Chapter 9: Trust Issues

When she opened a file, her eyes lowered, I guessed I was dismissed so I slipped out of her office.

My heart rose up into my throat. How was I going to learn everything required to take down monsters like the wraith in mere days? My luck, there wouldn't be any cliff notes or crash course to learning the proper banishing ways of stuck-up magic users.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I went down the hallway toward the library. Why hadn't Mom shown me all of this? Or at least let me come here and borrow magical tomes to read over. Get myself familiar with my power. But I'd had to learn on my own most of my life. Mom would get anxious whenever I asked her a direct question about magic. She only taught me enough not to harm myself because she knew I'd never stop trying to figure out how to use my ability. Now that I was here, I wished I'd pushed her more to teach me.

"Where are you going?" Jasper leaned against one of the marble columns with an unlit match sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

My breath caught and I skidded to a stop. "Library. Gotta do some major cramming."

"Nah, that place is just full of dusty books." He pushed off from the wall and grasped my hand, tugging me along with him. "Only thing you could get in there is a headache from all those words."

I tugged against his hold, stopping in the middle of the hallway. A cluster of students weaved around us, some throwing uneasy looks over their shoulder. Wow, rumors must spread fast in this school. Why else would their faces appear like I would strike them if I got too close.

"Why aren't you coming?" Jasper pushed back his sandy hair, switching the match to the other side of his mouth and I wondered what tricks his tongue could do.

I shook my head to clear it of the lustful musings. "Do you want me to fail? I've got to study."

"That's what we're going to do. Trust me." He winked and sauntered away like he was sure I was staring at him.

At the cockiness of his walk, his broad shoulders, his tight butt. My feet started moving of their own accord because he was right. I'd rather be with him...the library could wait.

"Wait up." I jogged after him. What would one afternoon of goofing off with Jasper hurt? Had to be better than eyestrain and I could pick his brain on his magical experience. Gleam some tips and practice a few magical words.

We pushed out the double oak doors and into the early afternoon sunlight. I blinked, adjusting to the brightness. The academy was a huge, refurbished mission, had limited lighting. It looked permanently evening time inside no matter what time of day it seemed.

I inhaled the fresh air, missing my mom and how we'd eat outside every Sunday unless it was raining. She'd gotten a picnic basket on her wedding day from my grandmother as a family tradition. She and Dad ate cheese and crackers with a bottle of champagne after they got married because they'd been so excited, they'd forgotten to eat beforehand. When I was born, they continued. And even after Dad died, we kept having our Sunday afternoon picnics.

At the thought of my dad, my stomach clenched. Mom had said he died protecting me. But in racing to get out of the house, I hadn't had time to have her elaborate. I needed to check on her. Let her know I'd passed the first test - even if it was with a restriction. If I called her, she'd hear the underlying panic in my voice.

"You coming?" Jasper called out ahead of me.

"Yeah." I took out my cellphone and texted my mom while I followed him.

Hey, Mom, I passed the first testing. Gotta study for the next one. Call you later. Love and miss you, Zoey.

I hit send and bumped into Jasper's back. "Sorry."

"This where it happened?" he asked, his voice low and in awe rather than the smirking of earlier.

I glanced past him to where he was talking about and bile rose in the back of my throat. He'd taken us out to the football field, right beside the black, inky stain four-foot-wide where the wraith had been earlier.

"Is this some kind of joke? Cause it's not funny." I turned away from him. Double crap, I'd been so stupid to think he'd help me. He just wanted to find out about me blasting the creature for whatever morbid reason.

"Hey, hey." He dashed in front of me blocking my path. "It's not like that at all."

"Oh?" I stared up at him, ignoring the pain in my chest at allowing him to trick me like this. "Then how is it?"

"First, you need to trust me." He held out a hand.

I looked past him to the blackened, flattened grass. Logic told me to run back inside and pour over books. But the slow smile he gave me made my heart speed up. I sighed, "What the hell."

"Yes!"

"But if this doesn't help me, I'm putting a spell on you to have all your hair fall out or something."

He squirmed but moved back to the spot and knelt. "Come closer, but don't touch any of the black area."

"Why not?" I sat beside him.

"You don't want to resurrect a wraith, do you?"

"Gez, then why the hell are we here?" I went to back away, but he grasped my hand.

"Relax. This is a safe zone for the next thirteen hours. No magic done here can harm anyone."

After the trouble, I had with the last one, no thanks. "How do I know you're not making that up?"

"It hurts me that you don't trust me." He placed a hand to his chest.

"Sorry, but I don't really know you."

"Fair enough. Guess you'll have to wait and see. In the meantime," he took the match out of his mouth, "Concentrate on this red tip here. Focus on it until it is all you see."

I narrowed my eyes, trying to do what he said.

"Tell me when you've got the tip as the only thing in your vision."

"I'm working on it." How long was this supposed to take? I scratched my cheek.

"Stop fidgeting," he chuckled, "God, you're worse than me."

"Is that supposed to be one of those backhanded compliments?"

"Maybe." His voice was light and playful. "Be a good girl and keep practicing and you may get a prize from the teacher."

"Promises, promises." I smiled, but when he tapped the match to my nose, I glared at him.

"You're not trying hard enough."

"You do it then." I huffed, leaning back on my hand.

"No." He shook his head. "I already learned how to do this when I was five."

"Show off." I sighed when he held out the match again. "Fine."

Sitting back up, I forced my eyes to stay on the stupid little match tip. Why couldn't he have given me something larger? "This is impossible."

"Feel yourself sinking into the match. Into the fragments of the red, unburnt parts, the potential here much like your own."

"Isn't there a shortcut to this? Like a magical spell to make this easier?" I kept staring at the match, wishing he'd say the exercise was done.

"Sure, there are ways around everything, but then the next step will be harder, and you'll want to cheat. And the next and the next until your soul is as empty and dark as the wraith was."

"Wow, I didn't know you could channel Reed. You sound just like him."

"Reed has his points. Don't agree with him on everything, but on this, I do."

"Why?" I blinked, my concentration breaking.

"Personal experience."

The air around us shifted, making the hairs on my arms stand up. "You can tell me," I prodded.

"Let's just say dark magic is very seductive. Now. The match."

"Ugh, I'm never going to get this. Can't we do something fun?"

He gave me a crooked smile. "Sure, I can think of a lot more things I could be doing with you right now."

My heart skipped a beat at his sexy tone and the way his grey eyes darkened with promise.

"But first, you've got to light this."

Rolling back my shoulders, I refocused as he held up the tiny wooden stick. I ground my back teeth, wishing the damn thing would hurry up and strike so I could enjoy my day and hang out with Jasper. This time I felt myself sinking into the tip. The scene around me, outside of the match, blurring. "Done."

"Right. Now imagine a single filament of the match igniting."

"No." I didn't look away, even though sweat trickled down my back. "I'll set you on fire."

"Not if you do as I say."

Fear clung to me like a strangling vine. "It's too risky. I-I don't have control over my magic like you do."

"I know how to extinguish myself."

"I can't - " My stomach heaved.

"Do it!"

Before I could look away, a popped sounded. The match held a flickering flame.

"Holy cow, I did it!" I let out a laugh not believing it was that easy.

"Told ya." He grinned and extinguished the flame.

Behind us, a girl screamed. I whirled, dreading what I would see, knowing that it was going to be mega bad.

Her sweater was on fire!