“You have got to be kidding me…”
“Neat!” I exclaim, beckoning the Keaira closer. She obliges with a sweet meow, streaking toward me to claw her way up my shirt and rest on my shoulder. This earns her a hard glare from Lore who settles on the other side of my head.
“That’s my side,” Lore mutters, fluttering her wings in irritation.
I ignore her complaint. “Hey, thanks for helping me out back there,” I coo to Keaira, scratching her under the chin. Then I turn my head to look at Lore. “Do you know where my next class is? Usually one of the guys would lead the way, but…” I trail off as I glance over my shoulder, back toward the arena.
“Are you sure your little devil stick can’t help you?”
“Lore…” I groan.
She hoots once before taking off. “Clearly she’s not as useful as she thinks she is.”
I shake my head and follow after Lore’s swooping form as she veers left toward the forest, away from the academy.
I frown as we pass around the side and through the marble pillars leading to the temple, then back to the area where we first assembled yesterday. “Lore? Are you sure you know where you’re going?”
Lore hoots. “Of course I know where we’re going. I’ve got the map of the academy memorized.”
She flies ahead and leads me down a cobbled path and through an archway into the forest. Goosebumps prickle my skin, slick with sweat, as a gust of wind breezes over me. I look up and around me, wary of the shadows and what might lurk in them.
I feel like I’m alone, but I know I’m not. They move between the shadows with the agility of a cat, but the deadliness of a puma. A tingle crawls up my spine. I turn around.
Keaira huffs, drawing me back to the present as we trek through the overgrown path, farther into the forest. I focus on her warm body sat next to my ear until my shoulders drop when a greenhouse comes in view. Lore’s told you so comes through our bond, loud and clear. I wince. “Sorry, Lore.”
She harrumphs as I step into the open field around the greenhouse, coming to rest on my free shoulder as I continue toward it. Heads bob inside, and I hurry along the path. “How did they get here so fast?!”
“I, er… may have taken us the scenic route.”
I raise my eyebrow at the owl next to my head. “You got lost, didn’t you?”
“Apparently their maps are out of date. How was I supposed to know this?”
I sigh. “Well, we know now.”
I open the glass door, and the smell of life flows out, caressing my skin before moving into the world around us. It reminds me of Her but also of another—the one who taught me everything I know about plants. The one who was like a grandmother to me.
As I enter, a plump, middle-aged woman with mahogany hair streaked with gray turns to welcome me, her aura a peculiar mix—one that I knew very well a long time ago—that draws my attention. What on Earth is one of her kind doing here? Her eyes narrow on my smile, and I can practically hear what she’s thinking.
“Basil, Cilantro, and Orchids; they help me feel relaxed, but it’s the Pestilent Bloodwart that helps soothe my evil little soul,” I say, scanning the room until I find the ugly flower in the back of the building, its pink, bulbous warts emitting a unique smell that overpowers the rest.
She glances at the plant, then back to me, an inquisitive smile on her face. She gestures around the room as she says, “Welcome to Advance Healing, Miss…”
“Serena Stollmeyer. And you are?”
“She is not human,” Lore warns, and I grin, having already come to that conclusion.
“Professor Ariella,” the woman says. Her aura wavers and tendrils of forest-green float toward me. They brush against my own aura, testing its strength. I raise my eyebrows in a satisfied? Look, and she looks away sheepishly, pulling the tendrils back.
Noting the empty seats at the back of the room, I head toward them, ignoring the lingering glances of my classmates.
“You should be more careful, Mistress,” Lore warns again as she flutters down onto the table. Her eyes draw up to mine, and I shrug, rubbing the stone in my necklace.
“You know if she wants to see mine, she needs to show me hers,” I whisper, but the boy in front of me spins in his seat, sending me the most disgusted look I’ve ever received.
I can only assume what he thought I meant, so I do the only thing I can do. “Sorry, you had to hear that. I enjoy the company of women—especially the more… mature kind.”
I wink, leaning back in my chair and watch the myriad of thoughts cross his face before he turns back to the front, giving me a lovely view of the back of his head. It’s the shadow that stretches over me that draw my attention next.
“Really, Serena? And here I thought you enjoyed the company of men… and their abs.” He juts his lower lip out in a ridiculous pout as he takes the seat next to me.
“I try not to discriminate. Life’s too short for that.” Dane and I share a grin as the guy in front’s ears grow bright red, and I resist the urge to laugh.
Dane sobers first, nudging his shoulder against mine before giving me a solemn look. “I know you weren’t trying to kill Paxton, Serena. And despite the guys being jackasses, they know too, deep down.” He gives me a small smile, and I
