by Zenia, Zara
There were probably dozens of witches and wizards on campus that could have taught me, but Thomas’s card kept drawing me back. He’d been interesting even if he was a bastard, and I’d seen him in action. I knew that he was skilled in offensive magic.
And he was hot.
That never hurt anything.
So I kept the date despite my doubts, showing up at the cafe about ten minutes before the scheduled time. Thomas was already there, sitting and sipping on a cup of tea and reading a textbook about blessings and curses. I wondered if that was because he’d seen me use my powers, or if it was a coincidence.
Either way, I opened the door and went and sat at the other side of the table from him. “Hey,” I said, dropping my back on the floor and grabbing the menu on the table.
“Hi,” he replied, not looking up from his book for a few seconds, presumably until he’d finished his paragraph, and then set a bookmark in it and put it back in his backpack. “I didn’t expect you to call me.”
I shrugged. “I thought a lot about what you said.”
“And about how right it was?”
“And about how knowing some combat spells is never going to be a bad thing.”
“I’m not going to teach you unless you can admit you were wrong.”
I rolled my eyes. “I was wrong to think that I’d never be in a fight in my life. It’s nice to think I got to keep a bit of innocence about the world until I reached eighteen, though.”
To my surprise, he laughed. “I’m not sure I’d call naivety a nice thing, but I guess since you happened to run into me it’s served you well.”
I had to admit that the fact I was here with him now did feel good. He was still a smug ass, but there was something less hostile about it today. He didn’t seem ready to punch me. He was actually having a conversation with me, making jokes. That had to be a good sign.
My stomach, which was fluttering as I sat opposite him, definitely thought it was a good thing.
I ordered my own cup of tea and then we chatted about offensive magic in general. It was something I was almost completely ignorant about, and so I listened while Thomas laid out the basics. The schools of offensive magic and the basic differences between casting combat spells and blessings and curses.
The shift in him when he was talking academics was obvious. He lost the smugness and gained a solemnity instead. He was obviously passionate about it, and that made him more attractive to me still. I was well aware that I probably looked like I was swooning while he spoke, but, well, I was. I could have listened to him talk about magical theory for hours and never gotten bored.
What had been trepidation about arming myself with combat spells became a new, exciting intellectual pursuit. I’d always been more interested in cryptozoology than anything else, and that really had nothing to do with my being a witch. My studies in witchcraft had always revolved around the specialty that had shown itself when I was just five years old.
I was fighting the urge to take notes as he spoke.
When we drank our teas, and then another each, Thomas seemed to realize what time it was. We’d been talking for a good three hours. At the realization his demeanor changed again, returning to the semi-hostile smug tone that he’d taken with me at the beginning.
I didn’t care that he was back to being rude. I’d learned so much in the past hours, and not just about witchcraft, but about him too. I didn’t know what the problem he had with Sleepy Hollow University was, but I was sure that problem was with the college and not me specifically. I knew that he must value academics and learning above all else if he could sit here and talk to me with such passion about the subject.
So we said goodbye and I told him I’d text him and we should meet up again before the Salem students returned to their campus after the competition had ended.
He shrugged me off, but I got the feeling from the spark still in his eyes when we parted ways that if I asked him to, he would definitely meet up with me again.
When he was gone, I forced myself to wander around Sleepy Hollow town center for a while. I wasn’t going to be put off from walking around my home just because I’d been attacked once. That’s what the Hunters would want. It helped that it was broad daylight and I stuck to the main streets, but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. I checked my cell as I walked, and had a message from Colin asking to meet up.
I asked where he was and found out he was already in town, at the cafe where we’d had drinks on our first date. I started heading in that direction, wondering if I’d tell him the truth about where I’d been when he asked why I was in town.
“Hey,” I said, sitting down opposite him in the cafe. He was sketching something, and looked up as soon as I sat down.
He grinned. “Hi. It feels like it’s been a while.”
It had only been a few days, but it felt like longer. I realized that I hadn’t told Colin, Vlad or Daniel about the Hunter attack, and wondered if I should break the news now. But I couldn’t be bothered with being fawned over. I wasn’t feeling traumatized about the entire thing, it was more that I saw it as a learning opportunity than anything.
“It has been a while,” I agreed. “How have you been? Hiding away from the competition, I know.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I can’t be bothered with the unnecessary drama of it all.”
“It does seem a bit overblown.”
“Why are you in town, anyway? Shopping?”
“I was just having coffee with one of the Salem students.”
“Oh?” Colin’s face darkened a little. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to?” I replied defensively.
“I wasn’t judging.”
“It sounded like you were judging.”
“Marina…” he sighed, and ran his hands through his long red hair, pushing it off his face and then letting it fall again. “Do you want to be exclusive with me?”
I hesitated long enough that he already knew the answer to his question and his face fell further.
“I really like you,” he said.
“I really like you too,” I replied. “But I don’t know if I’m looking for an exclusive relationship right now.”
“So you are dating other people.”
“Yes.” I paused. “Have you stopped dating other people?”
He averted his gaze, and that told me everything I needed to know. “Not yet.”
“Why would you want me to be exclusive with you if you’re not willing to do the same for me? It’s hypocritical.”
“It’s not like that.”
“I don’t see how it could be like anything else.” I tried to temper the annoyed part of me. Why couldn’t he have just let it keep going as it was going? We were just having fun together. It didn’t have to be something else. “Are you doing this because of Nala?”
He looked up sharply. “What?”
“Because of Nala. I know something went on between you, and every time I mention her or you see her you start acting strangely. Whatever happened between you, I don’t think you’re over it.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said with a frown. “This has nothing to do with Nala. Just because I don’t want you seeing other men doesn’t mean I’m still hung up on someone I barely even had a relationship. I didn’t realize you were so judgmental.”
I stood up sharply. “I’m not going to stand here and listen to you insult me.” His answer had told me everything I needed to know about how he felt toward Nala. “I like dating you. I like you,” I said, forcing myself to remain standing instead of sitting back down. “But I’m not going to let this hypocritical situation happen. If you want to be exclusive, then we can stop seeing each other.”
Colin scowled up at me and I was sure he was going to tell me to get fucked, that we weren’t going to keep seeing each other at all.
Instead, he just nodded his head the slightest amount. “Fine,” he said, though the word sounded anything but. “We’ll keep seeing each other. No
exclusivity.”
“Okay,” I replied. “I’ve got to get going.” I hadn’t even had time to order a drink. “I’ll see you soon. When things have calmed down a bit.”
Nothing felt right as I walked out of the cafe. Maybe I should have stayed and tried to work it out, but I wasn’t willing to sit and listen to him call me names because I’d got the situation exactly right. If that was the game he wanted to play, then I would be the one telling him I didn’t want to see him anymore.
17
Colin
I was left alone in the cafe wanting to punch something.
How could she act as if I was asking for something unreasonable of her? I didn’t want to see her with another man. I didn’t want to see her looking at Daniel as if she was ready to pounce on him when I was right there. How was that fair? Why would anyone want to see that?
I’d said, not yet. I hadn’t said I wasn’t willing to give up other women, she’d just assumed it.
I buried my head in my hands.
But she’d been right.
After Nala I’d promised myself that I wasn’t going to fall for a single woman so whole-heartedly again. That was just opening yourself up to a world of hurt. It gave one person too much power. If I fell head over heels for Marina and Marina alone and she decided that she was going to fall for someone else and leave me in the dust, I’d be just as crushed as when Nala had done exactly the same thing. It was for my own peace of mind that I couldn’t let her date other guys. It made sense.
Now I’d said it like that, it was starting to dawn on me how right she was.
I was a hypocrite.
I groaned out loud, then realized where I was. I was still in the middle of the coffee shop. I should run after her and tell her that I was sorry. I hadn’t meant to push her away.
It wasn’t her at all. It was nothing to do with her, really. I was still bitter and hurt about what Nala had done to me. She’d led me on and then she’d thrown me to the curb without a second thought, without any remorse at all.
Marina had nothing to do that. Marina had been nothing but perfect, never pushing me about Nala, never pushing me about my jealousy issues even though it had been unfair on her.
I pulled my cell from my pocket. I might not be going to chase after her, but I wanted to clear the air sooner rather than later.
She answered just when I thought the call was about to go to voicemail. “Hi,” he said, wary.
“Hey.” I hoped I sounded apologetic. “I know doing this over the phone is a bit shit, but I wanted to apologize. I’ve been projecting my anger and insecurity about Nala onto you and it’s not been fair. I know you’ve not done anything to deserve it. I just want to apologize. I hate when there’s tension between us.”
“That’s okay,” she said softly. “I get that shit happened with you and Nala that didn’t end well. You don’t have to talk to me about it, but if you’re not ready to date, then I get that too.”
“I’m ready to date, I just need to go and clear the air with her. I’m going to go and tell her what I feel, and I think getting it off my chest to her rather than bottling it up until I take it out on you will help. My jealousy isn’t going to go away overnight and I know that, but I want to work on it. I like you.”
“I like you too.” I could hear the smile in her voice, and it made me smile too. “And thanks for calling me. I didn’t want to leave it like that either. Good luck with talking to Nala.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and took a deep breath.
Now I just needed to go and say all that to Nala. Whether she accepted that she’d hurt my feelings or not didn’t matter. I’d have told her what she’d done to me and getting it off my chest would help.
I had to hope that it would help.
18
Marina
I got home and Laurie was on her bed typing up a paper on her laptop. She was more than happy to put it away the second I walked in the door.
“You look stressed,” she said, shutting the lid and putting it on her bedside table. “Did it go as badly with that Salem guy as you thought it would?”
“Actually no. That was really good. Really interesting. I think I could learn a lot from him. A lot. And he just about gets over how much he hates Sleepy Hollow when he’s talking about witchcraft.” I sat down heavily on my bed, grabbing a glass of water from my bedside table and sipping on it.
“And it has nothing to do with the fact he’s hot?”
“Sure. I mean, he’s super hot. If he was less of an arrogant asshole I’d definitely be going there.”
Laurie laughed. “So, why the long face then?”
“I had a fight with Colin earlier.”
“Oh no.” Laurie stood up and came to sit beside me on the bed. “Him being jealous again?”
“Yeah. Big time. He asked me if I wanted to be exclusive even though he’s dating other people too. I told him I wasn’t going to do that and he kicked off. He eventually agreed, but he didn’t sound good about it. Then he rang me when I was on the way home and apologized. He sounded genuine, but it’s always hard to tell over the phone. He might have just been trying to keep the peace. I don’t know.”
Laurie rested her head against my shoulder. “For now I suppose it’s best to take his word at face value if he sounded genuine.”
“He did. He said his jealousy wasn’t going to go away overnight, but that he’s going to work on it.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“Yeah, and I offered him an out and he didn’t take it. That’s got to count for something too.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it does.”
I sighed again. “Casual turns into complicated so quickly.”
“How’s it going with Vlad and Daniel?”
“Really well. They don’t seem to have any jealousy at all. They seem completely fine to share me. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it.”
“As long as it’s going well now that’s all that really matters. Just take the hurdles as they come, don’t cause hurdles by reacting as if they’re already there.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m really enjoying spending time with them. We have a lot of fun. But anyway, more importantly, how are you and Brian?”
“Good.”
But there was something in her voice that didn’t have the same sunshine and rainbows tone that it had the past month. “What’s up?”
“I’m just starting to realize that maybe I like him more than he likes me. I mean, you remember the first time we met him, right? He’s more than happy to flirt with anything that moves. We’ve not talked about being exclusive, but I’ve only been seeing him. For everything that I’ve been saying to you, I’m starting to realize that the fact he might be sleeping with other people bothers me more than it should do. I need to backpedal on having put my eggs in just this basket, I think.”
“Have you spoken to him about it?”
“Not really. I don’t want to come across all clingy like Colin did earlier.”
It was my turn to rest my head on hers this time. We’d only been at Sleepy Hollow a couple of months and already we were struggling with so many relationship troubles. I should have known that everything Laurie had been saying was too good to be true when she said that just keeping it light and breezy was simple and pain free. Nothing involving that many people and intimate relationships could end up being pain free.
“Laurie there’s a difference between talking about your feelings with someone and being clingy. Colin was being a hypocrite. He wanted me to himself without being willing to give me the same thing. You’ve not seen anyone else since you started dating Brian. That’s not hypocritical. You’re with him and you like him and you don’t think you’d want him to see other people just like you’re not. That’s having a conversation.”
She squeezed my hand. “How did you get smarter than me about these things already? It’s been two months of you dating and you already know it all!” she teased.
I laughed. “Well, I have been on a lot of dates.”
“That’s true. And, if I’m judging this Thomas guy right, then there’s going to be even more in future.”
“I’m not sure about that one.”
“Not that you’d turn it down if it was offered.”
“Well, naturally not. But, still. He seems really hostile toward the college. It’s strange. There must be something personal about it.”
“Next time you see him you’ll have to ask him.”
“There might not even be a next time.” But that would be on his shoulders. I absolutely intended to give him a text and see him again if he was willing to. I would be absolutely fine with it not going anywhere romantically, but academically I knew there was so much I could learn from him and I was unwilling to give that up if he was offering. He could be as rude as he wanted as long as he was teaching me with that same passion.
“There will. But anyway, yeah, with Brian. I don’t know. I’ll think about it. I might just date around a bit and see if I’m just blowing what I’m feeling for Brian out of proportion or not. I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve dated. I took a bit of time off—”
A scream from across the hall interrupted the conversation and Laurie and I both bolted upright. “I think that was Nala,” I said, getting to my feet and wrenching the door open.
19
Marina
Someone was hurtling down the corridor away from Nala’s dorm room, but I could only see them from behind, and they were wearing an oversized sweater with a hood. There was no way of telling whether it was a man or a woman, never mind which specific person it was.
They held my attention for only a second though, because Nala was on the floor of her room moaning and writhing, and blood was spilling out of a wound in her midriff.
