Page 44 of Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1)

Despite running dangerously close to being late to meet Marcus, I took a few extra minutes to exit near the chapel. There

was no real reason for me to check it out; there was only ash and debris left behind. But I needed to see the scene that was

costing us all so much.

Two witches and a warlock were in the zone, shooing everyone away. This close, that scent of ash and fire was much stronger,

and there wasn’t a single part of the scene that could help clear Dad’s name. The fire happened. It happened because of the

witch wine, and elementals losing their brains. That part wasn’t up for debate.

What needed to be discovered was who reported Dad and was now pushing for maximum penalty.

Leaving the scene, I raced around the buildings and down to the lake, only to find two spellcasters waiting for me. Logan’s

expression was flat, more closed off than I’d seen from him in months. Marcus didn’t look much more welcoming, and I wondered

if they’d argued in my absence. “Paisley.” The hard lines of Marcus’s face eased. “Ready to get started.”

My attention was on Logan, as per usual when he was around.

He was in uniform today, without any variation, and I itched to roll those sleeves up to reveal that glorious ink.

While another part of me wanted to throw a hex at him so he couldn’t walk for a week because he might have finally achieved what his father wanted all along.

To destroy my dad.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Logan, ignoring Marcus.

“If you need a spellcaster,” he said, a dangerous edge to those words. “Then you use me.”

I could see Marcus’s confusion. He glanced between Logan and me, no doubt inferring a whole bunch of truths that were really

lies. “The professor asked Marcus to help me before final assessment.” I shrugged, acting a hundred times more casual than

I felt. “If the college didn’t ask you, it might be because you’re hardly ever here, hardly ever in class, and rarely want

to help without getting something in return.”

“What have I asked from you in return?” Logan said, his laser focus reducing me to ash, just like the chapel. “As you’re well

aware, I’m more generous in giving than receiving.”

The flush was instant, heat unfurling through my body. Maybe I’d inferred more from those words than I should, but all I could

think about was Logan giving me pleasure. Through that, though, I noticed an odd cadence as he spoke. His energy felt darker,

and he looked... tired. I’d never seen Logan look anything other than perfect. A flaw wouldn’t dare mar the powerful warlock.

But today was different.

“Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly wishing I didn’t care.

He blinked, and I saw the surprise he hid a second later. “Fuck, Precious. Go with Marcus. I’ll be close by if you need any

help.” His gaze drifted to the lake behind us. “Especially if you’re going in the water.”

I reached out as if to stop him, but he moved too fast. I hadn’t even had a chance to ask about Dad. Logan perplexed me in

the worst kind of ways, and I lost my brain.

Marcus released a low whistle. “Holy shit,” he breathed. “I don’t know if you can feel his power, but it’s scary intense.”

That caught my attention. “You can feel Logan’s power?”

Marcus scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “In my bones, Pais. Spellcasters can recognize each other, and we know who the bigger

predator is. That guy... you should stay away from him.”

He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know, but what Marcus was unaware of was that I felt Logan in my bones too.

Like he was permanently etched in the marrow, and I’d never get him out. My destiny with Logan had been set in mud, all those

years ago in the park.

The details of which I still didn’t know for sure, but I knew they were permanent.

At least these classes with Marcus were a distraction. “Water is just like every other element,” he said as I followed him

into the lake. “It’s all about controlling matter, and the particles that connect the energy of the Earth and the moon.”

I drew the water to me, droplets rising from the lake until they danced around me in an arc. “Perfect,” Marcus said with a

nod. “The element is drawn to you.”

“I can’t do much more than that,” I warned him. “Not without a boost of energy to unlock the full potential of my own.”

He assessed me for a beat, turning his head from where we stood side by side. “How do you get a boost?”

An arm wrapped around my waist, and I barely stopped the gasp leaving my lips. “Like this,” Logan said softly.

His power crashed against mine, merging with ease.

We’d been doing this for weeks and had it down to a fine art.

My body swelled, and needing an outlet for this power, I clapped my hands together, and then slowly drew them apart in an at tempt to part the water of the lake.

I’d expected just to pull a few feet around us, but I hadn’t taken into account how intimately Logan was pressed against me.

How connected our powers were.

He’d never touched me like this in our training before, a branding against my skin, and it felt as destructive as any monster

who’d sliced through flesh and bones.

The entire lake parted, all the way down to sections so deep I couldn’t see the bottom. If we’d have wanted to, we could have

walked our way across that mud and made it to the other side.

“Fuck,” I cried out as shock shook the hold on my power, and I released the water to crash together.

There was a rush of heat across my skin as Logan and Marcus used their magic to prevent a tsunami, and when the lake was once

again calm, Logan’s hand flexed against my skin. “This is the true potential of your energy,” he murmured.

“Our energy together,” I breathed.

He leaned in, and I turned to find him close. I drowned in that icy gaze and lost coherent thought. This was want and need,

and I wanted and needed him to kiss me.

“I think I’ve got all the information the professors will require,” Marcus said, voice distant.

Logan broke our hold, releasing me as suddenly as he’d touched me in the first place.

“She’s a spellcaster,” he told him, looking completely unruffled, while I was a desperate mess. Marcus nodded.

“I agree. I’ll let them know that you still need to figure out the trigger for your release, but when you do, your power is

strong.”

Now that I wasn’t wrapped up in whatever fucking spell Logan cast over me every time we were close, heat infused my cheeks. Embarrassment drove me to explain myself to Marcus, but he was already striding from the water, and I felt the air give him a little boost so he was gone in a flash.

Crossing my arms over myself, I tried to hide the tremble in my hands. “You did that deliberately,” I said to Logan, refusing

to look at him. His eyes were bewitching, ironically. “You’re controlling and manipulating my life, and I can’t tell yet if

it’s to help me or make everything much worse.”

His gaze burned into the side of my face, taunting me to look at him, but I held strong. Mostly. “When have I made your life

worse, best friend?”

Deflection. We were back to deflection.

“Answer me this, Logan. Why have you been helping me when your father made it clear that my family is scum? When your father

got mine suspended from school and on his way to being fired? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Look at me,” he demanded. Whatever strength I’d been channeling was yanked away in that one command.

My gaze met ice laced in fire, the green all but swirling with power. “Hear me now, Paisley Hallistar. There’s always only

been one endgame for us. The journey might vary, but the end will never fucking change. Our endgame was written when you were

four.”

He was repeating what I’d thought only minutes ago, but somehow it still felt as if I’d been struck by lightning, my cells

threatening to explode from the intensity. I reached out to grab him, to demand answers, but he disappeared on me. Just as

Marcus had done, he stole the elements, and let them whisk him out of the water and over the hill toward the school.

“What the fuck, Logan!” I shouted after him. “You’re the most infuriating asshole.”

My heart was pounding. I couldn’t explain why, but his words had created a visceral reaction that seeped through my body like poison. Or fresh, foreign blood infusing with my own and leaving a new witch in its wake.

It took a long time to get myself under control, but after I left the water, I spent the rest of the day searching for Logan.

When I found him, I would not let him leave without answers. No more cryptic bullshit. He knew more than he was telling me,

including all the weird shit that had happened in Weatherstone this year.

Of course, there was not a single sign of him anywhere in the school. Or Noah, who was also on my list to corner and demand

answers from.

“You okay, Pais?” Belle asked that night as I played with my dinner, moving roast potatoes around my plate. Beside us, Sara

and Haley were in a lively debate about a book that Sara had finally caved and read. She’d hated it, and Haley was taking

it personally, which would have been hilarious if I wasn’t so distracted.

“Worried about your dad?” Belle pushed as she popped a carrot into her mouth and chewed slowly.

“Absolutely,” I said, because it wasn’t a lie. “I overheard Mom and Dad talking, and they said if he loses his job they might

have to leave their coven. And you know what happens when we don’t have a coven.”

Belle pressed her lips together, her eyes shinier than before. “Damn, Pais. You should have told us sooner. I’m so sorry.

I’m going to ask Dad to put in a good word for Professor Hallistar. This is not fair.”

Normally I’d be thrilled by an elder speaking up for Dad, but Elder Monroe had shady motives when it came to me and my family.

“You’re amazing,” I said, clearing my throat against a tide of emotions. “But your dad is so busy, it doesn’t feel right to

involve him. At least not before we know the school’s decision.”

Belle, thankfully, didn’t show any sign that she thought this was a weird rebuke.

“Just let me know. Dad and I have been getting along better since parents’ weekend.

He’s calling constantly, asking me for updates about everything, and my friends, and it’s .

. .” Her smile got all misty. “Like I finally have a real father.”

Every warning alarm in my body went off. It wasn’t the trickle down my spine, because this wasn’t monster related. Or it was

a monster of a different kind. Belle went back to eating, happy again, and I wished I’d found that book already. I needed

to know what her father knew so I could figure out what his endgame was. As much as I hated that word tonight.

I had some goals when we returned home after graduation. I’d be getting a job to help financially until sophomore year started,

I was going to read those letters from Gran, and I would find that book Elder Monroe mentioned.

I had just over two months to get it all done, and I was determined not to return to Weatherstone as a naive witch in January.

“How did all your assessments go?” I asked Belle, changing the subject.

“Excellent.” She smiled, relief relaxing her shoulders. “I’ve been studying my ass off, and it’s so nice to have a break.

The assessors said that I’m a powerful water elemental with a strong aptitude for curses and hexes.” She shrugged. “No real

surprises. I hope that when we graduate, I might be able to find a job in an apothecary.”

“I was thinking of a similar job,” I said with a spark of excitement. “I feel at home surrounded by herbs and nature, mixing

up spells. I’d like a touch of peace in my life.”

Belle grasped my hand, genuine happiness creasing her features. “Let’s put all our focus in apothecary studies and start planning for the future. Maybe we can work together after senior graduation. When are your final assessments? Friday still?”

I nodded. “Yep, and I’m shitting myself. They asked Marcus to tail me for classes so he could assess the possibilities of

me being a spellcaster, but Logan interfered at the lake today, so I barely got to show him anything.”

Belle leaned closer, eyebrows drawing together as her happiness morphed into concern. “Logan interfered?”

“That’s got to mean something, right?” Sara chimed in, having finished arguing with Haley, who was pouting and clutching the

book to her chest, like she could protect it from Sara’s harsh critique.

“He’s jealous,” Belle decided, nodding her head. “I’ve seen the way he watches Paisley. He likes her.”

He did watch me, but she missed that darkly calculating glint in his gaze. This wasn’t just a simple case of lust or chemistry,

though we had an overabundance of both. It was more. “I don’t think it’s that he likes me,” I told them. “I think he’s trying

to work out the mystery of my power. I’m a riddle that he must solve. Once he does, he’ll lose all interest.”

Our endgame was written when you were four. Those words were on repeat in my head, but I couldn’t let them sway me.

“If they think you’re a spellcaster too,” Haley said, since they were all aware of this rumor, “is there a way that all spellcasters

connect? Maybe that’s why Logan is drawn to you?”

“Marcus could feel his powers,” I admitted.

“Marcus, who is also attracted to you,” Belle reminded me, though I wasn’t sure that was strictly true after months of him

ignoring me. “Dad told me that spellcasters can feel power but they can’t connect to each other.”

We all looked at her, and she shrugged. “He’s been raving on about the spellcasters lately.

There’s some dissension in the European ranks, and the elders are worried they might be planning on rising up.

Which could spill over here. But they can’t all connect their power up.

I don’t know what is happening with Logan and Paisley, but it’s not spellcasters connecting. ”

I hadn’t heard about any dissension, and it should have been big news. The elders must be trying to keep it contained, because

if spellcasters rose up against the magic community, it would be bad.

Destructive-war bad.

“Did he say who led this uprising?”

Belle shook her head. “No. He’s actually sharing secret elder business, so let’s not talk about it until they release the

news to the covens.” Not that there was anything we could do if war was brewing on the horizon.

I had more pressing issues much closer to home.