Drowning Studies (Artemis University Book 2)

by Erin R Flynn

  I snorted. “That place is a bit too much like a matchmaking service. I’ve heard girls completely ignore lectures and instead update their notes on potential matches. And when there’s a breakup everyone knows by the next meal as people start circling to be the next partner to one or the other.”

  “Yes, unfortunately, that sort of mindset hasn’t changed over the years,” Mrs. Vogel grumbled. “Human woman have progressed faster in their roles and freedoms past their fathers or mates, but I hope soon some of the young women realize they are more than that.”

  Didn’t we all? Didn’t we all hope those who were part of the insanity snapped out of it and saw they were drinking the punch instead of thinking for themselves?

  It was during the last fifty competitors that I really started to crash. I jostled awake during some cheering and realized I was lying all over Hudson… And I’d dropped my heavenly donut.

  “I caught it in time,” he promised, handing it back over.

  “Fuck, it’s so good I wouldn’t even worry about the five-second rule,” I teased, sitting back up and apologizing for using him as a pillow.

  Except I did it again, this time falling back and using Mrs. Vogel’s and Mr. Rothchild’s knees as my backrest.

  “Shh, you’re fine,” Mrs. Vogel cooed as she ran her hand over my head like she was trying to cuddle me to sleep.

  “I’d suggest standing but I’d fear you’d fall off the mountain,” Craftsman teased. “And Melody is texting me to check your phone as it’s already all over campus you took down the mountain. She said that replica sword you want made for practice can be made from the mountain so to let her cousin take first crack at your haul.”

  “Will Melody ever come home again or will she have a messenger bring the blade too?” Mr. Rothchild asked—well, demanded—but at least he was inquiring about his daughter.

  “She wanted to come but apparently your mom or your wife’s mom is a peach and will chew my ass out for everything,” I answered, shrugging. “No idea what that all entails but she didn’t want me to suffer through that so apparently it’s their fault she didn’t come for this. I just got woken up and dragged here without knowing what was what.”

  “And yet you won,” Mr. Vogel muttered, sounding amused.

  “Go big or go home, right?” I smiled when his lips twitched. “One day I’m going to get you and your son to both give full smiles at the same time. I’ll say something so funny or out there you won’t be able to resist.”

  “Good luck,” Mrs. Vogel purred. “You’ll need it.”

  I shrugged. “It’s good to have goals.” I glanced back at Mr. Rothchild. “You know your way to campus. I mean you showed up when I was deemed a threat to Hudson. I’m sure you can schedule lunch with Mel and see her new life instead of bitching it wasn’t what you ordered for her.”

  Craftsman snorted and apologized as I turned around and watched the last few competitors.

  Everyone stood and cheered for the whole lot of us when it was over. I had to go up with the Vogels and accept the trophy and ceremonial big check. I thanked everyone but then people with microphones moved in on me, shouting out questions too fast for me to keep up with.

  “Why won’t you list your species?”

  “How does an unknown win such a prestigious competition?”

  “What are you going to do with your winnings?”

  “Did you cheat to make such a big power clap?”

  “Wait, we have media?” I asked the Vogels, my eyes going comically wide.

  It shocked me when Mr. Rothchild ordered dragon guards to make them get back and keep order.

  I realized why when several were clearly trying to touch me even to probably get a read on me and break the big story. I smirked at them and touched my necklace.

  “I want to stay undeclared so I got a charm. I am who I am, not my species, so people will have to learn who I am without the judgments. No, I didn’t cheat. I wouldn’t even know how to cheat. My magic ramps up with anger and people were bullying me so they gave me all the fuel I needed.”

  “What are you doing with your winnings?” a woman up front asked, making me realize I’d missed that question.

  “I’m putting it towards funding a supe startup, a well-deserving group who want the chance to break out of the caste system and I think will rock the supe world in the best sort of way,” I answered after thinking of how to phrase it. I looked over at the Vogels. “Did enough of it get cut down to start building?”

  “No, not fully, as we need flat and then some precision digging for lower floors,” Mr. Vogel answered.

  “But soon, right? I couldn’t come back and practice?”

  I got a half smile which I considered a win.

  “Construction is scheduled for the spring, but yes, come practice anytime you want, Ms. Vale. You have our protection as a friend to our family and are always welcome in our home.” He looked out at the media then. “Personally, I find it refreshing that a young unknown would take such an important opportunity to remain undeclared to show us all we focus on the wrong things most times.”

  Well, hot damn. I got a royal seal of approval, and a whole lot of gifts.

  And yes, I included the donuts in that.

  Maybe the orgasms from Hudson after a nap.

  17

  I didn’t even make it back to the portal before passing out again. According to Izzy, Hudson carried me to our room and Craftsman brought all my stuff, including the trophy that would need to be turned over to the school.

  I didn’t object once Izzy explained that it was a normal school thing to do but I was focused on Edelman Sr.’s crazy.

  Fair enough. It made sense given a teacher had to sponsor me and school permission even if it wasn’t a school team. It was like that for all the competitions during our training. Fine, as long as it was fair.

  Plus… What was I going to do with a big ass trophy? It was shiny and pretty but yeah, I didn’t need it.

  Though I did wonder if that thing about dragons liking gems and things that shined was true. I noticed Mrs. Vogel wore a lot of pretty rocks but she did it in a way that wasn’t over the top or gaudy.

  Izzy woke me when it was time to judge the ice sculpture competition. I was excited to see what people came up with and while still sleepy, rushed to get out the door.

  I was amazed and astounded at what I found displayed all around the quad by the cafeteria. I decided right there I had to give runner-up prizes too. There were just too many good ones to only give one prize.

  It had clearly gotten out that I was a Tinker Bell fan and several went that route, one doing all the season fairies from the straight to video series on the Disney fairies. It was amazing, with crazy detail, and I gaped at it.

  But there was one clear winner and it was intense.

  I walked all around the Maleficent sculpture taken from the live action movie. I could even tell it was Angelina Jolie it was so detailed and amazing. It was from her backstory when she was young and had her wings, the face of a fighter determined to protect her people and stand for what was right.

  It looked like she’d just landed from flying the way she was crouched a bit and her wings were partially wrapped around her before they were about to fan back out. Even every feather on the wings had crazy detail.

  I stepped in the area where the wings curved and felt the power of the fairy before she was mutilated and robbed of so much that all she could see was vengeance.

  And I felt for her. I felt in that moment I understood her.

  I’d had so much taken from me, endured so much pain and hurt, but I got back up again and took up the banner to fight for others, protect them. And like Maleficent, I hoped maybe the good people could share with me and fighting for what I deserved would heal me too.

  Wait, would I get wings? Oh wow, of all the things I’d read and asked, I hadn’t even looked into that yet. I assumed I didn’t because I didn’t have them yet but I would lose my shit if I had badass wings one d
ay.

  “This one,” I said, my voice cracking. “This one’s the winner. It’s amazing. I can’t even get over the detail.” I moved away from it and looked around. “Who did this? You’re the winner.”

  “Darby,” Natalie answered.

  I couldn’t get my mouth to work as I glanced around and found my tutor. “You?”

  He gave a half shrug as he adjusted his glasses. “You might like Tinker Bell and hope one day will be all pixie dust and beauty, but you’re much more like Maleficent—fighting for those who can’t always fight for themselves and willing to lose her ability to fly to protect many.”

  It was maybe the nicest thing anyone had ever said about me and I had trouble not crying. I did let out a sniffle and shocked everyone there by hugging him.

  “Shut up, you totally woves me and I’m your favorite student ever,” I muttered.

  “Yes, yes, you’re my favorite,” he sighed, giving my back a half-hearted pat. Brat.

  “Okay, so I decided on a second and third place,” I told the others who entered. “Whoever did the four seasons of fairies gets second place, and Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage gets third. That thing is sick.”

  I glanced over at the massive ice sculpture. It was at least fifteen feet tall and the diameter of the thing was crazy. It took a huge spot on the quad.

  “I did the fairies,” Natalie admitted. She chuckled when I went over and hugged her too. “Thanks.”

  “Thanks for playing my reindeer games.”

  The guy who did the carriage came forward as well. He was a masters student and was happy to hear I added other prizes.

  “Do we have a school paper? What was with that media at the competition today?”

  “There is still so much to teach you,” Mel sighed. “Yes, the school paper already got pictures and is over there waiting to take pictures of the winners with their masterpieces. The supe papers pick up stories from them now and again and this probably will hit the radar.”

  “Cool. I just need to text Claudia what I’ve decided and added.” I quickly did and handed my phone to Darby for him to send his contact info before Natalie and the other guy.

  “I would have thought the Frozen scene with the trolls had won for you,” Izzy admitted. “You love the hobgoblins so much.”

  “I do but they’re not really like that, but it was cool.” I gestured to the carriage. “Seriously, that takes a lot of power and dedication to make it so huge. We could all fit in it and eat dinner.”

  “I kinda want to do that now,” she admitted before bursting out laughing. “Maybe when it’s a summer scorching time.”

  We waited until all the pictures and whatnot but then I went over to Darby and looped my arm with his. He raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t object, escorting me into the cafeteria.

  “I have an idea for your dragon sculpture,” I told him as we grabbed trays.

  “Oh? I’m doing that one too?”

  I scoffed at the idea he wouldn’t. “Of course! You have to defend your title of being the coolest. I was already thinking about telling you my vote before I knew you were so talented.” I got another eyebrow raise for that. “In this way. I know you’re talented and…”

  There was no good way to finish that sentence that didn’t sound like flirting, so I left it and went for food.

  Instead, I just pulled up Sindragosa—the frost wyrm from World of Warcraft I’d seen sick images of—on my phone and handed it to him. Then I focused on loading up as much food as possible on one tray.

  “Thanks, that is a great idea,” he agreed, handing my phone back at me. He rolled his eyes when I showed him I had a full tray.

  I jutted out my hip as if to say to put it in my pocket.

  His eyes flashed something and he nodded, putting it in there… Very slowly. His fingers lingered there and brushed the waist of my jeans. He leaned in to whisper. “The belt is a weapon, right? That’s one of the hidden ones?”

  I gave him a curious look. “You going to disarm me one day or strip me to try and find them all?”

  “Hmm, I see no point in disarming you as you’d still be lethal and able to kick my ass.” He turned back to the buffet as if that was the end of it.

  Except he hadn’t shot down the idea of stripping me to find them all.

  Or stripping me in general. Right? That was what he’d just said.

  “Tamsin, Tamsin!” excited voices called as I headed towards the table Izzy was already sitting at. “Did you win? Did you really win?”

  I had to think to what the hobgoblin kids were talking about and I nodded. “Yup, I broke the mountain.” I got distracted with what I saw in front of Lucca and Mason, who were sitting the next table over. “What is that?”

  “Massive rainbow soup dumplings from a Taiwanese restaurant in Sydney,” Mason answered, smiling and giving me a hopeful look. “You want to try one?”

  “Can I?”

  “Sure, we ordered too many,” Lucca offered, pushing one towards me. “They’re so fucking good that I always forget I only have one stomach. They reheat but nothing beats them fresh. It’s like seven regular xiao long bao in one.”

  “Cool, thanks,” I muttered, setting my tray by Izzy before coming back and grabbing the container. “Do you want money for it?”

  “Take it as my apology for being stupid,” Mason muttered quietly.

  Hadn’t he already apologized though as Mason the bear? I shrugged it off and took it as he was really sorry, nodding I accepted.

  Hudson and Juan sat by them and each snagged a dumpling as well so I didn’t feel so bad, like it was normal to get extras to share. But I did notice how they always sat the next table over as a habit now, Mason and Juan seeming tight.

  “Did you bring back the mountain?” Elasha asked me excitedly. “Can we see the mountain you won?”

  I opened my mouth to answer but realized I never asked. I’d passed out first.

  Hudson cleared his throat and I glanced at him. “Mother said you discussed where to send it and the award money and would take care of it.”

  “Oh, cool. Thank her for me.”

  He nodded and turned back to his meal.

  Darby frowned as he joined us, glancing between Hudson and me. “Shame, I wanted to study some of the fragments and do some testing. It would make for a fascinating project that covered a few of my spring semester classes.”

  “Sure, I’ll have some brought here,” I said with a shrug. “I have like a bazillion pounds of it so you can have a chunk.” I smirked at him. “As long as you show the kids too.”

  “Of course.”

  I liked him even more when I saw his stern, intense gaze soften as he looked at the totes adorbs hobgoblin kids who were hopping all around the table with bright yellow skin wanting a full recap of what they’d seen.

  Seen?

  Oh, apparently supes had their own streaming stuff on their supes social media and a few were news channels. They had live streamed the whole event.

  Well, that explained how fast Mel found out I was winning or whatever.

  “You got bleeped,” Darfin giggled.

  “I normally do,” I drawled, amusing everyone there. “I’m never drinking that coffee again. My heart was racing and I thought it might burst out of my chest.”

  “For a million friggin’ dollars drink the damn coffee,” Izzy chastised, rolling her eyes at me. “I know that wasn’t why but it helped kick you up a notch.”

  “Yeah, but so did those heavenly donuts.” I gave a wistful sigh. “The wonderful man who made them wouldn’t marry me. I need to see him. I miss him. I miss him so much.”

  The kids burst out into giggles, several other tables giving me annoyed looks which I just returned.

  “Oh, shut it, there are giggling girls all over this school so don’t act like the kids are pains,” Mel called over before I could.

  “Your dad asked about you,” I told her cautiously.

  She shot me a look but clearly didn’t want to talk about
it. “Irma, Tams is talking of cheating on you.”

  “I did not. I asked the man to marry me and Irma already has a mate,” I defended.

  “So does that chef,” Hudson drawled.

  “Oh, my bad. I’ll apologize to his wife next time I beg for those donuts.”

  “Which I know how to make and will make sure you get some as rewards for good grades,” Irma cut in.

  “I did really well in my Runes 101 presentation,” I reminded her. Not even I was above shamelessly begging for more donuts.

  “Yes, yes, I’ll make you some tomorrow.”

  I pumped my fist in victory and then moaned loudly as I dove into the rainbow soup dumpling. It was really fucking good. Izzy and Mel helped me, all of us saying we were definitely adding that restaurant to the list we wanted to try.

  “Wait, didn’t you order something from Portal Chow for today?” Mel asked, laughing when I cursed under my breath. “You forgot?”

  “Yeah, good thing you remembered as they still drop it off even if I’m not there and it would not be there for long.”

  “What did you get?” Mason asked.

  “Well, two things actually but one takes five days for the order so it’s coming next Saturday. It’s actually from Sydney too. Marshmallow Club, which is handmade fun flavors of marshmallows.”

  “So of course you ordered a batch of each flavor,” Izzy teased me, rolling her eyes when I nodded. “Awesome, sugar’s good for studying. What did you decide for tonight then?”

  “Junior’s Cheesecakes in New York. After hearing Calloway gush about them I’ve been craving cheesecake.”

  “So you got one?” Mel checked, her eyes dancing with amusement.

  Darby sighed when I shook my head. “How many did you get? Please tell me you showed some restraint and didn’t get them all.”

  “I didn’t get them all.” I winced internally when he nodded like I was behaving well. “I got eight of the big ones.” I huffed when he sighed again. “I was going to share with you but if you don’t want any when we study tonight, you don’t have to have any. Mel has a full fridge at her room.”