by A M Burns
“So… let me get this straight. You’re all gay, Adrian’s ace, you’re all poly, and you were giving me crap about dating Channing… why now?”
He loved his sister, even when she was being a sarcastic brat. “I guess because he did everything his brother did.” Finn shifted his attention to Channing. “You never stepped in to stop him, and I know you came to help us find Adrian—thank you for that—but I don’t see how anything is going to change when we’re back at school on Wednesday. Sure, you may not be the ultimate jerk right now, but when Esteban is around, will that change?”
Channing shoved his hands into his pockets and took a swaying step closer to them, but Ivan shook his head. Finn agreed with him. Even if Adrian was pretty much asleep, he still didn’t want Channing getting that close to him. Maybe it mattered even more that Channing kept his distance because he was so close to being asleep.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’ve kept Esteban from being a jerk to Shelby, and I can try to do the same thing for you three. You just make yourselves such easy targets that it’s hard sometimes to get in there and stop him before he does something. I’m sorry about what happened to your paintings. If I’d known what he was going to do, I would’ve tried to do something to stop him. But he doesn’t always talk to me, and he definitely doesn’t always plan stuff. It’s more like he sees an opportunity and just goes with it. Honestly, Esteban’s not the greatest mental genius, even if Mom thinks he is. He’s her favorite. And I’m sorry that we both put you in the dumpster. We thought it would be funny.”
Finn narrowed his gaze at Channing. As nice of an explanation as that was, it didn’t solve anything. But the problem was that he didn’t know what would. What would it take for Adrian to feel safe at school? He didn’t even know where to begin.
Ivan sighed loudly and ran one hand over his head. The other he laid over Adrian’s side. “Let’s start with you two not taking our gym class for the rest of the year. You can go to any period you like—just stay out of ours. We don’t have the same lunchtime so that’s not an issue. And when you do see us in the hallways, even if it’s just one of us, you don’t have to say hi and blow your cover or whatever you want to call it, but just don’t be an ass either. No more barking, no more taking Adrian’s things and throwing them in the trash, no more pretending not to see where you’re going and running into us. It’s not okay that he’s scared all the time and, as much as I don’t mind having to look out for him because of you two, I’d rather not have to. I’d like just one day where I’m not texting him all day to make sure he’s okay and that you two haven’t been screwing with him. I want to have those texts be happy things, not nervous issues.”
Shelby turned to Channing and gave him her worst death glare that was normally reserved for Finn when he ate the last of her chocolate chip cookies before she could have some. “Did you seriously do all of that to them?”
“It wasn’t just me, though—”
But Shelby wasn’t having any of it. “Tell them you’re sorry and it won’t happen again. And that you’ll say hi in the hallways like a decent human being.”
“Shelby….”
The pleading tone in Channing’s voice made Finn cheer inside. It made him feel better about his sister dating the asshole if she could twist him around her finger the way she often did their dad. His sister was becoming a female force to be reckoned with. For a moment he almost felt sorry for Channing, but then he pushed the thoughts aside. After everything Channing and Esteban had done to Adrian and Ivan over the years, he deserved anything Shelby could throw at him.
She shook her head. “Nope. Do it. Now.”
Finn tried to hold back his grin—and miserably failed—as Channing met his gaze. He knew how pushy his sister could be when she wanted something, and it was kind of comforting to know she could control Channing the same way she could every male in her life.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it bothered you guys that much. We thought we were just playing around and having a bit of fun. And yeah, okay, I’ll say hi. For Shelby.”
Finn snickered and shook his head. “Sure. And I’ll refrain from wanting to toss you off a cliff. For Shelby.”
“Or throwing you into the pen with Singer,” Ivan added.
Channing blanched a bit, and Finn laughed, because as much as Ivan might have been joking, he was pretty sure that part of him really wasn’t.
“We good?” he asked Shelby.
She shrugged and gave him her biggest grin. “Sure we are. You’re my brother. You may be a complete jerk at times, but yeah, we’re good. Maybe we can all go on a date sometime. To a movie or something.”
Finn looked over at Channing and tried to picture going to a movie with him. That wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon, but it was a nice thought. Not wanting to start an argument with her, he simply nodded and said, “Sounds good. We could get some burgers too.”
Ivan gave him a look like he’d lost his mind, but Finn shrugged at him. Shelby made a happy squealing sound and threw her arms around him. “I knew you’d come around to seeing what a fantastic guy Channing is. I was so right.” She let go of him to join Channing and take his hand. Seconds later they were also gone, so Finn flopped back onto the bed.
“We’re seriously all going on a date with the cromag? Does stress make you somehow insane?” Ivan asked him incredulously.
Laughing, Finn shook his head, not surprised at all that Ivan would question his sanity after that. “Not anytime this year at the very least. Hell no. But I didn’t want to argue with Shelby about it. Way too tired to try to take her on.”
Ivan laughed too and lay down with Adrian between them.
18
Finn woke up slowly, his mind a haze from the previous day, and nearly fell off the bed because at some point in the night he’d been barely hanging on to it. The only one of them who had somehow managed to stay comfortable on the tight space was Adrian, and he’d barely moved from the spot he’d slumped into while Finn had been talking to Channing. Ivan lay half off the bed too, and he groaned as the sound of knocking solidified in Finn’s ears. When Ivan went to put his hand over his eyes, he unbalanced himself and landed on the floor, waking Adrian up fully.
“What happened?” Adrian rubbed at his eyes while Finn struggled to sit up.
Finn stretched out his shoulder that had somehow become sore in the night and wiped his hand over his face.
“I think someone’s at the door,” Ivan muttered.
“I was hoping that was just my imagination.” Finn forced himself to his feet. He was really surprised, but also pretty glad, that everyone had left them to sleep there. The last thing he remembered was lying next to the two of them and holding Ivan’s hand while they watched Adrian sleep.
“I’ll get it,” Finn grumbled as he headed toward the stairs, a little surprised that Adrian’s folks had gone to work and left them sleeping.
The knocking got louder, and sounded more insistent.
Adrian yawned loudly. “It’s my house. I’ll answer the door. You two go back to sleep.”
“You can’t walk easily, though,” Finn reminded him as he started climbing the stairs.
When Adrian frowned, Ivan knelt on the floor in front of where he was sitting on the bed. “I’ll carry him. Better hurry, though, Finn. They seem kind of impatient to get an answer.”
Finn nodded and headed up. A few seconds later, he heard them coming up too while he answered the door to a woman with her phone in one hand and a notebook tucked under her arm. “Hi. You’re not Mr. Adrian Smith, but I know you were at the anniversary party with him. So are you Ivan Dubovasky or Finn Ryan?” She cocked her head and seemed to look through him. A strange energy accompanied her gaze. “You don’t appear to be a Dubovasky.”
“Uh… Finn.” He tried to place the woman, but there had been so many people at the party it was impossible, that she recognized him was impressive. The strange feeling when she looked at him made him nervous.
What did she mean he didn’t appear to be a Dubovasky?
She beamed a smile at him and reached out to touch his shoulder as she came into the town house without a formal invite. “Lovely. I’m Abigail Commers. You can call me Abbie. I was drawn here by Adrian Smith, but it seems that I need to speak with the three of you.”
Finn turned to see his two boyfriends reach the top of the stairs. They looked just as confused as he felt. Ivan met his gaze over Abbie’s shoulder so Finn shrugged. He didn’t have a clue what she was doing there either. He wrinkled his nose, like he’d just smelled something odd.
“There you are!” Abbie pushed past Finn. “We didn’t get to talk much at all at the potluck, but I wanted to get a chance to sit down with you before I have to leave tomorrow. Do you have some time now? I really must be in Texas tomorrow.”
“Sure. I guess. Ivan, can you take me into the living room?” Adrian sounded completely unsure about her, just like the rest of them. Ivan helped him to the couch, and they sat down on either side of him, even though it squished them together.
Their positioning made Finn feel like they were being protective of Adrian, and that was a good feeling. After neither one of them had been able to use their differences to keep Adrian safe the previous day, it was nice to face an unknown with a united front. With the two of them on either side of him, Finn looked at Abbie, and noticed a glow around her. It wasn’t like the fuzziness he’d begun to associate with werewolves, but more like a bright halo of energy artist tended to put around other-worldly beings.
Abbie sat across from them in a dark leather recliner Adrian’s father normally used. It made her glow stand out even more than when she was standing with just a light wall behind her. “So let’s begin. I’m Abigail Commers, but please call me Abbie. Only my mother-in-law calls me Abigail, and she’s a horrible woman. I’m a recruiter for Tempest Academy.”
Finn stared at her. She didn’t look like any of the college recruiters he’d ever run into during college days back in Austin. She looked like either a librarian, or a reporter. “What’s Tempest Academy?”
Ivan straightened up on the other side of Adrian. “The Tempest Academy? Really?”
Adrian looked from Ivan to Abbie. “You’ve heard of this place?”
“Yeah.” Ivan nodded and looked at Adrian. “You two probably haven’t, I know your family isn’t active in the supernatural community. Your folks don’t have your gifts.” He glanced around Adrian to Finn. “We haven’t talked about your family, but since you took our secrets so well, I figured you were in some of the know.”
“Nope. Not like this.” Finn shook his head.
“That’s a shame.” Abbie scribbled something in her notebook. “If my information is correct, your great great grandmother, Fiona Delph, was one of our founders.”
“Delph, that’s my mom’s maiden name. What do you mean one of my relatives was a founder of this school? How do I not know about it?” Finn wanted to run home and demand his mother explain what was going on.
Abbie sighed. “It was years before my time, but I do understand that your grandmother, Simone Delph walked away from your family legacy, and then the gift of sight mostly skipped your mother. From our observations, you have the gift, correct?”
“Yeah, he does.” Ivan nodded vigorously. “Nice and strong.”
“Not that strong,” Finn grumbled. “I couldn’t find Adrian yesterday.”
“Then you need training.” Abbie smiled softly. “And I think we can help Mr. Smith with his magic too. Our teachers are very good at helping unique magic users figure out how to better use their gifts and make the most of them.”
“So I might be able to do more than just make little bouncing holograms?” Adrian leaned forward, a look of eagerness on his features. “My mom’s tried, but all she can really do is make flowers grow better. She doesn’t understand art and the way I can work it.”
“I’m sure that we’ll be able to find a way to bring out the most of your gifts.” Abbie made a couple more scribbles.
Ivan let out a slow breath. “This all sounds great, but what brought you here, now?”
“Mr. Dubovasky, you and your family have been part of the magical community for generations. Better than the other parts of your triad, you should understand how random things can be. We had a seer sense several new prospects for the school. The three of you present a powerful force, although the bond is still new. As it ages, you will all realize the possibilities of your gifts, particularly when you work together. There is so much you’ll be able to accomplish, working together.”
“Okay.” Ivan frowned. “But I’m a werewolf, other than staying with my pack, what would I get out of going to Tempest? I know it’s a great school, but do you have a good Wildlife Biology tract?”
Abbie grinned. “We do, but I’ve learned that werewolves often limit themselves based on what they believe they can do, as opposed to what you can really do, particularly when you’re part of a powerful triad.”
“Powerful triad?” Finn stood, although he wanted to stay protectively next to Adrian, his brain was clicking on and he wanted to pace as well. “So our little pack isn’t going to be a problem at Tempest Academy?”
“If you keep calling it a pack, it might.” Abbie made more notes. “Some of the other shifters can be a little obsessive over appropriations like that, most of our really strong students end up realizing the added bonus in unifying with more than one person. Honestly, one partner can get rather boring.”
Finn’s head spun. Things were falling perfectly into place for them. They were being offered a place to go where there wouldn’t be people like Esteban. They could stay together and learn to grow their differences into something incredible.
“We’re going to need to talk to our folks,” Ivan spoke up as the voice of reason.
Abbie nodded. “I would expect no less. Finn, I know your grandmother is no longer with us. I can only hope she didn’t cloud your mother’s view of our establishment and that she’ll want the best for you.”
“I don’t know.” Finn stopped pacing and put a hand on Ivan’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to them soon.”
“If you need back up, my folks can help.” Ivan leaned his head against Finn’s hand. “It’ll mean the whole family coming out to yours, but I guess if we’re going to be attending Tempest, we’ll be out as paranormals anyway.”
“I guess so.” Finn looked at Adrian. “What do you think?”
“I think if I can expand my magic, make it something more, that might be great.” Adrian shook his head. “I just don’t know what more I’ll be able to do. Cute little light shows?”
“You’d be surprised how much a ‘cute little light show’ can influence people.” Abbie closed her notebook. “I think I’m going to let you three talk this out amongst yourselves and your families.” She pulled out three business cards and held them out. “Please call me if there are any other questions.”
A soft tingle passed through the card into Finn’s fingers as he took the small piece of cardboard. It was a simple white card with a celtic spiral in the center, and Abbie’s name, phone number and email address.
Abbie stood, and started toward the door. “Oh, and if it’s a question of funds, all students are covered in full by a special grant we have set up, and we are fully accredited, so your diplomas will mean things in the mundane world.” She didn’t take another step, but vanished in the blink of an eye.
Finn stepped back as the magic of her exit washed over him. “Wow. She just disappeared.”
“I’ve heard about people doing that, but never seen it before.” Ivan stared from where Abbie had been and back to the card. “The Tempest Academy wants us. This is cool.”
Adrian shook his head. “I’ve never heard of them, but they want to help me be a better magical artist, and it’ll save my folks a lot of money.” He smiled and looked up at Finn and Ivan. “And we’d be able to stay together.”
“Sounds like they expect it.” Finn loo
ked at the card. It had a slight glow to it. The spiral was almost 3D. Everything was happening fast. But Abbie hadn’t said anything about when they’d be expected to start. Maybe they could finish high school. As much as the idea of embarking on an exciting magical adventure appealed to him, he wanted to take his time. He wanted to spend time hiking in the forest with Ivan and Adrian. They still had movies to watch while piled up like wolf pups. Abbie might want them to call themselves a triad, but to him they were still a pack. They were always going to be a pack.
Finn, Ivan, and Adrian’s story continues in the Tempest Academy coming soon.
Tempest Academy
Sitting in a gap between the mundane world and fae, the Tempest Academy holds back incredible forces while at the same time offering training to the next generation of magic users, shifters, fae and more. As the staff struggles to instill a sense of right and wrong while crafting their students to be as strong as possible, the students find the bonds that will shape the rest of their lives. When the delicate balance of light and dark is thrown into chaos, who will rise to the top and have not just the power to save themselves and their loved ones, but the school and the two realms it straddles.
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A.M. Burns Bio:
A.M. Burns lives in the Colorado Rockies with his partner, several dogs, cats, horses, and birds. When he’s not writing, he’s often fixing fences, splitting wood, hiking in the mountains, or flying his hawks. He’s enjoyed writing since he was in high school, but it wasn’t until the past few years that’s he’s begun truly honing his craft. He is a previous president of the Colorado Springs Fiction Writers Group. www.csfwg.org. Having lived both in Colorado and Texas, rugged frontier types and independent attitudes often show up in his work. You can find out more about A.M. and his writing at www.amburns.com .