Spring Rain (The Witchling #4)(11)
My child, he added. At eighteen years old, he didn’t feel ready or able for the responsibility of another life, especially when his track record of saving those he cared about was frightening. He’d nearly lost Summer and Decker, who would bear the scars of what they’d gone through forever, and he had lost Morgan.
It couldn’t really get any worse.
He slept fitfully. The next morning, he walked Biji back to the school then returned to his family’s cabin for a shower and hot breakfast. With some regret, Beck shaved off the beard after his shower, all except for a neatly trimmed goatee. He stared at himself in the mirror and rubbed his smooth cheeks. He missed the beard already. Its rough texture had intrigued him and helped pull him back into the real world whenever he got lost in his thoughts.
Maybe I need to be paying more attention to the rest of the world. If he had been, he might have known his brother was lying to him or that Dawn had been found.
He left the bathroom and pulled on his clothing and shoes. It felt incredible to be in his old room at his parent’s cabin once more. A fire burned across the room from his king-sized bed, and it was toasty and warm. The carpet was plush beneath his toes. He was looking forward to a good night sleep in a real bed.
Being back in his environment, he didn’t think he’d want to leave it to camp out in the forest again. The scent of baked goods and lasagna filled the house. His grandpa was making enough food for a small army as a welcome home party and also to help feed the myriad of witchling families in town for the equinox.
Before he could check out what food was in the kitchen, his phone buzzed with a text. The number for Amber, the Light Arts head instructor at the boarding school, popped up on his screen.
Hey – need you here this morning, she had texted.
Beck knew she wouldn’t call if it weren’t important and likewise, that there were few things Amber couldn’t handle. He’d left her and the school alone for most of the past three months, except when Amber called or he had to drop off new Light witchlings he discovered during his talks with his element.
Sensing her urgency, he pulled on his snow boots and a light rain jacket and ordered his magick to take him to the school. White, smoky fog billowed around his feet and swept him away.
He materialized in the front yard of the main log building housing the administrative offices, girls’ dorms, and most of the classrooms. The porch, main dining room and reception area were crowded before classes started, and he wove his way through the students, waving and smiling at those he knew. He reached the quiet hallways leading to the teachers’ offices and paused to look back at the students.
In three months time, he’d doubled the amount of Light students present at the school. A smile softened his taut features and warmed the bitterness that had begun to settle into his heart. The Light was getting stronger, fortified by the hours he spent growing it and the increase in students whose concentrated presence here acted as a buffer against the Dark.
He was proud of all those he’d found. Some had been like Summer and Morgan – lost to the greater witchling community – while others had been scheduled to attend but faced delays due to finances, family concerns or other issues. He had learned multiple sales pitches and approaches to winning over reluctant parents and skeptical students and brought everyone he could. He instituted a scholarship program as well to help those families less well off. The result was a school teeming with life, laughter and Light.
I did this. With his blood humming happily from the amount of magick in the air, Beck turned away and strode down the hall towards Amber’s office.
He nearly ran into her when she whipped open the door and started into the hallway.
“Hey!” The cheerful instructor with bright blue eyes grinned. “Good timing. Walk with me!” She always spoke in a singsong voice, and her happy air magick had the effect of brightening everywhere she was. She had a file in hand and was headed back through the building towards the back door leading out into the Square, the courtyard area where students gathered for bonfires, outdoor classes and just to hang out. On either side of it were the dorms and a fitness center.
Beck had been avoiding the area after the arson in December that Morgan was framed for setting. He recalled too easily her humiliation in front of the witchlings who battled the fire and hadn’t wanted a reminder of her pain. He saddened thinking of how much he loved the boarding school, and how cruel of an environment it had ended up becoming for her. She was the reason he insisted on changes with regards to how bullying and student relations were handled. There had been a lot of changes during the time he exiled himself to the forest.
“Wow. You can’t tell it even happened.” He looked around. His father had dumped a ton of money into repairing and expanding the school. The dorms were now two-story to make up for the influx of Light students, and the fitness center was being moved to a fourth building that would be located at the far end of the Square. “It looks amazing.”
In the crisp air, he was able to smell the new paint and construction materials of the new buildings.
“The second stories are done, and not too soon! We are busting at the seams!” Amber led him towards the new dorms and the stairs leading to the brand new second floor. The bottom floors of each building consisted of the original dorm rooms that survived the fire and were lined by a new wooden walkway beneath a canopy so students could walk between each other’s rooms without having to deal with the elements.