Magic of Chaos and Shadows: A Steamy, Best-Friends-to-Lovers, Good-vs-Evil Romance by Lana Andrews

Author:Lana Andrews [Andrews, Lana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

9

Naphalia

“Goof! What are you doing?” I laugh.

Zedrin and his gaggle of kids turn around slowly, their hands raised in a gesture of innocence.

“No-thing!” they chorus.

The series of giggles that follow the “nothing” tells me that it’s definitely not nothing. I put my hands on my hips, giving Zedrin my signature I know you did something look.

“What are you up to?” I ask.

Zedrin grins innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

All of a sudden, the chair behind them creaks, moves, then suddenly sprints up and down the classroom. Zedrin and his students burst out laughing, some of them rolling around the floor in hilarity.

“That was a good one, Professor!”

“Do it again! Do it again!”

“Show us how to do it!”

“I want to use that rune!”

“Ab-solutely not,” I emphasize, shooting the kids a look. “We’re here to learn magic that helps in city tasks.”

“But that’s boring!” a girl protests.

“Hey, I never said you can’t learn these things on your own time,” I remind them. “You just can’t learn them in the classroom. I will not accept responsibility for accidental house fires as a result of runic magic experimentation. Now, go on home. Your parents are waiting for you.”

“Bye, Professors!” the kids cheer on their way out the door.

The classroom empties out, all the kids either leaving out the front doors or running upstairs to their dormitories. Those who live in the city are permitted to commute, but those who live elsewhere in the kingdom have to live in the schoolhouse itself. We have six dormitories, three for each grade level of girls, and three for each grade level of boys. We have fifteen total kids living in the dormitories, and we have to cook for all of them. It’s only been a couple months of doing this teaching thing, but Zedrin and I almost feel like these kids are our own kids, in a special way.

“Hey, what are we making for dinner tonight?” I ask on our way out of the classroom.

Zedrin takes my hand in his own before answering, something that’s become an everyday occurrence in the last few weeks. He grabs out a rune, flips it, and checks to see which side lands up in his palm.

“Chicken bowls it is, then.”

We head into the school kitchen, which is right behind the rune lab on the first floor. I grab out the ingredients, prep them, then Zedrin sets up the runes for what’s basically a cheat code on cooking, and all we have to do is watch the stove fires for any signs of burning out of control. The pot stirs itself, and the chicken flips in the pan of its own accord.

“I feel like this is both the millionth time I’ve done this and the first day of the school year,” I sigh, leaning my head on Zedrin’s shoulder.

He threads his fingers through my hair. “Why is that?”

“I’m so tired, it’s not even funny. But it’s been a whirlwind of a couple months, hasn’t it?”

“Even more than the first day we got here,” Zedrin agrees, nodding slowly.

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