A Witch’s Beating Heart

by Kasey Mackenzie

  He laughed. “I didn’t call you easy, I called spending time with you easy. You just get me in a way that most people don’t. That’s one reason I always found excuses to hang out with you before and after Computer Club.”

  I had to swallow to moisten my suddenly dry throat so I could manage a halfway audible reply. “I...I’m just so confused right now. You hinted at having a secret crush on me earlier and now you admit to making excuses to hang out with me and yet...I had like zero idea you had any romantic interest in me.”

  Zane’s head tilted as his lips twisted wryly. “Well, at first it wasn’t so much romantic interest as being excited to find someone I connected with on both an intellectual and magical level. And I loved the fact that—no offense—someone with such a goody-two-shoes reputation was secretly Gloaming High’s Number Two magical hacker.”

  I gave a mock scowl. “Number One, Legs. Don’t forget who won that little bet we had.” His lips opened, and I shook my head with a warning expression. “If you even so much as suggest that you let me win I will kick your ass so hard you’ll have to admit that I beat you not only magically but also physically.”

  He shuddered in feigned fear and winked. “I’d never suggest such a thing. And I believe you could kick my ass physically. I’ve heard legends about your brother’s fighting skills from my older siblings, and I’m sure he showed you all his tricks.”

  That mollified me somewhat. “Damn right he did.” I sipped my lemonade for a couple seconds. “And Misty and I have come up with some of our own.”

  He laughed. “I can totally see that. You two were always up to something in high school. And somehow those somethings always seemed to work out in your favor.”

  All of the honest admissions he’d made added to the admiring look he slanted my way encouraged me to make an admission of my own. “There was one thing that never worked out in my favor in high school,” I said in a husky voice, licking a bit of lemonade off the corner of my lips. Something that had his nostrils flaring and heat igniting in his eyes.

  “Oh yeah? What would that be?”

  My pulse raced as need battled anxiety beneath the surface, but I embraced the sudden surge of adrenaline. “I always wondered what it’d be like to kiss you.”

  The heat in his eyes quadrupled at my words, and Zane set his lemonade on the ground so he could reach out to caress my shoulder. I shivered as his bare flesh met mine, and he leaned close to my ear. “What a coincidence, Crystal Clear. That’s something I’ve wondered about you at least once a day for the last year. Shall we satisfy both our curiosity?”

  I licked my lips again, this time out of instinct that it would drive him a little crazy rather than to remove lemonade. By his swiftly indrawn breath, my intuition was spot on. “Yes, please.”

  Zane’s right arm continued stroking my bare shoulder, inspiring frissons of desire to radiate across my torso. His left arm reached across to guide my body closer. Anticipation had me tensing as I wrapped both arms around his shoulders. This caused him to move from caressing my shoulder to stroking my back as his head lowered toward mine. I kept my eyes open until the very last second, delighting in the sheer hunger sweeping across his face because it so exactly matched my own. Never had I spent so long wondering how something I thought I’d never get in a million years would feel once it actually came to pass. And damn, but it was absolutely magic.

  His warm lips pressed against mine with firm pressure, and they felt like heaven. There was no awkward wondering how to arrange my arms or whether I should keep my lips closed or open. We melded together like two halves of a whole, my softer curves pressing against his more angular planes so perfectly I doubted a sheet of paper could have fit between us. His lips nipped against mine for a moment and then instinct roared again, opening my lips ever-so-slightly as his tongue swept inside my mouth, swirling against mine so expertly that the impossible happened. The firestorm flashed even hotter.

  We kissed for several minutes, with the sun beating down on our skin barely noticeable in the shadows of the heat we were creating. Birds chittered overhead and voices occasionally wafted past on the gentle breeze, but these were barely noticed facts in the wake of satisfying our year-long curiosity.

  Finally, the peal of four chimes rolled across the campus, cutting through the haze of sensations as I realized Misty would expect me back in our room in the next few minutes. The BBQ started at 6, and we were supposed to have some girl chat with Cayenne. Plus, I was so going to have to change now that there were both grass stains on my dress and bark in my hair.

  Reluctantly, I pushed away from Zane, fighting to catch my shuddering breath. His eyes still held a sensual heat that made me let out a little moan. He looked like he was going to lean down and kiss me again, so I splayed a hand against his chest with gentle pressure. “Wow. You truly live up to what Misty calls you.”

  He blinked. “I like the wow, but I’m not sure I want to know what your sister calls me.”

  I laughed and gave a sassy wink. “Zane freaking Anders isn’t so bad. I mean, it’s no Legs, obviously.”

  Laughter burst from his lips. “I’ll admit that’s not as bad as I was fearing. But yeah, I much prefer it when you call me Legs.”

  “Smart answer, Mr. Anders.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “Now you’re making me feel like my dad.”

  I pushed to my feet and brushed grass off my dress. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind since it’s you I’m hoping to kiss again sometime in the future and definitely not your dad.”

  His coppery eyes flashed as he joined me in brushing stray bits of grass from his posterior. “So this wasn’t just your evil plot to satisfy your curiosity and then have nothing to do with me ever again?”

  “Uh, if it had been, the plan backfired. Because damn, Legs. Who the hell has the willpower to kiss like that only once?”

  Slowly, his lips curled upward and he reached out a hand. “Definitely not this witch.”

  I tilted my head and regarded his hand with false solemnity. “Are we already at the hand-holding stage?”

  “Considering that it generally comes before the playing tonsil hockey stage, I’d say yes. Unless you’re afraid to be seen holding my hand in public?”

  The challenging glint in his eyes had me rolling my own. “We Gibbs girls aren’t afraid of much in life, Legs, and holding your hand sure ain’t one of them.”

  I reached out to accept his hand, and he wrapped it around mine firmly. My heart melted when he lifted the hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “More seriously, Crystal Clear, I’m happy we ran into each other again. Not gonna lie, I was hoping to see you here, but...I had all these cool guy plans to take it slow and not scare you off by coming on too strong.” He rolled his eyes. “Apparently I failed miserably.”

  He fell in step as I tugged his hand toward the walkway and Artemis House. “That’s probably why you actually succeeded in scoring the tonsil hockey session, Legs. I like spontaneity way more than calculated seduction. Comes off a lot less stalkerish.”

  Zane shook his head with a laugh. “You are nothing if not honest.”

  I shrugged, loving the feel of his hand in mine as we walked. “Your nickname for me isn’t too far off the mark, really. It’s hard for me to be anything other than Crystal Clear.”

  Well, not counting the newfound secret that I was actually a long-lost royal heir whom the Witch Queen had tried and failed to kill…That was one secret I couldn’t afford to share with anyone else.

  “It’s definitely not a complaint. I hate trying to guess what the woman I’m dating wants.”

  I blinked and tilted my head. “Is that what I am?”

  He laughed softly. “I mean, I did buy you frozen lemonade and we made out under the open sky. So only if you count that as our first date. If you don’t count that, then hopefully you’re the woman who’s about to agree to go on a first date with me this weekend.”

  My lips twisted wryly as I considered. “I don’t think I’m going
to count that, no matter how amazing it tasted.” His eyes flashed with renewed desire, and I snickered. “I meant the lemonade, Legs. Considering that we didn’t plan it ahead of time, and we only kissed to satisfy our curiosity, I guess I’m the woman who’s agreeing to go on a first date with you this weekend.”

  Happiness had him smiling and lifting my hand for another kiss. A fierce burst of warmth I’d never quite experienced before hit my belly, and I could only echo his smile. Damn, the weekend couldn’t come soon enough...

  Chapter 7

  Misty and Cayenne pounced the moment I scanned myself into our suite. The two were lounging on the sofa watching some trashy witch reality show modeled after a mortal series when I shut the door behind me. They regarded me with expressions that seemed nearly as curious as Zane and I had been to find out how kissing each other would feel. Just thinking that had my lips curving in a smug, mysterious little smile.

  “Well. Seems like we owe Pixie twenty bucks,” Misty said to Cayenne with a shake of her head.

  My smile went from smug to outraged. “Wait, what? You made a bet about me with my own familiar?”

  Cayenne laughed, setting the silver ornaments in her braids tinkling softly. “More like your familiar made the bet with us. She said by the feelings sparking across your bond that you and Zane freaking Anders were obviously playing tonsil hockey.”

  My mouth gaped open as she unwittingly echoed Zane’s words. Not to mention used Misty’s nickname for him. I narrowed my eyes and sent a flash of anger across my familiar bond. ((You are so eating bread and water for a month!)) I threatened, even though we both know I was lying. For one thing, I’d never punish her with food like that. And for another, she was a freaking magical being who could get her own food any time she wanted.

  ((I was going to donate the twenty bucks to you for a new dress for your date,)) Pixie said with an air of self-righteousness. ((But now, guess I need to use it for more Dr. Pepper and pizza.))

  I couldn’t help but laugh at the image she shared with all three humans of the dorm’s familiars pilfering food when no one was looking. Once we finished laughing, Misty pointed toward the chair in front of the tv. “Park it, sister. You are so going to spill every little detail about what exactly you got up to on your little campus tour. And since we still need to change for the BBQ, better make it fast.”

  They grilled me for the next twenty minutes, living vicariously through my tale of scrumptious frozen lemonade and even more decadent kisses that left me dizzy. Hearing that we’d made plans for our first official date that weekend had them leaping up to high-five me and then asking the age-old question, “What are you going to wear?”

  I shook my head with a laugh. “Clothes! Speaking of which, we should change now since we’ve got less than an hour to make it to the BBQ.”

  That had them both checking the time and panicking, Cayenne waving goodbye to rush down the hall to her suite (shared with a girl she barely knew from Apollo Prep) and Misty dashing into her room. I shook my head and flipped through the clothes in my closet, cursing myself for having dirtied the adorable berry-and-pink dress that would have worked perfectly for the BBQ. But then I remembered the activity that had caused the grass stains and smiled softly.

  Okay, so it was totally worth it…

  Finally I pulled out a cute pair of jean capris with cutouts at the bottom in the shape of stars and paired it with a silver top sprinkled with sparkly teal sequins that formed moon shapes. It felt like an appropriate outfit to serve as a representative of Artemis House.

  My braid had fortunately survived the makeout fest, so I just asked Misty to perform some of her cosmetic magic on me to make it more evening appropriate. She’d changed into a flirty little 50s-style dress that flared out just past her knees in a fun pink-and-green watermelon print. Her hair was done up in an adorable pin-up girl roll with a matching watermelon-print headband. We collected our familiars and met Cayenne with her familiar, Chili (yes, she’d actually gone there), in the eighth-floor lounge.

  We ran into Trey and Delvon in the atrium, and they casually mentioned waiting for Zane. At which point—of course—Misty and Cayenne just-as-casually offered to wait so we could walk over together. I prepared myself to be humiliated, but they didn’t break the unspoken Friend Code, instead playing it cool as we waited. Of course, Misty found plenty to distract her when Steph and a couple of her friends wandered along. They fell into easy conversation with our group as we waited. Only a few more minutes passed until Zane jogged up with a harried expression that perfectly mirrored Steph’s from the day before.

  She must have picked up on that same vibe, because she winced in sympathy. “Residents giving you shit already?”

  He shook his head ruefully. “While I’m grateful to be assigned to fellow freshies in the Northeast Tower, jeez. A whole lot of drama already. We haven’t even had our first classes yet!”

  Steph patted his shoulder with a snicker. “Just you wait, Zane. It only gets better.”

  He rolled his eyes and waved to everyone, eyes quickly zeroing in on me. My mouth went dry as I wondered how he’d act around all our friends. Just keep it cool like we were still only friends or—

  Nope, turned out he went for stepping over and holding out his hand. I smiled and placed my hand in his. Trey and Delvon gave loud whistles while Steph’s friends exchanged interested glances. Misty and Cayenne elbowed the two whistling fools and hustled them out of the dorm. Steph and company followed suit, and only then did Zane plant a firm kiss on my lips before leading me outside. My fingers flew to my lips, and I felt myself smiling like an idiot. There was something incredibly sexy about a guy unafraid to engage in PDA around our friends before we’d even had our first date. It made his whole claim that he’d carried an unannounced crush for over a year seem even more real.

  Which, considering I’d done the same damned thing, only made sense.

  The Welcome Back BBQ turned out to be an even bigger, more lavish affair than the dorm mixer had been. It was held in the main quad, and the Events Committee had outdone themselves decorating the surrounding trees with fluttering ribbons in the Academy’s official colors of silver and blue. The emblem of a serpentine dragon eating its own tail was displayed prominently on banners just about everywhere I looked, and charming wooden picnic tables like you’d find in the mortal world dotted the quad as far as the eye could see.

  Zane nodded across the quad to where adults who ranged in age from just a little bit older than us to those who wore the ageless faces of fully familiarized witches were busy running several large grilling stations. “It’s Academy tradition for the faculty members to prepare our food tonight. They make a contest out of seeing who can make the dishes that get devoured the fastest.”

  Judging by the delicious scents drifting past, that was a contest I could easily get behind. My stomach rumbled softly, reminding me I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch except for that frozen lemonade. I flushed when Zane’s eyes met mine, but he just grinned and tugged me toward the nearest grilling station.

  Minutes later, we carried our overflowing plates to the collection of tables where our friends had set up camp. Other faces I recognized from the dorm mixer but couldn’t name had joined the group, along with people from other dorms. I even caught sight of the pearlescent skin of a few Fey from the Eternal realm at one of our tables. That had me wondering whether any of the other Eternal or Infernal races were present. Sometimes it was downright impossible to tell.

  Which just pisses off jerks like those Beverly brothers, I’m sure.

  I kept that sarcastic thought locked down deep where no one could read it, and focused my attention on the food in front of me. The faculty had the right idea, settling everyone’s stomachs and nerves by filling them up with scrumptious food and then moving to the more official opening ceremonies. Sparkling fairy lights began glowing progressively more brightly as the setting sunlight faded, and gentle evening breezes began playing across the quad. I sighed softly
at the sheer pleasure of basking in the night air, surrounded by friends, stomach pleasantly full and best of all...Zane freaking Anders by my side.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” he offered, reaching over to brush a stray lock of hair from my face.

  “Just enjoying myself,” I admitted with a smile. “Excellent food, awesome surroundings, and phenomenal company.”

  He grinned and leaned forward to plant another kiss on my lips. I was seriously tempted to deepen it, but the sudden crackle of a loudspeaker coming to life reminded me that this was neither the time nor the place. The harsh sound signalled everyone to pay attention. The fairy lights surrounding us also served as magical amplifiers to carry sound across the wide expanse of students gathered beneath the moon and stars. Everyone around me grew quiet in anticipation, and then a man’s voice spoke out.

  “Allow me to be the first to welcome back our returning students, and welcome for the first time our new students, to another exciting year here at Eternal Academy. For those who don’t know me, I am Harlow Cedrickson, Chancellor of Eternal Academy. It is my great privilege to serve the students of this preeminent collegiate institution among all of the Shadow Realms.”

  Loud applause and whistles broke out among the students—and even some of the faculty seated at fancier tables to each side of the podium where I noticed the Chancellor was speaking. School spirit must have been contagious, because I found myself clapping and cheering just as enthusiastically as the returning students. Then again, it would have looked strange not to have at least clapped politely. And we so did not need to attract the wrong kind of attention.

  The Chancellor went over the most important rules—again stressing that any unauthorized attempts to access Restricted Areas would be punished severely—and then made a nice speech welcoming our cross-realm students. Something that seemed to be fairly well-received, although I did hear a few snide comments much like at the dorm mixer. This had me shifting uneasily in my seat. The witching world had traditionally been an open and welcoming one. I mean...we owed our very existence to both mortals and the longer-lived magical races. Not to mention the fact we wouldn’t be able to work any significant magic without bonding ourselves to the familiars who were borne of the Eternal and Infernal Realms. Hearing such brazen xenophobia spoken out loud made me physically ill.