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The mage himself presses his lips together. I’m not sure she told him that, because he looks like he tasted ass for the first time.

“Use him as a resource to better your magic.” The professor claps. “All right, then, up, up, up. Time to work.”

Eli and I head to part of the floor that’s far away from the Foundations. “Do you want to go first?” he asks me.

And make a spectacle of myself? No thanks. I make a hand gesture. “No, show me what you got.”

Eli tips his head. “Are you sure? I think I freaked you out last time.”

I didn’t think anyone noticed my reaction in the baths. It’s not every day a vampire pulls the blood out of your body. “Nah, you’re good. Hit me.”

“Okay,” he says reluctantly. He shifts and grows quiet, channeling his power. The red rings around his irises bleed into their natural brown until they’re almost fully crimson.

The change within is gradual. At first, it’s a quickening of my blood that slowly turns to it rushing through my veins. Steady increases in my heart rate until it’s hammering, battering my rib cage. Out of control. That’s how it feels.

{Take it.}

I frown at the voice. Take the magical assault? Steal the power? What am I supposed to do, exactly? As always, though, the voice, annoying and impossible to ignore, is never helpful. Maybe I need to try to control my blood?

I gnash my teeth, attempting to force a deep breath as my legs buckle and every single scar on my back burns. Any attempt to build a wall is thwarted by Eli’s strengthening attack. I can’t concentrate with the way my instincts are screaming at me to fight with my fists or flee.

I’d give anything for this to stop.

But I can endure it. I’ve been through worse. So, that’s what I do. Take the assault and refuse to fall to the mat and simply give in. The harder Eli presses, the more that same, soul-deep hunger for power crackles to life. It’s as strong as it was during the Threshold ceremony. I reach for the sensation, but there’s a barrier between us, like dipping my hands into an empty well. There’s a space where magic should be, but it’s gone.

Disappointment is sour in my gut. I’ve never craved anything as much as I do affinities. The least Vaeloria could do is give me one. Even something simple like runecraft. Anything at all would be better than nothing.

Eli draws the blood away from my heart, making my chest throb. That insatiable desire ripples up my spine.

{Fight.}

{With what power?} I snap back at the voice in my head, knees weakening as my blood turns sludgy. Fuck. This sucks.

Eli releases his hold on me, and with that, my thirst for power wanes. Maybe it’s a side effect? Vampires, if starved, can go into bloodlust. Maybe Eli’s affinity works the same way.

He frowns. “You didn’t even try to fight me.”

“Trust me, I tried.” Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Drake moving through the pairings of students, watching, occasionally giving feedback. My hackles rise as he gets closer.

“Again.” If Eli is casting when Drake arrives, then he’ll focus on coaching him and leave me alone.

Eli shakes his head. “But it’s your turn.”

“I’ll go in a minute.” Or never, if I had it my way. With a determined nod, I take a deep breath. “Go.”

Eli reluctantly begins again. This time, instead of simply moving my blood through my body, he draws droplets of it out. Crimson beads rise out of my exposed skin.

{Fight,} the voice booms, realizing we’re in danger, but all I can do is watch as the blood pools, arcing out of my body and straining toward Eli. That same ravenous hunger blooms. I reach for it, but ash coats the back of my tongue. The crackling of a fire roars in my ears. Heart jack hammering, my vision splinters. I blink, shaking my head, and try to grasp at any drop of magic in my body, but the well is bone dry.

It doesn’t make any sense. It never has. Why can I feel where it should be? What is the voice? Why am I terrified to find out?

Drake stops beside Eli, assessing the situation before his eyes clash with mine. The mage, even with the scowl that seems permanent, is handsome. It’s a pity Vaeloria wasted beauty on him. Eli draws his fingers together to reel the blood in his direction.

I sway on my feet, suddenly woozy. That yawning hunger cracks open once more. Insatiable. It hurts like a gaping wound. I clench my hands at my sides. What I wouldn’t give to go one day without wishing for power. Humans live without magic every day. Is this how they feel?

Goddess, no wonder they’re so miserable.

“Fight back,” Drake says, as though it would be that simple.