feeling incredibly overwhelmed.
Nick stepped away from me, and Tom stepped up. “You want it hidden?” he asked.
I shrugged.
He scowled down at me and then said, “Your side should work. Can you lift your shirt? Just high enough I can reach your side.”
I lifted my shirt up, untucking it from my skirt, to expose my stomach and back, below my bra line.
Tom squatted down, turned me a bit, and then bit my back.
I cried out, but as quick as it had started hurting, it stopped.
He licked the wound, and I had to close my eyes to avoid looking at Nick, so he wouldn’t see I had enjoyed that.
“Done,” Tom said, his voice raspy.
I opened my eyes and scowled at him. “I don’t feel any different.”
He chuckled. “You don’t, no. I do, however.”
“How?” I asked.
“We have to go to class,” Gary said.
“I’ll tell you later,” Tom promised.
“Have fun in class,” Nick said, though the tension around his eyes told me he wasn’t looking forward to his class.
After tucking my shirt back into my skirt and straightening the front so the buttons lined up, I turned away and headed into the gardens.
In the center of the garden, beside a water fountain, the ghost of a woman lingered.
She spun around when I approached. “Ah, good. Let’s start your lesson.”
I looked at her and asked, “How can a ghost teach me magic?”
She smirked and the water in the fountain rose up and then turned into ice spears.
My jaw dropped.
The water fell again, and she laughed. “I only have my magic while teaching you. So, let’s get started. What’s your affinity?”
“Fire,” I said. “Though, I don’t have any control over it.”
“Set your room on fire?” she asked with a knowing smile.
I nodded. “A couple times.”
“My sister had the same problem as a child. You need a familiar.”
“Cats don’t do well with wolves,” I mumbled.
She shook her head. “Cats aren’t the only familiars. Go into the forest tonight, without your guardians, and summon one.”
“They’re not going to like me going out on my own,” I said.
“It’s not up to them. And this is mandatory,” she said.
“How do I summon one?” I asked.
She huffed. “You really are untrained.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Can you draw a summoning circle?” she asked.
I stared at her. “A what?”
She ran a hand down her face. “Triune,” she called.
The Triune appeared beside us.
“She doesn’t know how to draw circles. Can one of you draw her a summoning circle and help her summon a familiar?”
The crone sighed. “You’re so much trouble.”
“It’s not my fault my parents died. By the way, if witches have Guardians, why didn’t my family?”
The Triune looked at each other.
“They did,” the maiden said softly.
Suddenly, everything clicked. “Thornton,” I whispered. “He was my parents’ Guardian, wasn’t he?”
They nodded.
Tears sprang to my eyes. That was why he’d come and gotten me. Why he had been around so much of my childhood.
Where had he been when the vampire attacked?
Tom ran into the garden and to me, panting. “What’s going on?” he asked, hands on his knees.
My eyes widened. “What—”
“You marked her?” the crone asked.
He straightened and shifted nervously. “Yes.”
Surprisingly, she just nodded and said, “Good.”
“Why are you here?” I asked Tom.
He wiped my cheeks. “My mark lets me feel your emotions. You got really sad suddenly and it worried me.”
“Excuse me, we’re still in class,” my spirit teacher said. “Shoo.”
Tom smirked and ran out of the garden.
“We’ll help her tonight,” the crone said and then the Triune disappeared.
“Make a flame,” my spirit teacher instructed me.
“Wait, what do I call you?” I asked. I didn’t want to just call her teacher or spirit lady.
“Clara. Now, stop stalling,” she said.
I held out my right hand, palm up, and stared at it.
Heat began to build within me, and then my left hand burst into flame.
She sighed and shook her head. “We have a long way to go. First, you need your familiar, so for today, we are done. After you get your familiar, then the real training will begin.”
The Triune decided since I needed a familiar, I wouldn’t go to any classes until I had one. So, I made my way to my room.
Halfway there, a guy with red hair and bright green eyes walked towards me.
He stopped and watched me. “So, you’re the one everyone is here for?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Apparently.”
He arched a brow and looked me over from head to toe. “You don’t look like much. Guess that’s why you’ll need more than one guardian.”
I bristled at his statement. “If you don’t want to be here, the