Thwarting Cheaters (Artemis University Book 5)

by Erin R Flynn

  “The way she thinks is great because there’s never a shortage of food and us fighting over it,” Zack defended from his table with Ray, Marshall, and Sean. “And we appreciate that. Plus, the options to always try everything we want. You keep being you, Tamsin.”

  “Thanks, Zack.” I burst out laughing when Darby simply sighed. Yeah, it wasn’t like Zack was being selfless there or wasn’t getting anything out of it when I went overboard.

  Our appetizers arrived and the server turned on the smokeless grill to warm it up. I got lost in how cool the experience was, sharing it with Darby, smiling and moaning at the taste. I leaned into him and kissed his cheek after he fed me some caviar, thinking this was a great date even if we were surrounded by people at a party.

  Honestly, I wanted to do more of this with him. Simply be. I could picture us at my estate having a naked picnic in the shade by the pool using the furniture cushions to be extra spoiled. It didn’t need to be fancy seafood like we were eating but we both loved sushi and that would be fun. But if it was us, we could have fun eating PB&J sandwiches. I adored that about him.

  And how much fun I would have looking my fill of his naked body. A dip in the pool and good food and I’d be hungry for him. It would be such a fun seduction scene, wanting him to take me right there and he would. He’d want it just as much as I would, taking me deeply. I could see him sitting back on his feet and pulling my hips up to him, watching my tits bounce for him as I begged for more.

  Yeah, Darby would love that. He’d finally say what he’d been dying to—that he loved me. I’d be ready and accept his love, know this was real. He’d promise it was and he’d never leave me, we’d be together forever and he’d never, not ever abandon me like everyone else had. That he was mine always and I would beg him to show me how desperate he was for me.

  It would be perfect. And just because he was my prickly pear with an evil streak, right after he would declare I was dirty and toss me in the pool… Where we’d start up all over again. The whole day of making love and becoming one after promising he’d never want another woman but me. I might not be ready to say the same but he’d understand after all I’d be through. I’d show him I felt the same and he meant the world to me. He’d be patient with me.

  Darby always was.

  I snapped out of my thoughts when Darby kissed me with all he had, his arms wrapped around me and touching me in a way that made me forget we were in public, a party with loads of people we knew. I returned the gesture until someone cleared their throat before a few hoots and hollers.

  I yanked back, gasping for air and staring at him with wide eyes. “What was that?”

  “That was everything, agra,” he whispered, cradling my face gently. “I would give all of that to you.”

  My face flushed so hot so fast I felt a bit lightheaded. I pulled back and groaned as I covered my face. “You saw all of that? Oh fuck, kill me now.”

  “No, never,” he murmured, hugging me to him. “That—that was a gift, Tamsin. I’m sorry if it embarrassed you, but that was a gift for me to see. I thought you—”

  “Yeah, not intentional.”

  “It must have been good because Lucca looks ready to eat you more than anything on the table,” Zack muttered.

  “I understand why I saw it, it was about us,” Darby growled. “Why did you see it?”

  “I don’t know,” Lucca answered. “I don’t have a good block against her? I’ve never spent time with a telepath. I’m always open to her. Maybe because I was the first it happened with.”

  “What’s it like?” Juan asked.

  “I will kill you,” I warned Lucca.

  “I would never betray you like that,” he muttered, sounding offended I would even think it. “It’s vivid. It’s like a dream you think is real and can’t tell your sleeping. You—I’ve gotten more used to it now but it still takes me a moment to realize it’s not happening if it’s subtle. This was a location change so that’s the clue but other times I have no idea it’s not real.”

  That was actually good to know and helpful so I wasn’t even angry he shared that.

  “Oh good, food,” I blurted too loudly when I saw the servers start bringing out trays with what we were going to grill. People chuckled and went back to their conversations before we distracted them.

  Except Hudson. His gaze was locked on mine and he clearly wanted to know what happened. I told him in his mind, the quick version without visuals and the pushy dragon said he wanted the visuals later.

  No, but I did promise him if he was good, we could have our own naked picnic at my pool over the summer where he could do whatever he wanted to me for a full day. That made him happy and I had a feeling I was going to get dragged out of my room sometime that weekend for some fun.

  I was okay with that.

  “What are you up to, Ms. Vale?” Professor White asked me when I passed their table on the way to the bathroom in between the courses. She glanced pointedly at my bag and I realized she could feel what was in them.

  I sighed. Of course, I couldn’t pull a fast one on her. “So they’re ready?”

  “Yes, they are.”

  I nodded, taking out two of the six boxes of crystals I had in there that I’d hoped to raise to tier seven that night and set them on the table. “I keep doing crystals for the royals or the seminar or the groves and sanctuaries—but there never just seems to be enough of me left to give you any for your research or use like I promised.”

  “Most wouldn’t ever have offered in the first place,” Edelman reminded me.

  I shrugged. “That’s a different discussion. I did offer and I keep my promises.”

  “What are you doing with the other two hundred I sense?” Professor White asked.

  I smirked at her. “I promised you crystals, not all my secrets.”

  “Meaning you’re up to something good.”

  “Only if it works.” I walked off to her chuckling, the others shaking their heads at my antics. I didn’t really blame them but I also wasn’t going to tell them that I wanted to use them in Faerie along with my reservoirs and see if I could do more helping that world.

  Especially not in mixed company.

  The food was amazing and the dessert perfect. The bill was ridiculous but within the range I’d suspected so I wasn’t upset. Everyone had fun and thanked me, grateful for the night off and “abduction adventure” as they kept calling it.

  “Your curry party last semester was lovely, Ms. Vale, but if you plan such an adventure next semester as well, I will gladly allow you to abduct me anywhere,” Professor Richardson said as he headed to the portal arm in arm with his mate. It was hard not to roll my eyes. Yeah, I just bet he would.

  Oh well, at least everyone was happy with me for the moment, I had a full tummy with awesome food, and my boyfriend was crawling into bed with me when we got back to my room… After a bit more dessert.

  7

  The next morning Mel was waiting for me when I got up to go for a run.

  And she wasn’t the only one. I blinked at her and then pointed between the group, staying on Mr. Rothchild for a while. He was maybe the last person I’d ever expect to simply show up for my morning workouts.

  “You’re hitting a plateau and I asked for another set of eyes to evaluate a plan of what’s next,” she explained. “Plus, there’s more but you’re not awake before your run so just let Father assess you today and you’ll see why he’s head of our dragon ninja clan.”

  I bobbed my head and looked at Mr. Rothchild for direction. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask why I wasn’t arguing, questioning, or objecting but then let it go. Why start trouble when there wasn’t any?

  Plus, he had to know I trusted Mel by then, right?

  “I want to see what your normal run is but at the fastest speed you can manage,” he said. “Walk me through your stretching as well, the whole routine and regular times. Then we have some more planned.”

  “Headphones or no? Singing or not? Extras adde
d in?”

  Mel took that one, explaining that a lot of times when I ran, I did other drills as well along with times I ran backwards or to the side to work other muscle groups. I also sang with the music—or rapped since it was Eminem—to work on my breathing and cardio.

  “Headphones if you normally do but leave off all the extras. I want to see you in your zone pushing to your max and then we can go from there,” he decided after several moments.

  That I could do.

  I stretched a bit, starting with my warmup before finishing and then loading my playlist and taking off instead of my normal pace. The bass thumped and I turned it up, wanting it louder to push me and my feet to move with the beat. I watched my breathing as I moved over the path, knowing it so well over the weeks that I barely had to glance at it.

  The grass was softer when I reached it and it was gentler on my joints which helped me push harder. It felt good. I’d had so much going on that I hadn’t been pushing my workouts but only using them as a stress release. I’d needed this and hadn’t even realized it. My mind needed this as well.

  Which was why I pushed harder, my heart racing as I did. I pumped my arms but was careful not to waste energy with worthless movements or extra exertion. I focused on my body as I let the music wash over me. The rhythm I fell into was good, fast, but better than I’d had in a while and I started going through what else was on my brain.

  Fuel. I needed more of it.

  Runes. I had another book I wanted to get through before the Power Playoffs.

  My paper I needed Darby to edit.

  We had tutoring for my high school classes and I had questions on the section I read over in physics and pre-calculus/trig. Man, I was glad I was only doing two this semester given I was teaching mental shielding classes. The lectures and training parts were fine even if they were filming me but the office hours were exhausting even if people weren’t fucking with me as much.

  But they still were and that was so annoying that I couldn’t tell them all to fuck off.

  I was basically done with Runes 102 since I learned them all so that was a good jump. The rest of my classes were going well. Next year would be harder given I wouldn’t have intro classes anymore.

  Natalie’s business was a hit and the list of people who wanted weekend appointments to check the inventory or bring their dresses was growing.

  The catering company was ramping up fast and ready for the parties. They rocked the first one and we were working with the hobgoblins nonstop to make the recipes we’d decided on. We had a product to sell and it was flying off the shelves. That was all my income for now. All made with fae fruit of my groves I’d invested in.

  All from the poop of my fae dogs. Yes, it still tickled me that dog shit made trees and plants from Faerie and helped them grow crazy fast with insane outputs that no way could ever be real without magic.

  The hobgoblin co-op was doing great. They had orders out their asses from what I knew. The spring designs went over amazingly and even if I hated being the model for it all, even I had to admit the pictures were well done and perfect. Plus, I loved the clothes. Custom-tailored free clothes made with amazing material was definitely a perk.

  They were also selling the produce of their groves and greenhouses at a rate that was making Katrina Calloway happy. Others as well, as they weren’t selling it only to the ultra-wealthy. I knew other branches of Veritas Portas were trying to pressure them for deals and there was drama there but for once it didn’t involve me. And still, there were always people who wanted more and more.

  But that would forever be the case and the income was good for the co-op. There was a chance to expand over the summer and they wanted to. We just had to figure out how to and safely.

  The auditing Cherrywood was mostly done and the corruption cleaned up. The dragon royals took the flack off of me and found lots of places that the company was hemorrhaging money. After sitting down with Geiger and listening to a very expansive and detailed presentation, the royals all became investors and bought out part of the corporation.

  I was still the majority shareholder with fifty-two percent, but each of them bought the rest equally of twelve percent and took over management of their regions. So it was nice to get that influx of cashback as forty-eight percent of the eight hundred million I spent to purchase the company wasn’t small potatoes.

  And the company was going to make even more money from the changes made. The projections and proposed expansions were unreal and I was excited for them. But I was glad it wasn’t all up to me anymore. The five royals were voting on the ideas and that really took the worry from me, especially when I still had the veto rights. Plus, they needed me with the crystals so no one was going to screw me.

  It worked amazingly with the social media stuff we were doing and Izzy was doing a lot of that on her own now. We didn’t get spring break to tour like we’d wanted but we’d done a lot of the outings we were spreading around. Summer break we’d get to bulk up the calendar and have more content than she’d know what to do with.

  I felt better when I had a lot of that settled in my head, shocked I had already reached the obstacle courses. I didn’t slow down, launching right into them with practiced ease. When I finished with them, I finally started to feel the burn and that I was pushing myself.

  No, I had this.

  Focus. I need to focus on my life and settle more things.

  But I drew a blank.

  “I need a mother fucking assistant or five,” I bitched as I pushed harder.

  Mel darted in front of me and turned to run backwards, gesturing to take out my earbuds. She nodded when I did. “Keep pushing. What’s on your mind?”

  “Where are we on the havens and the bakery? Wasn’t that something I had to handle?”

  “Yes. We now have seventeen women staying at the havens in hiding and receiving help on location,” she told me. “We hired the hobgoblins that Irma and Liluth cleared after the facilities were added and refurbished how they needed. They’ve been testing recipes all over the place since winter break. You like it all but the rest of us were actually working to focus on what to start with.”

  “It was all awesome,” I defended.

  “Right, but this weekend they’re dropping off the final test samples of what they’re going to start making for sale by order only starting after the Power Playoffs. They’re going to have a stand there for concessions like at human sporting events.”

  “That’s what it was,” I groaned, smacking myself in the forehead. “I knew it was something soon and like now. Shit, okay. Fine, whatever they want. It’s all awesome.”

  She gave me a serious look. “You have to approve it, Tamsin. They’ve worked hard to narrow it all down and blend recipes, infusions and create new takes on old staples to be innovators worthy of working for your bakery line. This means a lot to them. It’s like the co-op.”

  I nodded. They wanted to impress the last fairy, the only fairy some of them had ever met and had the honor of “serving” in their eyes. I didn’t get it, but I understood it from their perspective and how they’d been raised.

  Sort of.

  At least I’d remember to take it seriously and praise them the right way. I knew they weren’t simply going to bring donuts but everything made with fae fruits or products made with them. It was exciting not just because that was always amazing but it gave the hobgoblins so much hope for a better life.

  “What else?”

  I thought about that a moment. “How are Zack and Marshall doing on our project?” The project was to buy out every book written in Faerie we could find to start with. If they could it was also any on fairies but we also wanted ones on runes including journals and grimoires that had them as well.

  “Good. They’ve tagged out with Sean and Ray again and new glamour charms. I suggest we switched to my cousins next so it’s not always wolves asking. Even with the glamour charm, that’s suspicious.” She let out a yelp and almost fell but Colton was quicker a
nd caught her. “Thanks.” She turned to run the right way as he moved to the other side of me.

  “No problem. What are you two up to?”

  “Finding as many obscure rune books, journals, and grimoires as we can under the radar as you’ve seen how useful they can be for me,” I answered honestly. “Why not grab them if I can afford them and before people realize their value instead of brushing them off as outdated?”

  “Smart,” he praised.

  “Right, I forgot to tell you that Calloway told me I won the auction before we left last night,” I told her.

  “I never understood why people say you win an auction when you’re paying. It’s not like you get a prize. You pay for it.”

  I shrugged. “You win the right to buy it?”

  “I guess. So you got it?”

  “Yup!”

  “What?” Mr. Rothchild asked, pulling up next to Colton. “What did you bid on?”

  “The Seven Scales necklace. It’s officially mine.”

  “That’s just a myth.”

  “It’s not,” I assured him.

  “But there were never seven royal families.”

  “That’s where people get the legend of the necklace wrong,” I clarified, smirking at him. “And why people always assume it’s a fake. The seventh scale isn’t from a dragon royal but a gem from Faerie on the border between light fairy and dark fairy territory, blessed by both queens as a neutral zone.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I read a lot,” I chuckled darkly, giving him a wink to read between the lines. Yeah, I’d found something in Conall Townsend’s journals and when Calloway had mentioned something about hearing it come up on auction I went back and found the passage. Needless to say, I’d jumped on the chance to own something so cool.

  “What is it? What does it do?” Colton asked.

  “It’s a small scale from an important magical point from a powerful dragon king from each bloodline,” I answered. “Plus the gem I mentioned. What I read was a bit vague on whether the magic was from the light or dark fairy queen of the time but it’s powerful.”