by Eva Chase
“You shouldn’t have to handle it.”
No, I shouldn’t, but this place and these people were what they were. “That’s why you need to look after yourself too instead of just worrying about me,” I said with a playful tap of his chest. “The pentacle needs some good barons when it’s time for the next generation to take over.”
He couldn’t know how seriously I meant that sentiment—and how much I really did think I needed to worry about his safety if he threw in his lot with me—but the words made his chiseled features soften and his light blue eyes brighten with an emotion that sent a flutter through my chest. He leaned in, and his kiss drove away any lingering chill from the clouded morning. I let the heat and pleasure of it wash through me.
After the kiss, he tugged me into his arms. I leaned my head against his solid chest, reveling in all the strength he wanted to offer me, and my gaze slid across the grounds beside us… to land on Declan, who’d just glanced our way where he was crossing the green.
The moment our eyes met, the other scion tensed. Then he jerked his gaze away and hurried on toward the Stormhurst Building as if it hadn’t mattered anyway. There wasn’t enough time for me to do anything about whatever he might have thought or felt—and what could I really have done anyway? He’d vetoed any idea of us being together more than once for multiple very good reasons.
Still, my stomach sank at his reaction. I must have tensed a little myself in Connar’s arms, because he drew back to look down at me.
I sucked in a breath. There were things I definitely should say to Connar, even if I couldn’t say everything.
“You should know,” I said, “I—I’m kind of seeing Jude again. Which doesn’t mean we can’t…” I made an awkward gesture between the two of us to indicate the embrace. “He knows that I’m, er, dating around. But I didn’t want to give the wrong impression. I guess… you and I couldn’t really get all that serious in the long run anyway, could we? Since you’re the only possible heir of Stormhurst.”
“Yeah. I’ve been trying not to think about that.” He bowed his head over me again, his chin coming to rest by my forehead. “I guess it’s a weird situation all around, isn’t it? I can’t ask you to go all in on me, considering. If Jude is making you happy, then I can’t complain about that.”
“You make me happy too,” I said softly.
I felt his jaw shift with a smile. “Good. I think… I just want to be with you as much as I can while I can. The barony’s a long way off for most of us. It doesn’t have to matter yet.” He nuzzled my hair. “You make me feel like I don’t have to be that guy everyone thought I was, Rory. The guy I didn’t want to be anyway. The last few days… I’m starting to believe I can be someone I like better. And that’ll mean something no matter what happens in the future.”
My heart squeezed. I hugged him again. “It means something to me too. When I first really talked to you, I could tell you weren’t that guy.”
“I’ve still got plenty to make up for,” he said. “Not just with you. But helping you with projects like this…” He nodded toward the clubhouse. “Maybe I can make up for some of the hurt I’ve done in the past by stopping other people from getting hurt.”
It wasn’t you who hurt your brother, I wanted to say. It was your asshole parents. But I didn’t think he’d ever fully believe that. And maybe it’d be wrong of me to try to take any sense of responsibility away from him. He’d been there. I hadn’t been. He needed to do what felt right to him.
I might not have needed to say it. Connar kissed me again, so full of passion and tenderness that I felt a little giddy when he eased back. No, I definitely wasn’t looking forward to having to give this up somewhere down the road. Not thinking that far ahead seemed like a perfectly good plan for now.
“Unfortunately, I’ve got a class to get to now,” he said. “You know how to find me if you need me.”
I grasped his hand just for a second. “I’ll see you soon.”
After he left, I lingered beside Ashgrave Hall for a while longer, watching the progress of the construction, willing the clouds not to let loose any rain that would end today’s work. A few of my fellow fearmancers wandered by the site, but if they attempted any magic on the structure or the people building it, the wards deflected those spells. Benjamin stepped back to take the whole building in with a satisfied grin that strengthened the resolve inside me.
Whatever else happened to me here at Blood U, at least I’d have made one change for the better.
“Hey, what’re they up to over here?” Shelby meandered up beside me, staring at the half-finished clubhouse.
I’d forgotten my friend would have missed all of this. “The scholarship students are building a clubhouse just for their use,” I said. “Ms. Grimsworth approved it. A little escape for you guys from the mean girls and the rest.”
If Benjamin’s grin had buoyed my mood, that was nothing compared to the effect of seeing Shelby’s face light up. She beamed at me and then at the structure. If her expression had tightened a bit at the same time, no doubt it was because of her hostile supposed benefactor who’d stolen all her clothes.
“That’s amazing,” she said. “I guess I missed a lot. I wonder if there’s any way I can pitch in.”
I couldn’t help beaming back, and not just because of her obvious happiness. I also hadn’t thought about how much easier my project might become with Shelby back on campus. Unlike any of the other mages, I had an ally among the Naries. I didn’t need to use any magic on her to encourage her in the direction I was hoping for. I could be totally open with Shelby about how I felt.
“I’m sure you can,” I said. “A bunch of the other scholarship students have been helping out here and there. You should go on over and ask.”
She patted the cello case she’d set down beside her. “I have practice right now, but afterward, I’ll definitely have to do that. I can’t wait until it’s done.” She paused and gave me a slightly guilty look. “Not that I’m looking forward to excluding you…”
I laughed. “It’s fine. I know what the people around here are like. You deserve a space where you don’t have to worry about any of us. We’ve got plenty of other places where we can hang out.”
“Yeah.” Her smile came back, and she bounded off with her ponytail swinging.
Watching her go, my gut tightened. Shelby needed a shelter like that even more than most of the Naries because of her association with me. Would the other fearmancer students start targeting her even more if she started contributing to the clubhouse?
I had to make sure I protected her as much as I did the building.
A few possibilities flitted through my mind. I was about to turn away from my vigil to pursue them when a tall, grim man came striding across the field toward the clubhouse.
“We’ve gotten too many noise complaints from the staff and students,” he said with a jerk of his hand. “You’ve got to stop construction, now.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rory
One of the nice things about the town just off campus being so small was that many of the scattered stores carried multiple kinds of merchandise. So it was totally plausible that I could be deciding between sterling silver pendants in one corner, and Declan Ashgrave might just happen to pop in to check out the ties on the rack behind me.
When I heard him come to a stop, I turned partway around, holding a pendant in each hand as if studying them in different light. I hadn’t been sure he’d appreciate me dropping in on him—literally—another night, and meeting like this had seemed like the next best option if we were going to talk.
“Thanks for coming,” I said quietly. The other shopper currently in the store, a Nary who wasn’t from the school, stood at the other end trying on scarfs, but it couldn’t hurt to stay cautious.
“I feel like I’ve stumbled into a spy film,” Declan said, but there was enough tension in his voice that the joke didn’t quite land. “What’s going on?”
His briskne
ss told me I should get straight to the point. “I know you’ve done a lot of reading on fearmancer policies and so on—do you have any idea of the best way to fight a noise complaint at school?”
He was silent for a moment, no response other than the rustling of the ties as he sorted through them. A fan was whirring on the ceiling, but it barely stirred the summer heat enough to cool the sweat forming on my skin.
“I can’t say that’s something I’ve looked into specifically,” he said. “But most of the university policies are designed to ensure safety and security within essential bounds, while leaving room for the students to learn. I’d suspect your best bet is going to be coming from the angle that the noise is actually productive to student learning somehow.”
Given what I’d see of how Blood U worked, that sounded reasonable. “Okay. I’ll see if I can work with that. Thank you. How have you been?” It felt weird that I could consider him one of the people at school I was closest to and yet I had no idea what his life had been like the last few weeks.
“Pretty much the usual. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to just chat, Rory.”
He moved as if to leave, his tone outright brusque now in a way I hadn’t heard in a long time. My gut twisted.
“Wait,” I said, as firmly as I could without raising my voice. “Did something happen? You seem more… worried than before.” Another thought occurred to me. “Or, if this is about Connar—”
Declan stopped. “No,” he said quickly. “It’s not that. I told you before—I know I don’t have any right to be jealous, no matter who you’re with. I just…” He exhaled raggedly. “Your grandparents were nosing around the Fortress of the Pentacle, making threats. I’m lucky it wasn’t an official meeting day and only one of the other barons saw them. I’m still working out if I can find any information on the barons’ plans or these ‘reapers’ that would help you, but unless I do, I think it’s better we don’t take any chances of even seeming slightly friendly for now.”
“They followed you all the way out there?” Abruptly I felt twice as sick. My father’s parents clearly cared way more about any advantage they could gain from this situation than having a real relationship with me. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“It’s not your fault. They’re just… the way we are.” He paused. “It’s probably for the better in the long run if we interact as little as possible anyway. I can’t keep indulging my feelings for you when it’s impossible for us to have anything real—that’s only going to make things harder.”
“Yeah.” It felt awfully hard right now, thinking I might not even talk to him again except as a distant coworker. I dragged in a breath. “I understand. If I can think of any way of getting them off your back, I’ll do it.”
“I don’t want you making yourself a target either. Be careful—not that I need to tell you.”
His voice gentled for that last remark. Then he strode over to the counter with a tie he’d picked out, not so much as glancing my way. I forced myself to keep my gaze on the pendants I was holding.
It wasn’t as if I’d really lost a friend and ally—and whatever else we’d been—even if my stomach had balled into a knot. He’d be around. He’d said he was still trying to help me.
And I had other allies I could still talk to who needed my help. I looked over the pendants one more time, and my fingers closed around the best one. When Declan had left the store, I followed his footsteps to the counter.
Victory and her friends were lounging in the common room when I went over to Shelby’s bedroom door. Their gazes followed me with an ominous sensation even though they didn’t speak.
Their presence made me twice as glad that I’d decided to take this step. Maybe I couldn’t protect every Nary in this school perfectly, but I could put all my power to looking after the one who’d been my friend since my first day here.
“Hey,” I said when Shelby opened the door. “Can I come in? I, ah, got something for you.”
The other girl looked surprised, but in a pleased way. “Sure! You really didn’t have to. I mean, I got the whole clothing situation sorted out.”
“Yeah, but I owed you one.” I took the little cardboard box out of my purse. “I finally got myself my own chain for that charm bead, so I can give yours back to you. And as a thank you, I saw this pendant I thought you’d like…”
The brightening of her face when she opened the box told me I’d made the right choice. She held up the silver chain she’d lent me months ago to study the pendant: a violin with curves and grooves I’d managed to reshape slightly to contain the magic I’d cast on it. The structure wasn’t perfect—I’d probably need to strengthen the ward every week or so—but if I’d worked the spell right, it should deflect any of the usual sorts of spells my fellow students might have cast at a Nary. If someone started up a brute force attack, the one small ward wouldn’t be enough, but I couldn’t exactly drape her in them. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “You really didn’t have to.”
“I’m just glad you like it. I know you play a cello, not a violin, but I figured it’s pretty close…”
She laughed. “Close enough. I don’t figure there are many cello necklaces out there.” Undoing the clasp, she drew the chain around her neck. The charm settled just below her collarbone. “Thank you. I was just happy I could help you out.”
“It looks great on you,” I said, figuring the more enthusiasm I showed, the more likely she was to wear it as often as possible.
Apparently I’d missed Imogen’s entrance—and some disagreement between her and Victory. I stepped back out into the common room to Victory sashaying out the main door with a toss of her hair, Cressida and Sinclair in tow. My nemesis tossed an acidic comment over her shoulder. “Maybe you could just go to your dad about that.”
Imogen glared after them where she was standing by one of the sofas. Her shoulders came down with the click of the door shutting behind them. She turned to me. “Don’t ask. Just Victory being Victory.”
“No surprises there.” The fact that Imogen’s father ran the maintenance department at the university rather than holding some more prestigious position had apparently made a lot of the fearmancers turn their nose up at Imogen. Victory had already used her relationship with her dad to threaten her into betraying me once.
But… that connection could work the other way too, couldn’t it? To my benefit?
I hesitated and then ventured, “Hey, I… actually need to speak to someone in Maintenance about something. Preferably the higher up the better. Do you think you could get me a few minutes with your dad?”
Imogen raised an eyebrow at me. “Is this about the stalled construction on that building in the east field?”
Yeah, my involvement with the clubhouse wasn’t much of a secret anymore. I gave her a sheepish smile. “Cat’s out of the bag, huh? If you don’t want to help the competition, I totally get it.”
She waved off my concern. “I told you, I don’t have a hope in hell of winning anyway. Just tell me: if you get this done, is it going to make things more difficult for the assholes like Victory?”
I couldn’t stop my smile from stretching into a grin. “Yeah, I’d say so.”
“Then consider me in. Come on, we can go right now. Dad’ll always make time for me if I say it’s important.”
We set off across the green and over the west field to the squat brown maintenance building. Imogen marched right in as if she worked there too. The hall inside smelled of lemony wood polish, although I didn’t know what they’d been polishing since the floor was gray linoleum that squeaked under my shoes.
Halfway down the hall, Imogen popped a door open a crack. “Dad? Do you have a minute?”
“Sure, Genny,” said a warm voice from within the room. “Come on in.”
“I brought a friend,” Imogen said, motioning for me to join her. “She needed to ask you about something.”
I’d been a little nerv
ous about approaching Mr. Wakeburn, but the sight of him put me at ease. He had the same dark blond hair as Imogen, a little shaggy as if he were one of those California surfers I’d see at the beach back home, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. If the other fearmancers thought Imogen was worse off having a dad like this instead of the kinds of parents they seemed to cope with, they obviously had no idea what a healthy family looked like.
“Sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Wakeburn,” I said with a bob of my head.
“That’s totally fine.” He pushed back his chair from his desk, sinking into a relaxed pose. His body tensed slightly once he’d had a chance to take me in. “You’re Rory Bloodstone.”
“Um, yeah.” I hadn’t really thought about how my position as scion and almost-baron might give me a certain authority here. But I didn’t want to bully him into agreeing. I launched into my pitch. “Some of the Nary students have been working with the maintenance staff to build a clubhouse on the east field. The work was shut down yesterday with a noise complaint. I’d like to challenge that complaint and call for the work to be resumed.”
Imogen’s dad raised one eyebrow much the way his daughter had minutes ago. “On what grounds?”
“The whole philosophy behind everything we do at Bloodstone University is to prepare us to handle the challenges of the real world. We can hardly expect to never experience a little irritating noise in the background. This gives students the opportunity to practice honing their concentration. The construction work should be finished fairly soon anyway.”
Declan’s advice appeared to have been on the mark. Mr. Wakeburn nodded as if he could see my point. But he didn’t agree right away. “We have gotten several complaints. I have to take that into consideration.”
“Dad,” Imogen said in a pleading voice. “You know that’s got to have more to do with the summer project competition than them actually being bothered. Remember the berries two years ago?”
