Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) Read Online Free PDF

rest of the day.”
    For the first time since she’d
met him, she found it hard to focus on his words, for the beautiful
familiar before her licked at her hands, its tongue warm, but
pleasant.
    Her eyes watered, and she cursed
herself for being so easily moved to tears. She tried so hard to hide
it, that sensitive, needy part of her, but it was so much harder
around him. She was exposed to him, and even the fox reminded her of
that memory he’d dredged up the night before.
    As if in response, the fox lifted its
paws up onto her lap and it licked at her face, as if chasing away
the tears with its smooth, warming tongue.
    Varuj moved back to her side, sitting
upon the log as he leaned in close and pet the creatures head. “He
is your familiar now,” he remarked. “I created him, which
is not how it is usually done, but he is linked to your soul. A
mirror of your essence in magical form. And shall not leave you lest
you wish it so.” He smiled warmly at the fox first, then her.
“My gift to you.”
    Her entire body trembled as she held
back the crashing waves of affection, rubbing behind the fox’s
ear. “How can I trust you? Aren’t you… linked to
me as well?”
    He pondered her question a while then
said, “No. Not as you think.” He turned his ruby-eyed
gaze towards her. “I am tethered to you on this plane of
existence. Like…” he searched his head for some metaphor
appropriate for their cross-dimensional understanding, “like an
anchor tying a boat to the seabed.” He nodded, satisfied with
his effort.
    She crossed her legs, her hand still
petting at her new familiar. “And, what? … This is all
in thanks for me bringing you here?”
    Varuj’s hand brushed hers as they
both toyed with the chromatic fox, the creature eagerly licking at
her face and making soft little yipping noises that sounded so happy.
“It is my thanks for your agreeing to my terms,” he said
softly. “It is not often one of my kind can meet a mortal who
will entreat with us fairly.”
    “Maybe I’m just stupider
than most mortals, then.” She looked at him sidelong, trying to
read his expression but seeing that gorgeous visage just made her
more distracted and uncertain. She’d seen him for what he was.
A monstrous demon.
    She cursed him for looking so
attractive.
    “No,” he said, sounding so
sincere. “You are clever beyond your years. That much is true,”
and she could detect none of his deception, none of his charm put to
work in that compliment beyond what he exuded naturally.
    “Now I will teach you to command
and use your familiar,” he said to her, his eyes moving back to
the fox with a smile. “He may be more than a mere pet if you
know the proper incantations and methods. He may be a fierce ally. A
cunning tool.”
    She pet the fox again, staring at him
curiously. “And I’m allowed to call him a tool, even with
his cunning?”
    She wished he didn’t choose to
look as he did. Her barriers were being chipped away and she had to
keep reminding herself of what he was.
    It was so easy to forget.
    “Do not confuse he and I,”
said Varuj to her softly. “You summoned me. You did not create
me,” he explained. “I existed, thought, lived a life of
my own, long before you tore me from my place across the gap between
dimensions to aid you. Him?” he looked to the fox. “He
did not exist as separate from you. Not even for a second. He is made
up of the aether, crafted from the blueprints of your soul.” He
shrugged his shoulders casually. “You may call him what you
wish. It would be no more insulting than saying your toe is an
instrument unto you.”
    She nodded, putting her hands on either
side of the log. “Where will he stay?”
    He gave a wry smile, “That is
what I shall teach you first.” He reached out and took hold of
her wrist, turning her hand palm-up and unfurling her fingers. “He
is linked to your soul. Not merely tethered as I am,” he
explained, though with his delicate touch upon her