by Erin R Flynn
Also, that the elders needed to stop fucking with us. They probably wouldn’t, but we had some choice words and called out those who sent spies.
But with all that behind us and our food tour of Vancouver done, it was time to get back to school. I agreed to go back a few days early when Mel and Craftsman had to because Izzy and Darby weren’t enough protection if something really went wrong.
I reminded them of the pack of fae dogs I had, but given every Underground spy we caught had me on their mind… I kind of understood their overprotectiveness. Fuck, Hudson sounded ready to go postal or move in with me when Tanesha told the Vogels as well. So, I got it.
If I was honest, I was scared too. It was bad to have that big of a target on me as that meant more eyes. And all of this was before they knew I was the last fairy. I had to be much, much more careful.
Which was why I was chastising myself relentlessly that one of the first things I needed to do on campus was use the portal to Faerie. I forgot to do it before we left, spoiled by having a portal in the basement, and I had full reservoirs. I couldn’t risk having them full when my power spiked.
So, I headed over to the student union after we got settled and had dinner. Izzy wanted a shower before bed, so I left her a note I was hitting the vending machines and would bring her back some muffins.
I could do that after my trip to Faerie.
When I reached the portal room, I found something in the corner where I stored my snacks. After Mason found me studying there, I no longer kept the camping bag or any of my other supplies in the room. No, that was too big of a risk and I kept them right by the portal on the Faerie side.
Squatting down, I smiled at the note from Mason that he stole my spot and ate my snacks. This must have been around finals since I hadn’t been there since review week. I opened the box and bit back a groan when I saw they were flavored marshmallows from that place I’d ordered in Australia through Portal Chow. They were so damned good.
My stomach truly ruled me, and I couldn’t resist. I opened the bag on top and popped one in my mouth, moaning at how wonderful it was melting right against my tongue. Just one more and I’d get my ass in gear. I quickly closed it up, making a mental note to thank him later and pushed to stand.
I stumbled as my head swam, my bag sliding off my shoulder and landing on hard on the ground. I tried to reach for something to hold myself up, but my fingers only brushed the wall as I started to fall. My vision went dark and I had just enough brain power left to cushion my head with my other arm so I didn’t crack my skull.
And that was it. I was out before I even fully hit the floor.
I couldn’t move when I came back around. I didn’t know if it was because I was tied down or just how heavy my body felt.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” a deep voice I didn’t know asked. “She’s powerful.”
“Yes, my great-grandfather’s journals were clear,” a deep voice I did know replied… But I couldn’t place it. “Fairies won’t mate or have children unless they want to, but there’s a way around that with a certain magical drug. Their bodies can’t handle alcohol or drugs well at all, which was why she had a much stronger reaction to the human vaccines than other unknowns.”
Well, that explained a few things to me, but he was missing something. Something I knew. Something important.
Fuck my head felt heavy.
“It just seems the wrong way to go about this,” a third voice worried. “You say you love her but—”
“I do love her. She’s my soulmate. I know it.”
“But she’s not your mate to your bear,” that first voice argued.
“We only have mates like that with other bears,” the voice I knew snapped. “My soul knows hers. I’m claiming her as mine before that fucking leech drains her or hurts her again. I’m not letting that dragon mate her. She’s mine. Think of what this will do for our sloth.”
They were both quiet several moments but then that third voice spoke up. “You’re not going to sell the kids like your great-grandfather did, right?”
“No, never,” the voice I knew choked out. “I could never, not ever—I love her. I will treasure our children. Yes, they will mate only the best for alliances but that I know will cherish the last fairies born besides my mate. Once she comes around enough to start, she’ll see how much I love her. She’ll understand why I had to go to such drastic measures once she’s pregnant.”
A thrill of fear went through me when I felt pressure on my thigh. Oh fuck. Rape. Someone was going to rape me and knock me up.
What did I need to remember? There was a reason it wouldn’t work.
Then it hit me. I wanted to cry in relief.
Except I still couldn’t move or make my body work. It took five tries before I could even do a slight baby dribble noise.
“Finally,” the first grumbled. “Do we really have to watch this?”
“I’ll need help holding her during,” the voice I knew growled. “We can’t risk her writing runes to fight me.”
Mason. That was the voice I knew. It was Mason.
The marshmallows. Did he seriously drug me? Fuck, he knew I was a fairy.
No, no, no, no, noooo. This was bad. This was seriously bad. Fear and adrenaline coursed through my body faster and faster as the depth of my situation sank in. I kept trying to make my mouth work, needing to get out one word. The more I pushed, the deeper I reached for my fear, the better I could make my lips work.
“Wait, did you hear something?” the third guy asked as Mason and the first guy were talking.
Everyone went quiet and I tried again, sounding like I was blowing a raspberry but didn’t have full control of my lips.
“She’s coming around,” Mason muttered. “We can start soon.”
Oh fuck no. “Thirty.”
“What?” the guy muttered, leaning in. “Something hurts?”
“Thirty,” I repeated, this time getting it to sound at least more like “tirty” no matter how quiet it came out.
“Dirty?” the second guy said.
“Thirty,” I whimpered. “Thirty, thirty, thirty, thirty.”
“She’s just drugged,” Mason sighed as I kept going.
“Thirty,” the third guy argued. “She’s saying thirty. Why?”
“My love, are you saying thirty?” Mason asked quietly and I felt his hand touch mine. “Can you squeeze my hand?”
It took everything I had but I managed a bit of pressure, wanting to cry with relief when I could tell he felt it. I chanted thirty, hoping they would figure it out… Or at least distract them as feeling came back to my body enough.
Then something else hit me. He didn’t want me writing runes.
Except I didn’t need to write runes. I thought of the healing rune, pushing whatever magic I had into it and praying it was enough to work.
“What is she trying to tell us?” that third voice demanded. “It has to be important if she’s chanting it instead of the list I would expect her to.”
Right, good, they needed a clue. “Mature.”
“Mature?” Mason asked. “Is that what you said?”
“Yes,” I panted, the effort it took to talk ridiculous even as I felt the healing rune start to work. “Mature. At. Thirty.”
“Fuck. Do fairies mature at thirty?” the first guy growled. “You said your great-grandfather was knocking up a powerful, centuries-old fairy. Did you not check when fairies mature?”
“No, but of course it’s when we do,” Mason argued.
“She doesn’t even have her wings yet, Mason,” the third guy argued. “Are you sure about this? You said she didn’t activate the portal when you pushed her.”
“I saw her do it on the camera I left there since,” Mason snapped.
Well, shit. Idiot. That was one way to get caught. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“I can’t tell if she’s lying when she’s like this,” the third voice sighed.
“Not. Lying,” I forced out as I thought th
e healing rune again and pushed what I could into it. “Salzman. Told. Me. Thirty.”
“I can still—” Mason started but the third voice cut him off.
“The whole plan hinged on her needing the sloth’s protection when she was pregnant and accepting your mating, Mason. If you can’t get her pregnant then—”
“Will. Kill. You,” I promised. “Run. Run. Now.”
“No, I’m not giving up or—” He flinched when I managed to get my eyes open even if the light burned me to a painful level. “I love you and I know you’ll love me once you’re away from that leech. You’re my soulmate and we’re meant—”
“Rape a soulmate?” I panted. “Not willing. You never even asked me out.”
“Wait, you said you asked her—” the first started to stay but a loud thud cut him off. There were two more and then what sounded like a damn explosion as something came flying into the room behind Mason.
“Help me,” I whimpered, praying it was the good guys and not more crazy.
Except the first person I saw was Lucca. He went right for Mason and tackled him away from me. Next was Mel going for one of the other guys. My vision blurred and then I smelled something familiar.
“Thank you,” I choked out, recognizing the smell that was all Craftsman. It was a mixture of his eucalyptus mint bodywash, whatever he used to shave, deodorant, and sometimes I swore a hint of books as he was always around them.
“I got you, love,” he whispered, kissing my forehead as he wrote something on my skin. A healing rune and his had a lot more kick.
Thank fuck.
I locked gazes with several of the faculty that knew about me who clearly had come to help when Craftsman helped me sit up. “They know.” I shot a glance at Lucca, making it clear it was time to explain why he was there.
“I was watching Mason,” he admitted. “He’s been acting more and more unhinged about you—I’ve never seen him like this. I figured out he knew.” He shook his head when I opened my mouth to accuse his father. “Father didn’t tell me or Mason. Not in the way you’re thinking.”
“You were right that Von Thann’s distasteful idea of breeding you wasn’t a one-time thing,” Edelman explained. “Apparently he’s said it a few times after one too many drinks that the one mistake we made as a community was allowing to let all fairies go back to Faerie.”
“And if we ever found one, we needed to make sure to breed them, so we were never without fairies again,” Lucca finished, staring at his feet. “I didn’t piece it together. It was a couple of random times when he was—he’s an asshole but he’s not a fan of elder corruption and he blames fairies being gone. He didn’t tell me, I swear it.”
“You didn’t tell me you knew,” I muttered, leaning into Craftsman and shivering.
And then I puked all over the man I was sleeping with. Gross. I had no warning though. Whatever Mason had given me was wreaking havoc on my body.
“Fuck, sorry,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead.
“How much did you give her?” Professor Collins demanded of Mason. I realized the Dean of Vampires had put him in some sort of trance because he immediately answered.
And whatever he said did not make people happy.
“Call Salzman,” Edelman ordered someone in the room. “That’s enough to kill her.”
“I gave myself two weak healing runes,” I told them.
“You’ll need more than that and a magical remedy with charcoal,” he told me. “It won’t be pleasant, but I think we should make sure you have it in case of emergencies.”
“And to reimburse Salzman,” Craftsman muttered. “The ingredients are expensive, and he bought them on his own just in case you were poisoned, as it’s one of the only things to help a fairy besides the magic of Faerie or other fairies’ magic.”
“Give him whatever,” I slurred.
“No, stay conscious,” Craftsman demanded loudly. “You’re not out of danger. Keep the adrenaline running and stay awake.”
I lost some time but I did stay conscious. The next thing I knew Salzman was there forcing me to drink something and then I felt much, much worse. Someone handed me a bin to toss my cookies into and I did. It was vile and lasted several minutes, but then I started to finally feel a bit better.
“I’m going to kill him,” I groaned.
“Take this next. It’s medicine to start healing you with more precision than a rune,” Salzman explained. “We’re going to need a place to get you set up away from eyes. It will take you days to recover.”
“Lovely,” I grumbled.
“How could you not warn us?” Edelman demanded of Lucca, making me realize there was still more going on.
“I wasn’t sure,” Lucca sighed. “And she threatened a life debt if Father told. I might hate my dad but he’s still my father. I certainly never thought Mason would go to this even if he figured out she was a fairy and in love with her. I mean, come on, this is some serious fucking crazy.”
I agreed and kind understood when he put it like this.
“We need a cover story,” I murmured, rubbing my head after I took the medicine. “Something that steers this very far away from what I am and gives Mason real help besides a semester off. I mean, he’s—the boy be nuts.”
“And his friends?” Edelman asked.
“Completely complicit but didn’t seem to have the full story on his crazy,” I admitted. “They seemed to think… I don’t know. It’s all hazy. They were arguing but the whole rape part seemed fine since Mason loved me, they just didn’t want to watch.”
“We just kill them and leave the bodies on the quad in warning,” Mel suggested, not looking surprised when several people rolled their eyes at her. “Fine, but we need Lucca’s statement to make this work. Stick close to the truth. Mason’s been acting unhinged about Tamsin, especially now that she’s with Darby.”
“He’s a bigot against vampires,” Lucca admitted. “Most bears know that. He thinks they’re no better than cannibals.”
“Yeah, because you’re all vegan,” I drawled. I snorted. “Hell, I’ve seen you both eat steaks so rare you might as well drink blood.”
“I don’t disagree,” Lucca cut in.
“Right, sorry,” I muttered, rubbing my head again.
“I think we should call in Hudson,” Lucca suggested. “Not to tell him what you are, but that he helped get you back and as a witness. He’s made a lot of comments he doesn’t like how Mason was acting towards you.”
“That’s true, but his dragon is overly protective of me,” I grumbled, leaning against Craftsman. “I don’t think his dragon’s ever had a non-dragon friend. River always asks me to hang out.”
“Can she pass out now?” Craftsman asked Salzman.
“Yes, and I agree that the prince’s testimony on this will weigh in our favor,” Salzman answered. “We need to move fast.”
“If I help with this to keep you safe, I hope this negates the debt I owe you for not warning you and Darby, little fairy,” Professor Collins muttered.
“As long as you’re still there for Darby,” I mumbled, closing my eyes for just a moment. It wasn’t just a moment though and I must have passed out. I woke in a bed I was familiar with, but not mine.
“She’s up,” Hudson informed someone. He reached over and pushed my hair from my forehead as I blinked up at him. “I have one of the best and most private suites given the heirs always attend Artemis. You’re safe here.”
“He ruined marshmallows for me,” I grumbled.
“That’s a random worry,” Darby said as he sat on the other side of the bed. “Do you still feel sluggish mentally or physically?”
“Both,” I answered after a moment. “I feel like I’m so far down on the tank it’s not even funny. Fuel wise and as if I overused my magic.”
“Salzman said that was to be expected,” Craftsman said as he brought over a tray of food. He shook his head when I rubbed my stomach and was ready to object. “Irma said it was everything you would nee
d, and your body will accept. Small meals every time you wake, and we’ll get you better.”
“Thank her for me,” I muttered as Darby helped me sit up. I was dying to ask questions but with Darby and Hudson there—and not knowing I was a fairy—I had to wait. I blinked down at myself and frowned. “What am I wearing?”
Hudson snarled as he stood and then chuffed, sounding more like his dragon than a man.
Darby cleared his throat, but Craftsman answered as he took Hudson’s spot on the bed. “You weren’t coherent enough earlier, but Mason had changed your clothes. Given he undressed you, Dr. Salzman demanded you have a full exam. The doctor on staff who performed your yearly female exam gave you one to be sure. She found no signs of anyone touching you while unconscious.”
“Glad to have it confirmed,” I admitted, curling into him even as he tried to get me to eat. “He said I had to wait until…”
“It’s over now,” Craftsman comforted. “Mel got you out of the dress, showered you, and then Hudson provided the shirt and shorts you’re swimming in.”
“Dress?” I whispered, my stomach churning when I felt everyone go tense. “Like a mating dress or something?”
“Yes, it was a wedding dress,” Darby confirmed.
Tears filled my eyes and I covered my face. “What the fuck, Mason? I thought he was an oddball and had some weird reactions, but we were friends. We went running all the time and—why?”
“I don’t know, love,” Craftsman sighed, hugging me to him tighter. “Those with unhinged minds can hide it well and rarely make sense. Melody wanted to burn it, but we needed it as part of the evidence. Von Thann—as head of the school board, Lucca’s father who is the main witness, and a bear shifter Alpha more powerful than Mason’s father is handling the situation with Edelman.”
“Handling it, not sweeping it under the rug, right?” I checked as I picked up a piece of plain toast and forced myself to nibble on it.
“Yes, handling it but carefully, given not only that someone got you, but also…”
“What?” I pushed when he went quiet.