Page 21 of Poison Ivy
He shakes his head. “Nope, sorry. You just sat there looking constipated for a while.”
I punch his arm. “Arsehole. It’s harder than it looks. You try.”
He closes his eyes, and I wait, watching, but nothing happens. After a while, I close my eyes again and feel the soft breeze caress my skin, I inhale the scent of the autumn air, the dry leaves as they fall from the huge tree overhead. I hear the sound of the groundskeeper, mowing the lawn on the other side of the campus, drifting on the breeze. Keeping my eyes closed, I let myself fall into a state of awareness of the nature around me, trying to clear my mind and push my limits.
“Ivy!”
Josh’s panicked voice makes me open my eyes, and I stare in horror at him. Somehow, my arms have become tendrils of ivy wrapping around his arms and stinging his skin into red welts.
“Fuck! Josh!” I stare at my arms, unable to do anything, when Ulstead rushes over.
“Ivy,” she breathes, her voice filled with a kind of awe that temporarily removes my panic for about two seconds before it crashes down on me again. “Close your eyes,” she says, sitting down next to me and placing her hand on the back of my neck. “Focus on drawing the poison ivy away from Josh, curling it back into your body so that your human arms are showing again.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to calm my racing heart. I visualise the ivy tendrils slowly retreating, curling back into my skin. It’s a strange, tingling sensation - not painful, but unsettling.
“That’s it,” Ulstead murmurs encouragingly. “Nice and slow.”
After what feels like ages, I feel my aching arms return to normal. I open my eyes hesitantly, relieved to see my human-form limbs again. Josh is rubbing his arms where angry red welts are forming.
“Holy shit,” he says, staring at me wide-eyed. “That was insane!”
“I’m so sorry,” I stammer. “I didn’t mean to?—”
“Are you kidding? That was amazing!” Josh grins, seemingly unbothered by the stinging rash. “You actually turned into ivy! Like, real fucking ivy, Ivy!”
Ulstead is beaming at me. “Extraordinary, Ivy. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. A plant transformation is extremely rare, even among the most powerful shifters.”
My mind is reeling. This shouldn’t be possible.General shifters like me aren’t supposed to be able to turn into plants. What the hell is going on?
“Great, so instead of a bear, I get to turn into a shrub. Marvellous,” I grouse.
“Better than turning into Cora’s dildo,” Josh snickers and then remembers Ulstead is still sitting next to me. He blushes as she purses her lips at him before she turns back to me.
“I’ve never seen a shifter manifest plant-based abilities before. The implications are fascinating. You have a rare gift, Ivy Hammond, and this is precisely why you and all the others are in this class. Well done.” She beams at me and rises, looking down at Josh. “Let’s get you to the Academy Nurse. That looks like it hurts.”
“Sorry,” I murmur to Josh again as he stands up.
He shakes his head with an eye roll and ambles off after Ulstead as the rest of us get up and gather our belongings, assuming the class is dismissed now that the lecturer has disappeared.
I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I ignore them. Whatever this was, it was odd, and how is it helpful to anyone? Oh, yay, I can turn into a tree. That’ll save the day when I’m being chased down by a coven of vampires for trying to kill their leader.
Huffing in annoyance at my severe lack of badassery in this area, I turn to walk to my next lecture across the campus to the oldest part of the building. Channelling magick for shifters is myfavourite class, and this is how I learned I could use witch or warlock magick even though I have no magickal abilities myself. Vex was more than happy to lend me his, and now I know why. I shudder at the thought of him getting turned on by it.
Separating from the rest of the students, as I take the shortcut around the side of the building, I come up short as I see Torin leaning against the old stonework, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Then my eyes flick to Bram and Tate, and I gulp.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Turning quickly, I scramble back around the corner, but it’s too late.
“Hey, blonde bitch,” Bram snarls, following me. “You owe me a fucking apology.”
I freeze, my heart pounding. Shit. I should’ve known Bram wouldn’t let that little knee-to-the-balls incident go. Slowly, I turn to face the Kings of Thornfield, hoping Tate remembers me from earlier and decides not to smite me into the ground.
“Look, I’m sorry about earlier,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “You grabbed me, and I panicked.”
Bram’s eyes narrow dangerously. “Oh, you’re sorry? That’s cute. But I think you need to learn a lesson about respecting your betters, little mouse.”
He stalks towards me, a predatory gleam in his eyes. I back up until I hit the stone wall behind me. Fuck. I’m trapped.
