Cruel Magic (Royals of Villain Academy #1)(49)

The warmth quivered up my arm. I yanked my hand back. “That’s amazing. Why the four heads?”

Connar tugged his shirt back up but left it unbuttoned. I couldn’t say I minded the partial view I got of his sculpted chest. “It’s to symbolize the barony,” he said. “The four of us scions who’ll rule together when it’s time. My real family.”

“Except there’s five of us,” I had to point out, even though I had less than zero interest in ruling over anybody.

He shrugged. “Sorry. When I got it, we had no idea when they’d ever find you or how that whole situation would play out. The guys—I grew up with them. Even before we started here, we’d see each other all the time.”

“I suppose I’ll forgive you,” I said, and he smiled again. I wanted to prod him about how his chosen family had responded to me—what did he think of Malcolm’s and Jude’s harassment?—but that was what he came up here to get away from, wasn’t it? All of the conflict and the jockeying for power back on campus.

He’d grown up with that too. He probably saw it as normal. But even so, here he was being friendly with me rather than taking up Malcolm’s mantle.

“So, Blood U must be pretty different from the schools you went to before,” Connar said into my silence.

Understatement of the year. “I haven’t gone to schools much, period,” I admitted. “My parents mostly homeschooled me. I guess so they could keep a close eye on me.” I hugged myself against that uneasy thought. “It was just recently that I started doing a few classes at the local community college. That place was… a lot more straight-forward.” I could be diplomatic.

Connar chuckled as if he could guess how much I wasn’t saying. “Maybe it’s complicated,” he said, “but it’s got to feel right, too, finally getting in touch with your magical power. Realizing all the things you can do that you couldn’t have known before. Doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.” I looked toward the lake, debating how much I wanted to tell him. Nothing that would hurt me if he happened to pass it on to Malcolm, but at this point, my skin was pretty thick. Why shouldn’t I be honest, if he wanted to know? “My parents were open about their magic. With me, I mean. I thought I was Nary my whole life, and I wanted so badly to have the same kind of power they did. I just wish I could have found out differently.”

Connar was quiet for a moment. “It’s a pretty big deal even for us. We know we should come into our powers because they run in our families, but until you taste that first wisp of fear and direct it into a spell, you can’t be completely sure you won’t turn out to be some kind of dud. Fifteen years or more is a long time to wait to find out.”

Maybe he could understand the awe of the discovery to some extent then, if not the pain of what I’d lost in the process.

“How old were you?” I asked.

“Just a month past my fifteenth birthday. For the families with the strongest bloodlines, it usually kicks in pretty quick. I’ve been here a little more than five years now. Can’t say I’ll be sorry to leave and get on with the rest of my life.”

He set his hands on the log, leaning back a bit. It occurred to me that while he was being this open with me, I really ought to dig for the information that would help me get out of here.

“One of the girls told me there’s wards all over campus to stop joymancers from finding the school,” I said, which was technically true, because Imogen had told me that. Connar didn’t need to know I’d prompted the information. “Why would we be worried about that? What would they even do if they found the place?”

What could I do that the fearmancers wouldn’t want to happen?

Connar tipped his head to one side, his forehead furrowing. “It’s never felt like a pressing threat while I’ve been here. But I suppose—joymancers can be brutal when they figure they’re in the right. And they’d definitely disagree with a lot of the things we’re taught here. They’ve killed fearmancers before—they’ve destroyed property… Basically the entire younger generation of fearmancers from across America is here most of the time, along with the best teachers in the magical arts. If they attacked the university, it could be devastating.”

I didn’t want to think about killing anyone. I doubted the Conclave would approve that kind of brutality anyway. The fearmancers assumed everyone operated the same way they did, just like they couldn’t even conceive of the fact that I might object to anything they did. The joymancers might have ways of imprisoning the teachers and other major figures, though.

“But if the place was compromised and everyone got out, we could just set up school someplace else?”

“I don’t think it’d be that easy. Not on the same level. My great-grandfather told me it took them fifty years for the staff to get the illusions and other barriers perfect so they could bring in Nary students without worrying about revealing ourselves. He was one of the first mages to attend with them. The desensitization chamber took a while to construct too. We couldn’t just recreate everything like that.” He snapped his fingers. “Better not to let them get at the place at all.”

Well, that was certainly useful to know. A twinge of guilt ran through me for using him when he so clearly had no idea I had a hostile agenda, but I hadn’t lied to him. I’d just asked, and he’d answered.