eyes lighting up. “Dad mentioned that he’s hooked on life under the sea, and we’ll probably never see

him again.”

“Disloyal bastard,” I tried to joke, but it fell flat. As much as it hurt, I would never deny Jensen his chance for happiness.

Even if it meant we lost him to a Californian or Floridian coven when he graduated.

“Trev did say he might join us tonight,” Jenna said, pulling her bowl of carbonara pasta closer. “But I would have expected

him already, so his study group for his Magma Studies class must have run over.”

Magma Studies. The fact that my brother could handle literal magma and not lose a limb would never not be odd to me. Those of us without

elemental affinities didn’t always understand the ones who walked with the natural elements of the world.

“Are you both free this evening?” I asked, deciding that I wanted to hang with them for a few more hours. “I still need to

meet your familiars. I should have done it months ago, but there’s just been so much going on, and I don’t want to be too

busy to make time for what is really important.”

We fell silent for a moment, all of us caught up in last night’s death. That warlock had his whole life ahead of him, and

then he was gone. Just fucking gone. I refused to put off these important moments any longer.

“We’ve been waiting so long to introduce you,” Jenna said, and she looked younger as her face softened. “Let’s go right after dinner.”

“I’m done,” I said, pushing what remained of my fried rice away. “Let’s go.”

Belle, Haley, and Sara, who had been chatting while I caught up with my sisters, turned as we got to our feet. “I’m going

to the Barracks with the twins,” I said, patting my pocket to remind them I had our new spell. “I won’t walk alone.”

“We’ll keep you safe.” Jenna looked mildly affronted.

Belle smiled briefly. “Go, have fun. But good to see you’re sticking with our new pact. No one walks alone.”

Jenna’s expression relaxed when she realized it hadn’t been a dig at her ability to look after me, but a reassurance to my

friends that I was sticking with our plan. “Good idea, girls,” she said as she swung her bag over her shoulder. “You can never

be too safe these days.”

They waved us off, and we headed to the Barracks. I’d passed this building so many times, heard the animals, seen the animals,

and sure as heck smelled the animals, but I’d never been inside. The Barracks was exclusively used by advanced nature sprites

who had claimed their soul-creatures.

Jenna and Alice used the side entrance near the forest, and I gaped at the sheer size of the Barracks. “It’s deceptive from

the outside,” I breathed. The ceilings must have been thirty feet high, wood slats extending for a mile in every direction

I looked. “It’s the size of a small town.”

Alice chuckled, looking around as if she’d forgotten the grandeur. “It sure is, but there was no way any of us would dump

our animals in a cage when we’re not with them. They get accommodations as good as or better than ours.”

“That’s what I love about you nature sprites.”

We walked along the main aisle through the building, and I could see into the animal enclosures as we passed them.

The polar bear had what looked like an acre of actual ice, snow, and a large pond.

“They also go out into the wild every day,” Jenna said as I peered inside.

“Our familiars are humanized, so they pose no danger to witches or warlocks. But they’re still wild at heart and need to revel in their freedoms.”

Having heard them talk about their familiars, and then seeing the truth of it here, was so vastly different that I found myself

filled with questions. “Do either of you stay with Simon or Morris at night?” I asked, noticing that most enclosures had a

bed set up in the corner. Even the snowy ones.

“Yep,” they said together.

“More often than not,” Jenna added, voice a little dreamy, and I was taken aback by how calm she appeared. The Barracks soothed

that frantic need of hers to overachieve and control every aspect of the world.

As we walked, they ran through a list of animals and their witch or warlock companions until we reached their familiars. Morris

and Simon were next door to each other, and we entered the sheep’s territory first. Inside, it looked and smelled like a farm,

with grassy fields, a watering tank, and bales of hay scattered around the edges. I could see Alice’s bed set up in a far-off

corner, and as soon as she stepped past the gates Simon beelined for Alice. I tried not to laugh, because I’d never seen a

sheep run, and there was more than a little waddle in his gait. His cream-colored coat was short at the moment, no doubt shorn

for summer, and when he got close, Alice dropped to her knees and held her arms out for him to bound into.

He was freaking bounding, and it was adorable.

The pair remained locked as her magic sparkled the air, a light dusting of happiness and tranquility.

The nature sprites were the least intrusive and combative of affinities, but they were strong in other ways.

They created peace, and I still believed it to be the toughest and most elusive magic of all.

“Simon,” Alice said as she stood, one hand on his head. He appeared larger than a regular sheep, standing waist height on

her. “This is my sister Paisley. She’s our best friend too, just like Jen.”

Simon strode forward and I marveled at the sheen of silver in his cream coat, even while his face was darker. He stopped before

me, and I shot a quick glance at Alice, wondering about the etiquette here. “Should I pet him? Is that rude?”

She laughed. “Not at all. He loves a good scratch behind the ears.”

He absolutely did. Butting against my hand, I ended up spending thirty minutes scratching his head, telling him how beautiful

he was, between chatting with my sisters, who were deep in conversation about their process of applying to covens.

“It’s a lot like college,” Jenna said, her voice wavering, stress tugging at the corners of her lips. “You have application

exams—a practical next month that will take us away from the school for a week—and then endless questionnaires to determine

where you fit. We have to list ten jobs we’re hoping to secure after graduation. I didn’t know it would be this intense, to

be honest, but at least our college work is wrapping up. Just a few larger assignments are all that stand between us and graduation.”

“What covens have you applied for?” My question was soft, because I was internally freaking out. Hundreds of covens were scattered

across America, across the world, and once you were initiated, your coven became your family. We were all heavily involved

in our parents’ coven, Blessed Souls of Spokane, attending events over the years.

“Blessed Souls, of course,” Jenna told me, and I worked very hard not to let my relief flood my face. “Along with Ancient Mages of America, The Sisters of the Moon, and Sprites of Spokane.”

With each name, my relief grew. All those covens were local to our area, with the farthest only in the next town over, which

was less than an hour away. “We didn’t want to be too far from home either,” Alice said gently, reading my emotions in her

way. “We like the comforts of visiting Mom and Dad, and our animals in the forests around us. All those covens are amazing.

They’ll offer us the job placements we want in the animal shelters and zoos, so we’re set.”

Feeling like ten tons had been lifted from my chest, I breathed easier, and left Simon so I could give them both hugs. “While

I love that our lives are changing, and we’re growing up,” I admitted, when we pulled apart, “it breaks my heart to know it’ll

never be the same again. We’ll never all live at home with Mom and Dad, and race into the living room to watch TV together

or eat an afternoon snack or pet your bunnies in the forest.”

We weren’t kids any longer, and with that, our lives would be forever different.

“But our kids will do that,” Jenna said quickly, voice thick. “When we all have babies, they’re going to grow up together.

I’m determined.”

The thought of having kids was so far off for me that I could barely envision the future she was suggesting, but damn it did paint an awfully nice picture. Even though change was inevitable, we could still hold on to what made our lives so

wonderful growing up.

Eventually we said goodbye to Simon and ventured next door to find Morris. His territory was more foresty, with visible caves

set back in the corner. Elementals helped them build these animal territories, and they did a damn good job.

Morris appeared when Jenna called him, a huge black bear poking his head out of a cave. He ran for us, and it was only a touch more terrifying than Simon. When Jenna greeted him, he wrapped his arms around her, careful of the lethal-looking claws, and lifted her into a—

“It’s a bear hug,” I cooed, barely suppressing my awwww afterward.

Morris was terrifying, standing at least eight feet tall, but as soon as Jenna introduced us, his intelligence and understanding

were clear in his huge black eyes. He patted me on the head, like I was the cute puppy, and while there were no ear scratches,

I figured we were buddies by the time we were done.

“You need to visit more,” Jenna said when we left, heading for our dorms.

“I do,” I agreed. “The study load has been intense, and there’s always some danger lingering around the edges, but I promise

to make more time for you. I love you guys so much.”

All the shit in my life was making me sentimental, but since the attack, and the Logan stuff, I felt as if my emotions had

grown into this volatile mess of destruction. Zipping around me in intense arcs, which took me by surprise more often than

not.

Alice patted my shoulder. “Don’t be hard on yourself. You’re doing amazing. How is your search for an affinity coming along?”

I hesitated briefly. “They’re talking spellcaster, but also not, because I have this small penchant for necro, which as you

know, no spellcaster can do. The biggest issue really is that I don’t express enough power to be a spellcaster.”

“The fact that they’re even discussing spellcaster for you—” Jenna shook her head, the blue of her eyes boring into me “—means that you’re showing plenty of power.

Everyone develops in their own time, and your energy released so close to your birthday .

. . you could be a full year behind other freshmen. ”

At some point I’d stopped beating myself up over my slower to develop than normal affinity. “I’m just going to let it all work out in time,” I told them. “I have faith that sooner or later I’ll know my place.”

Mom would be proud of my newfound maturity, achieved mostly through the exhaustion of constantly questioning myself rather

than personal growth. Or maybe it was a bit of both.

The twins left me in my dorm, and I felt their peace for a long time, even as I stared at Logan’s hoodie and debated wearing

it to bed. That stupid length of material had become a comfort for me, but I decided tonight I would put it back in the wardrobe

and return to my tank top and shorts.

Feeling more relaxed than I should when there was still a dark warlock or witch on the loose creating murderous monsters,

I settled into bed and let my mind slow. Tomorrow I’d worry about it again, but tonight, I’d sleep.