Page 42 of Professor and the Seer
She offered him an indignant look. “Not funny. You said you wouldn’t laugh.”
“But you just paraphrased Monty Python.”
“Who?”
He blinked at her. “You don’t know Monty Python?”
She shook her head.
“Oh, my dear, sexy vixen. I see you and I will need a movie night. But back to this vision. You saw it happening here?”
“Yes. We’re standing on the front steps to that building”—she pointed to Leabhar House—“and the sky is dark with storm clouds. As it starts to pour, it hops into view.”
He exited the car. “While I’m sure you did see a bunny with big teeth, I can safely say they’re not native to this area. Not to mention, the campus is spelled against intrusion.”
“Didn’t we just drive in without being stopped?” she stated, joining him outside.
“Because the main gates recognized me. As my guest, you were granted an automatic pass to enter.”
Judging by her expression she remained unconvinced. “What if I were a villain holding you hostage?”
“Then I would have silently triggered the ward as we passed it to let the college security know I required aid.”
“And these wards work against animals?”
“Anything bigger than a cat. We tend to like to have them around to keep the mice population under control.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to prevent the mice from flourishing in the first place?” she noted.
“The wards work better above ground. Seeing as how mice and other small animals like to burrow, and dirt deadens the effect of rodent-repelling spells, concessions were made.”
“The rabbit I saw was bigger than a cat,” she muttered.
“I don’t doubt you saw it. What’s more likely than a bunny with fangs is a student playing a prank. Those practicing illusions do so love using bits from movies as inspiration.”
She chewed her lower lip in a way that tightened his groin. She was so damned sexy and, more incredibly, his lover. Last night had been a surprise and a delight.
“Are you saying this is a magic school?”
“Did I not mention that before?”
“No.”
He offered a sheepish shrug and smile. “Sorry. This is Stuaghach College, and before you ask, stuaghach is literally the Gaelic word for arcane. This is where my dad used to teach and where I graduated from. Before working for the school, I travelled for many years, digging into the arcane mysteries around the world before accepting a tenured position that gave me a base of operation and a salary to do what I love.”
“You know, it still blows me away how little my sisters and I were told of the arcane.” She joined him as he led her into Leabhar House. “My mother made it seem like we were so rare and had us swearing to hide our power lest bad things happen to us.”
“Bad things like what?”
She rolled her shoulders. “That part was kind of vague, but given how much I read, it wasn’t hard to imagine some kind of government operation that would kidnap and imprison us for study or to brainwash and control us into becoming weapons for the military.”
“Actually, a valid fear, but part of the Arcane League’s task is to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“Arcane League?” she questioned as they went up the steps to the old building comprised of brick and smothered in vines.
“Think of it as a police force for those of us with powers.” He pulled open a heavy door and gestured for her to enter.
“How have I never heard of them?” she griped.