A Witch’s Beating Heart

by Kasey Mackenzie

  She nodded and returned her full attention to our senior RA. Whether to distract her so I could find out what Zane wanted without an audience or to flirt with her more, I couldn’t say. And it wasn’t really my business at this point. I’d already raised my concerns. Misty was a grown-ass witch. She was gonna do what she was gonna do.

  Zane unfolded his lanky legs from where he’d been leaning against a marble pillar that appeared to be holding up nothing. Trey gave a jaunty wave and then grinned knowingly at his friend before moving to join Steph and Misty. Great. Looks like we were going to be the source of gossip no matter what I did.

  “Fancy meeting you here, Crystal Clear.”

  That low, deep voice had shivers running up my spine and warmth pooling deep in my belly. A warmth I tried very hard to ignore. “Shouldn’t I be saying that to you? Mr. I’m not even sure I want to go to college!”

  His lips twisted in humor but a glint in his eyes told me he hadn’t forgotten our last talk—more like spat—any more than I had. “Well, just because I wasn’t sure didn’t mean my parents weren’t. And let’s just say they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

  He spoke the last sentence in a Don Corleone voice that inspired a snicker. “I hear parents are good at doing that. Talking you into things you’d rather not do.”

  That got a shrug that flexed the muscles of his chest and upper arms. Damn! Someone’s spent the past few months working out. I do not remember him having muscles quite that defined at graduation…And jeez. The last thing I needed to do was drool over this boy who’d never showed me the slightest sign of romantic interest. Except that now, he kind of was.

  Something seemingly confirmed when he gave a sexy little smile and gazed directly into my eyes; the source of his nickname for me. “Well, to be fair, they didn’t have to work too hard to convince me, Crystal Clear. Not when I’d heard that you and big sis had chosen Eternal Academy from all your options.”

  I kept my expression smooth. Nobody else’s business that Eternal Academy had actually been our only option. “So what? You always had a secret crush on my sister and decided you just had to come here to get a little closer to her.”

  He gave me a long, slow look up and down before settling vibrant eyes on mine once more. “That’s part of the reason, Crystal Clear. Except you’ve definitely got the wrong twin in mind for being the object of my secret crush.”

  My heart started racing as the warmth in my belly quadrupled. I licked my lips and tried to come up with something witty to say. Since I was coming up all kinds of empty, I was grateful as hell to be saved by the bell. Literally. Tinkling chimes sounded on the air, striking twelve times to signify that it had just turned noon. My gaze circled the patio and surrounding meadow to find that dozens if not hundreds more students had arrived while my attention had been otherwise occupied. At which point Stephanie and Trey herded the other RAs and residents to grab seats at the patio tables while Steph took the podium and began the official part of our lunchtime mixer. And I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach inspired by Zane’s words and the fact he kept his eyes on me throughout the entirety of Steph’s speech.

  Misty leaned toward me once to elbow me firmly. ((Remind me again how Zane freaking Anders never gave you a second glance?))

  I was torn between annoyance at the jab and smugness that apparently I’d been completely and totally wrong. Who wouldn’t be hellaciously flattered that Zane freaking Anders had carried a mutual secret crush? Stronger hearts than mine.

  She must have picked up that stray thought, because her eyes widened. ((Wait. He told you he had a secret crush on you? Oh. My. Gods. This is going to be the best school year ever.))

  Before I could formulate a reply, Steph was introducing each of the RAs for our dorm and letting them give a brief greeting. At that point, she went over the major dorm rules, then the most important Academy-wide rules, and finally she reminded us that Eternal Academy was a cross-Realm school. Meaning that while our dorm (as one of the originals) was limited to witches from the Gloaming only, we could expect to encounter witches from other Shadow Realms and even Eternal and Infernal exchange students as well.

  Someone nearby made a snide comment about letting in the riff raff, and I casually glanced over my shoulder to catch sight of a guy with a midnight blue crew cut that I didn’t recognize. At least not until I noticed the carbon copy snickering at his side. The Beverly Brothers, I presumed. So much for Steph’s whole They’re nice guys for politicians’ sons spiel.

  My lips twisted in a sardonic expression as I recalled all the assholes I’d met who showed one face to those they felt mattered and another entirely to those considered beneath them. In fact, I counted a former friend and ex-boyfriend among such assholes. Apparently these two were about to join that list.

  I moved my gaze back to Stephanie before either guy could catch me staring. They were the last type of people whose attention I cared to catch right now. Even if I’d been willing to overlook the risk of befriending guys whose parents were BFFs with the Witch Queen, no way I’d put up with assholes. Especially not when I glanced forward to find Zane freaking Anders shooting another smouldering look my way.

  My breath hitched, and it took every ounce of self-control I could dredge up to focus on the rest of Steph’s Artemis House pep talk before she wrapped things up. “All right, enough of my droning on for now. Let’s get to the really important stuff: Pizza and Dr. Pepper! We’ve got enough food to cater to all listed dietary needs, and it’s first come first serve. Just make sure not to run anyone over!”

  Ooh, a Dr. Pepper girl after my own heart. Too bad I was decidedly straight. Then again, given the chemistry between Steph and my twin, probably better that I was. We’d never fought over the same romantic interest before, and I wanted to keep it that way. Especially considering the fact she seemed to drool over Zane nearly as much as I did...

  With that, Steph waved everyone toward the buffet tables. Since we Academy students were a hungry lot thanks to still growing in both magical and physical properties, that inspired a mad dash. Misty and I exchanged grins before falling into step. Make that run.

  A half-hour later, we’d stuffed our faces with enough food to satisfy one of the Infernally Hungry and met everyone at our table. Trey had joined us immediately after the race for food, and Steph had appeared at a table close enough for her and Misty to share flirtatious glances. Zane, on the other hand, was seated somewhere on the opposite side of the patio. Definitely the healthiest option for my sanity, though. Made it a hundred times easier to concentrate on my food and the people around me.

  “So, what does everyone think about Artemis House so far?” Trey asked once most of us had finished inhaling our lunches.

  Misty, not surprisingly, was the first to reply. “No complaints yet. But it is like our first full day.”

  Trey grinned and gave a good-natured nod. “True, true. And we did just bribe you with pizza and other goodies.”

  Delvon, one of the guys he’d introduced as a close friend, eyeballed an uneaten piece on Trey’s plate. “Yo, you gonna eat that?”

  Trey rolled his eyes and pushed his plate in front of Delvon, who was about 6 inches taller and 50 pounds heavier. Everyone at the table snickered and broke off into several different conversations. Delvon’s cousin, Cayenne, leaned in closer to my right. She and Delvon had dark brown skin; but whereas he had dark gray hair shot through with silver sparks worn in a short afro, she had neon purple hair styled in a multitude of thin braids decorated with silver filigree ornaments.

  “Sooo,” Cayenne drawled in a tone that was damned near identical to Misty’s, “Zane Anders, hmm? Girl, I’m gonna need you to spill the details on how you know him and what the hell you did to get him visually devouring you like Delvon is that pizza.”

  Misty laughed from my other side. “Right? Can you believe she never told me, her one and only twin, that she even knew him?”

  Cayenne’s eyes widened as she shook her head sadl
y. “Like...That could almost be grounds for disowning a sister.”

  My traitorous twin nodded. “Yeah. And get this. She told me he’d never given her a second glance!”

  The other two girls exchanged disbelieving glances before turning their expectant gazes upon me. I scowled and nodded toward the table’s other occupants. “Not comfortable really getting into this here and now, Nosy Things 1 and 2.”

  They burst into laughter, and Cayenne took pity on me. “Fine, fine. But I’m on the same floor as you so I’ll just invite myself over for a girl’s chat later. After we take care of business in Administration, maybe? Then we could hit the BBQ together.”

  Misty nodded, and the three of us exchanged cell phone numbers and made concrete plans to hook up before supper. Delvon was a junior like Trey (and the Beverly Brothers, who I was no longer eager to meet), and Cayenne was a fellow freshman. Despite her easy banter with Del and Trey, she seemed eager to bond with fellow women. Apparently her two best female friends had chosen a different university. One thing I could say about being Misty’s twin. She made making friends about a hundred times easier. In addition to the whole being my built-in best friend thing. A great benefit, since she was way too tall for me to borrow her clothes.

  Cayenne, glad to say, was much closer to my height than Misty’s. Which almost made up for her ganging up with my twin to interrogate me for more details on Zane freaking Anders. Deities’ honest truth—there really wasn’t much else to tell than what my sister already knew. Guess they’d just have to get used to disappointment on that front…

  * * *

  Turned out they did not have to deal with disappointment by the time we met up for our little chat back in the Northwestern tower. Misty and I had just confirmed our schedules with one of the Administration staff members and that our uniforms would be delivered that evening when Stephanie pulled my twin aside to discuss the LGBTQ+ club on campus. Our supernatural world may have been way more accepting of sexual and gender identities than mortals, but that didn’t make bonding with other community members any less important.

  Our familiars had gotten bored pretty early on at the Admin building so had poofed back to our room for catnaps. Misty and I agreed to meet back up in our dorm room before heading to the Academy-wide BBQ, and I wandered outside to start exploring the campus grounds on my own. To say the grounds were both beautiful and impressive was an understatement. Lush, green grass surrounded each side of the wide walkways that appeared to be carved out of a hundred different varieties of man-made stone. The material shifted every few minutes, changing from black granite to deep gray and purple slate to multicolored river stones. Hundreds of stately trees peppered the landscape, with occasional breaks for administrative or academic buildings and others that catered to students: like dorms, cafes, and the campus bookstore. Students could be seen walking or socializing on most of the greenways, many with their familiars tagging along (although they would have viewed it as the opposite), with the cafes and bookstore doing healthy business considering the semester had yet to officially start. Misty and I had already grabbed our books after the dorm mixer but before the trip to Administration.

  I stared wistfully at a little coffee shop tucked into the corner of the oversized bookstore when a group of witches walked out with delicious-looking frozen lemonades.

  “I hear they taste better if you actually buy one of your own rather than mentally stealing someone else’s,” a familiar sexy voice drawled from behind.

  My heart immediately kicked into overdrive, and I inwardly cursed it for being such a traitor. He’s just a guy. Just a friend. Just a guy friend.

  One who apparently reduced me to babbling nonsensically to myself just from the sound of his own voice. Awesome sauce.

  I forced my lips into a friendly, non-flirtatious smile as I turned and met the amused glance of Zane freaking Anders leaning against a nearby tree. Apparently I’d walked right past him without even noticing. Not entirely sure how that happened given the distinct citrusy scent of whatever body wash or cologne he used now overwhelming my nostrils. Then again, my attention had been focused on mentally stealing someone else’s frozen lemonade.

  Let’s be honest. All of their frozen lemonades.

  “Hey,” I managed to say in a casual tone. A casual and uncharacteristically meek tone that kind of pissed me off. Zane Anders or not, he was just a guy. Just a fellow student with incredible washboard abs displayed to perfection beneath his tight little t-shirt and the way his leaning pose caused those muscles to flex and...Whoa. Down girl!

  “Hey,” he replied, amused expression not fading slightly.

  That had me even more annoyed with myself. Damned if I was going to let him get the upper hand in our new—whatever this was—because hormones were stealing my ability to be my normal witty self. “So, were you waiting to ambush me here because you knew I’d pass back this way to get to the dorm or because you remembered how much I loved frozen lemonade?”

  “Both?” he responded with a self-deprecating laugh that was way sexier than the knowing smirk had been. “I mean, I’d hoped you’d come along this path to get back to the dorm, and I planned to invite you to grab a lemonade while we catch up.”

  Embarrassment tinged my cheeks pink while I tried to come up with an excuse to refuse. Our full-ride scholarships included unlimited trips to the main campus cafeteria, but they didn’t include any of the secondary cafes or coffee shops. And I’d already earmarked what little money I had for personal products rather than luxuries like frozen lemonade.

  “My treat,” he added casually. “A peace offering for how much of a jerk I was when all you were doing graduation night was being honest like any good friend should.”

  My shoulders, which had started to hunch at his offer to pay thanks to the legendary Gibbs family pride, relaxed when he finished. “You were kind of a jerk, weren’t you?”

  “Hey,” his eyes twinkled as he unfolded his lanky form and stepped onto the mood-changing walkway next to me. “Guilty as charged.”

  We shared a chuckle, and then he made a gallant arm motion toward the coffee shop. It only seemed natural to fall in step with each other as we’d done dozens of times back at Gloaming High either before or after Computer Club (we couldn’t have exactly called it Computer Hacking Club) meetings. I could have done without the insanely curious glances we earned as he ordered our lemonades. The confident way he greeted the people who called out to him during our approach, purchase, and trip back outside to the tree where he’d been leaning drove home for me again that we really had come from different worlds. He’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth while I…

  It was true that I had been raised in a trailer park. But wow. To sarcastically think of him being born with a silver spoon in his mouth when I now know Misty and I had been born with royal spoons in ours definitely wasn’t fair.

  “You don’t mind sitting on the grass, do you?”

  I quirked both my lips and an eyebrow sardonically. “Really, Legs? You think a country girl like me has a problem sitting on grass?”

  He laughed as I used the nickname I’d given him the first time I’d seen his long legs leaning against a desk at the start of a Computer Club meeting. Luckily my overly punctual tendency meant I’d been the only other person there besides him. Having anyone else hear me blurt out “Hey, Legs,” instead of “Hey, Zane,” would have been mortifying. I was honestly surprised I’d found the courage to address him by that nickname now.

  “Fair point, Crystal Clear, but I just wasn’t sure whether you cared about getting grass stains on your sexy little dress before tonight’s barbecue.”

  My pulse skipped like four beats at his compliment. I mean...for the dress to look sexy on me had to mean he found me at least a little sexy, too. Right?

  We’re going with that for sure!

  “Ah, nah. I can change into something else beforehand if I need to. Meeting Misty and Cayenne back in the dorm before the BBQ.”

  He set
tled on the ground beneath the wide oak tree that faced away from the path, giving us a little more privacy. I plopped down next to him, smoothing my skirt beneath my legs and feeling grateful it wasn’t super short. No need to flash the world. We leaned back against the tree and sipped the lemony goodness in silence for a few seconds, until he picked back up on the conversation.

  “I’m glad to hear that you guys hit it off with Cay. She’s really good people. So are Delvon and Trey, but I could be biased. They’re some of my closest friends.”

  I tilted my head curiously. “How is it that you ended up attending Gloaming Public High School while they all went to private schools. I assume that given the fact I never met them before.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, all three of them went to Apollo Prep, but our parents are really close friends. My parents may be the products of second-generation wealth, but all four of their parents remember working their way up from nothing. So it's a family tradition that all of us attend Gloaming High before we move on to college. Kind of a way to acknowledge our roots while embracing the future, I guess.” He shrugged. “Some people think it’s stupid.”

  “I don’t,” I said in a soft voice, thinking about the fact that Misty and I would now have to walk that fine line between our humble roots and potentially much wealthier future. Assuming we managed to reclaim our birthright without being assassinated.

  You know. Totally normal college student concerns.

  Zane took a sip of lemonade and shot me a pensive look, shaggy bangs fluttering in the wind the same way butterflies stirred in my stomach every time he glanced my way. “That was always my favorite thing about you, Crystal Clear. How...easy...things are between us.”

  My brow furrowed. “Uh, most girls don’t appreciate being called easy, Legs.”