Upended Life (Artemis University Book 1)

by Erin R Flynn

  “Good morning, I’m Dr. Craftsman and this is Runes 101. If that’s not where you’re supposed to be, hurry to the right class.” He gave everyone a moment to leave if needed before nodding. “All right then. This class is your first step into your magical education as an adult.”

  He went to his desk and held up a pretty necklace that had some sort of crystal secured in metal. I saw there was a box of them on his desk as well.

  “These are magical conduits. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s basically a magical energy convertor. We all have magic but not all species can access their magic for all things.

  “Example—dragons can control fire naturally. Vampires cannot. When they wear this and are trained how to use their magic that way, they can.”

  Oh, that was fucking sick. I couldn’t even hide the shock and intrigue, his eyes flashing amusement as he caught it too.

  “These are training ones that the university provides. They work while you are a student here. Should you leave Artemis by graduating or for other reasons you will return it. These are the training wheels version. When you’re an adult, you will get your own if you can afford it. They are powerful tools that last a lifetime and their price reflects that.

  “So that is why you all will learn runes no matter your species. There are rules and they are strictly enforced. No exceptions. This is a matter of safety, so we don’t care who your parents are or how much they’ve donated. You screw around and risk injuring students and you will face the consequences. That’s not to say accidents don’t happen. They do.

  “But I promise we’ll know the difference. You are only to practice these runes and wearing your conduits in the training rooms in the lab building. They are insulated and dampeners can be turned on should you need them.

  “That is the rule for the semester. Eventually, if you test well and show you deserve the trust, you can practice in the witch/warlock area in the woods.

  “I’d make sure not to shift or change forms there as it’s person form only. I’m also a very nice professor and I want your focus where it should be. We’re going to go through a lot of basic runes fast this semester once you get the premise. So if you wish, I will email you the presentations and notes each day that also have the runes.

  “In the packets I’m handing out are also sheets of the runes for you to cut up and practice with. You’re new—use the damn training wheels instead of risking blowing people up. A lot of runes look exactly the same to people who don’t work with them regularly. The paper is organic and won’t impede your magic, so put it in your hand and trace it when practicing.

  “If you should not use the training wheels I generously provide and cause trouble while practicing for my class, your arse will be here and you will fill my whiteboards with that rune every day for two weeks. You won’t get it wrong again after that.” He smirked at us. “And you’ll never ignore the training wheels like you’re so aces compared to the rest of us.”

  He hefted over a stack of packets, letting each in the front take several and start passing them back. He flinched a few times as he walked up the steps, letting others take them and pass down. He jogged down and went up the other stairs, quickly passing them out. It looked like steam might be about to come out of his ears as he jogged to the front again.

  “I hoped this wouldn’t be the first example of how useful runes are, but apparently it’s needed,” he seethed. He wrote a rune on the far whiteboard and it disappeared when he finished.

  Good to know they did that when you did them right.

  I reached over to grab my packet and passed the pile to who waved for me next since we weren’t all sitting in filled rows. I heard gasps and hisses, glancing up front to see words appearing on that whiteboard.

  “Damn, even angry he’s fine. I think I need to get a bad grade so he can spank me and fuck me good in punishment. I bet his wand will show me everything I’ve been missing.” Blake Ward.

  Holy. Shit. It was people whispering about him that pissed him off.

  And he knew the rune to bust them. Oh, that was cool. Two more went up before the room caught on.

  He sent Blake a look of disgust. “I would lose my job if I said that about you to people. How dare any of you come into my classroom and talk about me like that with such disrespect, as if I’m a piece of meat you’re shopping for. Do not do it again. And for the record, I’m not the only professor who does this so use your heads and have some common decency.”

  She looked like she could chew nails she was so pissed but he was fair and called out the other two names, making them identify themselves. One was a woman whose whole group looked like they wanted to die and the other a guy who was sitting with a friend, both their faces bright red.

  He actually apologized and so did the other woman… But not Blake.

  Bitch.

  “You should all take this as a lesson, as we are not human with human hearing. We all can hear better. I might be a warlock but I have runes on me that elevates my hearing. All the professors do so we can hear if a student is in need or in trouble. You will thank us that we do when there’s undoubtedly a magical accident. So now you know. Don’t do it again or you won’t be welcome in my class.

  “And it’s a requirement to advance to the next grade. The three of you will also submit a two-page essay to me by next class on the problems of sexual harassment in society and reference at least one lawsuit that gave a payout so you understand the lines you crossed.

  “I would suggest anyone else who was just as guilty but I didn’t call out do the same as I heard and know you. It’s best to get my forgiveness.”

  Then he went back to the lesson, loading the projector like nothing happened. Dayumn, the man had his shit locked down.

  It was seriously sexy. Really sexy.

  And made me rethink harassing him. Well, it wasn’t… I’d have to think about it. Maybe this class after such a statement wasn’t the right time to show him my panties.

  But that didn’t objectify him, right?

  Twenty minutes into the lecture of general rules of runes, I realized something, my hand shooting up.

  “Yes, Ms. Vale?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “Can a rune make us, like, a fairy?” I blurted.

  He frowned. “Runes can’t change your species, no, but I’m not sure that’s what you meant.”

  I twirled my fingers in a let me back up gesture. “Yesterday in the History of Witches & Vampires, Professor Campbell said fairies don’t fall in pitfalls of too much power and thought it had to do with them needing to spend time in Faerie. You were saying how runes can backfire and ill-intent ones can stab both ways even if needed to fight, so I wondered… If there was some way to cleanse like a fairy? Does that make sense?”

  “Sort of,” he accepted, rubbing his chin and then up his cheek. He seemed more worried and I realized he thought I was being too obvious. He did a double take. “And you have telepathy. There we go. That’s the piece I was missing. You’re going to be extremely powerful.”

  “Wait, she has telepathy?” Blake demanded, giving us almost a panicked look. “There’s no way it’s fair she should be in our classes or school when she can listen to all our thoughts and use them against us.”

  I rolled my eyes and turned to look at her fully. “There is nothing you think that I would ever remotely repeat. I normally feel like I need a shower or scrub my brain after being around you.” I turned back around as people burst out laughing, even Dr. Craftsman looking amused, waving us quiet.

  “And we all are here to learn no matter our powers. Thinking to exclude someone powerful because you’re scared of their abilities is not only idiotic but limits your education. You have a telepath in your class. I didn’t. She has real-world information books might not teach you.” He focused on me. “What’s the hardest part of it?”

  “Not knowing how to shut it off,” I immediately answered. “Large groups, especially when agitated.”

  “
What would you like to explore about your power most?”

  “Being around shifters and dragons in their other forms,” I replied instantly, dying to do it. “Is it easier to block them or are they louder? Does their thinking change with their shifting?”

  “I think that a fantastic study,” he praised. “Next semester when you get into shifters more with Professors White and Campbell, I think you should suggest that as a joint project.” He glanced at Blake. “Those who start with telepathy, if taught how to harness their power, can sometimes move into visions when they touch objects. It’s a highly sought after and well-paying service.”

  “I bet her current services don’t cost much,” she sneered.

  I knew what she meant but I wasn’t going to try and argue it, just throw her off. I chuckled and glanced at her. “Nope, I offer them for free and I heard you struggled in physical training so you could use my help, but I’m booked. For you, I’m always booked.”

  “I will think on what you said about the cleansing rune,” Dr. Craftsman cut in before Blake took a shot back. “It’s an interesting hypothesis and something maybe to study. What led your mind to that? It’s a jump from the class yesterday to using a rune.”

  I shrugged. “Using the reservoir to get out the snowballing energy from Dr. Salzman’s pills leaves me sore and achy. I booked a massage Sunday and thought maybe a soak tonight to help as they’re getting worse. And I sort of wondered if… Yeah, Faerie’s closed and fairies might not ever be there for us, but there are always other ways, right?”

  “Well done,” he praised, looking relieved I came up with a way to explain I wasn’t just focused on fairies.

  I got sucked into the lecture. He was engaging, the material was interesting… And he was fucking sexy. That accent and the way his eyes lit up with excitement talking about runes was just delicious.

  His gaze met mine and flashed heat before he quickly looked away. I didn’t even realize at first that I was running my pen over my lip with my elbows on the fold-out desk so my breasts were pushed up.

  Honestly, it was completely an accident but he’d liked it. Shit, that was hot.

  I did it more, leaning forward and noting how often his eyes darted to me. The lecture hall was huge and it looked like he was just glancing at us to see if we were with him, except I was right at his eye level so I knew where he was looking.

  I sat back and wrote down a few questions I wanted to look up later to get more into what he was giving an overview of.

  I uncrossed my legs and he licked his fucking lips even if he wasn’t looking at me. He was watching me out of the corner of his eyes. Nice.

  Leaning down like I needed to scratch my ankle, I made sure my skirt pulled up a bit before fixing my bag on the seat next to me like it was sliding down. And spreading my legs slightly to reach easier.

  Then I turned back and left them that way. He cleared his throat and paced along where the projector was showing.

  That was all I did and we were getting to the end of class and he actually shot me a disappointed look. I answered by swaying my right leg like I was ready to get out of class… And moving it further away.

  I knew the moment he could see my panties, the good doctor tripping over his words and clearing his throat before getting back into the groove. But I saw him staring out of the corner of his eye, making sure he caught more each time he changed the slide of the presentation.

  When he finished up, he gave us our assignment on the syllabus and told us to pay attention to his office hours on there but he was also available by appointment. His gaze stayed on me a second longer than a quick glance and I took that as an invitation. The moment the bell rang, my phone was in my hand.

  Tamsin: How much do you want to ask me to see more?

  I packed up with a smirk, heading out with the others to get to English but shot a look over my shoulder to see he had his phone in his hand. Mine flashed with a new message before I was out the door.

  Craftsman: Please don’t make me hard for my next class.

  Tamsin: You’re not hard already? How disappointing.

  Craftsman: I’m not soft but that’s because of the lecture hall full of students and feeling like I’d get busted.

  Tamsin: No getting busted.

  Craftsman: Glad you agree.

  Craftsman: Are you damp, love?

  I couldn’t lie and he admitted it was nerve-wracking so I did too.

  Tamsin: No, too nervous.

  Craftsman: Will you show me more before you change?

  Tamsin: Maybe if you beg.

  Craftsman: Bloody fuck you push all my buttons, you minx.

  Tamsin: And you love it.

  He didn’t admit it but I got something else I wanted.

  Craftsman: Please show me, love. I’ll beg but I want to see those pretty panties on you nice and damp for me. Fuck, I so want it.

  Tamsin: Okay, now I’m a bit damp.

  I cleared my throat as I reached my next class. I really was. Awkward.

  Craftsman: Shit, that’s hot but let’s stop. I don’t want you like that around Nelson. He’s into that.

  I snorted. The man could be into it all he wanted but I was not going to get into a habit of lusting after professors. I slid into a seat off to the side in the middle and decided to tell him that I wasn’t into that fetish.

  Tamsin: Too bad for him, only one prof on my radar and he’s different.

  Craftsman: I’ve been called worse.

  Craftsman: Any students on that radar?

  Tamsin: No comment.

  Craftsman: That’s fine. You should experience college life that way.

  That was big of him so I decided to be nice.

  Tamsin: Meaning you still want to bend me over your desk and fuck me in your classroom.

  Craftsman: Great, now I’m hard as students are coming in. You’re a bloody demon, love. Behave.

  Tamsin: I wouldn’t be me if I behaved.

  Craftsman: Always be you. That’s what makes you so special.

  That was ridiculously sweet and about melted me.

  The bell rang and Professor Nelson started with the intro like the others. The class seemed a bit frivolous when he went over the basics.

  We were going to learn about how there were supes who enjoyed pushing the buttons of humans and their imaginations by giving them hints to our world or leading them astray.

  We were going to spend a semester on those works and then on human ones picking out what they’d gotten wrong and how it would have changed the stories. I knew English was a required class at all colleges and good for the full package and this had a supe flair, but it seemed filler where the other classes seemed important.

  Plus Blake was in this one too. Fucking hell. Watch I had her in all my Tuesday/Thursday classes. That would just be great.

  The only good thing about the class was that it didn’t seem like it would be hard. He admitted the main point was to work on our skills on picking out what was important but also to push us to think outside the box.

  “It might all be fiction but fantasy can be the catalyst for ingenuity,” he told us as he handed out packets. “There are dozens of runes or spells that came about after reading something from human fiction. Even more from their inventions that we used magic to mimic, so as many of you look down your noses at humans as being better than them, remember that and what you haven’t invented.”

  Okay, that was pretty cool. I was more into the class knowing he was a good teacher.

  Plus, not every class could be full of vital information we had to retain or our heads would explode. And for me personally I was also going to be taking high school classes.

  Yeah, I could use a fun, lighter class for sure.

  18

  Halfway through English, there was a firm knock on the door and it opened before Professor Nelson could even call out. My eyes went wide as Dr. Craftsman walked in.

  “My apologies, mate,” he greeted. “There’s been a situation and I need Ms. V
ale. It seems someone started a petition to expel her from school because she is a telepath.”

  Professor Nelson burst out laughing. “What idiot did that? A freshman, right?” He snickered when Craftsman nodded. “So they have no idea that everyone will be rooting through their heads next semester in Mental Shielding 101, huh?”

  “No, I would say not. The headmaster is handling Ms. Vale’s power assessment and was going to work with her on it after classes but his schedule fell on its head so he needs to do it now as he’s worried about people misbehaving if she isn’t taught how to block and now.”

  “Understandable.” Professor Nelson turned and nodded to me like I had permission to be dismissed before focusing back on Craftsman. “You’re involved as her species advisor, yes?”

  I hurried to pack up as I watched the interaction.

  “That and it was done during my class and I’m not having any of that.” He turned and narrowed his eyes on Blake. “Ms. Ward, you are to report to the Dean of Vampires after your classes for full punishment, but you’re hereby on probation, and a hearing held to see if you should be expelled.”

  She jumped to her feet as her fangs came out. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? All because I don’t want a fucking trailer trash unknown here that’s a telepath? On what grounds am I even in trouble for besides she’s clearly got—”

  “Are you having a laugh?” Craftsman cut in. “I’m your professor and you talk to me like that?” He raised an eyebrow when she flinched. “I also filed a complaint about your behavior in my class as the others apologized whereas you didn’t.” He held up his hand to hold off her bitching. “You broke several rules but the big one that might get you tossed out of here is you posted she’s a telepath on social media.”

  Professor Nelson cursed under his breath and looked ready to tear Blake’s head off. “Are you insane? Why don’t you just put a hit out on Vale? You know supes on our social media are not all students or kids but some very bad people who salivate for people who post stuff like that.”

  I felt all the blood leave my face as I realized the danger I was in. I turned to Blake, ready to kill her, but Craftsman’s next words stopped me from shredding her.