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“I’ll see what information I can find on her as well.”
Warmth glows in my chest as I watch my best friend. Goddess she’s amazing. “Thank you so much Lex. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She tosses me a smirk, barely removing her eyes from the screen. “You’d die.”
“Haha.” My words are dripping with sarcasm, but she’s right. I wince at the thought of my dads finding out what I get up to in my spare time. What happened with Anna changed me, and the night my fathers told me about my birth parents just incentivised me further. Something snapped inside of me a long time ago and the chain of events that happened after that horrible day had me doing things I never thought I would.
I shake off those melancholy thoughts and instead mentally go over my plans. The plans I have in mind for the next two years are; get any degrees I need for a career in the supernatural police sector, then work my way up to a supernatural FBI position once I graduate.
I suppose I’ll just have to prioritise this for now and table my personal interests for later. My mind swings back to the Ghost Girl, and I add that to the list of things to look into.
Chapter Sixteen — Nessa
Utterdisbeliefhasmesitting back in shock as I stare at the instructor. She expects us to,what? “I want you all back once you’ve matched with your creature. Don’t be upset if you don’t find one today, things like this can take time, remember to take it slow. Now off you go.”I remember mentions of familiars when I was doing the theory for this class, but the teacher just throwing us into the forest with no direction other than a vague mention ofopening your magic—whatever the hell that means—is not how I saw this lesson going.
The rest of the class move slowly toward the forest surrounding the academy as though it’s going to reach out and bite them. I suppress a snort. I wandered in here in the middle of the night only a week ago, alone. Or I thought I was alone, and I wasn’t worried at all—well, I mean, my own powers did almost end with me being turned into a pancake,semantics.
A jolt of excitement at exploring the forest again rolls through me and adds a bounce to my step as I move through the underbrush, even though I realise it’s unlikely that I’ll find my familiar today. The air is rich with an earthy scent, that’s mingled with animals. What kind, I’m not sure.
My mind flits back to the instructor's words.“Just open your magic to the world around you and your creature will come.”
Yeah, because that makes so much sense. Easy peasy. The deeper I go, the denser the plant life gets and the less wildlife sounds. The murmurs of other students fall away as well, until I’m sure there is no one near me. I keep going until the bird calls fall away and the hiss of bugs fade, until the only sound is the rustling of the leaves brushing each other.
Satisfied that I’m far enough away from the rest of the class to let my guard down a little, I scan the area for a place to sit. A large rock practically calls my name and I scale it with ease, my claws digging into the cratered texture.
I sit cross legged and close my eyes to focus on my magic well.Now to figure out how to open my magic to the world. Hmm. A shudder rolls through me when I touch my magic well; in my mind's eye it’s a large body of water that doesn’t appear to have a bottom. Ignoring that fact, I focus on the instructor’s words and decide to take them literally. I tug on my magic until it curls through my body like strangle vines, coating my entire body. It runsthroughme. Part of me. It’s a heady feeling.
I press my fingertips into the thin layer of moss and soil that coats the rock that’s beneath me and push my magic into it. I imagine it winding into the soil then up through the surrounding trees roots until it’s curling up through the trunk and into the leaves at the tops of the canopy. Then I whisper, “Come to me.” Shivers pulse through me as my magic shoots out in a direction to my left, narrowing to a point as it hunts through the trees.
My head drops and I let out panting breaths as I release the magic completely. Exhaustion has my vision swarming and I sway, trying to blink away the dots.Shit.Maybe I shouldn’t have done that when access to my magic is so new. But to hell if I know what I wassupposedto do.
I flop back so I’m laying and my vision slowly returns to normal. I wait until there is only ten minutes until the end of lesson and heave a sigh as I climb down the rock.Must have done it wrong, I growl to myself and head back to the meeting point, somehow instinctively knowing where it is. Actually, come to think of it, it feels like I now have a built-in navigation system.Odd.
I pause at the realisation, my eyes narrowing. Cocking my head to the side, I close my eyes, wanting to test the theory. I spin in a circle until I feel completely discombobulated before using that innate knowledge inside me to guide my way through the forest, with my eyes still closed. It’s slow progress to make sure I don’t trip or walk into any plants or other objects. A niggle of doubt sits at the back of my mind, reminding me that I have no idea if it’s actually working, until the unmistakable sound of people talking reaches my ears. My tense shoulders relax and I open my eyes, finding the class several metres away, chattering just outside the forest.
When I step out of the trees and shake my head at the teacher, she sighs. Miss Newitt definitely isn’t one of my worst instructor’s, but she is one of the ones that loves to give us a few vague instructions then leave us to figure it out. Which can be frustrating as hell for someone like me that’s never used her magic.
Focusing on my fellow classmates I see that a few have found creatures. A falcon-like creature with dainty twisted horns hovers over a girl's shoulder and a guy speaks softly to a mouse whose coat is covered in whirling patterns. It’s a common misconception that only witches get familiars, but pretty much all supernaturals other than shifters have a chance that they could end up with a familiar or creature of their own. I shake off the sliver of disappointment that pinches my chest.There are other chances, sometimes it just takes a while for them to recognise you.
I focus on Miss Newitt when she starts speaking. “Okay, now that everyone’s back it’s time to congratu—Oh my…”
My brows furrow when she cuts off and her voice lowers to a shaky whisper. Her wide eyed stare is aimed at something just behind me.What the…?
Before I have a chance to ask her what’s going on other students start taking note, turning around to stare wide eyed and open mouthed at something over my shoulder. Murmurs start up among the class only to be hushed by the instructor. A hot puff of air tickles my nape and my shoulders tense as I suck in a breath. Every hair on my body stands on end as I turn slowly, coming face to face with what has to be the most unique creature I have ever seen. At least I think that’s what it is, and I’m praying like hell that it’s mine otherwise it’s probably going to eat me. If that’s the case, at least I got to see this magnificent creature beforehand. I can now die happy. Deep purple eyes stare at me from an elegant dragon-like face. Four wavy horns rest atop her head, and from what I can see, great wings arch over her back. But the thing that has adoration curling through my gut is that her scales are patterned so it makes her appear as though she’s nothing more than skeleton and bone. Though up close I can tell that it’s an illusion. She stands at about the height of a large horse and I hold still, waiting for her to make a move.
Those piercing eyes stare deep into my soul before she headbutts me in the chest.Hard. I stagger back with a laugh, slightly winded from the force. She snorts at my reaction. Oh yeah, we’re going to be good friends. I reach up to give her a chin scratch and she lowers her long neck so I can reach her more easily.
I’m reminded that the class is behind me when Miss Newitts shocked exclamation has me stiffening. “By the Goddess, this is unheard of. Nessa, you need to step back so the guards can restrain her and remove her from the grounds. It’s not safe to be this close to a creature of this nature. Nessa move back.”
I blink.What? Is she not seeing what I am?In my disbelief my hand pauses and my creature shoves her nose into it, demanding more affection. My lips twitch and coo at her.Dangerous? Not to me, to them, perhaps.She’s very dragon-like all over, actually. My eyes narrow as I contemplate the possibility. I thought that species of familiars had died out. I reassess her height as I stroke her chin. Hmm, more like eighteen or nineteen hands at the shoulders. She’d no doubt tower over me if she stretched up to her full height. In my distraction I miss the guards that are edging their way around us in a loose semi-circle until they’re almost in position. A growl rises in my chest at them and if my creature were smaller I’d tuck her safely behind me.
As though reading my thoughts suddenly the fierce creature in front of me shrinks down until she’s the size of a bunny. What the…? She lands daintily on my palm before scurrying up my arm to perch on my shoulder, her tail curling loosely around my neck. My lips pull into a grin at her before it tugs into a snarl as I face off with the guards.Bite meis the general message I’m aiming to send.They want my creature? They’ll have to go against me first. A thrill tingles my spine as my power stretches as though it’s ready to feed on them. That thought has my mind stuttering.Feed on them?Yeah, we’re going to revisit that later when I have time to contemplate it more. Refocusing, I'm happy to see them lowering their weapons and defusing their magic. Though, they appear more confused than scared at the moment. I choose not to take offence to that, for now.
Our stare down officially ends when a few professors pop up, having portalled to my location. I sigh at the expressions on their faces when they see that it’s me at the centre of the issue again. It’s not my fault. This time anyways. As though sensing my rioting emotions, my new little creature nuzzles my neck and blows a huff of hot air onto my shoulder. Relief fills me when I realise I’ll be able to keep her with me, unharmed. I stroke her elegant neck and the thought that she could be a dragon niggles at the back of my mind. It aligns with my teacher's fear. They’ve been gone for at least a century, almost to the point that people are beginning to believe they mythical creatures like the unicorn, and unknown things tend to scare people. She nuzzles me again and a smile curls my lips. Naw, I can’t wait to introduce her to Oscar and Dylan. For now though, I’m stuck giving the proffessors a rundown of everything that’s happened over the last two hours.Fun. I’ve been saying that a lot lately.
Chapter Seventeen — Corin
Apainedgruntfallsfrom my lips when I scent the air and catchherscent lingering across the campus. I can practicallyseethe path she’s taken by that strong tantalising scent. Candy curls around my tongue and my lips tug into a snarl, arousal flooding my body.Nessa.Mine. Mate. Ignoring the urges, I tear off into the forest, away from that teasing smell, abandoning my original plan to head to the on campus gym to work off some of my frustration.Nessa.We shared a class earlier today and the forced proximity alongside the recent thickening of her scent have been driving me mad. Today tipped me over the edge when I caught her eyes lingering on my mouth and I scented a waft of her sweet scent tinged with tangy desire. I’ve been fighting my beast since. He’s practically screaming at me to catch her and mate her. But I refuse to feed into the prejudice of my kind.
