Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Trilogy, #1)

by Maiga Doocy

Then he looked down at me, coldly furious, and said, “I don’t know how you manage to keep your place here. You’re useless, Loveage.”

DAMN ok then

I’m sure Leo didn’t realize what the spell was. Or that it was in his folder. And obviously Grimm wouldn’t cast something of this nature even on—” Cassius cut himself off abruptly and then stood there, wringing his hands.

UH UH finish that sentence please!

We stared at each other uncertainly. “We have to test it,” I said. “Tell me to do something,” Grimm pursed his lips, looking deeply reluctant. After a moment he said, “Sit down, Loveage.” Gladly. I would gladly sit. Such a simple request, so easy to fulfill that it made my heart sing. If that’s what Grimm wanted, I would—

LMAO

There is a particular thrill to exploring someone else’s home for the first time. It’s like peeling a curtain back from all your notions about who that person is, and instead seeing them as both who they are and who they want to be.

“But you and Grimm—” “What about us?” “I know you two have history,” Agnes said haltingly. “Ugh, can you not say it like that?” “Fine. I know you have a strange obsession with Grimm, is that better?” “It is not,” I said tartly, “but go on.”

LMAO

“Follow me,” Jayne said. “Watch where you step. Don’t touch anything without asking me first. And stay quiet.” Grimm looked at me. “We’re doomed.” It was said softly, almost to himself, and with such wryness that I couldn’t help but chuckle—forgetting

Awww cute

I sat very still once it was done, oddly warm despite the gooseflesh covering my arms, wondering if I should thank him. Before I could, Grimm ruined the gesture by saying, “You shouldn’t have cast that spell. It was foolish of you.” Any trace of goodwill I felt immediately vanished.

BROOO

Grimm opened his eyes to look at me, and I grinned fiercely back. Amazingly, the corners of his own lips lifted in a small half smile. This was unheard of. I had earned more scowls than I could count, but never a smile. The expression transformed Grimm’s face into something I hardly recognized. With my words on his tongue, and the hum of the spellsong hanging thick in the air between us, I nearly found him beautiful.

It was totally normal to find your friends attractive, after all.

Yes of course

“I promise that the only urges I’ve had to fling myself at you were of the protective variety,” I joked, seeking to lighten his mood. “I wasn’t worried about that,” Grimm said, but he sounded so affronted I was certain this was at least partially a lie. That was all right. I was maybe lying too, a little bit.

OH?

I knew now that any calm I felt because of his presence was likely caused by magic, but knowing did not lessen the effect. I wondered if I would miss this feeling when it was gone.

Grimm’s eyes were dark, and his face was set in familiar lines of determination. He also looked like he was bracing for some snide or teasing remark. But that wasn’t at all the response his words had prompted in me. I was suddenly wondering what it would be like to kiss Grimm.

OF COURSE YOU ARE

I think he must have waited out of sight somewhere on the stairs for Sybilla and I to emerge before entering the bedroom, because I never felt the telltale agony that being in two separate memory rooms caused. The pulling in my chest grew no worse than what I’d been dealing with for most of the day. I was not grateful for his consideration. Not at all.

AWWWW

It was all right that it hurt, I thought hazily. Shouldn’t it hurt when your heart was being ripped from your body?

DAMN

I had laid bare the darkest, most wretched part of myself, and Grimm was still asking me to walk back to the tower with him in a matter-of-fact voice. As though there had never been any other possible conclusion. My heart gave a painful thump. I might have loved him for that, I thought, if I hadn’t already loved him anyway. I did my best to tuck this thought away where it was safe from all the rest. This scrap of affection was mine.

Something within me twinged, a discordant note. Between the thought of dealing with Jayne and risking my affection, Grimm would choose Jayne. It was hilarious, in the most unflattering sense, which was why my chest must have ached.