Chapter 16

16

A fter what was a rather charming dinner and indeed the best pizza I'd ever eaten—though I would never admit that Noah was right—I was ready to return to my dorm for a night of studying and possibly going to sleep before midnight.

But that wasn't possible.

After Noah showed me the keys and threatening note, I was terrified to go back, let alone leave materials in there that showed I was still working on the potion. Whoever was doing this clearly thought they were going to get away with it, and we were just the "meddling kids" so-to-speak, trying to ruin their plan.

Though it went against everything I believed in, I went to Noah's flat with him. Noah Lawrence, my academic enemy, was driving me to his house, and I was going willingly.

I'd once imagined a similar scenario, but instead of my willing participation, he'd tied me up in the back of his car and taken me to his evil lair to force me to complete his assignments because he realized that would be the only way he could get a comparable grade to mine.

Ridiculous, I knew. After despising someone for so long, one began to make up ridiculous scenarios.

The ride to his flat was quiet and relaxed, both of us sated from dinner. We'd talked nearly the entire time about schoolwork and how different our masteries were than we'd expected. Noah explained that there was a lot more social investigation in Potions than he would have liked, and I couldn't help but laugh when he said it. Of course he wouldn't enjoy studying the social aspect of making potions. He was too black-and-white about the world.

I had shared about myself with this wizard, whom I had loathed for as long as I could remember, and it felt natural. I'd told him why policy felt like the straightforward choice to me, and he didn't respond with snark or distaste. Instead, he understood why I would choose a career that perhaps wasn't my first choice and expressed that I was smart for doing so.

The way we spoke, one would think we were long-time friends. That this was a normal afternoon for us. I almost chuckled audibly for thinking a relaxed conversation with Noah Lawrence was normal. Thankfully, I caught myself and turned the laughter into a cough.

"You alright?" Noah asked, his brows drawing together in concern.

I coughed harder, waving him off. "Fine."

The rest of the ride was me coughing up whatever I'd lodged in my throat with my fake cough and Noah giving me sideways glances to make sure I wasn't asphyxiating in his car.

Finally, we turned onto a well-lit street. Not to my surprise at all, there was a gate and keypad that stopped our movement. Noah leaned out his window to type in the code before the iron gate swung open, the clanking of heavy metal filling the gap of our silence.

Noah's parents were some of our community's most prominent defense practitioners. They were often in the news for winning impossible cases. They'd worked their way up in a way I dreamed of doing and made sure everyone knew just how wealthy they were because of it. Throughout the years I'd known Noah, he'd always had the nicest of everything—designer clothes, watches, luxury cars, and apparently, a luxury apartment.

As we drove through the neighborhood of high-end flats, I kept my expression tight so I wouldn't show my awe. Elegant buildings lined the streets, and they screamed wealth. The frames were tall and sleek, with matching black shutters on every window. The doors were various shades of black or gray, but no two of the same color were adjacent. Some buildings were lit from the inside, while others were cloaked in darkness already. Fancy cars lined the parking spots in front of each townhouse.

At the end of the main road, in a cul-de-sac, Noah pulled into a spot and parked. Again, he was out of the car before I could fully absorb the townhouse, which was certainly larger than the ones we passed. My door opened, and I mechanically unbuckled and let Noah help me out. Once I was on my feet, he dropped my hand and moved to retrieve our books from the boot.

I just stared at his apartment. Surely, it cost more than my family's house, and most definitely more than the tuition at Forrestbriar Academy.

"Parents bought this when I decided to get my mastery at Forrest." His tone was casual as he walked past me, and I scurried after him. I'd been gawking like a git.

The door opened just before he reached it, and since I was behind him, I wasn't sure if he'd somehow gotten his wand out for a nonverbal spell or if the door was warded to open when he was near. Just before I walked in, I promised myself I wouldn't gape at his home any more than I already had. I would pretend it was normal for a mastery student to live in such a grand flat.

However, just the foyer—yes, the flat had a bloody foyer—was jaw-dropping.

Everything was ultra-modern, with polished lines of gray, black, and emerald. It was designed as well as any luxury showroom would be, and I knew immediately there was no way Noah did this.

"Mother did all of this." Noah set the books down on an entry table and waved a hand, as if he knew my thoughts. He ran a large hand over his face, like it drained him just to have me here. "Can I get you some tea? Wine?"

"Tea would be lovely, thanks." I felt awkward despite the easy camaraderie we'd already experienced tonight.

Noah nodded curtly and turned to walk away. Since I didn't know where anything was, I followed after him.

To the left of the foyer was a formal dining room that opened into the kitchen, adorned with all black appliances, black granite, and black tile floors.

"Are you allergic to color?" I asked before thinking and immediately felt rude.

But Noah laughed and shot me a glance over his shoulder as he opened a cabinet and pulled out two—you guessed it—black mugs. I took notice that everything was immaculately clean, which I wouldn't have expected in a bachelor's flat. Surely, he had a cleaner.

I took a seat on a barstool and studied him as he filled his teapot with water and put it on the stove.

Once the water was on to boil, Noah moved around his kitchen to grab a few more items, and I tracked his every movement. I could have easily taken the time to look around his kitchen some more, but I was intrigued to watch him in this state. He seemed so much more relaxed, even with a guest in his space.

"Do you enjoy living off-campus?" I asked, never having thought of doing such before. Not that I wanted to pay for an apartment when my dorm was fully funded by a scholarship.

"Yes." That was the only answer I received. Noah turned to focus on putting the tea leaves in the diffusers he dropped into each cup.

Seeing as he didn't care to elaborate, I would not ask about it anymore. He would have shared if he wanted to, and I already felt uncomfortable enough.

Once the kettle whistled, Noah poured the steaming water into our cups before offering me sugar and milk. I declined both while he poured a generous amount of sugar into his. I was rapidly learning unexpected things about this man; never would I have assumed he took sugar in his tea.

"We can go to my study for the evening and get started looking through the books." Noah pulled a tray from a cupboard and placed the teacups on it. I picked up the tray after he slid it over to me and followed him back to retrieve the books.

We walked to the opposite side of the house, passing by the den, then down a hallway of all closed doors before we stopped at the second from the last on the left. When it opened for him again, he stood back to let me in first.

"You can take the couch so you're more comfortable," he said as he started placing books on the side table. I set the tray down on the large coffee table in the middle of the room.

Wordlessly, I grabbed my cup and the top book in the pile and took a seat on the black leather sofa that looked too perfect to sit on.

Once I opened the front cover, I was gone. Invested in the text, I wondered how each thing I learned could apply to the love potion. Minutes bled into hours, and the enormous grandfather clock nestled in the back corner of the office counted the hours with dark chimes.

Every time I looked up, I caught Noah's gaze, and he held my eyes until I looked away.

The clock struck midnight at some point, and I barely looked up from what I was studying. I knew it was most inappropriate for me to still be over here, yet I couldn't help but continue reading. There was so much ground to cover, and out of the nine books we'd brought here with us, I had only gotten through one and a half.

"Noah!" I screeched, nearly dropping the book from my hands as I lurched up on the couch. His head shot up, his eyes full of concern. "I think I found it!"

He rounded his desk and closed the space between us, putting one hand under the large book I held and another on my shoulder, leading us both back to the couch. Once we were seated, he leaned in and waited.

I pointed to the line that I just knew was our answer.

"They've spell-cast the potion. Spell-casting gives the wielder the ability to cast the effects of just one bottle of any potion to a specific area. The stronger the cast, the wider the spread. I'd already deduced it couldn't be in the food or water, and it isn't airborne either. I didn't know you could convert a potion to a spell!"

"This has to be it." Noah pulled the book from my lap and laid it on our thighs that were nearly touching. I leaned over to better read the text as he did the same.

We thumbed through pages and pages, earning more keys to our solution as we went. My eyes started crossing somewhere amid all the reading, and I couldn't help the yawns that kept coming from my mouth. I just had to stay awake long enough to figure this out, and then surely, Noah would drive me back to campus, which would be a pain in the arse for him.

The words only grew hazier and hazier as I read on, but I was determined to take in as much as possible.