Page 30

I barely slept. I can’t get the kiss out of my head, or the feel of his skin against mine.

How the entire kiss felt like... well, familiar.

Intoxicating. Addictive... and forbidden.

I can’t be in love with my bonded, can I?

The same questions are flickering around in my mind, and I can’t find an answer.

I can’t find a single reason why my bonded has become an obsession of mine in all the wrong ways.

If Lock talks, we will all be punished. Terribly punished and mostly likely killed.

There are reasons why we can’t be together—our races do not mix.

I was born to witches; to continue the witch race and I know that—but I can’t stop looking at my bonded.

Wanting Black to kiss me again. Wanting so much more.

This isn’t smart of me. It’s reckless and dangerous—everything I’m not.

I roll over in bed, looking at Black’s empty bed.

He left me in our room last night and said he was going to find Lock.

I felt like I should have told him not to kill Lock, but that asshole likely would deserve it, and I was too confused last night.

I need to find Lock and get him to keep his mouth shut.

I’m not sure how I’m going to do that, but I’ll find a way.

I glance at my watch and figure if I skip breakfast and the shower, I’ll have half an hour to find Lock before potion class.

I don’t want to be late to that class, and Lock will be in it.

I just won’t be able to talk to him there in front of an entire class.

All my bonded are gone, but Vale and Kane’s scent lingers like they slept here.

I’m not sure they did. I was so tired that I didn’t even look at their beds before I crawled into mine last night.

I suspect they are angry still about Black and Maz shifting—and I don’t want to argue with them about that this morning.

I need coffee, but finding Lock is more important.

I throw my clothes on and grab my dagger, sliding it into my waist clip before using the bathroom quickly and rushing out of the room. I knock on Wini’s door and wait.

Wini grins. “Hey! Do you want to go?—"

I hate interrupting her, but I have to. “Sorry, but have you seen your brother? I don’t even know where his room is, but I need to find him.”

She pauses. “Whatever is wrong, my brother is the last person you need, bestie.”

“It’s not like that.” I wince. “I just?—"

She holds her hand up. “No need to explain it. But ask the academy and it should lead you to his room. If not, he might be at breakfast.” She looks back into her room. “My bonded is sleeping in, but if you give me five minutes, I can come with you.”

“That’s okay.” I reach over and hug her. I might end up dead today for kissing my bonded if her brother talks and I want her to know she is a good friend. “Thank you for being my friend. I know I’m strange, but it means a lot.”

“This feels like a goodbye,” she mutters.

I lie. “It’s not.” I pull away from her, unable to look into her eyes.

“See you in class.” I leave before she can ask me anything else, before she can work out that I’m scared.

Because I am scared. What if they see Black as the issue and try to kill him?

I don’t know if I could survive losing one of my bonded, but I’ve read war reports of it being possible when witches are bonded to two shifters.

One dies and the witch can survive it—but she goes mad.

Her mind is cracked and broken. My heart would shatter with him, and I will do everything I can to make sure I don’t lose him.

I have to. I search the breakfast hall and grab a coffee when there is no queue, but Lock isn’t here.

The academy is no use, sending me through endless corridors that lead back to the potion classroom and not Lock’s room, no matter how many times I ask.

Dammit. Eventually I know I’m out of time and join the class, coming into the room and sitting at my table around the cauldron, while waiting for Lock to come in.

Black and Vale stroll in a few moments later, sitting at the same table as me, Vale not meeting my gaze.

Black’s thumb brushes mine under the table and I shiver, turning to him. “Did you find Lock?”

“No, but he is a calculating little shit. He will blackmail us first and I’ll sort him then.

” Black confidently shrugs, leaning back in his seat.

Headmaster Kim comes in and the room goes silent.

He isn’t our potion teacher. My heart freezes in my chest when Lock follows him in—a smug look written over every inch of his face.

Vale leans over. “What the fuck is going on, you two?”

My cheeks brighten as Black looks at him. “I kissed her, and that fucker saw.”

“Why isn’t he dead?” Vale asks with a coldness that I’m not sure I’ve heard from him before.

He drags his eyes to me, and for a second, his eyes drop to my lips like he is thinking about Black kissing me.

Vale sharply looks away, at the front where headmaster Kim and Lock have stopped.

Headmaster Kim clears his throat, and the room goes silent. “Repeat what you told me, Lock.”

He points at Black. “I saw shifter Black Ashveil kissing my fiancé. I believe it was not the first time. They have broken the law, and it is not my fiancé’s fault. Her shifters are manipulating the sweet girl I know and love.”

My eyes flicker to Vale, to Black, to Wini and Asher. Everyone knows now. There is only one thing to do.

“Love?” I almost laugh as I stand up, every single one of my classmates looking at me. My legs shake, but I don’t sit back down. “You’re a liar and you have no proof. You’re just mad that I don’t want to be with you.” I turn to headmaster Kim. “He is a liar, sir.”

The class is silent, and I watch as headmaster Kim looks at me, then at Black, and then Vale. He turns to Lock. “As the son of a very well-respected woman, we have to take everything you say very seriously, Lock. There seem to be two truths here and I will get to the bottom of this.”

Black stands next to me. “What she’s saying is true. Lock has been threatening and accusing us since we first bonded. He has been cornering all of us for weeks and casting spells to hurt us, but we have not reacted.”

He what?

“One of them poisoned my food! I was being sick for a week straight!” Lock snarls. “And then my room keeps locking me out, the creatures don’t help me, and so much more shit that I know is because of them and their attraction to my fiancé.”

I almost smile. I’m kinda proud of my bonded right now.

“There is zero proof that any of that is do to with us.” Black looks down his nose at Lock. “You aren’t worth our time. You are a liar and a cheat... and you lost her. Continuing to be dumb isn’t going to win her back. She is not yours.”

“We’ll do truth spells to get to the end of this.” My heart stops in pure fear. No. “With dragon blood, we will be able to use them on witches. It is advanced magic, but we can make it work.”

Lock looks smug again and nods at me. “I’ll keep Juniper with me until this is sorted. I can talk some sense into her.”

“She isn’t going with you,” Vale stands and moves to my other side, Black taking one possessive step closer to my other. A united front. Something I never thought Vale of all people would ever allow.

“This is disgusting behaviour, and I will not accept it within my academy!” Headmaster Kim shouts, waving his hands in the air. “She is a witch, and she will come with us?—”

“I won’t. I know where I belong and I’m standing here with my bonded.” I lift my chin. I can already hear the chatter of other students, the word “Traitor” echoing around.

Headmaster Kim takes a step forward, and a dragon swoops past the castle, a roar echoing that shakes the very walls. Vale smirks. “I would do that. Kane will burn the room down and you’re not fire proof. Witches make the best burnt snacks.”

“Keep them here and I will get help!” Headmaster Kim runs out of the room, and he is followed by the rest of our class. Wini stays for a moment longer, but Aster pulls her out, her worried eyes meeting mine.

Silence echoes as Lock moves to stand in front of the door. I’m not sure if he is brave or stupid. Vale cracks his knuckles. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.”

“You can’t lay one finger on me, or your people will die.

My mother would make sure all of them are dead.

Kids and all.” Vale flinches, so does Black.

Sickness rises in my stomach as Lock looks at me.

“You, on the other hand, can come with me and we can just forget all of this. We were good together until Bloodstone. I was coming back for you.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you, Lock. You’re completely insane.

Why would you tell them what you saw?” I hiss.

“I never thought of you as a backstabbing, betraying asshole until Bloodstone. But love? Trusting you? You don’t know the meaning of it.

You just threatened to kill children!” I shake my head.

“I’ve never been more ashamed of my own race until right now. ”

“Because it’s wrong for you to be with them,” he shouts at me.

“You know this deep down. You’ve been brought up to know this!

” He clenches his fists. “They are animals! Useless except for the war and when we win, there will be no need for any of them to be alive anymore. Witches will rule. We are the superior race.”

I shake my head. “What I’m feeling isn’t wrong, but you are.” I respond coldly. “Get out of our way.”

He takes a step forward. “No.” He is fast, whispering a spell and chains burst out of the wall, plaster and dust blasting into the air.

They wrap around Vale, pinning him to the ground as he roars.

Black reaches for him, only for another powerful spell to throw him literally through the wall to the other side, like it’s not a wall at all, and I scream.