Thwarting Cheaters (Artemis University Book 5)

by Erin R Flynn

  “You’re our ambassador and model,” Liluth argued.

  I blinked at her a moment and sighed. “You can’t think—you want me to model all this new stuff now too?”

  “Of course. You’re the only reason this co-op happened, Tamsin. You gave a million dollars for it to get off the ground and invested more.” She shot me an amused look. “And I use ‘invested’ loosely because we keep trying to pay you back but you refuse to take any of it and instead push to build more housing or put money back into the co-op.”

  “Not sure we needed to tell everyone here that,” I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest when people chuckled. “You all knew that, didn’t you?”

  “That you’re a softy when it comes to the hobgoblins?” Katrina teased me. “Yes, it’s widely known, Tamsin. Which is why you’ll agree to model for all of this too even after you see what the clothes are.”

  Oh shit. I swallowed loudly. “Why did you say it like that?” I frowned at her expression. “Why are you smirking?” She set a catalog on the table and slid it over. I caught it and glanced down, sighing heavily when I saw a swimsuit on the cover. I opened it up and realized the stores were exclusively swimsuits and lingerie. “Liluth, seriously?”

  “You’re a gorgeous woman, Tamsin.”

  “Seriously?” I growled.

  “I think it’s perfectly fitting to put certain men in their place and remind them how lovely and desired you are after they’ve not treated you as they should,” Keya piped in, her skin turning red before she managed to cool off.

  Now that was an interesting thought. Oh, the evil side of me really, really liked the idea of taking sexy fucking pictures and having them all over supe social media that four men in particular would see.

  It would serve them right.

  “Fine, but if we’re going to do this to strengthen the position of female supes in our world, from the position of strength I have, then it’s going to be about strength, not just sexy,” I decided, holding up the catalog full of shots men wouldn’t respect.

  Several of the women shared confused looks but Ida Reed nodded. “We’re listening. You know more about this than we do.”

  I did so I was glad to hear they acknowledged that. I took out my phone and pulled up info on a popular female MMA fighter. I slid my cell over to her. “You’re going to expand into female fighting apparel as well, sports bras and fighting shorts. Not much different than swimsuits and lingerie.”

  “It’s not really our branding,” she muttered as she picked up my phone and started scrolling.

  “Why not? Victoria’s Secret has fitness apparel as well as lounge clothes,” I challenged. “You’re a fucking dragon. Like you don’t kick ass and wear more than pretty, pretty bras?”

  Mrs. Vogel held up her finger to Ida. “What are you plotting?”

  “There’s a way to frame this the right way as to show strength and not have the guys turn this around to make me a slutty joke of a hot chick showing her body,” I explained.

  “She’s right,” Mel agreed. “MMA fighters do modeling for swimsuits all the time because they have killer bodies because they work out and are strong, fit. You get the right photographer who understands that and you have shots of Tamsin working hard in the fitness gear, training in the swimsuits, and then with a hint of playing hard in the sexy, sexy.”

  “Showing she’s dangerous and a champion and if you treat her as some ditzy model you think you can just bed and disrespect, she’ll knock you into next week,” Tanesha said with a bright smile. “Oh, I like it. I really like it.”

  “As do I and I think that gives us a wonderful basis on how to choose models to support you,” Mrs. Diaz agreed, her aides already on their phones. “There were other female supes who placed well in the power playoffs or in their physical training in other schools. Melody would be a good example as the instructor of physical training at Artemis. Make it more than a catalog but almost magazine of our top females.”

  I nodded, glad she understood. “Exactly. That’s how the interviews in the human world are mixed with modeling at times when someone is the ambassador of certain companies or product lines. If we’re pushing for more than we need to do more than a simple expanded summer catalog. We need to push this to the level of declaring females are making their mark and fuck off if you don’t like it.”

  “We can make that work, but it would be produced with our materials as you’d have to have spandex in the products,” Ida muttered as she slid my phone back over. “My understanding, fae material cannot be integrated with synthetic materials.”

  “It cannot,” Liluth confirmed. “We can still work with it.”

  “Huh?” I glanced between them with a raised eyebrow.

  “That was part of the deal we were proposing,” Liluth explained. “We could hire more hobgoblins to work on not only products for the co-op’s side, but Ida’s to sell to humans and in her stores she will be expanding.”

  “So, she would outsource to the sanctuary, invest in it, but they would stay there and be protected,” I clarified, making it clear that needed to be the answer.

  Her lips twitched. “Yes, that is exactly what we discussed. I would provide some of the machines they work with as it can be used for my materials as well and with their hobgoblin magic they produce at ridiculous rates. I would pay so much per item as is industry standard, deliver materials, and all the norms. I certainly have no intention of turning the sanctuary into a sweat shop.”

  Lady Jean elegantly snorted. “No one with a brain would upset the hobgoblins under your protection when we’ve seen the lengths you’ll go for them. And our world has seen that they’ll band together and go to battle for you now that they have power of their own. We want your help, Ms. Vale, not your wrath.”

  I glanced over at Claudia. “I assume you know all the numbers and are getting all into this?”

  “Not yet but I will. We only talked preliminary ideas as it’s all futile if you won’t agree, as it’s dead in the water then and you know I’m too efficient for that.”

  Yeah, she was. I tapped my fingers on the table as I mulled it over. The place was twenty thousand acres in the south and I doubted the stasis spell and fairy barrier was up over all of that. Which meant people probably had checked it out and would bust the hobgoblins that fairy land was what was needed to grow, what was needed for fairy material.

  That could be a problem and a problem for hobgoblins still stuck in bad places. We didn’t have lists of all of them yet and know how to get them all out. But it wouldn’t all be done overnight and starting closer to the estate would be enough to buy us time and make the lie work. Plus, it would take time to get it all set up.

  We needed more people to ramp up production and protection. That was the important part and this could give us that to save more hobgoblins. I weighed it and bounced it all around in my head, swallowing several sighs as I knew the decision truly was mine as the last fairy as the hobgoblins wouldn’t go against my wishes and would want my blessing.

  “I would, of course, promote Ms. Higgins’s new company and form a partnership with them,” Ida added.

  Uuugghhh, like I could turn that down. I bet she knew that. “I want to say yes. There are some security issues I think I need to discuss privately with my side and make sure someone handles a few things to make sure expanding doesn’t blow up in our faces and risk the other hobgoblins. But once that’s handled and Claudia runs numbers and checks this will all work, my answer is yes.”

  “I believe I know your concerns and they were mine as well,” Claudia muttered, already making notes when I glanced at her.

  Glad to hear it. I focused on Lady Jean. “Even if we can’t make this work right now or have to do it another way, you don’t have to worry about an alliance with me. You’re a good person who got screwed over big time. I was the one who shoved all the assholes and started the dominoes on this one and I’m not a jerk who simply walks away after doing that.”

  She stared at me
for several moments and shook her head. “You’ve been as abused as I have if that is truly how you see things, Ms. Vale. None of this is on you but because of you. You broke the lock off the cage I was living in and I choose to walk out of it and see the light, the truth and take the next steps. King Xavier offered me the chance and I jumped at it. Those are my choices and I own them, not you.”

  I know she didn’t say it to chastise me but I felt it still. “I’m sorry. You’re absolutely right that it was all you. And you’re right that it’s part of me… Not abuse but maybe trauma? Not everyone is as levelheaded and enlightened as you are, or you might not have been as traumatized as others. I can’t say.”

  Mel knew what I was referring to and cut in. “There was a woman Tams rescued once from a kidnapper and when the police dragged him off, she pulled away from the EMTs and clocked Tams in the face for separating them. Others—many others—have blamed her for what she’s done.”

  I snorted, crossing my arms over my chest. “You wouldn’t believe how many blame me for the situation with not having a teacher for mental shielding classes. Yeah, no, much better to have that sick fuck going in the heads of the students, especially the females when he enjoyed prying into their sexual activities.”

  “Please, spare us,” Mrs. Vogel cut in.

  “Why? We always have to experience it,” Tanesha grumbled, giving me a knowing look. “How bad?”

  I shivered. “Getting fired was not punishment enough for that bastard. He knew exactly how what he said and did, basically emotionally molested every female he had in his class but they couldn’t do anything about it. He loved that he could do that to the rich elites and torture especially the females who would never look at him and make them victims in a world that looked down on them like they did him.”

  “Sick fuck,” someone muttered.

  I nodded. “My point is there are a lot of them out there and a lot of misplaced blame, so I’m sorry I didn’t give you credit for your choices. You’re right, they are yours and you took action. That’s awesome.”

  Lady Jean dipped her head to me. “Thank you. Having Queen Sasha and Lady Tanesha’s support has made it happen.”

  I raised an eyebrow at Tanesha. “I didn’t realize I’ve been disrespecting you this whole time.”

  “I introduced myself to you as Tanesha so you didn’t,” she reminded me. “You’re not a dragon and not held to our customs. Plus, flexing my status when you referred to my sister as Mrs. Vogel wasn’t the way to make you our friend and you are a good friend to have, Tamsin Vale.”

  “Still, if I’ve embarrassed you or did something wrong in front of others, I’m sorry.” I waited until she waved it off and glanced between her and Lady Jean. “You’ve checked out her security then?”

  “Yes, that seems to be my full-time job lately,” she chuckled darkly. “I found one other traitor in the Diaz camp but the rest were clean and incredibly loyal. I’m halfway through Lady Jean’s clan, castle, and guards and so far it’s not good.”

  “Oh boy,” I sighed, lowering my arms and tapping my fingers on the table again. “How bad?”

  “The guards are rather loyal to my brother as he turned a blind eye to a lot of their misdeeds and gluttony, especially their womanizing and mistreatment of maids and such,” Lady Jean explained.

  “Okay, not to be a jerk but how can you spare guards for a sanctuary expansion then?” I asked.

  “Totally different level with the hobgoblins and their protective magic,” Claudia answered. “You could have nearly untrained dragons with their size, fire, and lethalness protect the sanctuary against any adversary with the help of hobgoblin magic. You need highly trained guards to protect a noble clan like Lady Jean’s and her huge castle.”

  I tapped out my impatience at not having the answer on the table before stopping abruptly and smiling. “Any guards you liked at your soon to be previous residence? Any honorable dragons can’t like working for a dickhead like Nicholas.”

  “Please continue this part of the conversation after I’m gone,” Mrs. Vogel cut in even as mirth danced in her eyes. Right, she had to be Switzerland on those types of matters.

  “Yes, of course, Queen Sasha, my apologies,” Lady Jean said even as she looked ready to burst out laughing. Nice. Well, at least she had a plan now.

  Hey, rock on.

  “Give us a bit to have a smaller discussion to go over some concerns, if you would,” Mrs. Vogel suggested when things seemed to draw to a close. She looked at certain people making it clear they should be the ones to leave and it was basically everyone who didn’t know I was a fairy.

  So, everyone we didn’t implicitly trust as well.

  Once they were gone, I put up a barrier which seemed to amuse people, but I simply shrugged. It never hurt to be overly cautious.

  “What is worrying you so much?” Katrina asked.

  “The second property Ganter Evans had is twenty thousand acres. There’s no way the stasis spell and fairy barrier covered that whole fucking place. It didn’t cover all of the cattle ranch. That means people have been all over there and know it’s not fairy land or whatever excuse you guys are using for the co-op that you can grow there.”

  “Yes, but we still use it,” Liluth reminded me. “That barrier didn’t cover all that land either. It’s not what others can feel but only fair folk and our magic now protects it and a barrier up to keep others out. Plus, Jeremy, the others, and fae dogs protect it as well. People can’t just come and check it. We set up and then announce it, people won’t be able to check that either.”

  That was the piece I was missing. Right, the cattle ranch hadn’t been under the barrier or Jeremy wouldn’t have been able to live and work there all those years. “That was what I was missing. Sorry, hard to keep it all straight sometimes.”

  “It’s as if you aren’t perfect and not even a year into our world, child,” she teased me.

  “True, but twenty thousand acres is a lot of fucking land, Liluth. Can you get it all set up fast?”

  “No, but there are other tales that can be told. The start has to be on fairy land and fair folk can expand the root of the estate. Us being on fairy land reactivated more of it after two decades. All are theories that would easily circulate amongst such a gossip driven society as you found.”

  “Yes, as you’ve been a dragon-witch hybrid and a super charged witch with fairy grandparents on both sides,” Katrina drawled. “One is saying a fairy parent and fairy grandparent and you’re trying to hide that. Another thinks a hybrid and fairy grandparents last I heard from another camp.”

  “They’re so easy to fuck with,” I sighed. It would be amusing if it wasn’t so dangerous. I stared between Liluth, Keya, and Esta. “Can we really do this? I don’t care about the good press or making money. I have more than enough fucking money from all the estates and investments. I’d rather claim the money from the estates that aren’t confirmed dead and get more hobgoblins out than—”

  “Fair folk are stubbornly proud,” Esta reminded me, already having this debate before. “They won’t simply walk away and take charity. They won’t take advantage of the last fairy and will never forgive themselves if they find out about you and they did. If we give them work, they will accept the help and path but they see anything else as being lazy.”

  I bit my tongue to keep quiet on what I wanted to truly say. I’d been a fairy for two seconds and the history and symbiotic relationship between fairies and fair folk was long and prosperous. I was an outsider really but to me it was too much like servant and master of olden days and I didn’t like it. No matter how many times hobgoblins swore to me fairies didn’t abuse it, I didn’t like it.

  But it wasn’t for me to judge or change. I could only help the hobgoblins get free now.

  “So, this is the best way and we can do it?”

  “I believe we can,” Esta answered with a firm nod. “We have the resources and with Lady jean and Ms. Reed’s help we can make fast progress. I believe the two
queens pushing the agenda fast for progress will make this a winning endeavor and with their skilled labors and our magic we can expand faster than we have already. The weather is nice already and renovations can continue after people come.”

  That was true. Hobgoblins were rather small and not fussy so getting them out was my priority and they didn’t care if they slept twenty to a room on mattresses as long as they didn’t inconvenience anyone. That was the part that always made me want to shake them, but at least they would get out of their bad situations fast as long as we had work for them to help.

  If that made any sense, but it did to them and their values.

  “Okay, let Claudia run the numbers and make sure that we didn’t miss anything that could bite us in the butt. I’m in. I’ll do anything to help get more hobgoblins out of bad places and to somewhere safe. If this is how you guys want to do it, what you want for your futures, I’ll support you however you need.”

  All three hobgoblins turned bright yellow with joy and I couldn’t help but smile… Even if I knew I’d just signed myself up to take pictures in skimpy bikinis and lingerie to be their model. I really couldn’t say no to the hobgoblins.

  Maybe I was the one who needed a good shake.

  23

  The next day we got the all-clear on the house in Spain. I didn’t get the details but Mel assured me her family handled the vampires that had been watching it. They were involved with the Moore family’s black-market fairy blood bullshit.

  Once I knew that I was glad I didn’t know the details. It was too hard as the only fairy to hear that depravity.

  I was, however, glad I’d worked on setting up an interrogation room in the North Dakota house in the ways of fairies. Everyone had given me funny looks as I read from one of Ganter Evans training manuals written in Faerie that went over how they taught warriors such tactics. I found the whole thing fascinating but more than that it was effective.