Turvy Topsy

by Larisa Long

  I nod.

  He frowns. “You said no animals were harmed so how do you do this?”

  I shrug. “Witch’s secrets.” I note the time. Unlike the beach, a half hour of mountain time equals one week at the Academy, and I’ve stocked the fridges at the underground dorms and caverns with food to last a week.

  Blist sips the cup and closes his eyes. “The meat’s still raw.” He nods and points to the mug. “This is good. Your best yet.” He smiles at me. “What’s it like being able to sleep like the rest of us?”

  “Forgot what that was like. Sleeping Friday night through to Monday morning was weird.”

  “I don’t know how you did it for so long.”

  “I don’t know why I did it for so long.”

  He raises his mug to me. “That’s what I meant.”

  Blist always tries to soften the blows.

  Xury screams as she skis past us and waves. She’s followed by a dozen other pixies.

  “How is it she finds pixies everywhere?”

  “She’s a magnet.” He shrugs.

  Just then the exact same group of shifters, I shift you not, that was at the beach last summer saunter by and study Blist. “Hey, Blist.”

  “Hey,” he nonchalantly sips his mug.

  One of the girls stops and looks at the mug. She leans closer. “The meat’s even raw. Smells good. Can I have some?”

  “No thanks,” Blist says, sipping more and closing his eyes.

  The girl huffs back to her group, and they all walk away.

  I watch them as they continuously glance back at Blist and wonder if any of them are part witch. None of them, not a one, glances in my direction or even acknowledges that he’s with anyone else. “I wonder if they wait breathlessly until you arrive.”

  He opens just one eye and peaks at me. “Please tell me you’re jealous.”

  I don’t answer him. Hell’s yes I am. “You can join—”

  Blist holds his hand up to stop me. “Do not finish that sentence.”

  I want to ask him the question I’ve been wanting to ask him forever, but I know he’ll just say something funny or brush it off. I don’t know why he waits for me. I mean I would wait for him. Forever. But … I still haven’t told him how I truly feel. I don’t know what I’m waiting for. I guess I fear fate, the witches, not wanting him to waste his life waiting for me. I stomp my foot spilling some of the marshmallows out of my cup. “Fae.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I pixie myself off. Why am I such a self-loather?”

  “Because you excel in everything?”

  “Please? Runes? Vampire logic? Always barely pass those quizzes.”

  “That’s because they rarely use logic.” Blist laughs then shakes his head. “You’re asking the wrong person, but I swear to you if that’s one of their curses …” he closes his eyes when they start to change color.

  “Maybe I can teach it.”

  “No one needs to self loathe.” He thinks about that. “Maybe your cousins.”

  Xury skis and screams past again with an even larger pixie entourage.

  I look at my watch. “I’ll be back.”

  I zap myself back to the school and race to the underground caverns. I’m met immediately with surly shifters who sit in chairs holding their stomachs and groaning. I wave my hands, and meat platters appear everywhere.

  The shifters jump up. “Respect.”

  “Respect.” I glance at Professor Sway. “Sorry I’ve missed class.”

  “Let me guess … Xury wanted to go to the mountains.”

  I nod. “Vampires around?”

  “Here.” They all blur in and rub their hands together.

  I wave my hands, and they each have mugs full of their favorite blood type.

  They all sigh with relief. “Thank you.”

  I study them. “You use logic?”

  The vampires glance at each other and laugh. “Finally figured out why you never pass vampire logic class.”

  I nod, wave and am gone in a flash.

  I’m back beside Blist in a few seconds. “Vampires confirmed they don’t use logic. Did I miss anything?”

  Blist shakes his head. “Were they groaning?”

  I nod. “Didn’t they like the leftovers?”

  Blist shakes his head. “Our shifts demand fresh.”

  I think about that. “Sucks.”

  “Do you know I’ve been in love with you since we first met?”

  I choke on my hot chocolate. I don’t know what to say. Didn’t think we were having this conversation.

  Blist looks directly at me. “Did you know that?”

  “What happens when all the curses are gone, and the witches finally realize what I might be?”

  “Better than the rest of them?” Blist studies me.

  I roll my eyes. “I’m serious. A dangerous hybrid they have to lock away.”

  Blist shrugs. “Then I’ll become a dangerous hybrid, and we can be locked away together.” He immediately closes his eyes and grabs the chair.

  “Uh oh.” I watch him. “Shift protest?”

  He nods. “My jaguar loves you.”

  “But you’re pure shifter, and any hint otherwise is a direct threat which must be attacked.”

  “Sounds like you were paying attention to your shifter tutor.” He chuckles.

  “Do you need to shift and run it out?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  I don’t want to ask, but I have to know. “What do the shifters really think about your feelings for me?”

  Blist frowns as he tries to figure out what I’m asking.

  “I mean do they want you to be with a pure shifter?”

  He shakes his head. “We’re not like witches, Zalia. We don’t discriminate. They accepted you even before they knew about you.”

  “They seemed to know when I found Professor Sway.”

  He nods. “He told them a few minutes before you arrived. Honestly, we’re not like witches.”

  I think about that. Must be nice. “What about …” I hesitate. Another subject we never discuss. Should I?

  “What?” He grins. “How is my hair just so? How am I so handsome? How are you so lucky to have me?”

  “Raks,” I sputter out, ruining the mood.

  “Your fated soul mate,” he hisses as his eyes change color.

  “I see your jaguar doesn’t like him.”

  He shakes his head. “Not at all. I don’t care if he’s your fated soul mate because you’re my fated soul mate.”

  I almost drop my cup. Almost. It’s chocolate. I can’t risk it. “How?”

  “Learned when I was thirteen.” He opens a shifter locket of a jaguar he always wears around his neck and pulls out a piece of paper directly from fate. It’s in the same stylized scroll mine was in. It has his name and the name of his fated soul mate: me.

  I guess I look at him with a strange expression. “And you didn’t wonder, what the fae, she’s a witch?”

  “Nope.” He carefully folds the paper and puts it back in his locket.

  “Is that why all the shifters wear a locket?”

  He nods. “We need them long so we can still shift. We keep our fated soul mates close to our heart. Where do you keep yours?”

  I think about that. It’s impossible to destroy something directly from fate. Believe me, I’ve tried. I can’t remember where I stored mine. I try to retrace my steps. I mean I’ve been in love with Blist forever, and when I got the paper naming Raks my fated soul mate … “Oh, when I got the paper I got sick. That’s where it is. Toilet tank.”

  Blist chokes on his stew. “Makes sense.”

  “Thought shifters had to be with pure shifters and not hybrids.”

  “There are exceptions.”

  “Huh. My shifter tutor never mentioned that. I definitely need a refund. Must have gotten a dud tutor.”

  He throws snow at me. “Maybe your shifter tutor wanted some things to remain private since you were the one your shif
ter tutor was fated to be with.”

  “Maybe.” I take another sip of hot cocoa and almost can’t swallow since I’m grinning so much. “Maybe he was just stingy with the details.”

  Xury falls into a chair beside me and waves to her admirers. “Do you know they have a pixie ski group here?”

  “Shocking.”

  Blist laughs.

  Xury grabs the mug that appears of her favorite fruit sugar water and looks at both of us with wide, innocent eyes. “What?”

  I look at her. “Come on.”

  Her expression starts to falter as her grin takes over. “Okay, yes, I know pixies follow me.”

  “Follow?” I think about that. “Obsess over? Adore? Worship?” I clasp my hands together and bat my eyes at her. “And not just pixies.”

  She grabs some snow and throws it at me.

  “Shifters are more immune to your charms.”

  She throws snow at Blist as well.

  “Do you think they go to sleep with your picture under their pillow?”

  “No,” she looks away and then grins. “They have hundreds of pictures of me on their walls,” she whispers.

  “Oh my.” Blist picks up snow and throws it at her. “Really?”

  She bites her lip and nods.

  “That must be tragic. Imagine being worshiped by your own kind.” I shake my head. “Horrible. So much pressure to be adored.”

  “Don’t hate.”

  “Just jealous.” I sigh.

  “Really?” Xury looks at me. “You really want to be worshipped by your faehead cousins?”

  I grab my stomach as that horrific thought settles and then unfolds itself into the hot chocolate like a wicked origami. “Ready?”

  Xury takes a deep breath. “This was nice.”

  “It’s not going anywhere. Whenever you need a break from your rabid minions.”

  “They’re not rabid,” she says almost too quickly. “Enthusiastic? Sure. But they have great taste, right?”

  “Right.” I nod a little too much and zap us back to where we started. “Here we are. Two weeks later.” I jump out of the way of the ball of fallen leaves bouncing through campus and glance up at the darkening fall sky. “It looks angry.” I glance over at the same pixie group who yawn and look wilted until they notice Xury and spring to life.

  Blist leans close to me. “You think they stayed there for two weeks waiting for their queen?”

  “Blist …” Xury’s long lashes flutter.

  “Uh oh.” He winks at me. “Full on pixie. Means only one thing.”

  A few pixies sigh as they watch Xury.

  Xury puts her hands together. “Please?”

  Blist sighs, but I know it’s just an act. He’s an empath and on the counselor track. Xury’s pleads mean one thing: the pixies have chosen him to teach the younger ones about shifters.

  “You go,” I say, already heading down the hall. “I have to see Professor Sway. See you at dinner.”

  Xury grins. “Thanks, Z.”

  I don’t give Blist a chance to back out. He’s a natural. Besides Xury had already told me that one of the new pixie students is being bullied and refuses to talk with anyone else.

  I catch up with Vax and Masimu who linger a bit waiting for me. “Thanks for the back up in class two weeks ago.” I don’t worry about the long lag in gratitude. Shifters have the best memories.

  Masimu nods. “No problem.”

  “Shifters have to stick together,” Vax says.

  I smile.

  Masimu coughs to stop her from saying more.

  Vax shoves him. Shifters are tough. “Like anyone listens to a fae word any non witch says.” They both look at me quickly. “Except for you, Zalia.”

  Technically, the witch population hasn’t figured out I could be part shifter. Since they can’t look directly at me and hate me, they rarely think about me.

  If I’m part shifter, that would mean I would be a hybrid, and they find hybrids dangerous enough to either hunt, harass or lock up. I’ve been living in denial about what they might do once they realize.

  Either they find out I’m hybrid and want to destroy me or I’m not really part shifter and can’t date Blist. Like I said, denial has been kind to me. It protects me like a warm blanket.

  “I’ll see you next class.” I wave to Vax and Masimu and head off to see Professor Sway.

  Chapter 3

  I wake up in the 2nd floor bathroom sitting on the sink. “What the fae?”

  Scin sighs. “Thought you’d never come to. I wanted to call for Blist …” she blushes. “But I didn’t want to worry him. Why did you pass out? Why were you here? Are you sleepy? Did the faehead cousins do something to you?”

  I put my hand up to stop the questions because each one makes me more queasy. I look up at the window. “What time is it?”

  “Five.”

  “Fae. How did I get here? How long was I here?”

  Scin shrugs. “Sorry, Grynt has two classes in a row on this floor.”

  I nod. “Couldn’t miss that.”

  Scin shakes her head. “Never. What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “Let’s see …” I close my eyes and think. “We had botanicals.”

  “Uh oh. Faerie poison again?”

  I nod. “Professor Yeru insulted me and every shifter.”

  Scin shakes her head. “Total shifthead who pixies me the fae off.”

  I step back a bit. “I’ve never heard you talk like that.”

  She smiles. “Grynt says that about almost everyone. Even me.” She blinks her eyes a thousand times and looks at herself in the mirror.

  Okay, then. “He sounds like a—”

  “Dream.”

  Not exactly what I was going to say. “Then two weeks in the mountains with Blist and Xury. I was walking with Vax and Masimu and heading towards Professor Sway.” I think about anything else. That’s all I can remember.

  “Were there any witches or warlocks about?”

  “When aren’t there?” I don’t remember seeing anyone. “Why would I end up here?” I jump off the sink and end up tripping and slamming my elbow into the floor. “Fae.”

  Then one of the toilets starts to gurgle. “What the fae is that?” That happened three years ago, not long after the cousins cursed me. Towards the height of the curses, I would fall into the toilet six times a day, but in the beginning every toilet would revolt whenever I was near. “This can’t be happening.” I look to Scin. “Save yourself.” I run out of the bathroom and run right into Mika, a vampire, who immediately catches on fire.

  “Fae,” he screams.

  I wave my hand, and he’s quickly out.

  He stares at me with wide eyes. “Why? What did I do to you?”

  I back away. “Nothing.”

  He flees staring back at me every few seconds to see if I’m following him.

  “What in the actual fae is happening here?” I have to get to Professor Sway. He’ll know if something is fae’d up.

  I gingerly make my way down halls, down stairs, but the rumors have already caught up with me. Vampires quickly dart out of my way or run the other way or just glare at me in disgust.

  I stop at the end of the hall and look across the campus. Professor Sway’s office is on the other side of the atrium. I glance one way and then another. All clear. I rush past the atrium ignoring several faeries who try to say hi. I put my hand in a general wave and hope they don’t take offense.

  I stop quickly when I see someone. I breathe a sigh of relief. Only warlocks. Then I realize that Raks, my so called fated soul mate who swore his oath to me and then left after three seconds, is in the middle of a group of warlocks.

  I sigh as I watch Raks and his muscles. Fae it all. Why did fate choose him for me? I’m in love with Blist. Always have been and always will be, but whenever I’m around Raks my stomach quivers. Fate can suck it.

  I flinch as a sharp pain slams into my brain. “Sorry fate.” I sigh. For witches, fate is a witc
h, and she does not take abuse or mistreatment of any kind. I respect her self-confidence, but I’m all about a jaguar shifter. Raks? Really?

  Another sharp pain almost makes me see double. “I respect you, fate. It just sucks. That’s all.” I brace myself for another jab, but it’s more a dull ache this time.

  I look at Raks. I look at his hair and his muscles on top of muscles and wish he wasn’t wearing so many clothes. I shake my head. “Fae. Nice try, fate.”

  I slide my way down the hall and open the door quickly and rush inside the Professor’s office to find it empty. “Fae it all.” I look up at the clock on the wall. Almost 6. “How the fae did it get so late?” Okay, I have to make it across campus and to the dorms. I put my hand on the door knob. “I can do this.”

  I open the door quickly and rush past the warlocks who only feel the breeze. I make a mad dash past the atrium again, and I do manage to wave to the faeries who are still there and race to the dorms. I slide inside before the dorm doors are locked. “Wow.” I double over. I’m so not the athlete witch. I make it to the stairs and down to the underground dorms right before the clock turns into an evil eye. True.

  I walk into the common room to find shifters and vampires, including Mika who I almost set on fire, arguing as Blist stands in the middle and tries to calm them down. Everyone stops when I arrive.

  Masimu, Vax, and Blist rush to me. “What happened?” They all ask in unison.

  The vampires stomp and hiss and pace behind them.

  “I have no idea. I left Masimu and Vax and was going to meet with Professor Sway.”

  The vampires still fume and fuss.

  “Oh, pipe it down for fae’s sake,” Vax hisses.

  “Then what?” Blist’s eyes shows how worried he is.

  “I woke up in the bathroom.”

  “The 2nd floor bathroom?” Blist asks.

  I nod.

  He bites on his bottom lip. “Then what?”

  “It was after five so I wanted to get to the Professor, and I rushed out of the bathroom.”

  “And tried to kill me,” Mika shrieks.

  Masimu growls. “If she wanted to kill you, then you’d be dead, vampass.”

  “I ran into Mika, and it set him on fire. I’m so sorry.”

  Some of the shifters watching us start to giggle. “Wish I’d seen that.”

  The vampires glare at them.