Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(13)

Before she could notice me, I studied her, able to get a better look at her than on Saturday. Her straight, blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail on the back of her head, and she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that hugged her body perfectly, accentuating the flare of her hips. Fuck. She’s absolutely beautiful. As she got closer though, I was able to confirm my suspicions that the girl who squared up on that asshole Justin on Saturday was the same girl who was able to manipulate the bookshelf on Thursday. The one who worked with Muriel in the library.

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” leaning against the door frame, I mimicked my stance from the first time we met. My dark blue shirt pulled tight at my chest and shoulders as I crossed my arms. She stopped walking, looking from the numbers above the doors to me. Appreciation sparked in her sapphire eyes, followed quickly by recognition before narrowing in suspicion.

“Mr. Nguyen,” she murmured, “why are you at the practice room I’ll be using for my testing?” Her use of my last name startled me momentarily before I remembered that Muriel had addressed me as such at the library.

“Well, Miss Envie,” smirking as she motioned for me to allow her through the doorway. Pivoting slightly, there was just enough room for her to squeeze by, her chest brushing against mine. I repressed a groan at the contact. Don’t torture yourself, man. “I am the student assistant helping Professor George with your testing.”

“First, it’s Lucie, only Muriel can call me Lucienne. Second, if that’s the case then where is Professor George?” She dropped her messenger bag with a thud onto the small table against the wall of the practice room, clearly irritated. Stepping into the room, I observed her. Her lips had thinned out into a line, and her hands had migrated to her delicious hips. Seriously dude, not the damn time.

“Sorry about that,” Professor George came bustling into the room with his glasses askew on his face and his button up halfway untucked under his sweater vest. “I had to run back to my office to check on something. You must be Lucienne, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Bryan George, but you can just call me Bryan if you want. I see you’ve already met my assistant for today, Hudson,” he gestured to me as he straightened his glasses and set the clipboard in his hand down onto the table. “So, we’re just going to jump right into it, what type of supernatural are you?” Professor George asked, pen poised over his notes sheet.

“Uh,” Lucie’s cheeks reddened as she looked at the ground, starting to mess with the gold strand of the necklace that was tucked into her shirt, “I don’t actually know.” Her voice was soft, laced with embarrassment. I felt my eyebrows go up.

“You don’t know what you are?” My voice betrayed my attempt to hide my surprise. Her eyes were hard as they whipped from the ground to mine, her jaw ticking in irritation. I had to repress another groan. So easy to rile up.

“Clearly I don’t, considering I just stated as such, Hudson,” she ground out, “I was raised by my mother who’s human.”

“Your mother is a human?” Professor George asks as he scribbles away on his sheet of paper.

“No. Well, yes but,” she sighed. “I don’t know what my biological mother is regarding supernatural type. I was adopted when I was a baby by a human,” Lucie confessed chewing on her lower lip as she increased the movements on her necklace strand. The beautifully pink lip tucked in her teeth kept drawing my attention. Fuck me, this girl is distracting. I shoved my hands into the front pockets of my jeans to give myself some space.

“What type was your father?” Professor George questioned, eyes still on his clipboard, utterly unaware of the growing tension around Lucie.

“I don’t know, I don’t know anything about my birth parents really,” my heart squeezed at the hopelessness that tinged her voice. What is that? Why are you getting attached? Knock it the fuck off, I reprimanded myself, shutting down whatever the hell that was.

“Do you have any family heirlooms or objects, maybe some stories that your adopted mother told you were from your parents?” Professor George finally set down his pen to look at Lucie. She hesitated, the hand playing with her necklace stilled before clutching into a fist around the chain.

“I had this necklace when my mother fou..adopted me, as well as a small locked box,” she stumbled over her words as she pulled on the gold chain, a half dollar sized coin was on the end.

“Is that...?” Professor George’s pen slipped out of his hand as he stumbled over to her. “Oh my...” He looked up from the pendant, making eye contact, “you, my dear girl, are one of the only Djinn in existence.”

Holy shit.

Holy. Shit.

“Professor George?” I inject into the stunned silence once I was able to compose my thoughts into something coherent. “I watched Lucie perform some pretty impressive reality manipulation in the library the other day.” I proceeded to inform him of the folding bookshelf which allowed her to put the reference book away. I don’t think Lucie really understood that reality warping is extremely rare, and the extent at which she performed it without any knowledge was extraordinary.

I moved in close to her, far closer than I probably should have, but I was intrigued by this girl that had the twins tied in knots. The beautiful girl that had an abundance of power and absolutely no idea of it. Her face was paler than I remembered it being, making her dark circles appear more purple. Doesn’t this girl get any sleep? What caught my eye were the scars on her face. One on her left cheekbone and another one beginning at her bottom lip expanding down at an angle towards her jawline.