Shadow Magic: Year 3

by Alexa B. James

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The next morning, I practically float out of bed and across my room. Everywhere I step, bits and bobbles drift along with me, like I’ve suddenly gained my own gravity. When I take a step on the wooden floor, I find flowers and other plant life shooting out from the cracks. I’m surprised enough to let out a startled squeak, which startles Thorn’s protective core and rouses him as well.

  “What’s going on?” he asks, his brow furrowing.

  “Sorry,” I mutter, diving back to the bed. “I think you, um, triggered a magical awakening in my room. Are you okay?”

  “More than okay.” He grins, laying back on his arm and pulling me with him. “That was… The most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “Sorry you waited twenty-two years to do it?”

  “Not even a little,” he says, drawing me in and kissing my forehead. A rose vine trails down the headboard, and Thorn picks it up and brushes it gently against my cheek. “And I’m not just talking about the sex. I feel like my magic has been super-charged. I think I could battle a demon and an ogre at once right now. Did I take all your magic or something?”

  “No,” I say, staring around in wonder. “I kinda got so focused on you that I didn’t pull it in like I normally do. Did you do anything different?”

  “Well, I don’t really have a reference point,” he says. “But I did feel our magic… Intertwine.”

  “You pulled in some of my magic?”

  “I… I guess so?” he says, his brow furrowing. “I didn’t really know that’s what I was doing. I could feel all this magic around us, and I knew you were releasing yours, so I released some of mine.”

  “Wow,” I say, relaxing back against him. “I didn’t know you could do that. So not only can I become more powerful by orgasming, but apparently, you can become more powerful by making me come.”

  “Sometimes I forget exactly how powerful you are,” he muses, glancing around the room at our own little Garden of Eden.

  “Uh, yeah, this doesn’t usually happen,” I say, gesturing vaguely to the three potted plants now practically exploding out of their pots. All around them, clover and other flowers are blooming. “My magic is usually content to revive my plants, not create new ones.”

  “I seem to remember you bringing spring to campus in the middle of December,” he reminds me.

  “Yeah, but since then…” I look around at my room bursting with greenery and even butterflies and other insects. “This is crazy. It’s like you let your magic come out and play with mine, and both of us made a lot more magic.”

  “That’s a good way to put it,” he says, kissing my temple. He’s quiet for a moment, stroking my bare shoulder with his thumb. At last, he goes on. “I’m not sure this is something we should broadcast. It could put you in even more danger. Not only is your magic powerful, but you can make other people more powerful by increasing their own magic.”

  “That’s what Orville was trying to do to me last year,” I realize aloud. “Apparently I’m like some magical fountain of youth.”

  “We should tell Darius,” he says. “But no one else.”

  I had no idea my magic was growing this much. I mean, yes, I knew it would grow when I had sex, and I’ve been getting it on the regular from Rocco. I had that one time with Darius, and Thorn and I fool around a lot, even if last night was the first time we had full sex. So I’ve been getting plenty or orgasms, but I usually pull it in like Darius taught me. But last night, I was so focused on Thorn, that I didn’t think to pull it back in until it was already out there. And he was so amazed looking at it shimmering around us like an aurora borealis had sprung up in my room. I didn’t realize he added some of his magic, or that he absorbed some of mine when he took his back.

  When I didn’t absorb it back in before, that’s when the flowers bloomed. And that was when I was with three of the guys. Maybe somehow their power increases the power of my magic, just like mine increased Thorn’s today. This isn’t quite as drastic, but it’s pretty incredible. I can only imagine what could have happened if I’d let out my magic during that insanely powerful orgasm Darius gave me. Or maybe… The only two times it happened were when Thorn was with me.

  “Thorn,” I say, rolling toward him and running my fingers down his chest, taking pleasure from the fact that his nipples harden at my touch. “How much magic do you have, exactly?”

  “Exactly two gallons,” he says, cracking a smile.

  “I’m serious,” I protest, giving him a playful shove.

  “I don’t know,” he says. “It’s not like there’s a magic-o-meter where we can see what we’re packing each day.”

  “But on an average day,” I press. “Do you have more than Rocco.”

  “Yes,” he says with a smug little smile.

  “More than Ryker?”

  “Yes.”

  “More than… Headmaster Darius?”

  “Jade, my grandparents are the most powerful magic wielders in the world. My father was the most powerful sorcerer in history, and it didn’t do him any good.”

  “Thorn… I’m sorry,” I say. “I know there’s a lot more to a person than their magic. Trust me, I know how it feels to be judged for your magic, and I’m not judging your worth by that or saying that’s all you are. I was just curious.”

  He stares at the ceiling for a minute before nodding. “I’m sorry, too,” he says at last. “I’ve just spent my whole life knowing there are people who would exploit me for that, just like you’ve spent the last couple years worrying the same thing about yours.”

  “And that’s why you’re so freaked out by my magic,” I say.

  He shifts on the bed before answering. “In part,” he admits at last. “It’s not just you, Jade. I had a lot of trouble accepting dark magic in general. Learning to control or even influence other people doesn’t sit well with me. And then Bella used your magic on me, and… I saw how easy it would be for someone to control me.”

  “You were worried about someone influencing you before that?”

  “Well, yeah,” he says with a shrug. “I mean, your magic makes me feel certain things that I had spent a lot of time resisting, but it’s not the only way someone could control a person. Yes, it makes people want to have sex, which is a strong influencer, but it’s not the only one. I never got close to people in a sexual way or any other way because I knew a lot of them were after only one thing—what I could do for them.”

  “Bella,” I say, my lip curling in even more disgust than I usually feel toward her.

  “Sure,” Thorn says. “But at least Bella’s up front about it. For every Bella Goodwin, there’s ten others who pretend they want to be your best friend, but really all they want is to get close to the president, to advance their careers, their reputations, their chances of getting a girl… It’s ridiculous the things people think I can do for them if they’re my friend.”

  “So you chose friends who already get girls and have guaranteed career paths like yours.”

  “Trust me, the Steele family is over the moon that their sons landed me for a friend,” he says. “At first, I wanted nothing to do with it, but once I realized they were actually decent guys, and that they didn’t want anything from me even if their family is conniving…”

  “But that was after the Unleashing,” I say. “And before that you didn’t have friends or girlfriends? That doesn’t make sense.”

  He shrugs. “The chances were always high that I’d be powerful, and if I wasn’t, they’d still have gotten in good with my family.”

  “The daughter of the most powerful couple in the world, married to the most powerful individual sorcerer,” I say. “Yeah, I can see how that would be a magnet for exploitative people.”

  Thorn squeezes me closer and kisses my forehead. “I know you understand that in a way no one else really does.”

  I wrap my arms around him, squeezing him back. “I—I love you, Thorn. For all that you are
. Not just your magic.”

  “I know,” he says, his voice low and husky. “I love you, too, Jade.”

  We roll toward each other, my arms cradling his head and our noses pressed together. “Want to let our magic play a little more?” he asks, his legs tangling with mine, his cock throbbing against my belly as our bodies collide.

  “I think we owe it to magic itself,” I whisper back, a smile playing over my lips as I lean forward to press them against Thorn’s.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  After a weekend of blissful, erotic exploration, we are forced to emerge from my room and rejoin the rest of the world. We’re halfway to my first class on Monday morning, walking hand in hand, when Bella steps into our path. She clutches a fancy coffee drink in one long-nailed, manicured hand, her platinum hair smooth and straight, falling around her shoulders in a perfect curtain. So, it seems her nervous breakdown was a one-night engagement. She’s as polished and put together as always now, with her usual haughty smirk in place.

  She opens her mouth as if to say something, then closes it, her gaze moving from me to Thorn and back again. I’ve noticed a few people giving us knowing looks, but I figured it was because we came out of my dorm together first thing in the morning. But there’s no way Bella could have seen that, since we’re halfway across campus now.

  “You,” she hisses, her eyes narrowing with hatred as she glares at me. “You couldn’t be happy with one or two of the most powerful sorcerers on campus, could you? You just had to go after my man.”

  “Your man?” I ask, raising a brow. “I’ve got to hear this.”

  “You whore,” she snarls. “I can’t believe you slept with Thorn.”

  “Um, first off, none of your business,” I say.

  “Don’t lie to me,” she screeches. “I can tell. It’s all over him! I’ve seen that look on a man before, all moony-eyed and dripping with your disgusting magic.”

  “Bella,” Thorn says, frowning. “We’ve been over this. Even if I wasn’t with Jade, I’m not interested in you that way.”

  “I hate you both,” she snaps before turning and flouncing away. When she’s almost to the building, she breaks into a run.

  “I’m going to go talk to her,” I say with a sigh.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Thorn says. “What you said is true—it’s none of her business. We’re two consenting adults. This has nothing to do with her.”

  “I know,” I say. “But… I don’t know. I actually feel kinda bad for her. First Dirk’s gay, and now this. I know you never dated her, and you don’t owe her anything, but I know what it would be like to realize I could never have you.”

  “You’re too good,” Thorn says, pulling me in and pressing his lips to mine, his hand flattening on my lower back and holding me possessively against him for a moment.

  “You better stop, or we’ll never make it to class,” I tease, pulling away. My heart is hammering from the kiss, and all I want to do is go right back to my room and continue the sex marathon we’ve been having for the past two days. I guess we’re both late bloomers, but we did our best to make up for lost time.

  “I’ll see you this evening,” Thorn says, releasing me with some reluctance. “I miss you already.”

  My heart melts a little more, and I have to pry myself away from him. Talking to Bella is not nearly as fun as anything I could do with Thorn, even if we’re just sleeping, or talking, or eating popcorn and watching TV. Actually, talking to Bella ranks below doing any of those things with anyone, or even alone. Still, everyone knows her family is awful, she lost both her best friends, and her boyfriend has been cheating on her with a guy all semester.

  Renewing my determination, I follow along the path she took, knowing it’s the right thing to do. She might be a bitch, but I could see the hurt on her face when she realized she wouldn’t be the one to deflower Thorn and lure him into being as obsessed with her as she is with him.

  I open the door to the Great Hall, where Bella disappeared. The room is shadowy and dark, and for a moment, I don’t see anyone. Then I hear a hiccupping sound, and I turn to see a shape huddled in one of the empty seats. I steel myself and make my way over. Bella sits hunched over, wiping her eyes and sniffling. I knew she wanted Thorn, but I didn’t know she was capable of actual tears. For a minute, I stand there awkwardly, not sure if I should comfort her, or pretend I didn’t see her and sneak out as quietly as I can. It would save us both some dignity, and I’m not exactly experienced in the art of comforting friends when they cry.

  “Here to gloat?” she asks before I can decide either way.

  “No,” I say quickly. “I came to make sure you were okay.”

  “Well, I’m not,” she says. “Happy now?”

  “No,” I say again. “Believe it or not, I have no interest in making you miserable. You seem pretty skilled at doing that all on your own.”

  “What do you want, Jade?” she demands, lifting her tearstained face. “You won, okay? You got Thorn. You got all my friends kicked out of the Academy. You have the best guys, and Thorn Cristofaro, and friends to talk about me behind my back with. And what do I have? Nothing. I can’t even keep a gay boyfriend for a semester.”

  “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?” I ask. “I got Thorn because I actually like him instead of caring about his big name. I didn’t get anyone kicked out of the Academy. Bella Lu got herself kicked out for almost killing Ryker, and the other Bella ran off with her. And don’t even pretend you’re jealous of my friends when I know you wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with someone from such humble beginnings. You think my friends are trash, remember?”

  “They are trash,” she hisses. “Perfect for you, Dumpster.”

  I roll my eyes at her pathetic attempt at making me feel bad. “As for Dirk,” I go on. “Whatever arrangement you have with him, he’s got his pride. No one wants to look like a sucker who’s being cheated on. If you want to know why you can’t keep a boyfriend, it’s probably because you can’t stop fucking Ryker.”

  “I only fucked him to hurt you,” she snarls. “Why isn’t it working? I thought you liked him. You don’t even seem mad! What is wrong with you?”

  “That is literally the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” I say, remembering her pathetic sniveling in Darius’s office that made me see what a small, empty person she was. She hasn’t changed. Who cares about themselves and their dignity so little that they’d have sex with a guy not as revenge for something he did—I could kind of respect that—but as a way to ruffle the feathers of some girl who might like him? Flirting to make someone jealous is one thing, but to use your body with so little regard for it is another. It’s so pathetic I can’t even hate her for it. Yes, it hurt me, but it probably hurt her more. It got her dumped by the guy her parents supposedly want her to marry, not to mention the number it’s probably doing on her self-esteem.

  “Bella said you liked him,” she snivels, her shoulders shaking as she turns back to wipe her tears. “She said you were fooling around.”

  “I do like him,” I say. “But I respect myself enough not to go after a guy who can’t or won’t treat me right. Maybe you should try that strategy if you really want a guy.”

  Bella cries quietly for a minute before shooting to her feet and spinning toward me, her eyes flashing with anger. “I know how to get a guy,” she fumes. “I know what you’ve been doing, and I’m going to tell my dad. Then I’ll have a guy!”

  “What?” I ask, completely lost.

  “I told you I’ve seen that look on a guy,” she says, tossing her hair and trying to look brave even though she’s still a teary, snotty mess.

  “Rocco and Thorn are well aware of each other,” I say. “They know what’s going on, and they both went into it knowing full well what the relationship would entail.”

  “And what about the Headmaster,” Bella says, a vicious, triumphant gleam in her eye. “Did they know it would involve him?”

  My heart skips a beat. “What
are you going on about now?” I ask, rolling my eyes like it’s stupid to even suggest.

  “Oh, cut the crap,” she snaps. “I know about you two. I’ve suspected it since last year, but now I know.”

  I swallow hard, my pulse racing as I try not to show my panic outwardly. “You don’t know anything,” I say. “Because there’s nothing to know.”

  “I’ve seen it, I’ve heard it, and your precious Mr. Stephens confirmed it before he died,” Bella says, standing from her seat and squaring her shoulders. She delivers her words in a voice that’s just above a hiss, her eyes as sharp as a shark circling in bloodied waters.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask.

  “Everyone thinks I’m a dumb blonde, but I’m not,” Bella says. “I’m smart. I’ve been watching. I saw Darius with your magic oozing out of him one day last year. I didn’t know what it meant exactly, though I had my suspicions.”

  Shit shit shit. I remember Rocco telling me that everyone on campus could tell when I’d gotten laid. I didn’t realize my magic had tainted my partner, that people could feel it on them, too. Does that mean girls are throwing themselves on Darius and Rocco every time they leave my side? And now Thorn?

  I shake the thought away. Now is no time to get jealous or insecure. Now is the time for damage control.

  “Your suspicions sound more like delusions,” I say.

  “When you started hooking up with Rocco, that’s when I knew for sure,” Bella goes on. “He’s always dripping with it, too. And now it’s all over Thorn.”

  “You make it sound like an STD,” I say.

  “It might as well be,” she says with a smirk.

  “Okay then,” I say. “Glad we had this talk. I see you’re all better now, so we should probably get to class.”