No. I can't think like that.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
I shake my head. "I'd rather just head to the library and work on our essays," I say instead. "I'm meeting Mona though, sorry." I shuffle from side to side, hoping I haven't insulted him by saying I planned time with my friend.
"That's okay. I want to meet her if that's okay with you?" He steps forwards, bringing us within touching distance.
"I'd like that." My mouth feels dry, and I glance up at him, hoping he'll give me the kiss I'm longing for.
He leans down and presses his lips against mine. I sink into him, enjoying his touch and letting all the stresses of the past half hour disappear from me. No more thoughts of weird professors, nor guys acting jealous. This is just Heath, me, and the connection between us. It's almost enough to make me think that the fated mates I've read about in books are real, but of course, I know they're not. Besides, I'm not in love with him or anything. Not yet, anyway. I can tell I will be at some point, though. It's an odd feeling, being halfway in love. But one I kind of like.
We break apart, silly smiles on both our faces. Or at least, there is on Heath's. I can feel the muscles in my face making similar movements though, so I'm guessing mine matches.
"Library?" I say.
"Lead the way. I've never been to the library for witches and wizards," he says.
"Warlocks," I correct out of habit. "Wizards isn't a term we use."
"Why not?"
We fall into step next to each other as I guide him on the well-worn path to the library. It's one of the things I was most excited about when I came to Grimalkin, and it doesn't disappoint. I can't wait to share it with him.
I shrug at his question. "I don't know," I admit. "Ryan and Cade tried to make it a thing in high school, but no one but them used it. Warlock is just what we've called them for years."
"It's more pretentious, that's for sure," he points out.
"It is. But I don't think that's why Ryan tried to get people to use wizard instead."
"Ryan's your brother, right? And Cade's his best friend?" Heath checks.
My heart skips a beat. He listens. I thought men like him were nothing but a myth. At least I found a good one. "That's right," I confirm.
"Is it weird having a twin?" he asks after a moment.
"Is it weird not having one?" I throw back. "I've never not had Ryan around. I have no idea if it's weird to have him or not." Which is true.
"Have you always been close?"
A snort escapes me. "What makes you think we're close?"
"The way you talk about him. Emma has a sister she's close with, and she talks about her the same way you talk about your brother."
Jealousy lances through my heart at the sound of her name. I want to ask him about her, but don't dare. I want our relationship to survive the next ten minutes, and somehow, I don't think it will if I mention her. It's not that I don't trust him, more that I think there's something else going on. He was far too quick to answer her call after our date last week.
"No, we didn't used to be close at all," I admit. "It's only in the past year or two that we've started to talk to each other about stuff more."
"Because he's a guy?"
I cock my head to the side, considering the question. I've never put much thought into why Ryan and I weren't close before that. "I'm not sure. I guess we've always had other people our age around us, so never really felt the need to be super close. Plus, when I was fourteen, I read this book where the twins banged each other behind the woman's husband's back. It freaked me out enough that I didn't talk to Ryan for a week." A small amused huff escapes me.
He chuckles. "I read that too."
"Who hasn't at this point?"
"I think it'd have put me off my twin sister too. If I had one."
"I'm glad to hear it. I wouldn't want to find out you're into incest ten years down the line." The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them, and the regret is instant. Not about the incest comment, I'll stand by that until the day I die and beyond. But the ten years thing. This could go either way. I'm hoping he ignores it and moves on.
"Looking forward to a future with me, I see," he jokes.
Ah. Damn. He's going to fixate on that, then.
"I didn't mean it like that..." I try, not having the heart to argue too much. While it's embarrassing to think he knows how I feel, it would be even worse if he didn't think I liked him.
"I know what you mean. I'm not freaked out if that helps."
"I think it does," I admit sheepishly.
"And if it helps more, I'm not into incest. I don't even have a sister."
"I don't think incest is just between brother and sister, you know."
There's laughter lurking beneath both of our voices, eager to get out. I don't want to be the one who cracks first though, as I'm sure he doesn't either. It's like a weird competition to see which one of us will break first.
"I hand on heart and hope to be staked promise that I don't feel anything weird towards any of my relatives."
"Good to know." I pause for dramatic effect. "Just so you know, I don't for any of my family either. Especially not Ryan."
"I heard my name?" my brother put in.
My cheeks flame red. I hope that's all he heard, the last thing I want my brother to have heard is me talking about sex. Especially not incest. And especially not with my almost-boyfriend.
"Why are you outside the library?" I ask, only just realising we've even arrived.
"I can't go in, I'll set on fire," he retorts.
Heath chuckles. "Hardly likely. You're not a vampire, and it's not a holy place."
"Wait, that's a real thing?" My mouth drops open. That always seems like it's too specific to be true.
"Yes," Heath admits.
"Any religious building, or specific denominations?" Ryan asks.
"It doesn't matter which." Heath shrugs. "Why?"
"I just need to know these things in case you ever hurt my sister." For once, Ryan looks serious.
"I can take care of myself," I point out.
He ignores me and looks at Heath with steel in his eyes.
"I promise not to hurt her," Heath says.
"You can't promise that." Ryan glares at the vampire.
"Oh for spells sake." I push between them, giving each a stern glance. "It's impossible that he's not going to hurt me at some point in our lives. Just like it's impossible for me not to hurt him at some point. That's how relationships work. Maybe if you tried one for once..."
"I've had relationships," Ryan protests.
"Mandy Foreman doesn't count," I throw back.
"Why not?"
"Because she was 'dating' you and every other guy in our class, Ryan." I make air quotes as I say it. "And it isn't dating if you have to get an STI panel every week because you don't know who she's been with."
"But it's okay if you do know?" The confused look on his face is almost adorable. Or it would be if I wasn't so annoyed with him.
"Of course not. It's called polyamory, Ryan. Look it up." The moment I've said it, I start wondering if that's the kind of relationship I want.
"It's quite common," Heath says softly. "But I've heard it's all about communication."
"Umhmm," I agree, feeling a little flustered by the direction this conversation is taking.
Thankfully, it appears as if Ryan is just as torn about it. I hope he decides to stop and change the subject. I'd do it myself, but I feel that'd be too obvious.
"Is Cade out of detention too?" he asks.
I let out a sigh of relief. Oh good, he took my hint. "That depends if he walked out or not," I admit. "I kind of didn't stay to the end."
Ryan fake gasps. "My little sister, not following the rules..."
"We're the same age, Ryan."
Heath stifles a laugh behind me. I don't even blame him. It's ridiculous that we're having this conversation. Again.
"There's a difference..."
&
nbsp; "Of half an hour, it doesn't even count." And in maturity, I had him beaten.
"It counts to other twins."
I roll my eyes. "What are you doing in the library, anyway?" He never comes here unless he has to. And even then, he comes to me begging for answers instead whenever he thinks he can get away with it.
He glances behind himself, almost too quickly for me to make anything of it. But I catch a glance of Mona through the door. That's certainly interesting. I thought he was oblivious to her crush on him, but it seems like it's a mutual thing. That's certainly going to change things. Maybe I should try my hand at matchmaking and get the two of them together?
"I need to go. Things to do," he mutters, moving off down the corridor before I can say anything else.
"It was a pleasure to meet you!" Heath calls after him. "I think that's probably the best introduction to a family member I've ever had," he says to me.
"The bar can't be very high then."
"It tends not to be when you're a vampire," he admits. "Shall we?" he gestures towards the library.
I nod and take his hand, drawing him into the second best place on campus. The best being my bedroom, naturally. The library opens up before us, the smell of old books overtaking all my other senses. The shelves stretch up to the ceiling, towering and filled to the brim with books of every kind.
"This is so much better than the vampire library." The awe is evident in his voice. I like that. It shows just how similar we are.
"Will you take me there anyway?" I ask, desperate to see what that's like. And not because Ryan wants to find a spell either. I want to see every part of Grimalkin that I can, including the bits I'm not supposed to see.
"Of course. Now where's your best friend?" he asks.
I point over to a table strewn with books, each abandoned and moved on from. I've watching Mona do this several times, and it breaks my heart each and every one of them.
"Hey," I say to her as we sit down.
"Hi."
"This is Heath." I awkwardly wave at my semi-boyfriend. We really should talk about that soon so I can stop thinking about him that way.
"I'm Mona," she says with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you."
"I'm sure you have." Heath chuckled. "I've been around enough women to know just how much the two of you have talked."
"Don't stereotype us," I scold.
"Are you telling me you haven't given her a blow by blow about our date and every interaction since?"
I glance away, unable to meet his gaze. The thing is, he's right. And I'm not sure how I feel about it.
"Don't worry, she's said a lot of positive stuff," Mona says, a note of absent mindedness overtaking her voice. "Can you pass the book with the red spine?" she asks, pointing to a tome to Heath's left.
He picks up the book and hands it to her.
"Thanks."
"What are you looking for?" He looks genuinely curious, but I suck in a breath, unsure if Mona will tell him or not. She doesn't like talking about her magic problem, even if all the witches and warlocks in school all know already.
"An answer to why my magic stopped working properly the moment I came to Grimalkin," she answers.
Huh. I'm surprised by that. But relieved at the same time.
"Don't look like that, Daph. You trust him, so I should too. Maybe he even has some ideas that I haven't."
I wonder how long she's been thinking about that. Probably since I first mentioned Heath's a vampire, though there's no way of being sure without asking her. And that gives too much away.
"I don't know anything about magic, sorry." He grimaces, before turning to study a book.
She sighs. "I didn't think so. It was a long shot."
"Didn't you want to come here to do our essays?" Heath asks me.
"Oh, right, yes." I gesture for him to come with me. I know just the section we need. Professor Phillips had set us a question about the witch hunts, and there's plenty of information in the history section probably because they want us to learn how not to let it happen again.
Unfortunately, it was one of our own who had started them in the first place. Someone who then became much less popular with most witches and warlocks. His only friends were ones who thought others had wronged them. It's a sad story, and one I can see repeated time and time again over history by others. I wish that wasn't the case. It doesn't even seem to matter what species someone is.
"There are so many books here," he murmurs.
"I know. I love it."
"I can see why." He slips an arm around my waist, pulling me close to him now there's no one around us. He kisses my forehead. "I'll explore any library you want. So long as we can do it together."
A wide smile spreads across my face. "That sounds perfect," I admit. Meaning every word.
8
"I still don't get why they were such asses," I moan to Mona. Ha. Moan to Mona. Best not tell her that amuses me, she'll probably get too self-conscious about it.
"It's because they like you," she points out, dodging out of the way of another student coming barrelling towards us with no care for anyone's well being.
"They can't like me."
"I thought we already established that Cade does. He even told you as much."
I sigh. She has me there. He did tell me. But Bradley too? That makes no sense.
"And Bradley's your childhood sweetheart. Maybe some of those feelings are still there." She heaves her bag onto her shoulder, the weight of too many library books, making it hard to carry. I wish she'd let me at least spell her bag so it didn't feel that way, but she insists that if she can't do it herself, I'm not to do it for her. Apparently, she thinks it might coax her magic into working better. I'm not sure I agree with that, but I stay silent on the matter.
"The operative word in that sentence is childhood. As in, playground married." In a beautiful ceremony involving some freshly picked daisies and the most innocent of kisses. I don't tell her that though. I don't think it'll help my case.
"And now you're at Grimalkin together. You're smart, resourceful, beautiful...what guy wouldn't want you?"
I fidget with my glasses, trying not to let her words affect me. A small part of me dwells on the conversation about polyamory between Heath and Ryan, and that little part likes the idea, even if it is unconventional.
"That doesn't solve the problem I have of them being complete asses about it all," I point out. "How do I turn them down?"
"Have they asked you on dates?"
I shake my head. Thank the spells for some mercies.
"Good, then you don't need to worry too much about rejecting them."
A bell sounds, interrupting our conversation and emptying the halls around us. We don't have class ourselves, so we're fine to saunter along to the library and do some more work. In other words, the perfect way to spend free time.
I sigh. "I know you're right."
"And yet, something still feels like I'm leading them on."
She stops in her tracks and turns to me, putting her hands on the hips and looking fake scary. This is a new side to Mona, one I'm sure Ryan would like.
"You're not leading them on. You've told both of them that you're dating Heath, and you haven't done anything with them that could constitute even cheating emotionally. So, stop being hard on yourself."
"You're a good motivational speaker, did you know that?" I ask.
She laughs. "Only where you're concerned."
"Good, that way I can keep you all to myself." I hook my arm through hers and draw her down the corridor. We have a lot of work to do to get ready for our potion brewing class, and we aren't getting any of it done just standing in the hallway.
"I do have one question though," she prods.
"Hmm?"
"How does this fit in with Ryan's plan?"
The question sinks into an awkward silence. As ashamed as I am to admit it, a little part of me has forgotten that Ryan's plan is the whole reason I'm dating Heath. Probably because
it isn't the entire reason, and hasn't been since the moment I met the vampire. But I can't forget that Ryan wanted me to seduce a vampire, which is still a weird thing for a brother to ask a sister to do.
At least it isn't incest.
"I don't want to even think about that."
"I'm sure Ryan doesn't want to hear that," she counters.
"Has he asked you to check up on me?" The mere idea doesn't sit well with me. The last thing I want is for my best friend to be turned against me, even if I do think she and my brother would make a great couple.
"No, I'm sorry. I was trying to make sure you were okay with it. I shouldn't have pried." She tries to pull away from me, but I place a hand on her arm.
"I overreacted." Maybe. There's a chance I'm being completely reasonable. Not because I think she'll run and tell on me to Ryan. I know she won't do that. But because anyone could take what I want to say and twist it in the wrong way.
"Okay, we can stop talking about it." She sounds hurt, and it pierces me. I don't want her to feel bad about asking a simple question. And not even one that's unreasonable to ask.
"I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't want to hurt Heath, but I'm intrigued about the potential of the spell."
"I think we all are," Mona agrees. "It would be kind of cool. Imagine all the things you could watch without people knowing."
A snort escapes me. "Like someone you fancy getting in the shower?"
She blushes furiously. "No, I'd never think about doing that."
"I would. What's the point of being unnoticed if you don't take advantage of it."
After my snap at her, I'm surprised by the way the conversation is going. It's kind of fun to imagine all the things I could get up to in cat form.
"What else would you do?" she asks.
"Hmm. Maybe sneak into the kitchens at night and steal some of the delicious cookies they make."
"Wouldn't you get distracted by the mice?"
"There are mice in the kitchen?" I grimace. "I'll be cooking for myself now."
I catch her smirk from the corner of my eye. Oh good, she's only joking.
"You could leave a room without anyone knowing too," she says.
"I feel that would have been more useful when we lived at home and had a curfew."
Paranormal Academy Page 58