Cruel Magic (Royals of Villain Academy #1)(27)

She’d slip me by with magic, she meant—probably the same way she got herself by.

I laughed. “Then what are we waiting for?”

As the three of us pushed past the pub door, the good humor stayed with me, side-by-side with the hum of my newfound power. This was a different kind of power right here: people who’d lend me a hand when I needed it, people I could turn to.

If Malcolm wanted to break me, he was going to have to try a whole lot harder.





Chapter Eleven





Rory





My heart sank the second I stepped into my tenth floor Seminar on Insight and spotted Jude’s dark coppery hair at the far end of the room. I’d been starting to think maybe I’d managed to avoid any classes with him.

Of all of the scions, I found him the hardest to figure out. Was he pissed off at me like Malcolm was? Did he find the whole situation entertaining in a sadistic sort of way?

Between the two of them, right now I trusted Jude even less.

Unfortunately, thanks to my door becoming mysteriously stuck this morning until Imogen had heard my banging on it and magicked it open, I’d gotten here at the last minute. The only remaining seat was right next to him, smack in the middle.

My heart sank all the way through the floor when I noticed Victory at the desk behind it. She shot me a sharp little smile with a tilt of her angelic face. “For a girl with so much catching up to do, you cut it awfully close,” she said with just a hint of venom in her coy voice.

Three guesses who had sealed my door, and the first two didn’t count.

“I’ll aim to be more punctual next time,” I said, and dropped into the chair. My legs were a little wobbly from my sprint up the stairs. Holy crap, why didn’t these magical assholes invest in elevators?

“If it isn’t our ice queen,” Jude said in an affected drawl, his lanky body sprawled out as if it didn’t quite fit the desk. “No, wait, you didn’t exactly rule over that ice. Maybe I’ll just call you Slip’n’Slide.”

“If that makes you happy,” I said, not even bothering to look at him. If I looked at him, I’d have to notice how irritatingly stunning that angular face of his was. Under my desk, I twisted the charms on my bracelet, one tiny way to relieve my nerves.

A petite woman with coiffed blue-white hair and owlish eyes stepped into the room—Professor Sinleigh, I assumed. Like the teachers in a couple of my previous classes, she was joined by an older student who was acting as a teacher’s assistant. Unlike the previous classes, today’s assistant was Declan Ashgrave.

I tensed in my seat as he leaned his slim frame against the wall to the side of her desk, his bright hazel eyes sweeping over the room. I hadn’t had any classes before this with two of the scions in attendance. But then, all Declan had done so far was not do anything while Malcolm ripped into me. Maybe he’d feel a little more responsible for students’ well-being while he was in this professional role.

A girl could hope, right?

“Miss Bloodstone,” Professor Sinleigh said, peering at me as if through glasses even though she wasn’t wearing any. “I understand you’ve had several private tutorials at this point to establish the essentials. Do you have any complaints if we jump right in?”

Would she really teach things differently if I said no? The faint buzz of magic I’d collected walking by the forest quivered at the base of my throat.

I hadn’t known how to even start unraveling whatever spell Victory had cast on my door—Banefield had warned me that messing with other people’s spells was a lot harder than casting your own—but Insight sounded like the simplest of the fearmancer skills. You figured out what people were thinking, what they wanted, and what they cared about, like normal people tried to all the time. We just had the benefit of magic to sharpen our perceptions.

And I was tired of looking like a clueless newbie around the people who were so eager to see me that way.

“No,” I said. “That’s fine.”

“Good. If you find yourself confused, you can let me know—or Mr. Ashgrave, my aide, is available for extra assistance after class.”

She clapped her hands. “As the rest of you know, we normally get started with a practice exercise. Middle row, turn to the student at your right. Left row, you two at the back work together. Pierce, Mr. Ashgrave will offer himself up for your use. Take turns reaching out to your partner’s mind and mentioning one internal observation you’re able to make.”

It was clearly my lucky day. I glanced to my right and found Jude smirking. He swiveled in his seat to face me. “Looks like it’s you and me, Bloodstone.”

I turned like he had. I’d done a few exercises in “reaching out” with Professor Banefield, so I had the basic idea, but I’d never had enough magic in me to do more than get the briefest of glimpses. I couldn’t say I was looking forward to what I might discover inside this guy’s head if I managed to open it up.

Jude’s dark green eyes fixed on mine for a second before traveling up to my forehead as if he was going to look right inside my head. He murmured his private casting word. I didn’t know how to connect meaning to my made-up words yet, so I’d been using regular words that captured the right impression for me so far.

“Did you eat a Twinkie for breakfast?” he asked, his lips curling with disgust. “You might as well chow down on dog food. You’re putting scions to shame here.”