The first time I saw him, he was standing in the
middle of the summoning circle with blood on hi
s hands and lightning in his eyes.
I should’ve known better than to step into the a
cademy’s forbidden wing, but I wasn’t about to l
et some dusty old rules stop me from proving I b
elonged here.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“And you should probably stop looking like you j
ust killed someone,” I shot back, gripping my sp
ellbook tighter.
He smirked. “Maybe I did.”
The air crackled. My heart did a weird flip.
I was the only heir to the Fortune 500 empire my
grandfather built from nothing. Magic wasn’t in
the family plan. Until it was.
They called me the billionaire brat with delusio
ns of grandeur.
He called me something worse.
“Out of your league,” he said.
“And you’re under arrest by the Arcane Council,”
I said coolly.
He laughed. Not the kind that made you feel warm
. The kind that made your spine go stiff.
“I’d like to see you try.”
We dueled that night. Sparks, shadows, and all.
He was faster. Stronger. Meaner.
But I was smarter. And I had something to prove.
When the council showed up, they hauled us both
in.
“You’re lucky you’re not expelled,” the dean his
sed.
“You’re lucky he didn’t kill me,” I said.
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re both on probation
. And if either of you disrupts the balance agai
n—”
We were both dismissed with a flick of her wand.
He waited for me outside.
“Why’d you lie?” he asked.
“Because you’re not a killer,” I said.
He stepped closer. “You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
We didn’t talk for days after that.
But we fought. Every night. In the ruins behind
the academy.
It was the only way we knew how to get close.
Until the night the sky cracked open.
Lightning split the heavens. The ground shook li
ke a beast waking up.
A portal. Ancient. Forbidden.
And he was standing right in front of it.
“You knew,” I whispered.
“I had to open it,” he said. “Before they did.”
“They?”
“The Shadow Coven. They’ve been after the academ
y for centuries.”
I stared at him. “You’re one of them.”
“No,” he said. “I’m the only thing standing betw
een them and this world.”
I should’ve walked away. Called the council agai
n.
Instead, I stepped into the storm beside him.
“Then I’m in,” I said.
He looked at me like I’d gone insane.
“You’re insane.”
“Maybe. But you need me.”
He didn’t argue.
We fought through the night.
Magic, fire, and fury.
The coven came with dark spells and old grudges.
He fought like a man possessed. I fought like I
had everything to lose.
Somewhere between dodging curses and sealing rif
ts, I realized I didn’t hate him.
I might’ve even loved him.
Which was a problem.
Because the final spell to close the portal requ
ired a sacrifice.
“Not you,” I said.
“It has to be me,” he said.
“No.”
He kissed me. Fast. Hard. Like it was the last t
hing he’d ever do.
Then he stepped into the light.
The portal collapsed.
And the world went silent.
They said he was gone. That the coven was gone.
But I knew better.
Magic doesn’t die. It sleeps.
And neither do I.
Not until I find him again.
Wherever he is.
Whoever he’s become.
