Page 51 of Magic in the Woods
She opened the door for Luke, who took one more glance at me before walking through the doorway and down the hallway.
Brooke shut the door, leaning her back against it. “Quite the family friend you got there…”
“His mother’s been kind to m—to my family,” I corrected.
She pushed herself off the door and sighed. “Well, I’m glad you’re finally vertical. I’m going to need someone to watch the air evaluation with tomorrow.”
Tomorrow?Brooke had said I’d been out for two days. Thatmeant the air task was tomorrow and the water task would be a few days after that.
“You’ve been absent from your classes for the last two days,” Gideon said, as if he was reprimanding me. “You need to practice, get the feel for your water magic again.”
I sighed. “I don’t even know what to practice—the water task could be anything.”
“The witches from your group were complaining about all the potion drills Arcana’s been putting them through last night at dinner,” Brooke said. That sounded like Arcana. “Maybe you could start there?”
Gideon nodded. “Get dressed. I know just the place.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Dafni
I followedGideon through the dome, entering the hallway of classrooms that made up the Academy. We walked past the classrooms the more experienced water element witches used to practice potions, the empty classrooms used for practicing air magic, and classrooms with potted plants—many of which looked half dead—that were probably for the earth magics. This was much deeper into the Academy than I’d ever been.
My heels clicked along the floor, two taps to every one of his. I couldn’t help but stare at his shoulders. He wasn’t more than six inches taller than me, but the way he held himself made him seem larger. With his shoulders back and his head facing forward, he walked with a confidence I couldn’t emulate as I walked hunched over, staring at my feet so I wouldn’t trip.
“Here.”
I almost ran into where he’d stopped in the middle of the hallway with his hand extended toward me.
“You’re having trouble keeping up.”
Against my better judgment, I put my hand in his. He gripped it tightly and continued walking, this time pulling me along with him.
Gideon stopped in front of a door, letting go of my hand. The loss of warmth had me bringing my hand to my chest. He pressed numbers into a keypad, and the latch unlocking echoed down the hall. I looked around. There was no one here to catch us, or to tell us to go back to the dorms.
“Are you coming in…?” Gideon held the door open, standing inside the room waiting. I tilted my head toward the ground and walked into the room. He let the door shut behind us.
With the flick of a switch, Gideon turned on the lights. It wasn’t a classroom but a room dedicated entirely to potion making. The hum of boiling liquid and the crackle of the flames the small cauldrons sat on top of filled the air. A wooden work bench with all sorts of tubes, cauldrons and fires took up most of the space. Books covered the walls, their spines reaching out to me. There were shelves lining the walls with all sizes of flasks and tubes containing different colored liquids and dry ingredients. Some were labeled, others weren’t. This place looked nothing like the rooms I’d trained in. Real witches worked here.
“Are we supposed to be here?” I asked.
Gideon bent over to look at a flask with green bubbling liquid. “I can go wherever I want.” He reached out to touch the flask.
“Don’t,” I snapped. “That’s an expelling potion. It’s skin sensitive. A drop of that will have you bent over with your last mealon the floor.”
Gideon dragged his hand back. Maybe I should’ve let him touch it. He’d be too busy puking, and I wouldn’t be thinking about kissing him again.
I rubbed my hands together. This was all too tempting, all these ingredients and supplies at my fingertips.
“Can I make something?” I asked.
Gideon smiled. “Of course, you can.”
My brain whirled, potions and their ingredients running through my brain. “What should I make?”
“Maybe an antidote to the love potion that was spilled on you,” Gideon said. “I can keep some in my pocket in case you decide you want to kiss me again.”
My face heated.
