Page 47 of Elmwood Inclusive Magic Academy
I keep my voice as steady as I can. “Maggie, you didn’t deserve to be treated like that by those kids. That was a horrible, traumatic situation and I’m sorry you had to go through it. But you shouldn’t have to be ‘normal.’ Nobody should. You’re an incredible, talented witch. If you want to practice witchcraft, you should be able to. If you don’t, then fine, don’t, but…you should be able to choose what you want for yourself.”
She looks up at me timidly, her light brown eyes glinting in the candlelight.
“Thanks,” she says with a small smile. “You really think I’m an incredible witch, though?”
“Maggie…” I stop for a moment, not sure how much to say. But I can’t hold myself back in this moment, not after she’s been so vulnerable with me. “I remember what you did. How you…healed me after I went hunting with your vampire friend.”
Her smile disappears. She looks at me with a keen intensity.
“I wasn’t sure if you remembered after you came to…” she whispers.
“I did remember.”
The corners of her mouth twitch. “Were you…all right afterwards? In any pain?”
“I’m all right,” I respond. “I’m sorry I sort of disappeared after. I got a bit freaked out.”
She smiles again, her features softening. “That’s ok. I was worried I’d hurt you.”
“No, you…you saved me, really. I don’t know what I would have done otherwise. Even if I had survived, I would have been in big trouble with your mom and Professor Vyas.”
“It wasn’t your fault…”
“Yeah, but that’s not always how witches see it.”
There’s a heavy silence between us. I wonder what she’s thinking about. The soot is still on her cheek and she looks exhausted. There’s an overwhelming instinct in me to watch over her, to make sure that she’s going to be all right. Is it because she’s supposed to be my fated mate? I can’t deny that I feel drawn to her. But it doesn’t feel forced or strange. It feels…inevitable. Like I knew her in a past life. Like I’ll know her in every life to come. I don’t know what to make of it.
“You’d better get some rest,” I tell her, getting up from her bed. “I’ll stay here, keep people away for a bit so you can sleep.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
I blow out the candles.
THE STARS AND THE MOON
Maggie
I wake in the late afternoon, wearing nothing but Rae’s oversized sweater. She’s seated on the floor, against the door.
“Did you sleep ok?” she asks.
“I did,” I blush. “Were you awake all night?”
“I wanted to make sure nobody bothered you,” she says nonchalantly.
“You didn’t have to do that…”
“I wanted to.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Well, I mean it.”
I can’t read the expression on her face. I guess she feels bound by some sort of noble wolf code to protect me after I healed her, but I don’t want her to put herself out due to a sense of obligation.
“You should get some rest now,” I tell her, pulling myself out of bed. I feel absolutely lousy, but I want to find my mom and let her know I’m all right. I look for my jeans but the room is a mess.
