Hush (Witches & Warlocks Book 2) by R. M. Webb Read Free Book Online Page A

it. It’s not safe for you to be out on your own until we’ve had a bit more time to get you sorted out and comfortable.” She smiles but her eyes say that she’d rather kill me than be smiling right now. Lucy gives a little chuckle that tries to sound sympathetic, but makes the hairs on my arms stand up instead.
    I think I say thank you, or something to that effect anyway, and then I stumble out the door and head back out towards the garden. Everything Daya said had a double meaning. Either that, or I’m busy looking for a double meaning in everything she said. With as twisted up as my thoughts have been lately, who can know for sure? Certainly not me.
    I stop dead in my tracks when I get outside and around to the garden. Or should I say ‘freaky overgrown jungle of terror?’ The perfectly cultivated and maintained trees are laden with massive fruit and leaves so robust they’re each battling for space on the crowded branches. Lush flowers bulge from thickened stems, the weight of the petals causing the plants to bow and bend. The once polite shrubs that lined the walkways are now adventuring out onto the paths themselves, devouring the carefully laid bricks in a swarm of green.
    At least my little mishap created a decent learning experience for, oh, like, everyone in all of Windsor Manor. The garden is crawling with people. Teachers helping students with reparative spells, mentors sitting cross legged amongst the flora, spinning bits of magic in their hands and letting it loose into the plants. I’m not sure what’s more overwhelming. The fact that I’m the cause of all this or the fact that this happened after I killed everything around me.
    I find Noah sitting on a bench and he scoots over without a word, making just enough space for our thighs to touch when I sit beside him. There’s this zing of energy as my magic greets his, this delicious rush of power that settles in my stomach like butterflies on a first date. And then I lose myself in the sound of his voice as he guides me through the reparative spells. Our magic twists and twines together, blending shades of gold and blue. It’s all so soothing. The gentle words of our spell. The brief moments of contact. The flares of magic and conversation from the other residents of Windsor Manor bubbling in the background. I think this is the most relaxed I’ve been since I came here.
    From time to time, I give Noah’s shoulder a little nudge with my own, just content to be with him. He’ll turn just ever so slightly and give me a little sideways smile. As the garden slowly returns to normal ... well, mostly normal. It’s still going to be a little overgrown. Whatever I did, whatever spell I cast just before I passed out, wherever the power came from, there sure was a lot of it. I’ll admit, I’m a little proud that my protection spell is so strong that even a whole team of witches and warlocks can’t quite undo it.
    As the sky starts to grow dim, people abandon their posts and head in for dinner in little groups of two’s and three’s. I’m fairly exhausted, but also exhilarated, so the two things kind of cancel each other out. I don’t think I could sleep if they told me my life depended on it. Noah and I sit separate from the rest of the students at dinner, eating and talking and telling jokes. I continue to pretend not to notice everyone else staring at me over their plates, whispering behind hands, their gazes slinking back to where Noah and I sit whenever they think they’re not being obvious.
    Thing is, I get it. I understand their curiosity. I’m an anomaly. Transitioning at twenty-three with more power than any of the other witches and warlocks sent to Windsor for help with their own transitions. And then there’s the big conspiracy around me. Who tried to hide me? Why did they try to hide me? Can I actually cast more than one kind of magic? There’s a lot of competition here among some of the students. The fact that I’m special makes me