by Erin R Flynn
“Glad to do it,” Tanesha promised.
“The deal with Calloway and the sanctuary is set,” I muttered, wondering if I’d said that already. “But she’s been pushing for some of Irma’s pies and everything the hobgoblins have been making for us. I say we do it. One of the havens has an orchard and some orchards have their own bakeries and stores. We just don’t sell it there and let anyone badger the hobgoblins.
“The sales fund the havens and salaries and orchards—it all feeds in each other plus it gets the hobgoblins out of bad places. Now we can have a dog pack hang out at each place to protect them and the havens. Have the stuff sell at Natalie’s store or have a store here so it’s open and people can shut the fuck up trying to compare a women’s shelter non-profit to the fucking Underground.”
“You’re scared we’ll all get labeled as terrorists and you didn’t see that coming,” Mel surmised.
I scratched my head again, nodding. “Holly went there so easily. It was nuts. It was like—that book where they just started naming everyone witches and burning them. Like fuck, you go straight to terrorists if you don’t fall in line and bow to the elite’s kids. No wonder the scholarship students stay so far under the radar and have put up with so much.”
“You need sleep,” Mel muttered. “You need a break, Tams.”
I snorted. “What do you think the councils will do when they learn I have a 9th grade education, Mel? How fast will the petition for me to get out of Artemis or—”
“Kid, you’re spiraling,” she cut in, pulling me to her and hugging me tightly. “We got this. You are not alone. You’re not going to be the last fairy. I know it feels all on you since you started the fight and you’re the one pushing for so much but I would have gladly started this fight if I’d known how.”
“She’s right,” Claudia agreed, finally speaking up again. “This is a great direction and purpose we can make happen. You’re financing this and the one leading the charge so you only have to outline the path, Tamsin. From there lots of us will help if we know what you want. This—we can do this. Now we know what to do and you can focus on school and rest. I’ve never seen you this frayed.”
“Me either though I don’t know you as well,” Mrs. Vogel worried. “I have aides that can help as well and would love a project to aid other women get some independence. This will also help dragons in bad positions, so you have our full support. If you’re willing to go this direction a bakery could be just the start.”
“True,” Tanesha concurred. “You could have preserves and pie fillings. All kinds of everything made with fae fruits and veggies. Lots of room for growth and a chance to give all the hobgoblins a real community instead of constantly being treated as if they should be indebted they have places to work and stay at all.”
“That’s so horrible,” I whispered, shaking my head at how nasty people could be. “Okay, glad we like the idea then.”
“Good, then you can rest,” Mrs. Vogel murmured, coming closer and taking my face in her hands. She shook her head when I went to argue. “Enough. Time to rest because we need you at your best for the fight that will undoubtedly come next. Let the adults take this over for you.”
Fair enough. I could use the help given I was trying to help so many. I kissed her cheek and went over to the dogs, giving them their orders and thanking everyone before heading for the temp portal.
Craftsman, Darby, and Izzy were all in the kitchen with worried looks, letting me know they’d noticed too.
“I’m taking a nap. It went well,” I told them before heading upstairs.
I crashed until dinner and then ate my weight in food. I felt worlds better now that the bulk of what came next was off my shoulders.
And according to Izzy, that meant time for fun.
The next morning we started with her carefully plotted out places in Vancouver to try for our new food blog. It was glorious and she was excited to have the project, which eased my guilt I was dumping so much on everyone.
Darby and Craftsman had outlined a new study schedule for me as well. After whatever breakfast trip I would work with Craftsman on Latin I and magic—runes well beyond what I should be learning already. But they would help me with the glamours and protection.
We’d have another fun lunch outing and then Darby would take over studies for chemistry and Algebra II.
Then dinner—though we might not always constantly eat all meals out or have other meetings—before I had self-study for Geography & World Cultures and Microsoft Office 1. That gave Mel time to work with Darby and Craftsman. It also gave Darby time to work with the huge chunks of the Vogel mountain I’d had brought there for his project.
Craftsman was working on other projects as well. Mel was doing a shit ton of background checks on that list we’d given Claudia of people to potentially hire. She’d done preliminary dives, but now she wanted more and we had more already applying. So overall we were all busy.
Except Izzy. She had plotted out everything for eating our way through Vancouver before break even started. That night when I took a break from my Microsoft Office 1 presentation slides, she found me in the kitchen.
“What can I do to help?”
I blinked over at her. “I thought you wanted to be a bum, Izzy?”
“Well yeah, but it’s not fun when you’re the only one.” She huffed when I didn’t respond. “I want to help. You’re going to help others like you helped me. How can I not help? I took a few days to think and decompress after finals. I even read a book for leisure. Cool. Now give me something to do.”
I nodded, opening my mouth but then closing it. “I don’t actually know what job to give you.”
“None of those houses were furnished and will need to be decorated when finished,” Craftsman suggested as he walked into the kitchen reading something. “She did an aces job with your guest rooms. You might resent your parents for teaching you only what they did, but they taught you well and you are good at it, Izzy.
“Take that education and use it to make comfortable rooms for women who will need that feeling as they’ll be scared. Everything won’t need to be fancy, fancy like the main one. I believe a lot of IKEA and normal is exactly what those havens will want. Maybe rework some floorplans to be suites so private bathrooms. I think someone suggested that.”
“Yeah, I could totally do that,” Izzy agreed.
“If you’re cool with it?” I checked.
She sniffed, sticking her nose in the air. “I think I’ve proven how wonderful I am as a personal shopper and designer. I insist it be left to me. I’ll get with the Higgins crew and jump right in.”
“Awesome. Thanks. That’s one thing off Mel’s plate then because it wasn’t going to be on mine.”
They both snorted. Yeah, no kidding. That certainly wasn’t my forte.
But it did make me smile how it all seemed to be coming together. Nice.
25
The days seemed to fly by they were filled with so much. Once word got out we were going to be doing more with the hobgoblins, Irma and the crew came over with Marshall and some of the guards several days the next week. They wanted to try recipes they hadn’t made in so long… And the guards just enjoyed my house and getting fed.
They did at least help, combing through my library for cookbooks. Calloway brought over a bunch as well and everyone had fun; joy filled the kitchen and house in a way that seemed better than human holiday spirit. Funny since supes didn’t celebrate Christmas really.
I felt like I blinked it and it was New Year’s Eve. Natalie brought my finished dress and Darby’s tux since the others had accepted jobs to get people ready for the party. We had a lot planned out and with Izzy’s and Mel’s help doing hair and makeup I was ready in more than enough time.
“Fuck me dead, agra,” Darby whispered when I came into the kitchen.
“I second that, love,” Craftsman murmured, his eyes raking over me with possessiveness.
I swallowed a flinch and was so, so grateful we
’d already used that “mistress charm” to keep us under the radar. Natalie didn’t even bat an eyelash or note he said something he shouldn’t to a student. Instead she went over to Darby and did a few finishing touches to his hair and tux. Basically she added some frost to his hair and lapels with glamour.
It was styling for sure.
“You look awesome, Tams,” Mel praised, leaning in and giving my cheek a kiss. “Go show them that you’re a queen they need to bow before, not prey they can walk all over.”
“Damn straight.” I accepted Darby’s arm and thanked everyone before we headed out. When we were alone in the garage I gave him a quick look. “Don’t let me fall, okay?”
“Never, but you’re amazing in heels. You got this, agra.”
“I’m sure lots of people would love to see me on my ass,” I warned him.
He nodded he understood. Yeah, lots would probably take any chance to “bump” into me or have an “accident” to spill something on my white dress. One more deep breath and I powered up the portal so it had enough juice for all night just in case they needed to come after us for any reason.
We went through and came out right in the main foyer of the Vogels’ castle. Since I was a friend of the family or whatever I didn’t even have to portal outside of the castle at the guard station atop the mountain.
“Oh crap, I forgot—”
“I got you covered,” Darby promised, holding up the gift bag in his other hand.
“Ms. Vale, I’m sorry, but outside bags or items must be inspected by the guards even if you came in through the family friend portal,” a guard informed me, a few appearing out of nowhere.
“Of course,” I agreed, nodding he could hand it over. “Assuming you guys won’t spoil the surprise?”
The guard smiled. “No, though you are the first to bring a present.”
I shrugged. “It’s basic manners to bring the hostess a gift at a party.”
I got several looks that apparently elites thought their presence was gift enough.
“It’s fine,” another guard confirmed before handing it back to Darby with a confused look.
“Well, now I wish to see it,” Mrs. Vogel said from behind them. “I don’t normally receive gifts when we host parties.”
“And some say I have no manners and I’m crude,” I teased, greeting her and Mr. Vogel when they came into view. “It’s not much but I found it when I was looking for a Christmas present for Mel.”
Mr. Vogel frowned. “It’s rare any supe celebrate Christmas.”
I shrugged. “I thought I was human besides the past few months. Kind of a hard habit to break. I mean, I finally had the money to buy gifts and people I wanted to give them to besides Mel really and no one does it.” I bit back a smile when Darby snorted.
Mrs. Vogel chuckled and pulled out the journal from the gift bag. She studied it and her eyebrows pinched together, clearly not getting it.
I decided to skip ahead as the place was packed with guests they had to attend to besides just us.
“It’s the journal of a noble fairy who writes of meeting a Jameston dragon who did him a great service. I won’t spoil it all but I thought it was something you’d want. I know you value history and it’s part of your family’s.”
“Yes, thank you, Tamsin,” she whispered, looking at the journal with joy. “Where did you find this?”
“Calloway has figured out I’m a bookworm,” I chuckled. “I might not have the best formal education, but I love reading. So do Mel, Izzy, Craftsman, and now Darby’s joined up with us so yeah, lots of bookworms to tempt.”
“We spent hours going over one corner everyone else neglected the first weekend of break and found some real gems,” Darby confirmed. “It was amazing to find some fairy journals written in English as most are written in Faerie.”
Mrs. Vogel did a good job hiding her reaction but I saw in her eyes she understood. Yes, I’d translated the journal for her. There was nothing in it that should be hidden from people, simply stories of travels and adventures of a fairy. But it felt good to give it her and let her enjoy it.
“This is wonderful. I’ll make sure a copy is made for Headmaster Edelman to join the Artemis archives of history journals,” she promised. She dipped her head to me in thanks before slipping it back in the bag and handing it to one of the guards. “Take this directly to our suite. I wish to read it as soon as I can.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” he said, taking the bag.
“Thank you for giving my mate such a lovely and touching gift,” Mr. Vogel praised. “We have to make the rounds, but I hope you both enjoy yourselves and have a wonderful night.”
“Thank you, Mr. Vogel,” I replied, smiling when he shook hands with Darby. It seemed the dragon had settled with his opinion on scholarship students… And changed it to accept them.
Amazing. It was amazing for such a powerful leader to be open enough to be able to accept they could be wrong and grow—learn even and change their feelings on an issue.
“Thank you, agra,” Darby whispered in my ear once we were alone.
“I didn’t do it,” I argued, smiling at him when he looked at me. “You did. You and the other scholarship students did. He just needed the chance to get to know some of you and see you were hidden gems, not something to sweep under the rug in shame.”
He leaned in and gave me a sweet kiss before leading me over to bar to get a drink. He smiled when I gave him a questioning look as there were servers offering drinks all over the place. “They’ll serve the finest drinks, but alcoholic ones. Non-alcoholic you have to go to the bar. No kids here.”
“Ahhh, got it.” I went easy with an apple cranberry spritzer they had ready, Darby asking for the same. “You don’t have to not drink because I won’t.”
“I might have something to try later but I want a clear head too,” he muttered quietly… Giving me a heated look.
Oh, right, for after the party. Nice.
No, really, nice he was putting our first time together as such a priority.
We headed into the dining hall—because my stomach ruled me, of course—and I couldn’t get over the spread. They had some of everything anyone could ever want. And all of it was fun. Some of it high-end stuff like caviar but then there was normal just bruschetta or mini cheeseburgers.
I liked that. I liked the range and not only the variety but fun.
I saw a group standing by some platters of smoked salmon and I swallowed a snort. Just for a moment I had a random thought of picturing them as shifted bears standing by the fish and… Yeah, I was still adapting to being a supe. So sue me.
“Do I want to know?” Darby asked, his tone amused.
“I’ll tell you later,” I promised, shrugging when he glanced at me. “This is all still new to me. Sometimes I have a random thought or idea trying to grasp supes are real.”
He followed my gaze and probably figured it out when he saw where I’d been looking. “I’d think that’s to be expected, agra. I think you do pretty damn well given how you were thrown in the deep end.”
I thought about that as we kept eating. “Yes, but everyone’s been pretty gentle with me. I mean…” I realized that wasn’t something I should say around people, flipping on my telepathy. “If mean people were smarter, they should have gotten to me by shifting or chasing me around as vamps and freaking me out. No one’s done any of that to me. Even seeing my first dragon was chill to ease me into it.”
“That’s good. Yes, I could see how that would be hard for you. I’m glad they didn’t figure that out.”
Me too. That probably would have been the only way they could have actually gotten me to run screaming from the school and supes.
“Holy shit she’s fucking hot. I’ve gotta find out what estate she inherited. If it’s a lot I bet Father would let me change to mating her instead of that ugly bitch he betrothed me to. It’ll be easy. Break her up with Darby and then I could have hottest girl on campus and her fortune. A bit of romance and she
’d be mine.”
I glanced around and locked gazes with a guy from school who looked sort of familiar. I smirked as his eyes went wide. “Darby, who’s that guy? He wants to break us up so he can mate me and get my fortune. Apparently I’d just agree after a bit of romance since he doesn’t want to mate the ‘ugly bitch’ he’s betrothed to. Funny, since he’s not much to look at.”
Darby adjusted his neck as I felt rage pouring off of him. “He’s the second son of a powerful wolf family so he won’t be Alpha or take over. It makes sense he’ll be mated off for an alliance or money.”
“Oh, so he’s a whore for sale, got it,” I said loudly. “How boorish given he only values women for their looks and thinks them all idiots.” I leaned in and kissed Darby’s cheek, holding my lips there until I felt him relax some. “I’m glad you’re much more evolved and have your priorities in line.”
We moved on, steam about coming out of the wolf’s ears as we did. He faded back into the crowd and away from us and the attention we’d brought. I’d almost feel bad for busting someone on their thoughts if his weren’t such asshole ones. I mean, what a douche.
Still, I turned off my telepathy. No need to hear more of that as I was pretty sure most of what I’d pick up would be petty.
We moved along the buffet and onto the others, grabbing more drinks as we ate. We talked chatted quietly about the food and what the other had to try as we did, checking everything out. After about a half an hour of stuffing ourselves all that was left was the dessert buffet… And we hadn’t spoken to anyone.
Not a single person but each other.
And clearly no one wanted to speak to us, though lots were staring.
“So why did you insist we come to this thing?” I asked Darby under my breath.
The look he gave me spoke volumes about his restraint and how good I was at pushing his buttons at times. After a moment, he chuckled and shook his head. “I figured the food would be delicious and tons of it to try.”
I smirked at him over my glass. “Hmm, that sounds more like a reason I would want to come.”
