Bitten Magic (Bloodborn Academy Book 1)

by Emera Rose

  He takes a step back, and almost like a magnet force, I find myself taking a step forward.

  “You feel it too. I know you do.” Zev smirks as his gaze rakes over my body.

  I try to justify my feelings, but there is nothing that would explain this. Nothing that explains this pull that I have to him.

  “I don’t feel anything. I don’t have the slightest clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, the lies, princess. If you feel nothing, why are you drawn to me the same way I am to you? Why am I hearing your thoughts?” Zev cocks his head to the side, his eyes piercing as they lock onto mine.

  Hearing my thoughts? What?

  “What are you talking about? When have you heard my thoughts? That’s not possible.” I back away from him even though everything inside me wants to get closer. I have only heard of a telepathic manifestation happening at certain times and this is definitely not one of them. It’s not even possible.

  “Is it? You thought I was weak because I wouldn’t fight you when I knocked your books off your desk. You think I’m an oaf, and a savage. That the academy shouldn’t let anyone as untrained as me in the school. You wanted Kori to have lost the bet. You thought I would have been better off dead. I also know that you lose control of your emotions around me, and your anger takes over. You’re drawn to me like a moth to a flame. You feel bound up when I’m away.” He takes a few quick steps toward me, closing any distance between us. We’re basically touching, my chest pressed lightly against his midsection, and I have to crane my neck to look up at him. “I know you feel relief when I’m near. I know because I feel it too.”

  He reaches a hand to my face and slides it toward the nape of my neck and into my hair. He grips my hair hard, but not enough to distract me. My brain is screaming at me to tell him to fuck off, to spit in his face, to knee him in the balls, but my inner wolf is basically clawing at me on the inside to feel him. Just a little more. God, I need a little more. I lean up as he leans down slightly, my mouth just a breath away from his.

  “There she is! Roxana!” Kori’s panicked voice breaks the trance and Zev lets me go. He steps back and this time, as I try to take a step forward, he puts a hand up, giving me the stop gesture. Kori and Paola can’t see. I don’t take another step. I can’t. It’s as if my wolf automatically submits to him.

  “Oh, my god. That bastard. What the hell did he do to you?” Paola asks as both she and Kori rush to surround me, not even paying Zev any attention.

  “I’m okay. I was just getting a little bit of air.” I try to put their minds at ease.

  “No, fuck that, wait until your father finds out. Barrett will be out on his ass so fast,” Kori says, with anger lacing through her voice, loud and unapologetic.

  I chuckle and look away. “I doubt it.”

  When I turn back, Zev is gone and instantly I feel alone. Even though my best friend in all the world is right here by my side, I feel so isolated.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here. This place blows.” Kori grabs my arm and Paola takes the other. They both walk me down the stairs and toward the car. I turn back one time to see if I see Zev. I don’t, but something deep inside knows he is still there . . . watching me.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jasper

  “You’re a dog, and you know it,” I smugly cackle to Zev. He just confided in me a few moments ago about the interaction he had with Roxana Grim in the woods the other night, but I see right between the lines. He’s not sure about the way he feels for her, if it could be something serious or if it’s merely because of the adrenaline that was pumping through their veins this past weekend.

  “Aren’t we all dogs? I mean, we go to a Lycan college.” Zev chuckles with a smug expression on his face. He must finally be warming up to the fact that he’s a werewolf, that what he was so firm on believing was a lie is actually the truth.

  “Touché, my friend.” For some reason, I thought Zev would still be fighting the idea of going to school here. Since I’ve known him, I’ve only seen a fearless determination to prove us wrong. I’m certain he must be an alpha of a werewolf pack. It would explain everything, from his stubbornness, to the reason he goes from zero to a hundred without even blinking, to his cockiness. Now, he isn’t cocky like Barrett and some of the highborn Lycan families. He’s different. I can’t quite put my tongue on it yet, but I’ll soon figure it out.

  “So, what’s this class again?” Zev asks me, shuffling through his papers to find his class schedule.

  It’s the end of our first week and we’re officially in our last class. The fact we’ve made it this far is a testament to how well I can calm the dude down when he’s about to lose his shit. “Magical Defense Training and Combat Techniques. It’s gonna be thrilling, the most fun we’ll have all day, to be honest.”

  Professor Softhowler comes walking in and addresses the class. “Afternoon, everyone. I hope you’re all ready for what I’ve prepared for today. Unlike my predecessor, I won’t be easing you into anything, as life doesn’t give us a break. I want to prepare you for the real world here and in doing so, I need to prepare you for the element of surprise. Now, the person you’re sitting next to at your table is going to be your partner through this semester. Next semester, I will switch things up, but until then, take a few minutes to get to know the person sitting beside you.”

  Chatter breaks out amongst the room and while I should be sighing with relief, I’m not. I’ve seen what Zev can do when he’s out of control. This pairing could either be beneficial for us both or quite the opposite.

  Time passes by quickly as Professor Softhowler asks us to come with him to the extension of his classroom, which would be comparable to a human gym. Probably more of the type where they practice jiu-jitsu or maybe even MMA. My initial assumption was that Zev would’ve been naturally good at this, but it’s quite the contrary. He struggles as Professor Softhowler gives us magical commands, but when it comes to the combat techniques, Zev does land me on my ass a few times.

  “Don’t worry, man. If you need me to, I can tutor you on the magical part.” I’m half-teasing the guy, half-serious as I dart back and forth with my gloves on. Professor Softhowler has all of the pairs on circular mats, using some of the spells we learned about an hour ago. We’re supposed to be implementing the spells with the physical attacks to gain the upper hand on our opponent. Only, Zev isn’t making much progress now. He’s going to need some help if he doesn’t want to fail this class. His upper hand in physical combat won’t carry his grade for his lack of success in the magical department.

  “Fuck off, man,” Zev hisses, jabbing his right arm into my side. It knocks the wind out of me, but I’m not going to let him know that.

  “You hit like a baby.” I snicker and watch a darkness take over my friend. It’s like my comment totally flipped a switch in his mind. He goes from struggling with what we’re doing to not having much of a problem. It’s like he sees every weak point I have and goes lunging for it. Zev gets a hold of my legs and flips me down to the ground. My back slams against the mat below us and I mean slams. Unlike the other students in our class, I went flying against the mat.

  Everyone in the room felt the impact of my body hitting the floor and it’s a fact. “He’s put a dent in the floor. Holy shit,” Kori pipes up, no doubt causing everyone in the class to put their eyes on us.

  I get back to my feet and lunge for Zev’s midsection, needing to show the class this new werewolf didn’t just take down an established Lycan. But my plan doesn’t go as I thought it would. Zev whips out his hand, knocks it against my neck, and I go flying back against the mat yet again. As I breathe in, everything seems fine, but the moment I exhale, blood comes surging out from my mouth.

  Zev puts his hands on the top of his head. “Shit, man. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that.”

  I wave my hand in dismissal. It’s not a big deal. I pressed every fucking button I could’ve. Of course, I was bound to get my ass handed to me.

&n
bsp; “Class is dismissed. Everyone get out of here!” Professor Softhowler commands, and most people do as he says and leaves the room, but a few students stick around, including Zev.

  Within a couple minutes, Professor O’Donovan has teleported in front of me and kneels on the ground. Even though she has no eyes, you wouldn’t ever believe she’s blind. She has this knack for knowing what to do, what the ailment is, and how to treat it. She waves her hands over my body and whispers something so low that I can’t make it out, but as she whispers, my body cracks, specifically in my rib and neck area.

  She brings her hand down to my torso and a gold light comes shooting out of her hand. Her mumbling grows a bit louder and I feel a jagged pain growing worse before it finally stops altogether. As if she has eyes, she looks to me. “You’re lucky I was on campus today, Jasper. Since when have you been the type to put yourself in such compromising and risky situations?” She’s berating me and there’s no doubt about that, but as much as she’s going to give me hell for egging Zev on, I needed to. I needed to see for myself how out of control he is, but not only that . . . I needed to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his power.

  When the fight broke out in the hall the first day I brought him here, I knew something was different about him. What he did to me only confirms it, and then add in what happened the other night with Barrett at the party.

  Zev isn’t like the rest of us, and I’m going to figure out what makes this dude so fucking different.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zev

  “Come on, man, I’m fine, really,” Jasper says as he grabs my arm and then does a stupid dance to get me to laugh. “See, good as new.”

  I try to give him a smirk, but I can’t He doesn’t understand. All this super strength and teleportation shit is normal to him. He thinks he’s some mythical creature. I don’t. I’m very aware the things I’ve been able to do are abnormal, but there’s no way that I should’ve been able to toss him down and dent the floor with him, not the mat but the solid wood floor underneath. Humans don’t do things like that.

  “I just need a little space, Jasper. I’ll come find you later in the dorm room, cool?” I pull away and backtrack for a second, but I don’t wait for his response. I’ve been here for a little while and for the most part I’ve been playing along with the crazy people here because it means I have a bed, food, and clothes. I didn’t expect to actually learn anything or develop this super strength and whatever the fuck it is I have with Roxana. None of it makes sense. It’s only confusing me more and more.

  I make my way over to the ArcticTech building where they hold all the tech courses that they offer. They also have a great library and computer lab. I find an open computer that I feel is far enough away from the other students that they won’t see what I’m doing but not far enough that I would look suspicious. I mean, I’m a student so I can use the facilities.

  I sit at the computer for a few minutes, just looking at the landing page for Google. I don’t even know what to type in. What am I looking for? I need to find out more about myself, but where do I even start? I’ve been an orphan most of my life, bouncing from home to home because I’ve been too much of a problem child. My anger gets the best of me most times, but I’ve never done anything like this before. Who was that person following me in the woods? Were my real parents like me?

  My mind buzzes with all the unanswered questions that I have, but I feel like that’s a good place to start—my parents. I start with what I know about them using their names, Larry and Monica Smith. There are about three hundred million pages that pop up and with that there’s no way that I’m going to be able to find anything about myself. I try to use the database for the state of Tennessee. All of my foster homes were there, but every time I put my own name in, it’s like I hit a dead end or I’m rerouted to the beginning of my search. After three hours of this, I’m ready to pick the computer up and throw it through the nearest window.

  “You’re not going to find anything going through there,” a voice says from behind me. I jump in surprise and swivel around in my chair. Roxana is leaning against the cubicle behind me, about six feet away. How did she see what I was looking for?

  “You can see from there?”

  “I’m a Lycan, of course I can see from here.” She rolls her eyes at my question.

  “Do you have to be a bitch all the time?” I turn around fully so that I’m facing her.

  “It’s my default. Get used to it,” she snaps back at me.

  “I don’t have to get used to shit. I have things to do. Run along back to your sheep.” I turn back to the computer. I want her to leave. At least my mind does, but my body is demanding that I grab her and sit her down on my lap.

  “I don’t have sheep,” she says in a low voice, her tone softer than usual.

  “Oh?” I turn to face her again. “What would you call Kori or Paola? Who will jump face first into a volcano if you ask? Or all the teachers and students who let you get away with your shit just because of your last name? What? Don’t tell me you actually thought you intimidated them,” I scoff and sit back in the chair.

  “Kori is my best friend. She’s not a sheep.” Roxana stands up for her friend, but she doesn’t comment on the rest.

  “Fine, now if you don’t mind, I’ve got shit to do, Roxana.” I turn back around and I hear her sigh. I know my anger toward her is unfounded and I can feel her . . . what, disappointment? She wants to be close to me just as much as I want to be close to her, I just don’t know why she irritates the fuck out of me so much. I look at the screen and my fingers hover over the keyboard, getting ready to search god knows what.

  “Roxana!” I call out, loud enough for her to hear me in the quiet room. I hear her feet stop and turn. When I look in the direction she walked off in, I can see her hands are balled up and it seems like she’s fighting her decision to walk back. Her eyes are squeezed shut and her jaw is clenched. No one makes Roxana do anything she doesn’t want to do, usually. What if . . .

  I lower my voice to barely a whisper, a whisper she shouldn’t be able to hear from that far away, at least not clearly. “Roxana, look at me.” Her eyes pop open instantly and she finds mine. Now to test this further in my mind I say, Come to me.

  Her face breaks out in complete shock and her feet move toward me, surprising the both of us. She looks down in confusion until she gives up and just continues coming over to me. When she gets in front of me, my eyebrows are at my hairline.

  “So, are we going to talk about what just—”

  “Nope! Fuck that. What do you want?” She crosses her arms over her chest, clearly pissed off.

  I know enough about women to know when it’s best to leave a conversation alone. “Can you help me with this?” I point to the screen, “I don’t know what I’m doing and I need some information. I didn’t think it would be this hard,” I admit.

  Roxana leans over my shoulder and just being this close to her is driving me wild. I groan when her chest brushes against my arm, but when I see her smirking, I keep my wits about me. She grunts out after a few minutes of typing away.

  “I see what you mean. It shouldn’t be this hard. Something is off here. Maybe the school firewall?” She stands up and puts her hands on her hips, letting out a sigh. “Look, I’m going to suggest something, but I don’t want you to look too far into it. You understand? I still don’t fucking like you, but you’ve helped me out a few times so, you know.” She looks away and shrugs her shoulders non-committally.

  “What is the suggestion?”

  “Come to my dorm. My computer is linked directly to the main line and it has no firewall.”

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  “Yeah, the joys of being a Grim. I have access to more than most.” She smirks slightly before it falls from her face. “Plus, Paola should be there. She’s a whiz at this shit.”

  “Deal.” I get out of my seat and Roxana and I make our way toward her dorm room.

  We make it to t
he Quinn Dorm, which Roxana tells me is named after her mom. The second I walk in, I know this isn’t like the regular dorms that I’ve seen on campus. This one is lush and tidy. It could be because it is an all-female dorm, but it smells wonderful and not like old socks like the male dorm does.

  She takes me up to her dorm room and I see that it’s more like an apartment than a dorm—there’s a separate living area and kitchen, a personal bathroom, even two separate bedrooms.

  “It’s not much but it’s home for now,” Roxana says as she sees me looking around.

  “Not much? Are you serious?” I hope she’s just joking and realizes how good she has it.

  When she doesn’t respond, I realize she really thinks this is a meager room. Oh, to be that rich.

  “Kori?” Roxana calls out and walks to one of the bedrooms. She comes back out and opens the door to the hallway, crosses over, and knocks on another door. “Paola?” She shrugs her shoulders and comes back.

  “What’s up?”

  “They must have gone out. I’ll shoot them a text to let them know I’m waiting for them. They should be back soon. You want to wait?” she asks, pulling up a chair to sit next to the computer. I pull out the more comfortable one, move to the side, and invite her to sit. I take the one she just pulled out instead.

  There’s an awkward silence for a second. “So . . .” Roxana says, trying to break it.

  “Why do you think I wasn’t able to figure out anything at the library?”

  “I don’t know. It’s not like you were looking up anything illegal. Here, let me try again. What are you searching for?” She takes the computer off sleep mode and after typing in a few things is back at the screen I was stuck on at the library.

  “I want to know who my original foster family was,” I say.

  She stops and looks at me from the corner of her eyes. “Foster family? Where are your parents?”