Winter Fire (The Witchling #3)(35)

“I like Morgan. A lot,” Beck said then added to himself, too much.

“So be her friend,” Connor suggested. “That way, I don’t have to kill you, and you can still hang around her. I’d really prefer that, anyway. Don’t get involved.”

“That might work.” Beck smiled. No way in hell. What other option did he have? He wanted to be around her. He had to protect her. He thought quickly about what might’ve happened in the forest earlier that made her get into a fight. He could think of nothing that made sense; the earth, however, might tell him. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s great,” Connor said, face softening. “Still the best person I know. She deserves someone who can appreciate that.”

Beck heard the unspoken message. If he wasn’t serious about her, he needed to walk away. He was afraid to venture down that path.

“Okay. I’m going to find out about the forest incident,” he said. “If there’s anything else, you know where to find me.”

Connor grunted in response. Beck trotted away into the forest. He paused when he was far enough away from the sounds of the boarding school to meditate. The earth cleared a spot for him, and he knelt with a deep breath.

“Tell me what happened with Morgan,” he instructed the earth.

There was a pause while the magick swirled through him. Then, images formed. They were out of sequence, another of the challenges with communicating with the earth. It started with fire then cleared to show Morgan. Morgan running through the forest, after the fight, then actual images of the confrontation itself.

Beck tensed, waiting to see who was in the forest with her.

Alexa.

His eyes flew open as he saw the familiar face of Dawn’s most loyal lackey. Morgan kicked Alexa’ ass – that much was clear from the earth’s memories. Beck wasn’t concerned about this confrontation.

He was beyond worried about the next. Dawn sent Alexa as a message to Morgan, and Morgan was sending one back, whether or not she knew it. Alexa returning with her tail between her legs would infuriate Dawn.

He pulled out his phone and saw a message from his father. Ignoring it, Beck sent a note to his twin.

Hey – can you track/sense Morgan and Connor and any other in-betweens?

He sent it then opened his father’s.

Forgot – your mom says to remind you about the Winter Charity Fundraiser Wednesday. Your tux is ready.

Beck perked. He loved dressing up for the annual fundraiser his father hosted at a local lodge. A lot of wealthy people came to ski this time of year, and his father knew most of them in the area. The charity dinner had been a part of Beck’s winter holiday plans since he was ten.

The introverted twin Decker hated them.

Awesome!!!! Beck texted to his father.

Decker’s response popped up. Nope.

Beck rolled his eyes. His brother was the king of brevity. He tucked his phone away. Any hope he had of Morgan being under Dawn’s radar was now gone. He had a choice to make: confront Dawn and tell her to back off or try to keep Morgan close to him.

Confronting Dawn sounded like a great idea, if she was capable of rational thought and not carrying his daughter. Of course, staying at Morgan’s side might prove almost as challenging.

But who else deserved the protection of the Master of Light more than a witchling caught between Light and Dark? He thought again of Summer, of how she’d gone through so much pain to free herself from the Dark. Was Morgan’s battle as difficult?

She deserved better than he’d given her thus far. She deserved a chance to succeed. He just had to figure out how to give that to her.

Beck sat, deep in thought, for a long while. At last, he returned to the school, his resolve solidifying.

He’d keep her close and pray with every ounce of Light in his body he was able to keep her safer than he had Tanya.





Chapter Ten


For the first time since she arrived, Morgan was paying attention in class. Her workout that morning left her alert and tingling from head-to-foot from the full-body contact with Beck.

“Everyone who did their homework, pass it up, before we head to the Dark Campus for the rest of the day,” Amber said from the front of the class.

Morgan dug the small glass ball out of her bag and handed it to the girl in front of her, who nearly dropped it. Morgan caught it. The flames inside the ball rendered it hot.

“Amber, I don’t think you want mine,” she said, raising her hand.

“Oh, you mean you did your homework?”

Morgan flushed. Amber’s friendly wink showed there were no hard feelings. Sonya giggled from her seat beside Morgan.

Amber walked to Morgan. In her hand was a basket in which she was collecting the assignments from others.

“It’s a little warm,” Morgan explained.

“Your interpretation of the instructions is … unique,” Amber said, studying the ball in Morgan’s hand. “The theme for this one was winter.”

“It’s a star. Kinda,” Morgan said. She looked at her project. It didn’t look much like a star, but she couldn’t yet manipulate the fire magick into shapes. It sort of did what it wanted. The star she tried to make was a funnel-shaped flame instead.

“Alright. I’ll give you credit,” Amber replied. “It’s a lovely winter fire tornado. In the basket.”