Whitethorn Academy

Chapter Thirty-Six

The ground was freezing. Blades of grass pressed into my skin like needles, pricking over and over at my face.

Someone was shaking me, their hand gripping my arm so tightly, I was sure it was going to leave bruises. I groaned as I opened my eyes, my breath puffing out of me in sharp clouds of mist.

A pair of brown eyes leered down at me, an unreadable expression on their face.

Then another set of brown eyes. Was I seeing double?

"Let go of her, Aleksander," Jason's familiar voice sneered.

I blinked again. Alek's hand was wrapped around my arm. He'd been the one shaking me. Warmth radiated from him, the only heat to be found. I was shivering, as if all the heat had been leeched from me.

For a second, I could have sworn relief flashed in Alek's eyes as I moved to sit up, brushing a few stray blades of grass off my blazer.

"What happened?" I asked, glancing around. Alek still stood over me, with Jason a few steps behind him. Mari stood on the sidewalk, a look of pure anger on her face.

"You started to head into the woods," Jason said. "It was like you were possessed. I was calling your name, but you kept moving, like you didn't even hear me. Then you tried to lash out with your magic. Alek grabbed you and the magic stopped. You hit the ground."

"You stopped me?" I asked Alek. He still had a grip on my arm.

Alek released me then, as if finally realized he hadn't let go. He took a step back, his normal mask of indifference falling into place. "Jason tried to stop you, but you didn't listen. I wasn't about to be killed by your magic because you started hearing voices."

I stilled then. Hearing voices? How could he have possibly known about that?

"Alek," Mari snapped from the sidewalk. "Let's go. I'm tired of these losers."

For a second, it didn't seem like Alek would obey. But then he turned on his heel and stalked away. Mari had to nearly run to keep up with him. She was saying something, but Alek paid her no attention as he kept moving.

Jason offered his hand to help me up and I took it. My knees shook as I righted myself and Jason put a hand on my waist to steady me. "You okay?" He asked, concern in his brown eyes.

"I feel a little light-headed, but fine. What even happened?"

Jason looked around, but there was no one in sight. Even so, he looked slightly paranoid. "Let's get somewhere more private, okay?"

I gave a nod and followed Jason as he ushered me away from the gym and the woods that lingered behind it. The further away we walked, the warmer I became. We said nothing as we walked, but I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever had happened made Jason feel very uncomfortable.

Was it me? Whatever I'd done under the spell of the siren's voice? Or was it the fact that Alek had been the only one able to snap me out of that trance? I was glad he had, even if I knew Mari would be angrier than a raging hornet.

But I had nearly hurt people with my magic again. It seemed the only time it wanted to come out to play was when I wasn't in control of myself.

The inside of the library was warm and silent. There were more people here than the last time I'd been here, but classes weren't currently in session.

Jason led me to the back, where the private study rooms were. The same ones Naomi and I had used the day I'd gotten the letter from my mother that formally disowned me.

His name was written on a sign-up sheet next to one of the doors. He opened the door for me and let me inside. All of the chairs and the table had been pushed to the edges of the room, leaving the center empty.