It was simple and easy with Tess, and always so rewarding. She wrapped her legs around him and kissed him back passionately. She shifted in time with his motions, letting him lead, letting him truly take her body. The bed creaked below them, and the sheet fluttered above them. They chased their pleasure together, and the rising pitch of the noises escaping Tess’s sweet lips heralded the finish line.
He hugged her tight as they both shared almost-simultaneous climaxes. All the tension melted out of Tess’s body, which made Lee grin and feel a bit manlier than he had a few minutes earlier. He pulled her into a side hug and neither of them said anything else as they drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 18
Lee had alchemy class early the next morning. He was looking forward to it as he made his way through the Seruna Center, walking with a lingering spring in his step from his escapades with Tess the previous night.
Alchemy was one of the few subjects in which Lee was nearly a match for his fellow initiates. Most of the work was related to carefully following instructions and measuring ingredients, with only a small amount of simple casting for certain potions.
He had also grown fond of Instructor Escher, the class’s eccentric and experimentally ambitious matriarch. He’d done enough work for her outside of class to earn her favor within it, and he didn’t receive the scrutiny other instructors such as Gen and Harper applied to him for their subjects.
Lee was one of the last students to arrive at the alchemy lab, which gave him a timely glimpse of how Willow was fitting in with her new environment. She was in the back corner of the chamber, surrounded by new friends. Almost all of the class’s male initiates, in fact.
He had to admit, she looked good in her robes, filling the tight fabric out in all the right places. She’d also put her hair into a bun and worn a blue hairband which synergized with both her highlights and the rest of her outfit. She was smiling, though Lee got the distinct impression she wasn’t exactly comfortable with so much attention at once.
“Seriously?” asked Kristoff. “You’ll be replacing Mattis? That’s a serious upgrade, in my opinion.”
“Oh, you’re so sweet,” said Willow in a somewhat forced voice. “Really, though. It’s only because of how rare druids are within the Order and how Primhaven needed one to bring the animals under control immediately. I’m still in training.”
Lee considered heading over to see if she needed rescuing before deciding the impulse was probably a bit chauvinistic on his part. He took a seat beside Eliza instead and tried to ignore the fact she was shooting daggers with her eyes at Willow from across the room.
“She’s unbelievable,” muttered Eliza. “She has them eating out of the palm of her hand.”
“Really? I get the sense she’s a bit put off by it.”
Eliza scowled as if she hadn’t heard him. “The boys are barely any better. They must know she isn’t going to sleep with all of them.”
“Well, uh, not at once. Logistically speaking, that would be quite the feat.”
Eliza turned her ire toward him. Lee shrugged.
“She’s just talking to people,” he said. “She’s the new girl, and she’s pretty and confident. This is par for the course.”
“You think she’s pretty?”
Lee cleared his throat. “I thought the two of you were starting to get along?”
“We were, I mean, we are.” Eliza shrugged. “She’s just a little entitled when it comes to certain things. I don’t think she’s used to being told no. She also asks too many questions.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Eliza glanced from side to side and then leaned in close enough to whisper. “I mean you and Tess should be careful around her. She’s paying a lot of attention to you, Lee.”
“Well, I mean, that goes without saying.” He grinned and flexed his fingers, cracking his knuckles.
“That’s not a good thing! If you’re going to act like that, why don’t you go get in line with the rest of the horndogs?”
“Relax, Eliza,” he said. “I’m just teasing you. You’re too easy, sometimes.”
Eliza scowled, her face reddening by a few shades. Instructor Escher finally arrived, and the various initiates fawning over Willow returned to their seats.
Escher was a young instructor, perhaps thirty years old at most. She was a petite woman of scholarly appearance, with thick glasses and a tendency to wear her brown hair up and out of the way of her experiments.
She commanded a fair amount of respect as well. Lee and the other initiates had learned early that the key to succeeding in her class was to listen and follow her instructions as closely as possible. Ignoring one of Escher’s comments about how long a potion should stay on the burner or when a certain ingredient should be added usually ended poorly for the distracted party.
“Hmmm…” muttered Escher as she flipped through her notebook. “Yes. Today we’ll be working on targeted dissolving agents. If you’d all please split into groups of three.”
Lee and Eliza looked at each other, and then at the desk Toma usually occupied.
“I’m starting to get worried about him,” said Eliza.
“Gen says he’s with his family, at their request, so he’s probably fine. It does mean we’re lacking a third group member, for now.”
He glanced up and saw Willow walking by half a dozen initiates all asking her the same question. She grinned as her gaze caught Lee’s and took a seat next to him and Eliza.
“Can I join your group?” she asked.
Several disappointed groans came from the boys behind her.
“You’re more than welcome to,” said Lee. “Right, Eliza?”
Eliza sighed and nodded her head reluctantly.
Lee began setting up the alchemy equipment while Eliza copied down the potion instructions Escher was scribbling on the whiteboard. Willow watched them both working, seeming unsure of how she should contribute.
“I haven’t done much potion work before,” she said. “It wasn’t a core subject at Stonepath Academy. One of my instructors called it a ‘plebian pursuit’ whenever the topic came up.”
“Well, it is a core subject here, so I hope you’ll take it seriously,” said Eliza.
“Not too seriously though,” said Lee. “This won’t be much fun if we’re all tense and stiff with each other.”
Eliza scowled but didn’t refute him. Lee set the main alchemy beaker down on the Bunsen burner and gestured to Willow.
“So, why don’t you take charge of adding each of the ingredients?” asked Lee. “I’ll measure them, and Eliza will read the instructions and oversee the process.”
“I think I can do that,” said Willow.
“It’s the easiest part, trust me,” said Lee. He drew two cups of water from the faucet to serve as the base and added them to the main beaker before turning on the flame underneath.
Everything went according to plan for the next few minutes. Willow was a quick study and steady of hand when it came to fulfilling her role. The potion was fairly complicated and drawn out, so they took their time.
“So, Willow, has anyone mentioned to you when you’ll be taking over the Nature Tower?” asked Lee.
“I haven’t broached the topic yet.” She grinned at him. “I’d be surprised if they let me take up residence within it while I’m still an initiate, but who knows?”
“You should put your foot down,” said Lee. “Say you need it for the sake of concentration, and all the animals on campus will go rabid if you don’t have it for yourself.”
Eliza muttered something under her breath. Willow giggled.
“I might just do that,” she said. “I’ll need someone with strong muscles to help me move in, of course, if it works.”
“Duly noted.” Lee flashed a smile.
“I think it’s time to add the next ingredient,” said Eliza.
“Oh!” said Willow. “Right.”
She reached for the sample of powdered manticore horn and prepar
ed to dump it into the frothing beaker. Lee frowned as he glanced over at Eliza’s copied instructions.
“Hold on,” he said. “We’re not supposed to add that until—”
Willow had already dumped it in. A plume of purple sparks shot upward from the beaker, followed by the potion itself, which hissed as it splashed onto the front of her robes. Willow squealed.
“Whoops,” said Eliza. “I must have misread the step. How clumsy of me.”
Lee glared at her. Willow was trying to wipe the concoction off her clothing, but it only seemed to have the effect of spreading it around. It ate through her clothing wherever it touched, though luckily, it seemed harmless against her skin.
The potion had splashed onto her chest, and within thirty seconds, Willow’s robes and bra underneath were in shambles. Lee saw the edge of a pale nipple as she blushed and held her arms over her breasts in a desperate attempt to preserve her modesty.
“Oh dear,” said Escher with a sigh. “The potion shouldn’t irritate the skin, but you should still check in with the nurse and have her rinse you off. Would anyone be willing to escort her there?”
A dozen male hands shot into the air. Willow looked toward Lee, and he nodded.
“I guess you’re on your own for finishing the potion, Eliza,” he said, stiffly. “Good luck.”
She blinked in surprise. “It was, um, an accident.”
“Was it?”
Eliza blushed, which was enough of an answer for him. Lee led Willow out of the classroom, standing in front of her to serve as a shield against the numerous probing eyes of the male initiates.
CHAPTER 19
“I can’t believe her,” said Lee once they were in the hallway. “It’s not as though she hasn’t been bullied herself. We both were, for a while, when we started at Primhaven this year.”
“She said it was just an accident,” said Willow. “I’m sure she didn’t mean to.”
“I’m equally sure she did.” Lee looked over at Willow who was still clutching her chest uncomfortably. “Eliza is the most detail-oriented person I know. She doesn’t make mistakes like that.”
“Oh,” muttered Willow.
“I’ll make sure she apologizes to you, I promise.”
“It’s fine,” said Willow. “Well, maybe not fine, but I’m used to it.”
“You’re… used to it?”
“Having other girls get the wrong idea. I don’t ask for all that attention. Sure, maybe I do enjoy it sometimes, but other times it’s just a pain.”
“I can see how that might be the case,” said Lee.
“Eliza just doesn’t know me that well yet. It’s not about me, it’s about her and her emotions. That’s how it always is.”
There was a bit of a dismissive edge to her tone that Lee wasn’t sure he liked, but he agreed with her overall point. She was the victim and she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“That’s still not an excuse,” said Lee.
“I never said it was.”
They walked in silence for a minute, each second growing increasingly loaded and awkward.
“Is she your girlfriend?” asked Willow.
The question caught him completely off guard. He sputtered for a moment, unsure of how to answer, unsure of how Eliza would have answered, had she been the one asked about him being her boyfriend.
“Uh, sort of,” he finally said. “It’s complicated.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means it’s complicated,” said Lee. “Eliza and I would never work as an exclusive couple, but we do care about each other.”
Willow raised an accusatory eyebrow at him, almost as though her current state of undress was his fault.
“Why does it matter to you?” he asked.
“Why shouldn’t it?” she countered. “I just met you and Eliza earlier this week. I want to know about you both, and what the situation is. I asked her too, by the way, and she also wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”
“Maybe that is your straight answer.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” said Willow. “Just so you know, one thing I’ve learned from my side of the fence is to be very careful about taking people for granted.”
“I don’t take Eliza for granted,” he said.
He felt less sure about it as he spoke the words out loud.
“You should also be careful about leading people on,” said Willow. “Sometimes you have to make decisions about what you really want. Otherwise, things get a little, ahem, uncomfortable.”
“I think you’re reading too deeply into my situation,” said Lee.
They arrived at the infirmary. Nurse Susie, sporting a new short haircut a shade paler pink than her previous style, immediately stood up. She was more than just the school’s resident healthcare professional. She was a succubus with a curvaceous body well-suited for the role.
“Lee Amaranth,” she purred. “What a very welcome surprise. I don’t see nearly enough of you these days.”
Willow smirked at Lee, as though Nurse Susie’s warm greeting somehow proved her point.
“This is my friend Willow,” he said quickly. “She had a potion explode on her in alchemy class.”
“Come right this way, Willow,” said Susie. “No need to be nervous. I don’t bite.”
“Well, I’ll leave you both to it.”
“Thanks, Lee,” said Willow.
He slipped away, still thinking about what Willow had said and considering her point. His train of thought completely derailed as he glanced down the hallway and saw a familiar, recently missing face.
“Toma!” he shouted.
Toma glanced up, only then seeing him, and flashed a wide grin. Lee ran over to him and pulled him into a quick hug.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asked.
Toma shrugged. “At home. It’s a long story.”
“You’re missing alchemy class right now,” said Lee.
“I know. I got back after it started and felt too tired to play catch-up. Want to skip it with me?”
Lee grinned. “Some people care about maintaining their grades, you know.”
“Which people?” Toma made a show of looking around. “You couldn’t have been referring to yourself just now, could you? Because that would be the most cracked thing I’ve heard all day.”
The dining hall had just begun serving lunch when they arrived. Lee and Toma helped themselves to hulking slices of pizza and easily found an empty table with space to sit down.
“Was it about Kei?” asked Lee. “Will you tell me that much?”
“It was, but…” Toma shrugged. “I can’t really say more than that. My family is weird. If you knew my dad and my other brothers, you’d understand.”
“Come on, Toma. You’re my best friend. You can trust me with your secrets.”
“Sure,” said Toma. “Because you tell me all of yours, right?”
There was an edge to Toma’s voice. Lee hesitated, which seemed to be the wrong response. Toma let out a frustrated sigh and slowly shook his head.
“If it involved you, or if I thought you could help in some way, I would tell you,” he said. “It’s complicated. I might not even be back at Primhaven for good. My father is coming to the open house later this week to talk to Odarin and Genevieve. I have no idea what’s going to happen with me after that.”
They ate their pizza in silence for a minute. Toma was right. Lee had never been completely open with his friend about his own secrets, and he knew it was fair for him to expect the same in return. It felt as though a distance had formed between them, though maybe it had always been there in the background.
“Do you want to stay at Primhaven?” Lee finally asked.
“I’m not sure it’s about what I want anymore. I like it here. I feel at home here, more so than I do back with my family. But Primhaven isn’t the real world. It’s just like the magic that keeps the climate insulated on campus… fake and artificial.”
“Very true.” Lee flas
hed a sad little smile. “If you do leave, you’ll be missed.”
“I mean, I’d just be leaving school, not dying, or anything.”
“We’ll put up a memorial for you and have everyone say some words about how much you meant to them,” said Lee. “I’ll tell a funny story that’ll make the room tear up.”
“You’re cracked, Lee Amaranth.”
Lee started telling Toma about some of what he missed, the meeting with the frost trolls and Kuh-Matton, when a gasp came from the dining hall’s entrance. Eliza ran across the chamber, weaving through other students, and pulled Toma into a tight hug almost knocking him out of his chair.
“We were so worried!” she said. “Where in God’s name were you?”
“He won’t give me a straight answer,” said Lee.
“It’s complicated,” said Toma. “Family stuff. I missed you too, Eliza.”
She looked toward Lee as she pulled a chair out, frowning and glancing away as his gaze met hers.
“Um,” she began. “Sorry about before. In class. The thing with Willow was just a joke.”
“It’s not me you should be apologizing to,” said Lee.
“Who’s Willow?” asked Toma.
“Harper’s cousin,” said Lee. “You know, you kind of have missed a lot.”
CHAPTER 20
Lee made his way back to the alchemy lab, aware of the fact his cavalier approach toward skipping class didn’t excuse him from the consequences. Escher was at her desk and frowned at him over the top edge of her glasses as he entered.
“Initiate Amaranth,” she said, with a sigh. “If it wasn’t for how helpful you’ve been to my work previously, I would have to report this.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Something came up after I brought Willow to the infirmary.”
“You’re forgiven. I appreciate you coming by to explain.”
“I had a few questions I also thought you might be able to help me with,” he added.
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