Fragile Brilliance (Shifters & Seers)

by Blackwell, Tammy

  “He didn’t.”

  “He didn’t what?”

  “He didn’t shoot me down.” Charlie reached into his back pocket and pulled out his new student ID, making sure Maggie could see the gold stripe running across the top indicating his status as an independent study student. “We’re now officially study buddies.”

  Charlie didn’t think eyes as dark as Maggie’s could be very expressive. They were so black they couldn’t bleach out like Scout’s did when she was angry or darken like Talley’s did when she was sad. There was such a small difference between the iris and pupil it would take considerable effort to see if the center was expanding or contracting. But despite the disadvantages caused by their color, Charlie could see everything Maggie was thinking when he met her eyes.

  He tried not to be offended at her shock and disbelief. It’s not like she really knew anything about him, and Stroud had been a hard sell. It wasn’t difficult to see why someone would doubt the man would be willing to take on what he’d termed “an extra headache.”

  “How much did that piece of plastic cost us?” Liam asked.

  “Don’t worry. We can cover it.”

  Maggie’s obsidian eyes narrowed along with the rest of her features. “You paid him off?”

  “You’re angry,” Charlie said, rather stupidly. It was amazing actual physical daggers weren’t flying out of her eyes.

  “The faculty is only required to accept one independent study student every five years.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  “You didn’t just buy yourself a spot, you sold someone else’s.” The top of her head barely reached his shoulders, but he felt like she was looming over him. “Someone who has spent hour after hour, day after day, year after year for a chance to study under one of the greatest artists living today. Someone who deserves the chance to make their dreams come true. And you’ve just…,” her tiny body shook with fury, “wasted it.”

  There was a time when Charlie would have let her words get to him. Guilt and empathy for the unknown person he’d wronged would have left him feeling sick until he made it right. But that was before he’d taken up an eighteen-month residence at the bottom of the pit of human emotions. He’d found his way back out into the light of day, but he’d emerged a changed man. In order to not feel the pain, he had to give up the ability to feel much of anything at all.

  All in all, he thought it was a pretty good trade. Charlie was on close, intimate terms with pain, and he would choose muted emotions over revisiting it any day of the week.

  “Fortunately for you, I value human life more than someone’s chance to have some arrogant ass sneer at them while he devalues their talent and hard work.” He leaned forward, crowding into Maggie’s space. “If you’re going to point a finger at me, you might take note of the three that pointing back at you. I wouldn’t be here if you had taken our advice and just took a semester or two off.”

  In the move he’d made to keep from feeling like Maggie was lording over him, Charlie had moved into a position in which Maggie had to tilt her head back completely to look him in the eyes. Too late, he realized it was the same position they would be in if he was about to kiss her. And once his brain went there, he couldn’t seem to reign it back. His gaze was stuck on the dusky rose of her lips, and he became overly aware of the scent of lilacs and vanilla coming from her skin. He licked his lips without thought and saw on her face the moment she too realized the position they found themselves in. A blush darkened her satin cheeks. As he watched the color spread from her high cheekbones to the long column of her neck he imagined what it would be like to follow the same path with his lips.

  Holy inappropriate thoughts, Batman.

  “Don’t you dare push the blame off on me.” Why did her voice have to be so low and raspy? That certainly wasn’t helping matters. “My life was perfectly calm and uneventful until you guys brought attention to me.”

  “Calm and uneventful? That sounds like a grand old time. I’m sorry you had to give it up.”

  “It may not have been the nonstop party that is being a member of the Alpha Pack, but it was safe.”

  Charlie’s coyote paced beneath the surface, savoring the way they drew even closer to one another as they argued. It wanted to pounce, and Charlie was having trouble keeping it leashed. He wanted to tell her to run. He didn’t know what would happen if he let that side of himself out again, but he knew for certain she wouldn’t survive it intact. But no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t get the words past his lips.

  “Sorry to interrupt the foreplay you two have going on there,” Liam said, breaking the spell, “but you should know we’re being watched.”

  Chapter 12

  Maggie opened her mouth, but couldn’t speak. Her brain was stuck on the word “foreplay.”

  “Don’t turn around,” Charlie muttered. His face inched impossibly closer to hers and her breath ran away to the same place her voice was hiding. “Just keep concentrating on my lips like you have been.”

  Her face heated at his words. She had not been staring at his oh-so-perfect lips.

  Okay, so maybe that was a lie, but it was only because she was concentrating on all the ridiculous crap coming out of them. It certainly hadn’t been an act of foreplay.

  I don’t suppose you would consider opening up and swallowing me whole? she asked the ground beneath her feet. But like everyone and everything else over the past few days, it acted as if it hadn’t heard her.

  She looked up, expecting to meet Charlie’s cool gaze, but he was focusing on a point over her shoulder. Liam was standing beside him, his eyes glued to the tiny screen of his phone.

  “What do you see?” she asked no one in particular.

  Charlie answered. “Girl. Average height. Thin with obvious surgical enhancements up top—“

  “And rainbow hair.”

  His eyes dropped back to hers. “You know her?”

  Instead of answering, Maggie turned around and searched the crowd until she caught sight of her roommate. “Reid,” she called out, waving her hand frantically as if she was thrilled to see her, which was hardly the case. But since they’d already been spotted, it was best to get it over with.

  “Mags, I’ve been so worried about you,” her roommate whined, wrapping her thin arms around Maggie’s neck. “Where on earth have you been?”

  Hanging out in a million dollar house with a couple of psychotic were-creatures.

  “Staying with a friend. Didn’t you get my note?”

  “Yes, but—“ Reid froze the moment her eyes landed on Liam.

  “Reid, this is Liam. He’s…”

  “A friend,” Liam supplied.

  “A friend,” she agreed, trying to hide the incredulousness in her voice. “And this is Charlie. Charlie…”

  Maybe they should have covered the fine art of lying with her before they sent her out in public with two secret bodyguards.

  “Friend of Liam’s,” Charlie said, kicking the sides of his mouth into the Charlie-bot’s imitation of a smile. “I just transferred in and discovered Mags and I have almost all of our classes together. She agreed to show me the ropes.”

  Maggie was fairly certain she was feeling hurt over something other than the way Charlie had categorized himself as Liam’s friend and not hers, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. Maybe she was mistaking hurt for annoyance.

  “Liam,” Reid said, obviously transfixed by the attractive Alpha Male.

  “He’s dating Scout Donovan,” Maggie said, both to share what she knew her roommate would consider squee-worthy gossip and to warn her off. She had a feeling Scout wouldn’t react well to someone making googley eyes at her boyfriend.

  If anything, Liam’s normal glare grew even colder. “We’re not dating.”

  “Oh…” Maggie thought back to how the two had interacted and wondered what she was missing. They had certainly seemed to be a couple. “Sorry, I just thought you were together.”

  He flick
ed her a look that seemed to suggest that she was an idiot. “We are together.”

  “But not dating?” Maggie was confused. “You’re engaged?” Nineteen seemed awfully young to be making that kind of commitment, but more than one of her former classmates were set to tie the knot in the next year, and they’d just graduated high school. Some people were just crazy like that.

  “No, we’re not engaged.” Liam, who normally seemed pretty reserved and in control, looked like he was about to have a celebrity-level meltdown. “We’re ma—“

  “Making plans to be engaged,” Charlie interrupted, his smile even tighter than normal. “Not Liam’s idea, obviously, but Scout is very into Southern traditions.”

  Being from Tennessee, Maggie thought she knew a bit more about Southern traditions than anyone in Kentucky, but she let it slide. Whatever the deal was between Liam and Scout, it wasn’t really any of her business.

  Reid acted as though she hadn’t heard a word of what any of them had said. She was still looking at Liam like he was Robert Downey, Jr. wearing a giant “free for the taking” sign around his neck, and Maggie wasn’t the only one who noticed. Charlie’s eyes flicked back and forth between the girl and Liam, while Liam looked like he was ready to turn tail and run, which made Maggie giggle. The Alpha Male was scared of Reid, the girl who complained about how heavy her MacBook Air made her backpack?

  “Liam, this is Reid. She’s my roommate.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Liam offered his hand. Reid looked at it for a full second before taking a step backwards.

  Three sets of eyebrows - Maggie’s, Charlie’s, and Liam’s - all rose in unison as if the action was choreographed.

  “I have class,” Reid said, her voice coming out thin and shaky. “I have to go.” Frantic eyes met Maggie’s, making her feel a certain kinship with the girl for the first time. “Call me later?”

  She didn’t even wait for Maggie to agree before she turned and began plowing her way through the crowd.

  “So, that’s your roommate,” Charlie said.

  “Yep.”

  “She’s…”

  “Intense?”

  Charlie snorted. “That’s one word for it.”

  “She has sex with her boyfriend while I’m in the room,” Maggie admitted, the words spilling out of her mouth on their own. “And she doesn’t clip her nails over a trash can. She just sits in the middle of her bed and lets them fly all over the place.”

  The corner of Charlie’s mouth lifted, and for the first time, she thought his amusement might be genuine. “You know, after all of this is over, you can still stay with us. I would hate to know I saved you from one horrible fate just to drop you back into another.”

  “I’m sure the Alphas would love to become a half-way house for college kids with horrid roommates.” She couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face.

  “Liam doesn’t care. The more the merrier.”

  Liam didn’t comment. He was too busy staring off in the direction Reid had disappeared, his eyes narrowed and nostrils flared.

  “Liam? Do we have a problem?”

  Charlie’s voice broke Liam out of his trance, but instead of looking at his pack mate, he turned to Maggie.

  “What do you know about your roommate?”

  Maggie thought back to the nonstop chatter she’d learned to tune out an hour after moving in to the dorm. “She’s an only child. Her parents are fabulously wealthy and live somewhere up around Louisville. She’s majoring in Business Management,” the default degree for the rich kids who would never actually have to work a day in their life, “and fancies herself a unique soul, but has Top-40-highest-grossing-movie tastes. And she really, really likes to be naked. A lot.”

  “Seriously,” Charlie said. “The room is yours.”

  “Does Reid have a last name?” Liam asked her.

  “Nope. It’s just Reid, like Cher or Madonna.” She caved to Liam’s death stare in a fraction of a second. “St. James. Reid St. James.”

  “Louisville area is the Fields Pack, right?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah, they stretch all the way over to Cincinnati and up to Indianapolis,” Charlie said, “but if you go just a touch south, you’re in Orman Territory.”

  Liam rubbed the back of his head. “Dig around. See if she’s associated with either pack in any way.”

  Maggie felt the cold fingers of dread travel up her spine as Charlie cocked his head to the side and inhaled deeply through his nose. “Did you get something off of her?” he asked.

  “Not exactly. Something just seemed… wrong.”

  “On it.” Charlie pulled out his own phone and started taping and flipping his way through multiple screens. “I’ve got Lennon and Salinger on Mandel. What do you think about pulling in Mitchell to start digging into this?”

  Liam seemed to consider it for a while and then nodded. “Yeah. That’ll work.” He checked the time on his phone. “I’ll make the call since you two have class in ten minutes.”

  “Maybe I should wait until tomorrow—“

  Liam cut Charlie off with a look. “Or you could go ahead and start today.”

  “But I’m not going to wait until tomorrow, because I really need to just go ahead and jump in there,” Charlie finished with mock sincerity.

  Maggie barely listened as the two Shifters discussed the finer points of her security detail and where they would all meet up later. She was too distracted by the idea that Reid might have something to do with everything going on. It didn’t make any sense… except for the way it kinda did. Reid’s obsession with Scout. Her reaction to Maggie being “tapped” for the “secret society.” And the way she’d been held transfixed by Liam. Maggie expected Reid to see him as a hot guy, and so she’d read the situation as poorly hidden lust, but what if she was wrong? What if Reid had known who Liam was and was frozen in fear, much the way Maggie had been the day before when she’d realized she was standing in front of the Shifter’s Alpha?

  Thank God the Alphas had given her a place to stay. There was no way she could go back to their room and sleep knowing there was a chance Reid was mixed up in all of this.

  “You okay?”

  Maggie snapped out of her my-roommate-is-going-to-stab-me-with-a-rusty-knife thoughts to realize Liam had already gone.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I was just…”

  How to end that sentence?

  “I guess I’ve got to get used to being around an artist who exists on a different plane than us regular folk.”

  Maggie normally abhorred all artist stereotypes and corrected anyone who assumed she was scattered or unreliable just because she was creative, but she let it slide with Charlie since he was being civil for the moment and there was no telling what might set him off next.

  Their next class was just across the quad in the Grafton Building. As they wound their way around the other students, Charlie stayed right at her back, one hand placed on her hip, guiding her. The day was warm, but Charlie’s hand was even warmer. It nearly swallowed her slender hip, and Maggie found herself relaxing into his touch. She’d been on edge all day. Someone out there knew what she was and wanted her dead. Sleep exhaustion from a night of tossing and turning in an unfamiliar bed with visions of mutilated corpses dancing in her head had left her paranoid and jumpy. Every look tossed her way was an enemy sizing up the best way to overcome her. Every shadow was a mad man with a knife. And it didn’t help that the creepy kids’ song from the Freddie Krueger movies was stuck in her head.

  Knowing Liam was nearby had helped. He was, after all, the most badass of badass Shifters. But Liam kept his distance, watching out for her from afar. As she walked across campus, sat in class, or worked in the studio, she had to remind herself he was out there somewhere, making sure she was safe.

  There was no forgetting Charlie. His presence engulfed her, the heat of his hand warming her whole body. The fingers flexing and shifting to lead her in the direction he thought was best were strong and sure. He might no
t have been the Alpha, but he wasn’t exactly a weakling. Whatever was out there, whoever might mean her harm, would more than meet their match if they took on Charlie Hagan. Of that, Maggie had no doubt.

  It only took a moment for Charlie to get everything settled with Chase once they got to class. She had muttered something about rich kids thinking they didn’t have to come to the first week of class, but Chase was somewhat cordial as she showed Charlie around the studio. The studios in the Grafton Building were much bigger than those in Rosa Hall. Rosa was reserved for independent study and grad students, whereas Grafton had instructional classes. Chase’s room had ten wheels and two massive gas kilns as well as enough worktables to accommodate a class of twenty students. Thankfully, this beginner’s class wasn’t that large. Charlie made the unlucky thirteenth student.

  “We all mixed our clay last week, but you can use some pre-made stuff for now. Just be sure and have my TA show you how to mix your own. You’ll be tested on it later.” Chase slapped a handful of clay on the table in front of Charlie before spinning in a ballet-worthy move and facing the class. “We’re taking on the wheels today, children.” Half the class cheered while the rest looked a little terrified. “Grab your putty buddy and scurry along to your designated torture devices. The first one to let an f-bomb slip is the daily loser and shall be forced to wear The Hat of Shame.”

  Since it was just the second week of classes and the room was filled with freshmen, everyone just sat there looking dumbfounded. “Shoo,” she said, flicking her fingers at the students. “Be gone with you now.”

  Charlie started to raise his hand, but Chase was already turning towards him. “Okay, pretty boy. People who decide to show up for class a week after everyone else miss the opportunity to get putty buddies. But because you’re so woefully behind the rest of the class, you’re getting my TA for the day. She can catch you up.” Maggie should have been expecting it, but she nearly fell on her face when Chase grabbed her shoulders and thrust her in front of Charlie. “Be gentle with her,” Chase instructed the Shifter. “This one is precious to me.” And with that statement, she flounced off to explain to a set of students that “center of the wheel” did not mean “three inches to the left of center”.