Page 8 of Blood Currents
The semester was almost over.You’d think I’d be used to the side-eyes and quiet mutters by now, but apparently people had found new material.
Not justher magic’s too strongortraitor’s daughteranymore.Now it was:
Did you hear about Alstone?
Why wasn’t she the one declared dangerous?
She looks awful.Think she knew?
Each comment slid between my ribs like a blade—small, precise, painful.
Scout shifted inside my sleeve, his bony claws tapping lightly against my wrist.Nervous.Or just echoing my mood.
I tried to focus on the glyph in front of me.It was simple, beginner-level stuff—trace the lines, thread magic through them, watch the light take shape.Easy, in theory.My shadows curled at the page’s edge, eager and over-responsive.Controlling them had gotten easier, at least.But the moment I pushed magic into the diagram, it came too fast, too heavy, fraying the lines until the glyph collapsed in a mess of uneven light.
One step forward, two sideways.
Professor Cribley swept to the front of the room, her silver-beaded braids catching the morning light.If she noticed the tension crackling through the classroom like barely contained lightning, she gave no sign.“Chapter five—illumination threading and reactive spells.Partners, as always.You know the drill.”
The usual shuffle of students pairing off followed.I stayed at my desk, hoping—idiotically—that maybe I’d be left alone this time.
No such luck.
“We’re partners.”Raven’s voice cut through my wishful thinking.She stood beside me, her arms crossed, with Boris glowing faintly purple on her shoulder like an unimpressed chaperone.
Lucas joined us, settling into the chair with his usual precise movements.His bird familiar, Knell, glided to the backrest, her ghostly feathers ruffling in silent judgment.“We need to talk.”
My pulse stumbled.“Now?In the middle of class?”
“Yes.”Raven’s tone brooked no argument.She started threading glowing lines into her glyph with the kind of easy grace I still couldn’t manage.Her magic looked like it had been born for this, shimmering into perfect patterns.“Because you’ve been avoiding us for weeks.Ever since…” She let it hang.
I tried to focus on my own glyph.The page pulsed beneath my fingertips, runes ready and waiting.My magic surged too fast again, bleeding shadow into the lines until the whole thing collapsed.Typical.
“I haven’t been avoiding you,” I muttered, already preparing to try again.
Knell let out a sharp, accusatory caw, as if calling me out.
“You eat alone,” Lucas said softly, the hurt clear in his voice.“You leave class before we can catch up.You’re always somewhere else.”
“I’ve been studying,” I said weakly.“Trying to figure out what my father was talking about in his journal…” The words trailed off.Had I even told them the council destroyed it?The past few weeks—Keane’s disappearance, the attack, the conspiracies—blurred together so badly I couldn’t remember what I’d shared anymore.
“Bullshit,” Raven interrupted.“This isn’t about your father.This is about Keane.”
My magic thread flickered.
“Now he’s been declared a traitor, and you’re pulling away from everyone.You’re not fine.You’re shutting us out, and we’re worried about you.”
My throat tightened.I couldn’t say anything.
“Mari.”Raven reached across the desk, her hand closing over mine.“Whatever happened between you two, whatever you’re feeling now that he’s gone, you don’t have to carry it alone.”
Watching me carefully, Lucas pushed up his wire-rimmed glasses and then stated, “You were together.”
The tears came hot and sudden, breaking past every defense.Scout crawled out from my sleeve, clicking anxiously as he climbed up to my shoulder.
“We were,” I whispered.“Not… not officially.We couldn’t be public about it.”
“How long?”Raven asked softly.
