by Jody Morse
“Thank you,” Draia said.
Once the woman was gone, I began to look through the racks of gowns. They were all beautiful. There were gowns made of lace, silk, chiffon, you name it, in just about any color you could imagine. There were so many choices that it was overwhelming.
After we had spent about fifteen minutes going through the racks, we headed back to the dressing room. There was only one, so we had to take turns.
Ambur went first. “Ohmigod, I love this dress!” She squealed from the other side of the curtain. Flinging the curtain open, she stepped out and revealed the dress she had tried on.
It was a black gown with a corset-style top that dipped low in the front before descending into endless satin ruffles at the bottom.
“You look gorgeous,” I commented.
“Seriously. That dress was made for you,” Draia agreed. “You have to get it.”
“Do you think Gavin will like it?” Ambur asked, twirling in front of the mirror.
“Of course he will, though to be honest, I’m pretty sure you could wear a potato sack to the dance and that boy would still be going crazy over you.”
Ambur beamed as she stepped back into the dressing room to change out of the gown.
Once she emerged from the dressing room, Draia stepped inside. She came out a moment later wearing a gold sequined dress that dipped into a low V-neck in the front and back, showing off a lot of cleavage and back. The dress also had a leg slit on the right side.
“You look sexy as fuckkk,” Ambur commented.
“You do,” I agreed. She seriously looked like she had stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine.
“Really? It’s not too extra?” Draia eyed herself in the mirror.
“Is it even possible to be too extra for the Halloween Dance?” Ambur asked.
“True,” Draia agreed. “I’m getting it.”
As she stepped back into the changing room, I asked, “Is the Halloween Dance really that big?”
“It’s not just big—it’s magical,” Ambur replied. “After the dance, there’s a carnival and witches fly on broomsticks—it’s a tradition”—she explained, glancing over at me— “and there are psychic readings. And it’s seriously the best day of the entire year. I can’t wait for you to see how much fun it is.”
“Me, either,” I agreed.
“Plus, then we get off for the entire week,” she reminded me. “We need to find something fun to do that week.”
Draia came out of the dressing room then. “It’s all yours,” she told me.
I stepped inside and closed the curtain behind me. Stepping out of my clothes, I stepped into the dress.
Opening the curtain, I glanced into the mirror outside the door.
The emerald green dress had lacy off-the-shoulder sleeves and dipped low in the front, showing off just the right amount of cleavage. The mermaid style clung to my hips, hugging my curves in all the right places. The color popped against my fair skin and contrasted perfectly against my auburn hair.
“You. Look. Hot,” Ambur commented.
“On fire,” Draia agreed with a nod. “You will slay in that dress.”
“I’m getting it,” I decided.
Once I had changed out of the dress, we headed to the counter at the back of the store. There was a young girl working behind it. She had ebony hair, fairer skin than even mine, and lips the color of red roses. I wasn’t going to lie. I secretly wondered if she was of any relation to Snow White.
As she began to ring up Ambur’s dress, Rowena came out of one of the back rooms.
Her eyes fell on me, and her face drained of all color.
“I remember now,” she murmured.
“Remember what?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“Where I recognize you from.”
“Where?” I asked.
“My dream. Y-you were in my dream.” Her voice sounded shaky, and she still looked as though she’d seen a ghost.
Before I had a chance to ask her anything about it, she announced “I need to go,” and then headed out a back door.
***
“That was so weird,” Ambur commented. “The way Rowena looked at you before she just suddenly ran off. It must have had something to do with you.”
“It makes me wonder what her dream was about,” Draia added.
“Tell me about it.” I was still trying to make sense of what had happened at the Poisoned Apple as we stepped inside the bar across the street.
“Wow, there’s like nobody here,” Ambur noted as she moved towards the bar.
We climbed onto some stools, and a short guy with pointy ears—an elf—came over to us. “What can I get you girls?”
“I’ll have a Hex on the Beach,” Draia replied.
“A Hex on the Beach?” I questioned with eyebrows.
“They don’t serve human drinks here,” she explained. “Only paranormal recipes.”
“Oh.” I glanced over at the bartender. “I’ll have a Hex on the Beach, too.”
“And I’ll have a Bloody Ghost,” Ambur told him.
I cringed at the thought of the drink she’d just ordered. Blood. Yuck.
“Two Hex on the Beaches and a Bloody Ghost coming right up,” the bartender said as he went to work on our drinks.
“I’m glad our shopping trip was successful, at least,” Draia said. “None of us is leaving here empty-handed.”
“I just realized that we forgot about shoes,” Ambur commented. “We need shoes.”
“We can get them when we leave here,” Draia said. “Or we can make our own.”
“You guys can make shoes now?” I asked with eyebrows.
“Do we look like shoemakers to you?” Ambur glanced over at me. “We can’t, but magic can.”
“Oh. Right. How silly of me.” The bartender put two lime green drinks, which had about an inch of white froth on top, in front of Draia and me, and a white drink with a drop of red—which I seriously hoped was maraschino cherry juice—in front of Ambur. My friends raised their glasses.
I raised mine, too, as we said, “Cheers!”
I took a small sip of the drink and was pleasantly surprised as the fruity flavor hit against my tongue.
At that moment, I heard the sound of the door to the bar open. Glancing over my shoulder, my heart stopped as I saw who had come into the bar.
His gold eyes locked on mine.
Avery.
Chapter 23
Stay calm, cool, and collected, I mentally urged myself. But it wasn’t working. I felt anything but calm, cool, and collected. My heart felt like it was going to pound its way out of my chest. My lungs just seemed to seize up, making it difficult to breathe.
Avery was in the bar, and he was headed straight for me.
What did I even say? What could you even say to someone who had run off after your kiss had caused an actual freaking spark?
At that moment, Draia noticed that he was walking over to us. “Don’t look now,” she said, “but Professor Tate is headed straight for you.”
“I know,” I managed to squeak out, taking a huge gulp of my drink. I hoped that it was strong because I was going to need it to get through this.
Avery approached me then. “Juliana? May I speak to you in private for a moment?”
I glanced over at him, meeting his gaze again. I couldn’t ignore the feeling that stirred inside me.
Butterflies. Butterflies on crack.
Why was I so damn attracted to him?
“Yeah,” I finally said, climbing off the bar stool, even though talking to him alone was against my better judgment. I didn’t think I could trust myself around him, or him around me. And that posed so many problems.
There were the rules we were breaking. Even if we were off campus, Avery was still technically my professor and completely forbidden to me. I knew I could trust Ambur and Draia not to say anything, but if anyone else spotted me and Avery together, word was bound to get back to Headmaster Crane and we both risked losi
ng everything.
And then there was that spark. It had felt… well, dangerous. If just brushing our lips together could cause a spark like that, what would happen if we crossed the boundaries even further? What would a full-on make out session do? The truth was that it scared me, which was probably the only thing in our favor. I was so afraid that we would cause major destruction that it made me too afraid to give into kissing him again.
But I seriously wanted to kiss him. His lips were just so damn kissable. I could barely take my eyes off of them as we sat across a booth from one another towards the back of the bar, which was completely empty.
“So, I just wanted to apologize to you,” Avery began. “I shouldn’t have run off that day the way I did. It was such a jerkish move on my end.”
“It was a pretty jerkish thing for you to do,” I agreed. “You ran off when I had so many questions. What caused that spark?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” he replied. “That’s why I’ve taken a temporary leave of absence.”
“I knew it had something to do with the kiss,” I murmured.
“I took off so I could research it further. The library at the Academy isn’t large enough. I’ve had to do a good deal of traveling,” he explained. “I have been to several of the world’s biggest paranormal libraries. I’ve gone through so many books. I think I’ve finally found a lead.”
“What is it?” I questioned.
“I don’t want to tell you yet, but if I’m right…” He took a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure you are far more powerful than anyone realizes yet, Juli.”
“Wait. So, you’re saying that I’m the one who caused the spark?” I just stared back at him almost dumbfoundedly. How could he think that all of that had to do with me? We both had lips, and when our lips touched, that crazy thing happened. It wasn’t just me. There was no way it could have been.
“It has to do with your bloodline,” Avery explained. “It has to do with me, too, but more with you.” He glanced around the bar. There was no one there, but he still said, “This isn’t the right place for me to explain further. Someone could overhear us. And I really do want to finish my research first.” His gold eyes locked on mine. “As soon as I know for sure, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”
“How much longer do you think it’s going to take you to figure it out?” I questioned.
“A week—maybe two weeks, max,” he replied.
“Thank god. I can’t wait for you to come back to do my one-on-one lessons. Professor Ryan is a nightmare.”
“Have you gotten very far with discovering anything else about yourself?” Avery asked with genuine interest.
“Well, sort of. We learned that I also have an affinity for water,” I replied.
“I figured as much. Based on my research. Have you tried the other elements yet?”
“Not yet.”
“I’m pretty sure you have an affinity for all of them. Like me.” He glanced around at the bar, which was beginning to fill with students. “I should probably get going before any suspects anything. You know, we can’t…”
“I know.” I swallowed hard.
“That kiss was perfect,” Avery said quietly, his gold eyes locking on mine. “I wanted to tell you that.”
“Aside from the sparks, you mean?”
“Even with the sparks. That was definitely a first for me.”
“Me, too,” I replied with a smile.
“I’ve actually wondered if it would happen again if we touch. Mind if I try?” he asked.
“As long as you’re willing to put out any fires we might spark,” I replied.
“I will.” He reached across the table and touched my hand gently… carefully. No sparks flew or anything. Not the literal kind, anyway. But something sparked inside of me. More of those crazy butterflies. I loved his touch. Actually, not only that.
I loved everything about him.
For a long moment, we just sat there, staring into each other’s eyes. I could have gotten lost for hours in his golden irises.
I heard the sound of an irritating laugh from behind me. Breaking eye contact with Avery, I glanced over my shoulder to find Everly and Brett headed towards the back of the bar.
Trying to suppress an eye roll, I quickly pulled my hand away from Avery’s. Everly was the last person who needed to know that there was something going on between me and our professor, because she would be the first in line to tell Headmaster Crane, knowing that it would get me kicked out of the Academy.
As Brett and Everly slid into a booth, I glanced away from Avery, trying to make it seem like I hadn’t been staring at him.
Avery seemed to catch on, and he suddenly had a professional aura about him. “So, um, we’ll work more on your affinity once I’m back from my temporary leave of absence. In the meantime, I want you to continue working with Professor Ryan.” As he rose to his feet, he paused for a moment. “Don’t be afraid to push the boundaries and test your limits, Juliana.”
“I won’t,” I replied with a nod. “See you once you return.”
“Yes. See you then.” His eyes held mine for a moment longer and then he headed away from me, towards the front of the bar. I watched as he slipped out into the night.
“What were you and Professor Tate talking about?” Everly asked, glancing over at me.
“Just the private lessons I’ve been having with Professor Ryan since he’s been gone,” I replied with a shrug.
“What was he even doing here? I thought he’s on a temporary leave of absence,” she said with a frown.
“He didn’t say.” I shrugged.
At that moment, I happened to glance over at Brett and realized he was staring at me. And by staring, I mean his dark brown eyes were penetrating through mine.
I thought about how I didn’t want him listening in on my thoughts.
I might have only been imagining it, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was… jealous.
Had he somehow figured out what was going on between Avery and I?
I shook the thought away. No one would have just assumed that a professor and a student were a thing, would they?
Then again, it must have happened often enough that the school had felt the need to implement a policy about it.
I supposed that was just what happened when you had so many attractive paranormal beings in one location. Everyone wanted each other.
It almost made me wonder if the pull I felt to Avery, Kaden, and Brett was real, or if it was all just because they were in really hot bods.
No. My feelings for Avery were real. That I knew for sure. I mean, sparks flew when we had kissed. If that didn’t say something about the two of us and our chemistry, I wasn’t sure what did.
I also felt this intrigue about Kaden. I wanted to learn more about him. I wanted to know where he went in secret and what his paranormal race even was. I wanted to know everything.
It was Brett who I was most uncertain about. He was gorgeous, there was no doubt about it. And I did feel something when I was around him. I just wasn’t entirely sure what that something was. It almost made me wonder if Everly was right. Maybe I really was a werewolf. I was a Montgomery, after all. Werewolves could have affinities for the elements, too.
And if I was a werewolf, then maybe the pull I felt to Brett was because I really was his mate.
Chapter 24
The following morning, I woke up to a pixie mail delivery.
Juliana,
Please come to my office to meet with Melody Foster after you wake up this morning.
Thanks,
Headmaster Crane
As I changed into some clothes, I felt a rush of adrenaline build up within me. I was about to find out the answer to what I was. I was both relieved and excited and… well, scared.
Not knowing what I was had been this mystery—a sort of fun mystery, to be honest—and to think that I was just minutes away from finding out the answer for sure was incredibly overwhelming.
My fut
ure, my life, my everything was about to change, and that was abso-freaking-lutely terrifying.
I was just about to head out of my dorm room when I remembered that I couldn’t just go to Headmaster Crane’s office without my security guard. I pulled my cell phone out to text Brett when there was a knock on the door.
Pulling the door open, I found Brett standing on the other side. “I had pixie mail this morning, too,” he explained. “You ready to go?”
I nodded and then quietly closed the door, slipping out of the dorm room. My roommates were still sleeping, and the last thing I wanted to do was wake them up. Sunday was one of the only days we were able to sleep in.
As Brett and I began to head to the Headmaster’s office, I glanced over at him. “So, this is it. We’re about to find out my paranormal race.”
His dark eyes darted over to meet mine. “What are you hoping it will be?”
I stared at him for a moment. “I learned a long time ago that you should never hope for anything, or you’ll only end up being let down.”
“Still. If you had to choose.” He glanced over at me.
“I don’t know.” I knew that if I didn’t say werewolf, he would probably feel disappointed that my choice wouldn’t have been him. But the honest truth was that I didn’t know what I wanted to be. “I like my roommates a lot, so it would be nice to stay in the House of Mage.”
He nodded. “Good roommates are hard to find.”
“How would you know? You’re a werewolf. You don’t even have a roommate.”
“Everly has gone through several,” he explained.
“I’m pretty sure that has more to do with Everly than it does with any roommates she’s had,” I muttered.
“She’s really not as bad as you think she is, Juliana. You should give her a chance.”
“I should give her a chance?” I snorted. “She hasn’t given me a chance since I’ve arrived at the Academy.”
“She’s just threatened by you,” Brett insisted.
“You keep saying that, but it’s not a reason to be a downright bitch to someone.” I sighed as we approached Headmaster Crane’s office. “Wish me luck. I have a feeling I need it.”
“Good luck. I’ll be waiting in the lobby for you.” His eyes locked on mine. “I can’t wait to hear the results.”