Page 29 of Darkness Defined

“Hypothetically?” Alex filled in with the beginnings of a smile that instantly made me feel better.

“Yeah, that.” I waited for him to join me by the exit, and we stepped into the bright afternoon together.

“Well, hypothetically, if you were skipping, then I’d hope it was for a good reason.”

I seriously doubted Alex would agree with my list of good reasons. We fell into an easy silence as we made our way across the quad. All around us, other students hurried to and from classes, shouting to each other, but it didn’t quite touch our quiet little bubble. It was kind of… nice? Was that what having a friend was like?

I glanced over at Alex, curious if I should say something. That’s how socializing worked, right? He said something, then I said something, back and forth until we reached our destination or ran out of things to talk about. Except, what could I possibly say that was even remotely interesting to someone like Alex?

“I joined a tutoring program,” he said, taking the decision out of my hands.

“Oh?”

He flashed me a grin that somehow made his green eyes brighter. “Yeah, ran into this guy—his name is Rubio, he’s older than us—but he started this tutoring business and invited me to join, seeing as how I’ve already read the whole Demon History text.” He gave me a quick glance. “Did I mention it was for Demon History? Anyway, turns out there’s a tremendous demand for tutors on campus. I already have a couple of clients. Can you believe that?”

I could absolutely believe that.

“I know the uni stuff is covered, plus we got those dining cards, but it’ll still be pretty cool to have some extra cash. Don’t you think?”

I nodded, because of course having money was great. I already had a bit stashed away from the couple of fights I’d done. Granted, Neese took his cut, but it was easily more than I’d ever earned.

Alex switched to talking about the day’s lesson with a passion I’d never seen anyone show history, not even the professor.

I debated asking how much the tutors went for. Surely I could spare some of my winnings for a few sessions. There would always be more fights. But the words stuck in my throat. Alex was smart, really smart. Would he be interested in being friends if he knew I was struggling so badly? Even if I got a different tutor, he was bound to find out eventually.

“Oh, hey. We’re here.”

I glanced up at the moss-covered bricks and groaned. If I was bad at regular school subjects, I was worse at Battle Tactics. Which didn’t make a lick of sense to me, considering I was holding my own at the club.

Alex’s forehead crinkled in a frown. “Don’t worry. You’re not the only one having a tough time figuring out this shadowing business.”

Great, so he’d noticed that. I walked toward the doors and he pushed them open.

“Seriously, did you see when Elle lost Cara’s backpack in a pool of shadow? It took Vera half the class to fish it out. The whole time Elle kept apologizing. Meanwhile the rest of the class couldn’t even figure out how she’d done it. You’ll get it.”

I hiked my shoulder in a noncommittal response and made my way over to the section of the room we’d been assigned. Instructions were already on the board to spend fifteen minutes meditating and basically connecting with our inner demon, then to move on to summoning enough shadow to fill your hand. A handful of our classmates were already getting situated, but there was no sign of Vera. Not surprising really. Sometimes she showed, but most times it was a TA.

“Really?” Alex groaned. “When are we going to do something else?” Grumbling to himself, he folded his legs and sat on the ground. Within seconds, an inky substance began swirling in his upheld palm.

I couldn’t help but envy him. He made it look so easy. Like all you had to do was want it and it would come. I wanted it plenty, but I didn’t understand how it worked. Why it worked and no one had bothered to explain that. Vera kept talking about all of this stuff like I was supposed to just get it. Alex clearly did.

The dark fog-like substance swirled around his palm, then ventured to curl around his wrist and twist slowly up his arm. For a second, I thought he’d lost control of the stuff, then I realized he had a light smile on his face. The darkness continued to move, intimately gliding over his body. I swallowed as it reached his shoulders and he tilted his head back so it could sweep over his throat. With his eyes closed like that, his body perfectly relaxed, Alex looked comfortable and completely at ease. No tension in his shoulders. He sat with his back perfectly straight, highlighting his tapered waist, which the shadowy substance was now encircling.

“Hey, Matt! Think fast!”

I tore my gaze off of Alex and his effortless skill in time to see Vera hurl a ball of something at my head. But it was too large to catch and too late to get out of the way. I threw my arms up to shield my face, bracing myself for impact. Except, when it came, it was dull, like it was far away.

I cracked an eye open and found a black shield hovering before me. Beyond it, Alex’s mouth was hanging open and Vera had a smug expression on her face. I dropped my arms to get a better look at the timely shield, only to have it vanish.

“What was that?” I looked at Alex in the hope he had some idea.

He stood and walked over, eying the area in front of me. “I don’t know. She threw something, and you… stopped it. Whatever she threw hit your shield and shattered.” He looked at me with wonder and I stared at the empty space in front of us.

“But how?”

He blinked a few times and shook his head. “You’ve got me. I can summon shadow and make it do a few things, but I’ve never sustained anything of that magnitude.”

I frowned. “But I didn’t do anything.”