Burned (Book1) The White Rose Vampire Series

Chapter Eighteen

Bethany's dorm room was on the far side of campus near the football fields tucked in the corner of a red brick building on the top floor. Bastian and I walked up the stairs hand in hand with Gilliam following while inhaling deeply. A couple of female students passing gave him strange looks. He flashed them a smile, melting away their anxiety and causing them to blush. I shook my head and frowned as I remembered something from the night before.

"Gilliam," I said, catching his attention as I glanced over my shoulder, his eyes sparking in sudden curiosity, "Can you really smell magic?"

"Only when it's been recently cast," he said, tilting his head as he leaned toward me, "Or a witch is really close. Each witch has a scent that is different but there is an underlying scent that is the same."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I tried to decipher his words.

Gilliam's brows furrowed as he contemplated how he would explain. "Well, your magic has the scent of petrichor," he said, glancing upward.

"The scent of rain?" I asked as he nodded. "That's one of my favorite scents."

"Those things hint that you are a water witch," he smiled. "You will work well with that element but your friend, Izzie, has the scent of smoke, and that hints she's a witch who works well with fire but there is always a distinct scent...Almost like an electrical charge beneath them that is the scent of power...The scent of the witch."

"But Bethany wouldn't have worked magic," I sighed in confusion because he was still sniffing the air. "She wouldn't even know she's a witch. Her family is dead and no one else would have been around to tell her."

"Unless she was scared and her magic kicked in to save her," Gilliam frowned as he inhaled again, "And I do detect magic here. The scent of pine and meadows...An Earth witch was here."

"If she was scared that means she was attacked," I said as panic slithered through me.

Gilliam nodded as we made it to Bethany's floor and turned down the hall but as we did, we almost ran into a maintenance man. Beside him was the woman who had yelled at Izzie and me at Brady's coffee shop. Her eyes widened as she glanced from me to Bastian and then, her gaze finally landed on Gilliam. Her face paled as his lip curled, flashing his teeth as she ran past us.

"She's one of the church members," I said as a chill slid down my spine. "She almost attacked Izzie and me at Brady's. Jonathon saved us."

"She's more than a simple church member," Gilliam said, narrowing his eyes. "Her name is Margaret Harrison. As the wife of their preacher, she's one of their leaders. I can only think of one reason she would be here."

Bastian tensed as he said the words we all feared. "She came for Bethany."

**********