Thornhill Academy. Chapter 52

**Allison**

The couch had swallowed me whole, soft and warm against my sore body. The TV flickered in front of me, but my eyes barely followed the movement; the weight of exhaustion pressed down harder than the cushions ever could. Every nerve ached. My limbs felt like lead. And beneath it all, a deep, gnawing hollowness, my magic reserves flickering like the last stub of a candle.

It would be rude to ask him to leave, wouldn’t it? To send him away just so I could…feed. Just so I could siphon enough power to stop my body from feeling like it was falling apart. But I needed it. The shift had drained me to the bone, my body still screaming for more energy to finish mending itself. And there was a certain warlock down the hall who deserved a few more nightmares tonight. The thought made a faint, dark smile twitch at the corners of my lips. I shifted my gaze to Evander. He was sitting opposite me, plate long cleared, shoulders relaxed in a way that still radiated strength. When his eyes met mine, he smiled, warm, steady, like a fire that never went out. My chest squeezed. Well, I guessed if he were going to run, he would’ve done it already.

“Hey, Evander… I, um…” I started, then faltered. My voice came out quieter than I meant it to, small against the hum of the room. How did I even ask this?

His head snapped up, all that golden warmth sharpening into focus. “Is something wrong?” His voice was careful but there was a thread of panic beneath it, like he’d already leapt to the worst possible conclusion.

I shook my head, chewing my bottom lip. “I need to feed…”

For a second, he blinked at me. His gaze dropped to the empty plates on the table, then back to me with a slight tilt of his head, confusion written clearly across his face. “You…”

I exhaled slowly, curling my fingers against the couch to ground myself. “Not food,” I said, forcing the words out before my courage crumbled. “Magic.”

His expression shifted, confusion giving way to realisation, and then something softer, steadier. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t pull back. He just looked at me, like he’d been waiting for me to say it.

“You’re hurting,” he said quietly, no judgment in his tone. “Take what you need, Ally.”

My throat tightened at the way he said it, like it wasn’t a burden, like it wasn’t a crime. Like I wasn’t.

“I don’t want to take too much,” I murmured, staring at my hands. “Not from you.”

His smile was small, but it reached his eyes. “Then take enough.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, the faintest glow of his dragon flickering under his skin. “I’m not going anywhere.”

My heart gave a stupid little stutter. I reached out, hesitant, my fingers trembling as they hovered near his wrist. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” he said simply. “Feed.”

The word hummed through me like permission. Like trust. And it made my whole body ache with want.

It was ridiculous, really. In all my years of scraping and clawing, of pulling power from anyone and anything I could just to survive, I’d never once hesitated. I’d never once felt bad about it. It was survival. It was what I was. But now, with Evander, I froze. My fingers dug into the cushion instead of reaching for him. My heart raced against my ribs. I’d already taken from him today, more than I ever should have—more than I’d ever dared from anyone. He wasn’t letting me hide behind that, though.

“Come here,” he murmured, voice low and certain.

Before I could argue, he pulled me onto his lap, gentle but unyielding until I was straddling him. The movement stole my breath. My palms landed against his chest, and the warmth that met me there made me gasp, a living furnace, fire under skin.

“Take. What. You. Need,” he said slowly, each word deliberate, his mouth brushing the shell of my ear. Then his lips found the curve of my neck. Soft. Unhurried. A simple, devastating kiss that made my eyes flutter shut and my head tip back all on its own. The dragon’s heat pulsed under my palms, a slow, steady rhythm calling to the emptiness inside me. It wasn’t just power; it was alive, it wanted me back.

I sucked in a shaky breath. “Evander…”

His hands settled on my hips, not pushing, just anchoring. “It’s okay,” he whispered against my skin. “Feed, Ally.”

The words shivered down my spine like a promise, and for the first time in my life, siphoning didn’t feel like taking. It felt like being given.

The moment I opened myself to the pull, it was like a door unlocking inside my chest. Magic flooded through me in slow, molten waves, thick, powerful, scorching. It wasn’t violent like it usually was, not a desperate rip from someone who didn’t want to lose what I took. This was different. Evander’s power came willingly. It poured from his skin to mine, curling beneath the surface like liquid sunlight, feeding every hollow, every ache. My body shuddered against him, muscles tensing, then softening as warmth spread through me. I could feel his pulse in my veins, steady, grounding, alive. A low sound escaped him, a deep rumble from somewhere in his chest. It wasn’t pain. It was… pleasure, maybe? Connection. His dragon stirred just beneath his skin, and for a second, I could almost hear it—*mine*—echoing through the bond. The room hummed with the energy between us, invisible sparks across my fingertips where they pressed against his chest. I could feel my reserves climbing, power swirling in vibrant, electric ribbons through my body. I pulled back before it became too much, before the rush turned to greed. My breathing came out uneven, and I realised his was too.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” I whispered, my voice barely audible.

He shook his head, eyes still molten gold, dragon bright. “You couldn’t if you tried.” His thumb brushed along my jaw, slow, reverent. “If that’s what feeding you looks like, you can have it whenever you need.”

The sincerity in his tone made my throat tighten. No one had ever offered me that before. Not out of kindness. Not without fear.

“Thank you,” I managed, still straddling his lap, feeling both too close and not close enough.

He smiled faintly, head resting against the back of the couch. “Get used to it, little siphon. I told you, we’re in this together.”

Evander chuckled softly, still tracing lazy circles against my hip. “I should’ve realised you needed to feed earlier, especially when Cage was being a complete dick downstairs. Could’ve saved us both the headache.”

I smiled faintly, the warmth of his touch still humming through me. “Oh, don’t worry too much about him,” I said, leaning back just enough to meet his eyes. “He’s already getting what he deserves.”

One of his brows arched, amused. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I murmured, my lips curling into a wicked grin. “Can I show you something?”