Chapter 7

7

A s soon as I walked into the lab, a vial was thrown at me. My reflexes weren't the best, but I'd seen it soon enough that I just barely managed to catch it.

"What's this?" I said, twirling the vial to inspect it. Momentarily, I wondered if he'd finished the potion already, but when I saw the telltale silver iridescence in the bottle, my hope was squashed, and in its place, confusion. "Acetafrin?"

"You said that every time I was around, you get a headache. Just wanted you to be your best while we do this tonight. Can't have you not pulling your weight because of a headache."

I just stared at him, squeezing the vial of pain-killer in my hand. Was he joking? I couldn't see the look on his face since he was bent over his textbook, and his voice gave no cues.

"Um…thank you?"

"That's not the only thing you're going to be thanking me for." Noah looked up from his book with that stupid smirk on his face. I raised a brow and backed closer to the door. "I changed the recipe today. The conch crumbs would have caused an adverse reaction with the seaweed extract, seeing as their components—"

"—are reactive at a temperature above forty-five Celsius." He was right, and I hadn't even considered that. As much as I loved potions and was generally pretty good at them, this slipped by me. Perhaps I wasn't as good as I'd previously thought. I would have to do more studying.

I crossed the distance to the workbench, setting down my bag and moving to his side to look at his book. It was a text from one of his classes, I assumed, since I'd never seen it before. Leaning forward, I scanned the text, reading for a solution to this problem.

After a minute, I reached forward to point something out at the same time that Noah did. Our hands clashed, and I yanked mine back. It was then I realized we were standing far too close for comfort, so I took a step to the side.

Noah cleared his throat, pointing at the spot in his text that I was going to touch. "I think if we replace the conch with mussel mucous, it will get us to the right place."

"Because they both share the counteractive component we need to deplete the quality of the flamingo feather in the love potion." I looked up at him, our accidental touching forgotten as I smiled. This was why potions were so fun. There was never a perfect method or recipe, and it took experimentation and reverse potioneering to get to your destination. The journey was wildly enjoyable.

"Precisely. And it won't interact with the seaweed after it boils."

"Perfect, let's get started!"

"One problem." He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the blond strands back.

"Which is?" I didn't like the tone in his voice or the look on his face.

"I don't have access to mussel mucous. It's a higher-level ingredient, too potent for anyone not yet qualified to use." I could see the resentment in his eyes that anything would be kept from him, and it made me giggle. That earned me a scowl.

"Sorry, it's just… You've never let that kind of thing get in your way before. Where can we get some?"

"I have my suspicions that there may be some in the professors' brewery on the top floor."

"Can we get in?"

Noah took a step back, brows raised. "Are you, Henrietta Baker, suggesting we break a rule and sneak into the professors' supply?"

I ground my teeth, working hard not to roll my eyes. "Yes, Lawrence. If it means we can get this stupid potion made, I'm willing to bend a rule or two."

"Oh, we're not bending any rules. We're going to break the code completely tonight. You sure you're up for it?" He taunted, leaning forward until he was at my eye level. I didn't answer him, hoping we could just get the rule-breaking over with and finish the damn potion. "What are you so worried about anyway? Who are you so in love with that you're so worried about the next attack?"

"I'm not worried about that."

"Then why are you so determined to make the anti-potion? If you don't like anyone, then what do you have to worry about?"

"I like to take precautions, Lawrence. More importantly, I want to help all of the innocent victims of these senseless attacks."

"Of course you do." He straightened, grabbing his bag and pulling it over his head until it crossed his body. "Come on. There shouldn't be anyone up there now."

He strode from the room, and I had to hurry to keep up. Since he was in this building regularly, he knew exactly where he was going, and I just had to follow.

We climbed three flights of stairs and finally made it to the top floor. Noah checked to make sure there was no one up here before we continued.

"Quickly." Noah grabbed my hand to pull me along with him to the last door on the left. A few spells later, he'd removed the wards on the room and pushed the door open.

Once we were inside, I couldn't help but look around in awe. There were so many supplies and tools in here that I'd never had access to, perhaps not even known about. I wandered over to the side cabinet to scan its contents but was yanked backward by my wrist.

"We don't have time for your curiosity, Baker. Don't forget, we could get in serious trouble for being here."

"Now look who's worried," I mumbled, crossing my arms as I followed him to the supply closet.

Once we were inside, I marveled at the perfectly organized potion ingredients and supplies. I needed just a few minutes to mentally catalog everything, so I let Noah do the searching.

"Are you helping at all, or are you drooling over there?" Noah scolded without looking at me, and I rolled my eyes.

I'd already learned the organization system, so it wouldn't be hard for me to find the mussel mucous. It was obvious that the closet was organized by usage, then alphabetical order, so I searched for dissolving ingredients, and then—

"Here." Squeezing between Noah and the shelf, I picked up a tiny jar and handed it to him. "Is this enough?"

Noah tensed, his breathing labored as he took it. He rolled the tiny jar in his fingers then grabbed another one before pulling the remaining jars forward on the shelf, his arm stretched over my head.

"Just in case. I really don't want to have to come back up here." He put the jars in his bag and then turned to the shelf on his left.

"What else do you need?"

"Looking for one more thing." His fingers ran over the labels above his head, the muscles in his back straining against the white shirt he wore. Noah's chest rose and fell with more effort than should be necessary, and his fist clenched.

We both straightened the second we heard the door to the brewery click.

"Noah," I whispered, my eyes darting out of the closet.

"Fuck." He shoved another bottle into his bag and grabbed my arm.

"What do we do?" I could not get expelled or put on probation. That would set my life goals back by who knew how far. My heart raced as I tried to think of a way to get us out of this situation.

Footsteps sounded, and lights turned on in the main room. I swore I would start crying if we didn't figure this out.

"Come here," he said, yanking me closer to him with an arm around my waist. "Play along, or we'll both get expelled. Trust me?"

I nodded, hoping his plan would work, whatever it was. Then, his lips were on my neck, tongue trailing over my skin.

"Lawrence, what are you—"

"Baker," he warned. "Love potion."

I realized exactly what he meant as I heard more shuffling.

Wrapping his arms around me, Noah pushed me out of the supply closet, his lips still on my neck. I tried to ignore just how…good it felt and remember to play along.

Which wasn't hard.

"Noah," I breathed as he continued pushing me. I closed my eyes for a second, just feeling his hot breath on my skin.

"Who's in here?" called a female voice, and Noah chose then to knock us to the ground, his hand holding the back of my head to prevent it from slamming against the ground.

"You taste so good, Baker," Noah murmured against my skin, which was growing hotter by the second. I kept my eyes closed to pretend this was all a dream, that I wasn't being kissed by Noah Lawrence and we weren't violating every rule possible in front of a professor.

"Hey! You two! What are you doing in—oh."

I forced myself to run my hands over Noah's back and through his hair, hoping I was playing the part convincingly. My skin tingled everywhere his skin touched mine, my neck especially burning from his treatment.

"Noah," I breathed again, but not for acting. His lips were creating a reaction in me completely foreign and hot, and I didn't know how to handle it. "You're…"

"Shh, baby. Let me—"

"You two, get up right this instant! Of all the places you could hide to be together, this is the worst you could have chosen!" I didn't dare open my eyes, afraid I would give away our fake infatuation.

I continued running my hands all over Noah, feeling the defined muscles just beneath his uniform shirt. Images of what he looked like underneath took over my brain for a slight moment before I could regain my control. It was suddenly the only thing on my mind. Potion forgotten. Academy code forgotten. Professor forgotten.

"Up! Noah Lawrence! I don't care what this blasted love potion has done to you, get out of this brewery this instant!" Her voice sounded panicked and shrill, loud enough that I was horrified someone else would hear her even a few stories down.

That had Noah moving. His body lifted off mine for a moment before he pulled me to stand with him. I caught something dark in his eyes for the briefest moment before he bent slightly, gripping the back of my thighs and hoisting me up. Naturally, as if I'd done this a million times, I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck before his lips were on my neck once again. I looked over his shoulder to see a potions professor I believed was named Aster looking at us both with disapproval. I only knew her name because she was a professor Ivy was quite fond of and had taken multiple classes with. She taught potion education, I thought.

I was committed to the bit at this point, and it seemed to be working. Professor Aster thought this was all a result of the love potion, and hopefully, that meant we wouldn't be caught for what we were really doing up here.

Noah licked a stripe from my collarbone up to my jaw as he walked me towards the exit, and I couldn't help the sound that escaped my throat as my head lolled back.

"I can't wait until they catch whoever is doing this to you poor students."

Noah grunted as we walked over the threshold, and I vaguely heard the door slam behind him. Then, he pressed me against the wall, my legs still wrapped around his body like they belonged there.

His wet lips were sucking, biting at my neck still, and my stomach was fluttering.

I peeled my eyes open, seeing we were truly shut out of the brewery with the professor inside. But what Noah was doing felt so foreign and amazing…

"Noah," I gasped as he bit down on the spot between my neck and shoulder. He hummed in response. Momentarily, whatever I'd been about to say escaped my thoughts, my mind entranced by this experience with Noah. And he hadn't even touched my lips yet.

"I think we're in the clear. You can stop." My breaths came rapidly, my voice barely more than a whisper. I wasn't sure he even heard me, nor was I sure I actually wanted him to stop.

He planted a few more languid kisses against my neck. His hands, which seemed to span the entirety of my thighs, were gripping me with a near-bruising force.

"Noah," I whispered again, eyes closed. I wasn't sure what I was even asking for or suggesting at this point.

"Fuck, Henri," he whispered back, his warm mouth suddenly absent from my skin. Tenderly, he lowered me until my feet were on the floor. His chest rose and fell violently. Fuck, I was confused.

Did we just? How did? What?

I blinked hard as I watched him back away from me.

"Sorry, I just—"

"No need. I think she bought it." I bit my lip, uneasy. Or was that something…different? I took an involuntary step forward, and he took a mirrored step back.

"I'm sorry." His eyes were dark, his expression cold as stone. Turning on his heel, he stormed away, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides.

When I returned to the student brewery, albeit a few minutes later, after I'd had time to catch my breath and get my bearings, Noah was long gone, all his things with him.