CHAPTER 5

KATHERINE. It was quite difficult to think when an exquisite, but unfortunately enraged boy was staring me down. The air around us felt electrified and for a moment, I wondered if he was going to snap my arm in half. Of course, I’d just spilled ink all over his documents, so maybe I was projecting. Embarrassed at this entire situation, a blush heated my face, while the color of his eyes darkened as he stared at me. I stammered, trying to apologize again before a voice came from behind me. “What are you doing?” I immediately glanced over my shoulder to see Lenore walking over to us and the relief I felt at seeing her was immeasurable. “She ruined my documents,” he answered, no longer sounding like he wanted to tear someone’s head off, and Lenore frowned, glancing at the documents on the table. The ink on them still had a sheen to it and the thought of it completely drying and ruining documents which looked like they were a couple of decades old made me apologize again. ‘Why the hell did you even leave an open bottle of ink next to them?’ I wanted to say when he still looked aggravated with me but I kept my mouth shut because it was entirely my fault for knocking it over. His grip on my hand relaxed and he let go of me just as Lenore said, “It’s hardly ruined.” With a flick of her wrist, the ink suddenly levitated off the documents and table and I jolted. I then blinked at the balls of ink in the air before they all joined to form one ball and as it was directed into the ink bottle Lenore was now holding, it dawned on me. “You’re a water Elementalist,” I muttered, amazed, and she gave me a small smile. “Earth too.” She tapped the stone table and the circular groove in it shifted downward a bit before she placed the ink bottle in it. She then drew the ink on my hand away and kept it in the bottle too. “Okay, I’m jealous.” Being able to do stuff like that had to be mind-blowing. A small laugh escaped her before she glanced at the boy. He no longer looked furious but he didn’t look pleased either and his eyes had changed color again. They were green now and I tipped my head to the side, wondering why they did that and trying to remember if my dad had told me about werewolves with changing eye colors. “What? Not good enough?” Lenore asked when he picked up one of the documents to inspect it and the corner of his mouth twitched. “Whatever.” His eyes then darted to me and he frowned before she smacked the back of his neck. ‘Do they know each other?’ “Be nice. She’s my roommate.” His brows knitted. “Huh?” “She arrived today.” Lenore turned to face me. “Katherine, meet Theo. He’s one of the ‘top three famous beautiful boys’ Josie mentioned.” She mimicked Josie’s voice when she said those words and the names Josie had mentioned came to mind. ‘Oh, Theodore… Well, Josie’s short description of him wasn’t wrong.’ Theo frowned again, but this time it was at what Lenore said and it wasn’t unkind. “Oh,” was all I could say in response and when his eyes darted to me once again, I felt like I had to say something else. “Are you restoring the letters?” I asked, gesturing at the document in his hand. My dad had told me one of the punishments history teachers gave students was to restore the words in old books in the library. ‘Was he being punished?’ “Yes,” he replied, narrowing his eyes at me. “Sorry about spilling ink on them,” I said and there was a beat of awkward silence before he gave me a nod. “See. You can make friends if you’re not being an ass,” Lenore told him and he rolled his eyes, but a faint tremor of amusement was on his lips. The smile wasn’t directed at me though, it was directed at her, and the way he’d stared at me before Lenore showed up came to mind. ‘I don’t think he wants us to be friends.’ “Go away. I have things to do,” he said as he pulled her arm and gently pushed her towards me before she took the document in his hand, flipping through the pages. From what I could read, it seemed to be a journal of a lecturer at Blackwood. “At this rate, your professors won’t be able to give book restoration as a punishment anymore.” She paused and furrowed her brows. “I don’t know if they’ll like that or hate that.” Theo gave her a blank stare and she dropped the document on the table before holding her hands up like she was surrendering. “Fine, fine, we’re leaving.” She looped her arm through mine and a couple of seconds after we began to head towards the door, she glanced over her shoulder. “Will you be at the bonfire?” For some reason, I also looked over my shoulder to see his response. He shrugged. Lenore then resumed walking while Theo’s gaze shifted to me and I pressed my lips together before speaking. “Bye.” He nodded and though his gaze still wasn’t welcoming, it was a big step up from the glaring he had been doing less than two minutes ago. Lenore and I walked out of the history section and as we made our way down the stairs, I remembered what Josie had said about the people that appeared to be too close to any of the boys. I didn’t know what Poppy Dawson considered to be ‘too close’ but Lenore and Theo seemed pretty close to me. “Does Poppy bother you?” I asked and she snorted. “No.” ‘Oh.’ We headed back to the help desk which a woman was now standing behind and she had been more than happy to help me get my textbooks. When she came back with the massive stack of books, I sucked in a breath and Lenore gave me a look that said ‘there, there’ while her eyes twinkled with withheld laughter. We then split the stack between the both of us and walked back to Stavenger Hall. **** I was beginning to drift off when my phone began to buzz next to me and my eyes snapped open. I grabbed the device and seeing that it was a call from my aunt, I immediately answered it. “Hello,” I started, sitting upright on my bed which felt like a cloud and a rustling noise came from the other end before the voice that I’d wanted to hear all day filled my ear. “Kathy?” A smile immediately tugged at my lips. “Hey, Kit.” “Can I come stay with you?” he croaked and my heart tightened in my chest. “Uncle Lander won’t let me.” “You can’t. You can’t but you can definitely come visit me.” “Ah… Uncle Lander wants to speak to you.” I frowned at that but didn’t tell him not to give our uncle the phone even though I didn’t want to speak to the man. He was a member of the pack’s council and he had been the first person to say that I wasn’t mature enough to take over the pack. He had even proposed to temporarily take over the Alpha position till I was ‘mature enough’ but most of the other council members and I rejected that idea. He probably had a giggling fit when it was decided that I would be attending Blackwood. “Have you made any progress?” came Uncle Lander’s displeasing voice and I rolled my eyes. “Sure. He was carrying a placard that said ‘Katherine’s mate’ in front of my dorm,” I replied monotonously. “This is not the time to be sarcastic,” he said harshly and I could almost picture him scowling on the other end. “And this is not the time for you to interrupt my conversation with my brother. Give the phone back to him.” The sound of his breathing was all I got for the next couple of seconds but I had nothing else to say to him so I breathed directly into the microphone too. Lenore was currently in the bathroom so no one was here to see this display. “Brat,” I heard him mutter before his voice and heavy breathing was replaced by my brother’s voice. “Kathy?” I smiled and properly pressed the phone to my ear once more. “Yes, Kit?” “So when can I visit?”