“What are you saying?” Timothy steps away from me, his body tensing slightly. “Maggie, I thought you were cooler than this.”
“I’m saying…I’m not sure what I’m saying. I mean, I don’t know how…presentI can be right now…”
“What the fuck, Maggie,” Timothy spits. “You know, you’re lucky that I’m even dating you! You’re always so weird, nobody’s ever seen your house and you don’t even have a car…”
My stomach twists. I don’t need Persephone, at this pointIwould like to drown Timothy.
I step back, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Timothy, it’s over,” I tell him, my voice unusually firm.
“You fucking…” he takes off his baseball cap and throws it angrily to the ground. “I came all this way for you!”
“Well you should get going then, you’ve got a long ride back.”
I can’t believe what I’m doing, but I feel strangely euphoric. Pan leaps on my shoulder, tugging at my hair in solidarity.
Timothy shakes his head at me, but doesn’t say anything more. He looks at the lake, just a second too late to see three greenish heads pop back down below the water.
Without another word, he stalks away from the castle and back toward the main road.
FATED MATES
Rae
For the next few days, I go everywhere with my pack. As grating as they can be, there’s protection in numbers. I don’t want to tempt the panthers again.
But I can’t tell them about the incident. How could I explain to them that my witch roommate magically healed me? Or that I was hunting with that odd vampire? They’ll think I was crazy, or, at the bare minimum, that I wasaskingto be attacked…
I tell them that I went hunting alone, and that the panther pack surrounded me and tossed me around a bit. It explains the wound, although it doesn’t explain how it healed so quickly. They don’t ask questions, but Rory can sense how shaken up I am.
And Iamshaken up…but not only because of the panther attack. How did that witch manage to heal me like that? And why would she even bother?
“Attention class!” Professor Hall says from the front of the room.
I have to admit, I thought that being at Elmwood Academy would be torturous, but this class is actually tolerable. There are other shifters, and the professor explains things in a way everyone can understand, even those of us who weren’t raised in a witch coven. Rory is really enjoying it, gazing at Professor Hall with rapt attention as she lectures. They managed to light a candle last class, and they wouldn’t shut up about it. Kaenan and Tala, meanwhile, are busy carving their initials into the underside of the desk.
“Three is a powerful number for spellwork,” Professor Hall continues, pacing back and forth at the front of the class. “Manycovens begin with three members, and cast spells in groups of three to optimize their efficacy. This is a useful strategy, especially for new practitioners.
“Today, we’ll mix things up a little bit. Everyone will get in groups of three, with classmates that you haven’t worked with before,” she smiles. “Oh! And make it two classmates from a different magical group as yourself.”
The cliquey witches all moan and look at the other students with distaste. The rest of my pack reacts similarly.
“Ugh, I can’t stand how pretentious they are,” Kaenan says, tossing his dreadlocks over his shoulder. He speaks loudly enough that the witches can hear.
Tala sticks out her tongue. “Witches all smell like ash and sugar.”
I think about my witch roommate. How she tilts her head when she reads her charms book. How she wrinkles her nose when she concentrates.
Not all of them smell like ash and sugar.
Rory looks up at me, brow furrowed. Fuck, I hope they didn’t hear me. Sometimes my packmates can pick up on my thoughts, if they’re clear enough.
Then suddenly, all I can smell is salt.
“Hi!” screeches a loud voice. It’s one of the mermaids, the loud one with the longest hair. A brilliant pendant dangles from her neck. She grins so I can see all of her teeth. Mermaids seem to have a lot of teeth.
“Hi,” I reply.
