by Erin R Flynn
I didn’t wait for his response, heading for my dorm and leaving him to stew on it. He’d listen to me or not and there was nothing I could do about it. Honestly, I wouldn’t have said a thing, but he’d come looking for me. And even if his question had been more sarcastic and snippy, I still thought my answer was a good option he should listen to.
I didn’t think he would, but people could surprise me.
Lucca in bear form was there for my run Monday morning. I didn’t say anything to acknowledge him or accept it, but I also didn’t kick him in the nuts, so I was pretty sure he took that as I didn’t mind.
I didn’t. We weren’t okay but he had a knack of cutting through my mood or stress to make me smile—at least internally. A few times he went running in front of me and cannonballed into a huge snow drift which to see a massive grizzly do… There just weren’t words for it. Hysterical? Seriously really ridiculously hysterical?
Yeah, something like that.
Mel shot me several looks during breakfast so she’d heard what had happened during my shields class. That was fine, the gossip could be about me and that was all people wanted as long as it wasn’t about Mason for the moment and I could breathe better. She was giving me space—not needed really but I appreciated it.
The next day I think Craftsman finally realized something might be up with me when he was clearly trying to catch my gaze in class and I wasn’t having any of it. Really? It took him almost a week? Idiot.
I turned in my paper for English and had only one question for Professor Nelson. “Do we get extra credit if we made the invention in our paper?”
“Yeah, right, you made something from Harry Potter,” one of the guys in my class sneered as he set his paper on Nelson’s desk as he walked in.
“Well, I improved it,” I clarified.
Nelson frowned, taking my paper from me and noting the heading with surprise. “The flying car?”
“No, the invisibility booster, but I gave it a shield.”
“I would have to see it work.”
I nodded. “Headmaster Edelman, Professor White, Campbell, Pillay, and a few others saw the invisibility part work on Friday but not the shield. We’re still working on the prototype for duration and what the shield holds up against. The guards are talking sniper shots and obviously they won’t let me be the test dummy for that.”
“Shame,” someone snickered behind me.
I didn’t even hesitate, flicking them off over my shoulder, which amused Nelson. “But that’s hard to test on a bike during snow and ice weather too. So, for now, it stands up to ice chunks launched at it with my runes. Though Sean about wiped out from the ice all over my driveway then.”
“Did you kiss it and make it all better? I heard it was a hot, hot foursome at your house,” a woman whispered behind me.
Again, I just flicked her off. “My boyfriend was there. Darby seems the type to be fine with that for sure like never. Besides, two have mates. Marshall, Sean, and I don’t talk about our love lives, so I have no idea. I’ll let them know you’re interested in their nocturnal activities as that’s what’s in your thoughts.”
“Hey, that’s not—”
“Oh, I thought it was story time. Want me to text them?” I pushed, smirking when Professor Nelson burst out laughing.
“I want to see where you’re at with the bike but yes, that sounds more than enough to get you out of the second Harry Potter paper before we move on to the next section. That was above and beyond the project. Nicely done.”
“Thanks. It was fun.”
Word got around campus and others wanted to see as well once classes were done for the day. So, after someone opened a temporary portal and we used runes to clear out the faculty parking lot of snow and ice we brought over Zack’s bike. He showed Nelson and several others what we had so far and gave a demonstration, making it clear only a few of us could launch things at him.
And unlike me if I did the demo, no one would fuck with the scary ass wolf shifter and risk his wrath.
“So we know for sure it’s not a one-shot use but as long as there’s juice in the crystal,” I muttered when he was done. Probably spell dust in the container as well but I didn’t want to say what else we’d used for all the ears. It was progress and again, gave people anything to talk about other than what had happened with Mason.
Which was helping me move on and heal from it.
Thank fuck.
Tuesday was the first of my office hours to work with anyone in mental shielding classes one on one. I wasn’t excited about that but who arrived first made me smile.
“Tamsin!” Elasha squealed as she jumped towards me knowing I would catch her. I did and pulled her on my lap, smiling when she peppered my face with kisses.
“I missed you too,” I confessed, hugging her tightly. At first I’d felt bad I didn’t know whose daughter she was of all the hobgoblins, but then I learned they did that on purpose. It cut back on the bullying or targeting specific children or hobgoblins. They believed in village mentality when it came to raising children and banding together.
Hey, it sounded good to me because the hobgoblin children were adored by all the hobgoblins at school and that was a good way to grow up to me.
Darfin had climbed up as well and was touching my forehead before my cheeks, inspecting me. Then he leaned in and put his head against my chest.
“Are we playing doctor?” I asked, trying to figure out what was going on now.
“Tamsin ill?” he worried.
Irma chuckled from where she stood with a cart several feet away. “Oh dear, someone heard me mention you were of ill temper on Friday.”
“Ahh.” I kissed Darfin’s nose. “All better. Thanks for checking on me, Dr. Darfin. Darby helped me feel better.”
“Good. I won’t bite him.” The little stinker stole a kiss and hopped down.
“Um, I’m here for your office hours,” a woman I didn’t know said from the door.
“Yeah, great, and you can wait,” I threw back before Professor Campbell, who was sitting in as the moderator, could say anything. “And at other colleges if you so much as give attitude to a TA like that, you get banned from office hours for a semester.”
“I pay a boatload for—”
“Your parents do,” I corrected, finally looking at her. “And I don’t care. Neither does Harvard, Oxford, or any of the other Ivy Leagues. Those are the rules. You’d get banned from office hours for a semester. There’s always a line of others who could afford tuition to take your spot so shut up before I ban you and spread the word that’s how my office hours roll.”
“Harsh,” Professor Campbell chuckled under her breath.
Maybe, but I thought it was stupid they all didn’t do the same. They were some of the best instructors people could find to teach there and they let college students from rich families bully them?
Oh fuck no.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but Liluth just had the boxes sent over,” Irma informed me. “The first items made with the fae material the co-op will be selling are ready and for you to model.”
“I was with you until that last part,” I admitted. “Glad it’s ready but what does it have to do with me?”
Irma gave me a look not to be silly… A look she was really good at giving but I wasn’t sure I deserved at the moment. “Of course you would be the model for the fashion they have designed and will now sell. You were the main investor after Ganter Evans’s estate allowed the sanctuary. Katrina said you agreed.”
I groaned—deeply. “I didn’t so much as agree as tell her to do whatever she wanted as she never overstepped and I was overloaded. I didn’t think she was going to ask for me to model clothes.” I frowned. “Wait, that was just this weekend and they got them ready?”
“Oh no, this was months ago.”
“Then I missed it,” I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “Irma, I have—”
“The co-op is very excited, Tamsin,” she informed me, her tone and eyes makin
g it clear I should know why. I was a fairy and giving them hope. “So are Izzy, Natalie, and the others who are setting up your photo shoot after you’re done here. They have it all planned and are happy to be a part of it. You can put on the clothes and be pretty for some pictures.”
“I thought we were trying to keep me under the radar?” I asked, glancing at Zack for backup.
He just shrugged. “You’ve said it yourself more than once, Tamsin. Most assume pretty, pretty girls are airheads and useless. This is a great distraction to show off you’re gorgeous and most will think people are overselling your other talents to get in your bed or date you. It’s another misdirection and something else for people to talk about.”
That wasn’t Mason or I was a fairy or any of the ten other topics we didn’t want people talking about.
“Yeah, okay, fine, after I’m done here,” I sighed.
“Good girl,” Irma praised, setting down something from the tray on the table. I bit back a snort. She was bribing me with several of my favorite foods.
And it would work. Fine, my stomach ruled me.
The boxes of clothes were already at the photo shoot, but she told me it was at the witch/warlock dorm common room before heading out. Oh well, I had amazing loaded soup on a cold day, right? And desserts?
I was going to need them because people were jerks.
The first chilled her attitude until I told her she had to start all over and rebuild her mental shield.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded at too high a volume. “I built a metal wall around my mind. That’s way better than some tinfoil and plexiglass.”
“If you believe that, why did you come here?”
“To show you you’re not hot shit and we can do just fine without you, idiot.”
I rolled my eyes at her thoughts. “You built a metal fence, a metal chain-link fence.” I saw Professor Campbell flinch out of the corner of my eye. “Those have holes in it. And what about the top? You think no one will attack the top of your brain or does that part of yours not work?” I held up my hand to stop whatever response she would come back with. “Get out. You didn’t come for help.”
“I said I did.”
I sighed heavily. “Yeah, you lied. I’m a telepath and I’m listening to see your mental shield. You came to show me I’m not hot shit and you all could do fine without me. Your exact thought. Don’t waste my time. Redo it and want actual help or I don’t care and get your brain scrambled.”
Professor Campbell cleared her throat to remind the student she was there before I got whatever scathing comeback we could both see brewing. Instead she stormed off muttering I was a stupid bitch and left.
“You’re welcome,” I called after her, smirking when Zack snorted.
Out of the ten that came the first office hours, two really wanted help. Two. Seriously, only two. Un-fucking-real.
After the first bitch, one was the same. Next came one who wanted to try for my mental shields and was so conceited he actually thought Campbell and Zack just wouldn’t fucking notice. Then came a freshman who wanted help. I thought we’d gotten past the bullshit, but no, I had three other jerks who wanted me to either hear their disgusting thoughts or see if they could make me snap.
One almost did. Zack was quicker and caught me before I launched at the guy who was thinking of how he spanked the monkey to ideas of how Mason raped me, and everyone just lied it didn’t happen.
“To the headmaster’s office, now,” Campbell ordered him, looking seconds from pounding the guy as well. She smirked when his face went pale. “We warned everyone I would be here. Did you think I wouldn’t be using a telepathy rune as well? I’ve already informed Headmaster Edelman you’re on the way. Go.”
The next tried for my shields again and I retaliated, sending him images of bugs eating him until he ran screaming from the room. The next wanted actual help and I gave it, but when the last woman tried for my mind again, I was done. Like done.
And I retaliated against her too. She had a fear of spiders and I was pretty sure it would take days until she felt like they weren’t crawling all over her anymore.
Campbell seemed as upset as I was as we wrapped up and headed out.
“It went that well?” Collins asked us as he took in our mood.
“Worse,” she drawled. “And she was absolutely right to want a guard and buffer. I had trouble not punching a few.” She shot me a look of pity. “How you carried that burden for so many years without control and kept your sanity—it’s a fucking miracle, Ms. Vale.”
I shrugged. “They didn’t know I could hear them, so it wasn’t so pointed, and they weren’t always that clear with the human vaccines clouding me. That mental shields thing is new though. Holy fuck.”
“People attacked her?” Collins asked, his eyes going wide.
“Three,” we said together, and I wrote a healing rune on my arm and continued. “Two of ten actually wanted help. This was so fucking stupid. Really, I’m seriously a glutton for punishment or something.”
“Most would be worried to come the first day thinking the troublemakers would,” Zack comforted. “I heard whispers saying that. Let the rumors spread one got sent to the dean and you fought back. The ones who want help will come next time.”
“Great for me,” I snapped. I grumbled a thank you to him and Campbell before heading out to my next headache. The last thing I wanted was to act pretty and be a girly girl to model clothes.
Like really, had any of them met me?
Yeah, fine, I’d done it a few times now for Natalie and her friends, the booth and the dress for the Vogels’ party, but still, this was… Well, I didn’t really know.
I just knew I didn’t want to do it.
17
“Oh dear, storm clouds incoming,” Katrina Calloway called out when I arrived. “What happened?”
“Just tell me what I didn’t realize I agreed to,” I muttered.
“Show her the progress,” Darby suggested as he came over to me. “That will make her happy. Or get this off your chest first.”
“Show me happy, I’ll vent while I change and get pretty so I don’t slow anyone down,” I countered after a moment.
“These are the industrial knitting machines the co-op purchased that are easy for the hobgoblins to use,” Katrina told me as she handed me her phone. “Their magic helps planting and growing the cotton and Jeremy uses a commercial machine to get it all up for them. They have machines to separate it all spinning it. That’s where they were.
“Now they have the right dyeing machine for huge spools and are printing flats for their handful of designs they designed for you.” She gave me an amused look when I blinked at her. Oh boy, the hobgoblins really did like fairies. “Once you approve these as the main investor and model them, their private ordering site will be launched for supes only. They also asked for input on what you would like.”
“I-I’m not a-a d-designer,” I stuttered, handing back the phone. “I have no idea what would work or be popular. I’m the last person to ask about fashion or to be a fashionista. I can’t believe they even want me to model. I just wanted to help.”
“And gave them a million dollars,” she chuckled.
“You what?” Darby asked quietly.
I sighed. “I gave the co-op my winnings from the Vogels’ contest. I invested more that they’re going to pay me back—I think—but that I just gave them.” I shrugged when he couldn’t hide his shock. “I didn’t need it, Darby.”
“You are amazing, agra,” he breathed, cupping my cheek and kissing me. “No wonder they adore you and want you to be their model and spokeswoman. They want more wonderful women in our community like you. I do too. Let’s see what they made for you, yeah?”
“Fine, okay, but I have no idea what to design,” I worried. “And isn’t fae material really expensive?”
“Have a bunch of design students or people who would love the chance for something like this submit designs to you,” Ayesha sug
gested as she held up a pretty white, short sweater dress. “They sent what we suggested would go best with your vibrant red hair and a snowy photo shoot.” She showed me the dark gray jacket that went with it and boots. “The boots we matched up. They didn’t make them.”
“Thanks for doing that.”
She shrugged. “I love the hobgoblins. I had a rough freshman year and there was no way I would have made it without Irma. Her sister’s running this co-op and I’ll help however I can.”
“Snow’s falling, let’s move it,” someone called out.
Which meant me. Okay then. I raced to our room and took the world’s fastest shower before heading back to the common room in a towel as if asking what I was doing now. It amused several people, but Izzy started on my hair as Natalie did my makeup and Ayesha raided my room for what I’d need under the clothes.
Glad someone knew what was what.
“You really just came out here soaking wet in a towel?” Darby teased me, sounding like he was having a hard time not laughing.
“Three people came to my office hours to attack my shields,” I informed him. “I was still letting the healing rune do its thing, okay?”
“Tell us,” Natalie said gently.
So I did. I filled them in on how big of a disaster it was and even what that guy made me see in his filthy mind. I could feel how angry Darby was and I felt better when he knelt down next to me and kissed my hand. It was sweet and I knew he wanted to stay out of their way while supporting me when I needed it.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“I’m here, agra, and he’ll never hurt you again, okay?”
I let out a slow breath. “Okay, topic change or I might mess up Natalie’s hard work.” My hair was all I could come up with. “Time for a cut, huh, Izzy? I haven’t since… I can’t even remember and it’s like down to my ass now.”