Page 21 of Inked in Bloom
I wait.
And wait.
Glance around at my classmates, close my eyes again, and wait some more.
Moments pass, or minutes, and the only sounds are the brush of feet across dirt, the shifting of fabric, Dani’s obnoxious gum habit, and a few quiet comments from Kitt as he walks around the circle.
“Good, good.” Even though he’s been murmuring this whole time, his voice is so close it makes me jolt. “Excellent form, Cherri. Have you been practicing already?”
“Just a bit with my roommates. I’m a quick study.” Even with my eyes shut, I can feel her preening under his attention.
He moves on without a word to me, and I frown, whispering to my friend. “Are you flirting with him? He’s our professor.”
“That’s half the fun of being back in school.” Her elbow nudges my side. I open one eye and peek at her. “Think of all the things they couldteachus.” She waggles her brows with her eyes still closed.
I groan.
Kitt glances in our direction, catching me. “No peeking.”
I shut my eyes, and Cherri’s breath warms my shoulder. “Don’t act like you weren’t gawking at Professor Briar during orientation.”
Heat spreads from my cheeks, down my neck, and across my collarbones.
“I can’t help it if he’s easy on the eyes.”
To be fair, everyone is pretty attractive in this realm. Thefact that we are all in abnormal hues only draws my eye to each harbinger and their distinct features even more.
“See—”
“That’s all it is.” I cut her off with a hiss. “Looking.”
She chuckles. “For now.”
“Foralways.”
Kitt’s voice halts my train of thought. “Something distracting you, Monroe?”
My eyes snap open, and Cherri is smiling and shaking from stifling a laugh, despite remaining in her grounding stance.
More like someone?—
“No. I’m good.” I clear my throat. “Don’t mind me. Just a city girl trying to get used to the whole…outdoor barefoot thing.”
I glance down at my toes to sell it.
“If bare feet in the outdoors makes her squirm…” Dani snorts between gum chews, and the rest of the class laughs—clearly at my expense. Dani spits out their gum, and it gets caught in the viny tendrils hanging around the table. A few of them fight over the piece and then disappear beneath it. “Whoopsie.”
What the hell?
The instructor shakes his head and waves Dani over while everyone else returns to practicing today’s lesson. Once he sends the asshole back into the circle, this time as far away from me as possible, Kitt rounds the students and places a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t pay attention to them.” The vise around my chest unclenches a touch. I shoot Dani a death glare that they unfortunately can’t see with their eyes shut.
Screw them. If they want to goof off and play class clown, then fine, but they won’t rattle me. Meanwhile, I’llmaster my magic, graduate this training, and find a way to check on everyone back home. I dig my heels into the dirt and return my attention to the lesson.
After Botany,Kitt leaves, kissing Tess deeply as their paths cross. I almost feel like I’m intruding on their privacy, but no one else blinks twice at them.
For Bloomology, we learn that all harbingers started as humans. “Harbingers are those who Fate claims for herself, whose lives have been unfulfilled somehow.”
