by Sadie Moss
Relief makes me grin as I throw on one of Roxie’s tops and a skirt. I’ll be able to actually do proper magic now. Or enough magic to not embarrass myself in class anyway.
Here’s hoping it’ll get my grades back up.
After stepping out of my dorm, I hurry across campus toward my first class, only for someone to grab me by the arm. “Roxie!”
Crap, it’s Bianca. I had completely forgotten about her, and I feel kind of bad about that. She never asked for any of this after all. She’s lost her best friend and doesn’t even know it.
“Hey!” I force a bright smile onto my face. “Hey, sorry. Crazy night last night.”
“Oh, with Kasian?” Bianca asks, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Um…” I’m struggling with how to answer that when I notice someone standing behind Bianca. He’s tall, blond, with icy blue eyes and a strong, chiseled jaw. Handsome, but in a standoffish kind of way.
Bianca sees me looking and grins. “Oh my God, you two haven’t—Gunner, this is my best friend Roxie. Roxie, this is Gunner. You know, the one I told you about?” She nudges me significantly.
Oh, damn. Okay, this is the TA she told me about.
I want to shake his hand, but I smother that instinct. That’s something that I would do, but not something I think Roxie would probably do. Instead, I just smile at him, tilting my head and making a show of giving him an assessing once-over.
“Hi, Gunner. Bianca’s told me a lot of great things about you.” I put a little bit of a purr into my voice to make it clear I’m talking about sex—that seems like something Roxie would do.
“Ah, yeah, she’s told me about you too.” Gunner speaks like he can’t wait to escape the conversation—not because he’s nervous, but because he doesn’t find me worthwhile to talk to.
Huh. What’s his problem?
“What’s it like being a TA?” I ask, trying to fill the suddenly awkward silence. Between Roxie and now this guy, does Bianca just have a habit of spending time with snobs?
“Busy,” Gunner replies. “Which reminds me, I have to go do some things. Grading, you know.” He glances at Bianca as he turns to leave. “I’ll see you later.”
Bianca seems completely unconcerned that her boyfriend just gave me the cold shoulder, and kind of did the same to her. She just grins and waves at him as he walks away.
I raise an eyebrow at her. For once, the way I want to behave matches perfectly with how I think Roxie would behave.
Bianca sighs and rolls her eyes. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Rox. He’s just uptight about people finding out about us. It’s not like it’s against the rules or anything, but he’s so careful about these things.” She laughs. “You know all about that though, with Kasian.”
“Yup,” I say, chuckling awkwardly.
She’s not exactly wrong. But if Bianca knew the whole truth—that it’s not just Kasian, but two other guys as well—I have a feeling her eyeballs would pop out of her head.
How did this even become my life?
Chapter 37
Over the next couple of weeks, all four of us bust our asses.
Our next goal will be trying to actually get Roxie to swap back, but first and foremost, I have to keep passing as her, and that means making good on my promise to the dean and passing my classes with flying colors.
My charm does work a lot better than the one Cross initially got me, and I’m able to do magic in class at nearly the same level as everyone else. For the slightly more complicated magic, I’ve got the guys. There’s always at least one of them nearby, ready to help boost my spells, to amplify them and make them truly spectacular.
Kasian does the history and paperwork stuff for me—although I keep studying, refusing to slack in that class just because he’s helping me cheat—Cross is there in our shared classes, and overall, I’m feeling a lot more confident.
And I want to do well, I really do.
Now that I can do my own magic of a sort, I’m actually starting to enjoy my classes. I loved learning about things like history and all that, but now I’m enjoying the other classes as well, since I’m not so freaked out about flunking and being exposed as an imposter.
In fact… this is the weirdest thing, I know, but I’m actually starting to feel… comfortable here. Now that I can relax a bit, I’m finding so many things that I like about this place, even more than I ever did before. Doing magic is incredible—even if it’s not exactly my own magic.
Over the next two weeks, my grades start to pull up, thank God, and my professors start smiling and nodding at me as I perform magic in class.
I’m working my ass off and so are the guys, in class and out, but Kasian assures me that my grades are getting closer and closer to where I need them to be. I may not end the semester with top grades in my classes, but if I manage to ace all my finals, that will pull me up enough to pass every subject I’m taking.
It’s a lot of pressure, and by the time finals roll around, I’m so keyed up with nerves that I barely sleep for two days.
This is it—the last chance to prove myself.
I have to be perfect in this. There’s no room for failure.
Between our hard work, getting my gestures exactly right, and the boost from the guys… I finish.
It’s like having a huge weight lifted off my shoulders—like I’ve been Atlas, carrying the sky, and at last I can leave my task and walk in the world again.
We won’t receive our grades for the finals immediately, so I’ll have to wait a couple days to find out how I did, but I feel optimistic about it.
It didn’t feel like I was struggling to keep up or like I was behind everyone else. It was hard work, of course, and I couldn’t just skate by, but after my last final, I walk out of the classroom with my head held high for once.
I need to find the guys, to share this rush of triumph with them. Cross is right outside the classroom, so I grab him and drag him back to my dorm room, texting the other two to let them know I finished.
Theo’s already there—he finished his finals yesterday—and is lounging on my bed.
I let go of Cross, who’s making jokes asking where the fire is, and tackle Theo, kissing him soundly.
“Start the party without me, why don’t you,” Kasian says, walking in and closing the door behind him.
Cross nudges him with his elbow, grinning. “Oh, lighten up, Kas.”
“I finished,” I tell them both breathlessly, glancing over my shoulder as I straddle Theo’s lap, my arms around his neck. “I finished, and I couldn’t have done it without you—without all of you together. You saved my ass. Literally.”
“You did the saving, Gabbi.” Pride beams in Kasian’s expression. “We were just there to help.”
Emotions swell up in my chest, too many at once for me to name them all, and I bite my lip. “Thank you. So much. You guys know—you know how much I care about you, right?”
Cross walks over to where I’m still on top of Theo and bends down, kissing me heatedly. “Trust me, cupcake,” he whispers, “we figured it out. And if I can go out on a limb and speak for these idiots, I’d say we all care about you.”
There’s no bite at all to the insult. In fact, I think I hear a note of genuine affection in his voice when he speaks of the other guys, and they both chuckle and nod in agreement.
“This idiot is so glad he met you,” Kasian says softly, crossing the room to stand right next to the bed.
“I mean, you aren’t so bad,” Theo teases with a shrug. “Once a bloke gets to know you.”
An unrestrained smile breaks across my face as I shift my gaze from one man to the next, taking each of them in. They’re all such wildly different personalities, but they’re each so perfect for me in their own way.
With pretty much every waking moment dedicated to getting ready for finals, we haven’t had any time since our visit to the fae kingdom to revisit what happened between all of us that night. I’ve been thinking about it though. A lot. Although we’d a
ll had enough fae wine to break down our inhibitions, the memory isn’t cloudy or hazy at all. I can remember every bit of that night in vivid detail—and it only gets better and better in my memory.
The wine and the setting gave us the courage and the perfect opportunity to jump off that cliff together, but I want to do it again—with no fancy clothes, no wine, and no bedroom lit with stars. I don’t need any of those things. I just need the three men around me.
“Whatcha thinkin’ about, cupcake?”
Cross arches a brow, and I realize I must’ve gotten a dazed, moony look on my face as I got lost in my memories.
“Just thinking about our night in King Anzac’s palace,” I admit, and the atmosphere in the room shifts with my words. Now they’re all thinking about it too.
“Yeah?” Cross’s eyes glint as he and Kasian both sit down on the bed next to us, framing me and Theo. “I think about that night all the time. Never would’ve thought I’d say this, but that was one of the best damn nights of my life.”
“Same,” Kasian murmurs, reaching out to run his fingers down my arm. Even that small touch sends goose bumps skittering over my skin.
“Although…” Theo purses his lips, shooting a glance at Cross before grinning. “I still think we can do better.”
I laugh, even as heat builds in my lower belly. “Well, I had no complaints at all. But you know I’m always going to encourage that kind of attitude.”
“What can we say, cupcake?” Cross’s voice is a little rougher than usual as he leans in to kiss me. “We’re perfectionists.”
I chuckle against his lips, but it ends on a gasp as Theo hikes me higher against him, pulsing his hips up toward mine so that his stiffening cock puts delicious pressure on my clit.
He drops his upper body back onto the bed, leaving me straddling him as his hands roam over my legs and ass, kneading and massaging me through the fabric of my skirt.
Cross and Kasian move at the same time, each grabbing one side of my shirt’s hem and tugging it up over my head. Their hungry mouths devour my chest and shoulders, trailing over my collarbone as they kiss and lick and nip.
God, I forgot how incredible this feels.
It’s like being immersed in pleasure, surrounded by it, sensations coming from so many different places at once that it’s impossible to track them all.
Theo’s thumb finds my clit, pressing softly as I swirl my hips against his. He’s teasing me, I know he is, but it feels so damn good that I can’t even bring myself to be mad at him for it. I grind against his hand, my vision going a little dark around the edges as pleasure spikes.
Cross’s teeth graze the shell of my ear, and I turn my head to claim a kiss from him. He palms the back of my head, delving his tongue into my mouth in a way that makes me whimper. I lean into him, kissing him harder, deeper, feeling myself fall into it.
But the falling sensation doesn’t stop.
And the darkness at the edge of my vision crowds in closer.
A sudden spike of fear rushes through me, sharp as a knife’s blade, and I jerk back from the kiss, my eyes flying wide open.
“C-Cross!”
“Gabbi?” My vision is going cloudy, but I can see the confusion and fear on his face. Then the dawning realization. “Fuck. Gabbi!”
He lunges toward me.
But I’m already gone.
The blackness swallows me up, surrounding me just like before. There’s a rushing feeling, like I’m falling through space, and I try to scream out, to hold onto something.
But I can’t. I’m falling.
Unfamiliar people and places flash in front of me—bits and pieces of a life, another life. I know what it is now. I had no idea before, but now I know. It’s Roxie’s life, flashing before my mind’s eye.
Emotions tear through my consciousness, and I can’t tell if they’re hers or mine. There are so many of them, too many to sort them all out, but mostly the same one as before:
Fear.
Chapter 38
I hit the ground with a thud, so hard it knocks the wind out of me.
Ow. Fuck.
I blink as the world comes back into focus around me, and I realize I’ve landed on the sidewalk, staring up at the sky.
Holy shit. What the fuck just happened?
As soon as I ask the question though, I know the answer. I’m back in my world. I’m home.
I lie completely still for a moment, just getting my breath back. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else around, thank God, and I can take my time as the pain in my chest subsides. I take stock of my body—I seem to be all right, no broken bones or concussion this time. I’m banged up though. I can practically feel the bruises forming. And I have no idea where I am.
Eventually, I’m able to get to my feet and look around. I vaguely recognize this area—it’s a more quiet and run-down part of Baltimore, and what’s more, it’s miles away from my college, my house, everything.
Oh, and it’s drizzling.
Extra fun.
Shit, my shirt’s off. Fuck. What—what the hell—how—?
My mind is a whirl, the gears grinding hard as I try to process what just happened.
A sudden realization strikes me, like cold water dripping down my back: I was starting to get used to the idea that I might never actually get to go home. I was starting to get used to being in the Hidden World. It was starting to feel like I belonged there.
Now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
I have no wallet or money or anything, since I was, you know, in the middle of starting to have sex. Roxie’s phone is in my back pocket, but it’s not like it’ll make calls here. What can I do?
Okay. Well. First of all, I have to get home.
I need to see my family and make sure they’re okay. Either Roxie just fled and didn’t bother pretending to be me, in which case they’ve been worried sick, or she infiltrated my life, and God only knows what the hell she’s been doing with it. If she hurt my family in any way, I don’t care how much magic she has, I’m going to strangle her with my bare hands.
After a bit of walking, I manage to flag down a cab. The guy’s eyebrows rise as he takes a good look at me. I’m shirtless, shivering like a lost kitten by now, and I probably look just as pathetic as one too.
“I’m so sorry,” I manage, my teeth chattering, “but could you give me a lift home? I can pay you once—once I get there, I promise.”
The guy reminds me a little of Kasian—not just in his dark skin but in the sort of warm demeanor I get from him—and he nods. “Yeah, of course. Get on in, you must be soaked.”
“Thank you.” I slide inside and notice the driver crank the knob on the heater to help me warm up. “I’m so sorry I don’t have money on me.”
“Bad day?”
“S-something like that.”
“I don’t have any spare clothes,” the guy says, then pauses. “Hold on.”
He puts his car into park and gets out, rifling through the trunk, then comes back a moment later. “Here, I know it’s not fun, but it’ll cover you until we get you home.”
It’s a trash bag. Yeah, not fun, but it’ll do.
I tear holes it in for my arms and head and put it on. The plastic clings to me, and I feel like a total idiot, but at least now every car we pass doesn’t get a good look at my purple bra.
We drive in silence as I try to collect myself. The world outside of the car windows is so familiar and so foreign all at once. I can’t believe how accustomed I became to the Hidden World, to the people and creatures and signs of magic that were everywhere. But now…
The driver is nice enough to leave me to my thoughts. The way he keeps glancing at me with worry in his eyes, I’m pretty sure he thinks I was assaulted. I mean, I’m shirtless, shivering, covered in bruises, and clearly upset.
Sure enough, when we pull up in front of my house, the guy pauses. “Do you need me to call the police or anything?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No. Thank you. Ju
st, um, wait here, and I’ll get your fare, okay? How much?”
He names a price that I know is about half of what it actually costs to take a cab across town, but I don’t fight him on it. I could use a bit of kindness right now.
“Thanks, I’ll be right back with that.”
I get out, walk up to my front door, and knock.
The door is opened by my mother, and her face… well, let’s just say I never want to see that look of shock and horror on her face ever again.
“Gabbi?” she says, and oh God, it feels so good to hear my name said like that. The guys use it, of course, but that’s different, this is… this is my mother, and she’s saying my name, and as much as I’ve loved learning about magic, I’ve missed her, I’ve missed her so much.
“H-hey,” I manage. “Can—can you pay the cabbie?”
Mom still looks like a bomb dropped in front of her house, but she manages to grab her wallet and pay the guy, forcing some extra cash onto him and thanking him profusely for getting me home. At last, she gets me inside.
“What happened?” Mom takes my face in her hands. “Honey, you look awful. Were you mugged?”
“I…” What can I say? What could I possibly tell her that she could believe? My mom is shocked at my current appearance, but she’s not shocked to see me. Clearly, my family hasn’t been missing me for weeks, so that means Roxie has been here. She was in my life, doing shit, and until I know exactly what that shit was, I need to play it safe.
Once again, I have to pretend, only this time it’s with my own family, and that hurts so much I think I might cry.
And then I realize—that’s the one thing I most definitely can do.
So I hug my mom, and I cry.
Chapter 39
It’s been a few days since I got back to my home, to the Dull World, and…
God, I feel so bad for saying this, but I get why it’s called the Dull World now.
I love my family, and I’m so glad to see them again, but this world… it’s like the colors aren’t as bright here, like the air has less oxygen in it or something. I keep hoping for something fun and magical to pop up, but of course, it doesn’t. Because that’s not the world I’m living in anymore. Things like that don’t happen here.