Page 59 of An Arcane Education
An hour later, after the lab concludes, Alaric follows me down the familiar path and hops the fence behind me so we can head into the depths of the forest. We walk in silence, and I navigate to the main clearing where the remnants of the bonfire still sit, then pass through to the other side to continue through the trees. But the longer we walk, the more I begin to doubt myself. At some point, I realize we should have found the mushrooms by now, and even though that heavy, dark energy pervades the atmosphere, I can’t quite find what I’m looking for.
“It must be around here somewhere,” I mutter. “I remember passing this bush and turning right a few steps later…”
But it feels as if I’m walking in circles, and no matter how much I try, I can’t seem to find them. Frustration bubbles up inside me, and after almost an hour of searching, tears brim in my eyes. I try to wipe them away subtly, but Alaric notices anyway.
“Are you crying?”
“No,” I lie.
“Vivian.” He gently grasps my elbow and spins me to face him, stopping my pointless traipsing through the leaves.
I breathe out a long, slow breath and stare at the outline of the key under his shirt, too ashamed to make eye contact as tears spill onto my cheeks. Crying in front of your professor who you also happen to care about entirely too much is one thing, but crying in front of him due to sheer frustration about something so trivial is another.
His voice is gentle when he asks, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I can’t find it. I know it’s probably not a big deal, but I’m really frustrated and wish I could just do something right for once, but apparently I can’t.” With every word, I’m crying harder and unable to hold back the tears.
“Vivian.” He places his fingertip under my chin and raises my face toward his. I wait for him to give me some placating words, but instead, he leans down and kisses me.
Shock and desire make my heart race when his lips find mine. He’s gentle at first, almost hesitant, before he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me closer, his lips stealing away every word I want to say. I drape my arms around his shoulders, slipping them under his jacket and feeling the ridge of muscle beneath the soft fabric ofhis shirt. Alaric radiates heat, and I press myself harder against him as he simultaneously tightens his grip on my waist.
The kiss is soft at first, but the energy that’s built up between us for so long erupts. His fingers thread through my hair, tugging gently at my scalp, and I bite his lip gently. He groans as he kisses me harder.
When he finally pulls away, I inhale a shaky breath. “What was that for?” I ask in an attempt to lighten the heavy tension between us.
He smirks. “I figured it was the best way to get you to relax,” he teases. “And… I care about you more than I should. I’ve been wanting to kiss you for a very long time, and my restraint finally snapped.”
“Oh. Well, uh, thank you for helping me stop crying.” I laugh awkwardly, wiping away the remnants of the tears drying on my cheeks.
“No need to thank me. That was mostly guided by my own selfish desires.”
Smiling, I reply, “Well, I’ve been wanting the same thing since the night I met you, so I suppose we’re on the same page.”
“I suppose we are,” he agrees. “We probably shouldn’t have done that, but I assume you can manage to exercise discretion with this situation?”
“Yes. I won’t tell anyone.” His phrasing makes me wonder if he means for this to continue between us, which I certainly wouldn’t object to, but I don’t ask at the risk of looking foolish. I’ve been able to tamp down my feelings for him thus far, but only because I was functioning under the assumption that he’d never allow for things to gofurther. Now that my assumption has been proven wrong, my dismissal of my own desires won’t be nearly as effective.
“I’d also appreciate if you could keep this information about the forest to yourself for now as well,” he adds. “This includes other professors as well as other students.”
“Not even my Mycology professor?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet. I’d like to see if I can do some investigating first. And I’d encourage you not to walk through the forest alone anymore, but you seem to be prone to putting yourself in questionable situations sometimes.” The slightest curl of his lips shows me he’s not entirely serious about the last part, but I don’t blame him for worrying about my safety when it comes to this.
“I’ll try to behave. And I’ll hold off on telling anyone for now, but please tell me if you find anything out, okay?”
He nods in response then grabs my hand. “Come on. Let’s get you out of here. If I were a better man, I wouldn’t have kissed you at all, but if I acquiesced to the selfish part of myself, you’d be alone with me for the rest of the day in significantly more compromising circumstances.”
My heart skips a beat at his words as he all but confirms that he wants more from me. At this rate, our constant proximity will only continue to fuel the fire burning between us, and even though I know it’s a dangerous game to play, I have neither the self-control nor the desire to stop it.
CHAPTER 24
The following week, I’m still reeling from the kiss. In class, Alaric had treated me normally, and during tutoring, the tension between us was so thick I could hardly breathe. We didn’t talk about what had happened, but that was partly due to us being in one of the magical practice rooms so I could utilize my magic to a greater extent without being worried about ruining something. I had been slightly disappointed about us being in a public space, having already spent too much time ruminating on a daydream I’d had that involved us making out in his office during tutoring time.
However, the way he’s looked at me in our brief stolen moments has had my heart racing, and I’ve had to hide a smile more than once around others. Every passing glance from him makes me wonder what comes next, and when.
Not only that, but in the tutoring session, I had managed to cast my first minor illusion in the form of changing my eye color, and I had also been able toperform minor elemental manipulation with all four of the main elements.
The intense, frantic atmosphere on campus comes to a head this week as midterms begin, which makes me wonder how chaotic finals week will be when it comes in a couple months. I fuel myself with copious amounts of coffee over the course of the week, which helps me stay alert for the moments I most need the focus but also heightens the underlying anxiety about my success here.
