Page 82 of Savage Sacrifice
“What are your plans for the day?”
“Classes, I guess,” I say with a shrug. I really don’t have the mental capacity for it, but the desire to speak to Professor Otto, or Octantis as he’s actually called, has me putting one foot in front of the other.
“Are we cashing in on our coffee date today, then?” he asks, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, and I nod.
“Sure.”
“Is your boyfriend coming?” he pushes with a grin, and I roll my eyes.
“Probably not,” I grumble, hating the reminder that I’m not with them right now, but Ben has his sights set on something else.
“So heisyour boyfriend,” he says with a wide grin, and I wave him off.
Boyfriend? He’s so much more than that. I’m his devoted, does that make him mine too? Regardless, he is a vital member of my coven, or he was at least. I don’t know how to describe him to myself, never mind trying to explain it to Ben, who wouldn’t understand it all with his current lack of memories
“I don’t know, I just know he’s mine,” I settle on, and he throws his arm around my shoulder again, offering me a half squeeze.
“That’s cute,” he says with a chuckle. “You can tell me more about it at two o’clock at the coffee shop. Let’s not leave each other hanging this time,” he states as we approach the campus buildings.
I nod in agreement, waving him off before taking the pathway around the quad to my first class of the day.
It’s only when I reach the top of the stairs to the psychology building that I realize I haven’t even brought my backpack. I hope there aren’t a lot of notes to take today. My first thought is to turn around and not embarrass myself without my laptop, butI quickly squash it down, winding through the corridors until I appear at my usual classroom.
If everyone is handling life back at Trinity Falls Academy, then I need to handle it here. It’s only me in this moment that can take care of this side of things, so I need to buckle up and get on with it.
Straightening my spine and rolling my shoulders back, I enter the room with purpose, spotting Octantis by his desk. I glance around to make sure we’re alone before I call out his name.
“Octantis.” I start down the steps leading toward him, but he doesn’t turn to look at me. He doesn’t acknowledge me at all. “Octantis,” I repeat, more urgently this time, and I spot his shoulders slumping before he turns to peer at me over his shoulder.
His lips purse as he assesses me, and he slowly turns to face me with his head slightly tilted.
“Did you let your mates ravish you in your old life?” he asks as I come to a stop in front of him, his gaze fixed on mine as my cheeks heat, and I quickly lift my hand to cover the bite mark I know rests at my neck. He rears back at the movement, eyes latched onto my hand as he raises an eyebrow in question. “You know it’s there.”
I frown at him before rolling my eyes at the disbelief in his tone. “I have eyes,” I mutter, and he shakes his head, still seeming bewildered. “What?”
He clears his throat as he straightens the lapels of his charcoal blazer. “Mere mortals can’t see them.”
“Mere mortals,” I repeat with a scoff, and it’s his turn to roll his eyes at me.
“You’re missing the point, Polaris. About the fact thatyoucan see them.”
He’s not quite making any sense to me. Lowering my hand, I lace my hands together in front of me. “Belladora brought back my memories,” I breathe, and he shakes his head.
“Returning your memories doesn’t return your magic,” he clarifies, and it feels like a kick to the stomach. Did he just quash my hopes and dreams with one swift comment?
Emotion clogs my throat as I shrug. “I don’t know then. But I know where they are, where theyallare,” I reiterate, and he hums, leaning back against his desk as he folds his arms over his chest and assesses me once more.
It’s like we’ve unlocked something here, and he doesn’t mind putting me under the microscope to dig deeper. “Tell me about your coven.”
That’s not the direction I was expecting.
“Why?”
“Consider me curious,” he breathes, arching a brow at me, and I match his stance, arms folded at my chest as I try to place a defensive wall between us.
Glancing over my shoulder, making sure no one has entered, I turn back to him with a reluctant sigh. “But is it a coven if I don’t have any magic?”
“You have your marks,” he states, and I shake my head.
