Page 57 of Mistaken Magic

"Justnot around you, huh?"Iasked.

"Preferablynot," he agreed. "Kindakills the mood."Thenhe pointed at the dummy before turning away.

Itried to go back to hitting the thing, butIcouldn't stop smiling.Forsome reason,I'dassumed fae boys would have no interest in human girls, but that did not seem to be the case.Sure, maybe he was playing me, butIwas cool with that too.Keirwascute!No, that wasn't a strong enough word.Hewas gorgeous.Exceptthat sounded too proper.

WhileIsmacked at the dummy using this new technique,Itried to find the right one.Hotworked.Sensual, seductive, sexy.Whydid all the good words start with anS?Regardless,Iliked his arms.I'dstolen a few glances of the muscles hidden behind his tight shirt.Theonly thingIhadn't checked was his ass.

So, whenIpaused to switch arms,Iturned around to see where he'd gone.Iexpected to find him on the mats, and my big - and not well-thought-out - plan was to make sure he didn't have some flat butt or something.Instead,IfoundKeirstanding besideBrackenagainst the mirrors.

Bothof them were watching me.Yep, my face instantly began to burn, andIturned right back around to focus on the dummy.They'dbeen looking directly at me.Theirheads were leaned together as if discussing my practice - or something.Iwas clearly the topic of discussion, and if anything,Brackenwas even hotter thanKeir!

Fuck, living with the fae was going to kill me.Oneway or another,Iwould end up making a fool out of myself.Andyet, whenIfinished the next set of hits and changed arms again,Icouldn't keep myself from looking back.

Brackenhad moved on, butKeirwas still watching.ThebutterfliesIwas brewing in my belly liked that.Oh, they liked it a little too much, andIwas in complete agreement with them.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Whenclass got out,Ididn't bother changing out of my workout clothes.Mostof us didn't, since we'd be heading back to our dorms anyway.Idid, however, grab my coat.Imight not need it in theForgewithTag, or while working out, but the walk was killer at this time of year.WithoutAspento glamour me,Iwas a big wuss when it came to winter weather.

Iwas pushing my arm into my sleeve asIheaded for the door whenKeirfell in beside me.Withouta word, he reached over to give me a hand, settling my coat evenly on my shoulders.Iflashed him a smile then grabbed the door, holding it open for him to go first.

"Oh, a gentleman," he teased.

Ilaughed asIfollowed him through. "Somethinglike that."

Likeme,Keirwas wearing a pretty impressive coat.Iwas a little surprised by that, since he was a pure-blood, but winter in the plains got pretty nasty.YetwhenIlooked at him for the third time, the guy stopped and turned to me.

"Ok, what?" he asked.

"Aspenglamoured the cold away,"Iexplained. "IguessI'mjust shocked you don't."

Hedropped his head with a heavy sigh. "Ok.Firstrule about the fae: we aren't all incredibly powerful.Yeah,Ican do magic.No,Ican't keep up with the court.KindawhyI'mfocusing on protection and combat classes.See, convincing you to smell, feel, and hear things that don't exist?It'sa lot harder than tricking your eyes.Glamoursare simply how the fae lie, andI'mpretty bad at it."

"Huh?"BecauseIwas with him right up until the lying part.

"Lies," he said again. "Wecan't tell a direct untruth.Wecan deceive with truth, but we can't flat out lie.It'sworse than iron.Also, it's proof we're not perfect or all powerfu - "

Abird swooping between us made him break off as we both jumped back.Thething landed on the ground only a few feet away, then began to caw like it was losing its mind.Thatwas definitely a crow, but the sound was so loud,Icouldn't hear anything else.Twice, it jumped up, flapping wildly, and then it hopped toward me and cawed again.

"Areyou hurt?"Iasked, taking a step toward it.

Thecrow immediately flew off a few more paces, cawing a little more, but also a little less loudly.Iknew they were smart birds, andI'dmessed with them enough to know this one was clearly interacting with me.Thiswas not a coincidence, but none of that was the same as knowing what the hell it wanted.

Keirgrabbed my arm beforeIcould take more than a step. "Bracken'scat probably got it."

"Thenit needs help,"Iinsisted, pulling free to follow after it.

Keirjust sighed and followed after me. "Rain, it's a bird."

"Ihappen to like birds,"Itold him. "Especiallycrows.KindahowIended up here, which is a long story."

Butevery timeIgot closer, the bird flew away again.Iwas just starting to think it was fine - and screwing with me -whenIheard something in the distance.People.No,girls.Theysounded angry, and that was the exact direction the crow was leading me.Imoved a little faster, and my new friend shifted to my side.

Justas we rounded a group of evergreens,Isaw them.Sixgirls huddled around someone else, but they were still pretty far away.Theyall held something, often thrusting it toward their victim like they were warding them off - and quite a few had on gloves.Itonly took a second for me to recognizeHarperandKatrinain that mess, which meant these were the jesters.

Myeyes scanned their faces, able to put names with most, butI'dnever actually met all of them.Still, students talked, and the popular girls stood out - these girls.Itlooked like they were doing their best to bully someone else, andIwas so sick and tired of their bullshit after the incident in the dining hall.

"Thosebitches,"Isnarled under my breath and stormed towards them.

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