Managing Expectations

by Erin R Flynn

  “I’m sorry,” he said after a moment, my lack of normal fairy education and upbringing a sensitive subject to all of us. “What did you do, Princess?”

  “Something I doubt the captain of the Light Guardians would approve of,” I whispered, turning to leave.

  “Have I been such a judgmental ass that you would be so disappointed in me?” Iolas asked, his voice sounding destroyed at the idea.

  I stopped in my tracks but didn’t look at him. “No, you really haven’t been and you guys have rolled with the changes pretty well. I’m just nothing like you expect of your light fairy royal or heir, and it hurts my soul every time I can’t live up to what you guys are used to, what fairies deserve.”

  “Agra,” Darby whispered, reaching for me but not fighting me when I ducked him and walked off. “I love who you are, not who you were born of.”

  “I don’t know you would agree with me this time either,” I whispered, knowing he would hear me. I hadn’t thought of that when I’d slipped away and done it, but now there had been things, decisions I’d made that three of the four men I was with had judged and I’d almost lost them over.

  I hadn’t realized how much it now scared me to make other choices. In the moment, I’d been too angry to see the possible consequences but now that I did, I couldn’t unsee them, and I knew going forward it would hinder my decisions.

  And that was a shitty way to live when I thought I was a good person at my core.

  I didn’t realize I was heading for Hudson until I stopped by him and flipped on my telepathy. I told him what I’d done and relief filled me when he threw back his head and burst out laughing.

  At least we were on the same page. He didn’t judge me for having an evil streak and getting vengeance when it was needed.

  My phone let me know I had a message from Geiger and the next part of the plan was going down. I nodded to Taeral and waved my phone at him before going off with several Dark Guardians who were wearing essence runes and posing as either Hudson or Juan’s guards.

  We ducked down an ally and used a cloaked portal to arrive at Dean Collins’s house in time to find a different vampire councilman there.

  “She was supposed to be on the outs with the Rothchilds!” the councilman bellowed at Collins, clearly part of setting the trap.

  “With all due respect, Councilman, I never said that,” Collins told the man calmly as he offered him a drink. “I have no idea why you—”

  “The rumors all say so!”

  Collins blinked at him as if waiting for more, but then let out a slow breath. “There are also rumors that Blake Ward will take over Councilman Ward’s seat one day.”

  The councilman snorted as he took the glass full of amber liquid. “Over my dead body.”

  “Exactly. I wished you had asked me. I could—”

  “You’ve had nothing useful this whole damn time, Collins,” he seethed.

  “I know. I warned you I wouldn’t without being obvious. I maybe still was. I’m not her dean. I’m not her teacher. I have no reason to interject myself into Vale’s life. She’s blocked all to hell so Richardson and I can’t even use runes on campus to listen in on her. We’ve tried. Richardson hears bits from her all the time, but she’s honestly a boring, diligent student.”

  “You expect me to believe that?” the councilman demanded.

  “It’s the truth,” Collins pushed. “She studies. She visits the havens, which she’s careful to talk about around others. She checks on the hobgoblins, who love her. All the places she goes are heavily guarded and warded. She’s not a frivolous elite like we’re used to. The guards say she shops on Amazon and gets excited if there’s a delivery of rare books from a Calloway store.”

  “I would almost commend her for not being the typical airhead female in our society if she wasn’t such a thorn in my side.”

  “I understand, but Richardson and I knew she was fine with the Rothchilds. She’s having a women’s spat with Melody Rothchild, but the clan is extremely grateful how she handled things with Ainsworth. Trigger Rothchild comes to campus most Sundays to train Vale personally. The rumor came from the warlock elders to try and limit the damage done by this Ainsworth situation.”

  The elder blinked at Collins this time and downed his drink before launching the glass against the wall. “Why did you not warn us of that? How could you not tell us you knew this?”

  “I beg your forgiveness, but honestly, I never dreamed the council would think to listen to rumors of college girl spats without digging deeper,” Collins whispered, his whole body tense.

  So were all of us in case we had to jump in and protect him. This was the moment our plan could go one of two ways and we needed to be ready for each since I’d promised not to let the man die.

  And I kept my promises.

  I tried my best to at least.

  2

  Two Weeks Earlier

  “Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice,” I greeted Dean Collins and his mate, extending my hand to her. “We haven’t met officially. I’m Tamsin Vale.”

  “A pleasure, Judy Collins.”

  “I was surprised you wanted my mate to join us,” Dean Collins muttered nervously, taking his mate’s hand when we were done shaking and sitting on the sofa in my living room. “What can I do for you, Ms. Vale?”

  “I need to change the plan and it might get ugly, so we’re going to lay our cards on the table, and your mate needs to have a vote on this as well,” I explained, that being the signal for the others to join me.

  “Prince Neldor,” Dean Collins whispered as the dark fairy came into the room. “And I’m not as surprised as I should be. I already knew and you took the memory from me.”

  “We did,” Neldor confirmed. “You learned it wasn’t simply more fairies were back from Faerie, but I was here and Tamsin is the heir of the light fairy realm. You and Richardson had some issues processing it given the precarious situation you’re in with your council, so we thought it best to temporarily take that knowledge.”

  “Fairies are back and you’re not only one, but Queen Meira’s daughter,” Mrs. Collins’s whispered, her eyes a bit too wide.

  “She might faint,” I warned them. “Mostly because she didn’t know her council was putting the screws to her mate. So she’s validly panicking.” I waited until her gaze met mine. “I’ve had fae dogs watching you both. I promise it’s going to be okay. It’s going to get a bit rough but as I’ve promised Dean Collins, you guys work with me, and I’ll be in your corner too.”

  “Define rough, Vale,” Collins demanded as he hugged his mate to him. “I cannot—you promised you would protect her.”

  “I will. I swear it to you. I’ll protect you too, and I promise you that this will give you not only protection from both our realms when we’re out, but all those dreams you’ve had of what you wish to give your mate.” I nodded I wasn’t kidding. “What we want is for you to lie to your council and very specifically lead them into a trap.”

  “Not only that, we want to frame them for your murder,” Neldor added. “We obviously won’t let them murder you, but we want the optics to be that they murdered you after you gave them information to catch Princess Tamsin that didn’t pan out and they looked like fools. They will have a hard time recovering from not only pressuring a respected dean at Artemis to spy on a student in such an underhanded way—”

  “But killing me for it would make anyone else a fool for even trying to aid them where you’re concerned,” he whispered, completely pale at the idea.

  “Yes, that is the goal we’re shooting for,” I confirmed, leaning forward so my elbows rested on my legs. “My personal goal is Shurr. It’s not been reported yet, but he—he did the unthinkable tonight, and if Neldor and I hadn’t been working tirelessly to bring more fairies back, there would be a lot less wolf shifters tonight.”

  I got choked up simply thinking about it, and Neldor took over explaining about the attack on Geoff’s pack.

  “My
gods,” Mrs. Collins rasped, tears trailing down her cheeks. “No one has an ill word about that pack besides those pissed they won’t choose sides or they can’t wield them like a weapon or asset. How could our elders even think to work with the Underground? No matter the threat you pose to their power and tyranny, there have to be lines that cannot be crossed.”

  “We agree on that, but we’re still trying to understand the full scope of the attack tonight,” I replied with a sigh.

  “What are you asking of us?” she inquired.

  “And what are you promising for it?” Collins added, wincing when his mate smacked him hard. Not because it hurt, but he hated the disappointment in her eyes aimed at him.

  His thoughts said it all and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “He only cares because he wants more for you. His thoughts have been racing since he learned of my birth and what it can mean for a better life for you. I can’t hate a man being opportunistic when it’s all for love. His thoughts are always what he can do to get you the life he promised you, the life you deserve.”

  “You stupid man,” she sighed, leaning in and kissing his cheek. “The only life I’ve ever wanted is with you. You have to stop this. You would sell your soul for silly promises we made as children to be rich and live in lavish comfort. Be happy with what we have, and we are so much better off than so many others.”

  “I can’t help it sometimes,” Collins admitted. “If everything wasn’t so corrupt and political, things could be different. I can’t get published unless I kiss the right rings and give offerings of more than I’m willing to because I’m not connected. I never—it didn’t used to be like that. I wasn’t supposed to cap out like this after working so hard to advance to a dean at Artemis so young.”

  “You are the only one who cares about that, my love,” she murmured, leaning her head against his. “I know it kills you to deal with the elites all the time and put up with so much, but I love our life. I love my job. I love our home. I am happy.”

  “Well, I’m second-guessing the plan to blow that all up now,” I worried, sharing a glance with Neldor. “We plan to set it all back later, but not for maybe a year. We can get your job back or a better one. We’ll loop Edelman in on the plan and secure your position, Collins.”

  “Plus, we need someone well-versed in many matters helping our people acclimate even if over Zoom calls from your location,” Neldor added.

  “What location?” Collins asked, glancing between us. “You want to stuff us in some safe house for however long it takes for you to announce fairies are coming back? That is not a better life and how—”

  “Chill, Collins,” I cut in, nodding to the folder on the table in front of him. “Cherrywood is expanding. You know this. It’s common knowledge. What isn’t is all the locations. One of them in South America will have ridiculously secure villas on the outskirts of the Amazon and gorgeous views of the mountains down there. The first is already built. That is what I’m offering you.”

  “Plus, a detail of fairy guards,” Neldor added. “The construction is still going on, but we’ll put up a barrier so you won’t have to deal with that. We’ll bring what you need through a portal. It won’t be like some horrible human cop TV show at a rundown motel. You will live however long on a dream vacation with complete security.”

  “And when this is over, and you come back saying you fled for your life because a councilman blew his head and you were afraid for your mate, we will find you the house of your dreams.” I nodded when they shared a look. “You’re going to have to leave a lot behind, but I’m assured a lot of replicas can be found and your actual belongings will be placed in storage.”

  We gave them a few minutes to process all of that, Collins opening the folder and flipping through it.

  “We have a few weeks and a lot of able bodies that can be hidden,” I muttered, shooting Neldor a look. “There’s no reason to say they can’t slip in and pack things up, find stuff that’s close at thrift stores and start swapping up. It’s not like the council is going to immediately pack it all up or do anything with it. They’re not actually going to be responsible or covering up a crime.”

  “That’s a good point,” Neldor agreed. “Even if the Rothchilds handled some of the shopping and going out into the world while our people did the packing and switching. We could swap out the whole house in the few weeks we have.”

  “Slow down,” Collins begged, rubbing his hand over his head. “You are—please slow down. I understand you are both vastly upset over what happened tonight. We can sense it, and I am too, but you are talking about us leaving our lives, scaring our families and friends and—this is a lot.”

  “We know,” I said gently. “We know that. You’d be taking a huge hit for the team. You’re the only ones in the right position to make this work. We cannot keep playing only defense but right now, we can merely work from the shadows. I don’t know how long that will be for.”

  “Give us your best guess. A year? Five?” Collins asked, tossing the folder onto the table before his mate had even looked at it. “That is wonderful but if it’s for ten years, it’s still a prison, Vale.”

  “It won’t be ten years,” Neldor promised.

  “I can’t even see it being five,” I added, shaking my head. “It’s a miracle we’ve been able to keep the secret I’m a fairy this long. Helping tonight—I keep waiting for one person to get away or slip out that we missed with the answer. If we last another year, it would be the biggest trick of them all.”

  “We could handle all the corruption in a year’s time,” Neldor muttered. “We wouldn’t have everything in place that we’d want but honestly, even if we were outed now, we could handle it.”

  “We could,” I agreed. “It would be much better if we had a year.” I glanced at Collins. “We’re also keeping people from their loved ones. Geiger isn’t the only one who was waiting for his mate. I won’t keep those people suffering for two years. It kills me to make them wait a year.”

  It shocked me when Neldor seemed like he agreed but didn’t say anything either way.

  “We can go into hiding at a dream vacation for a year,” Mrs. Collins said gently when her husband hesitated. “You won’t lose your position at Artemis and I can find another job I love.” She shook her head when he opened his mouth. “It’s the right thing to do to help. It’s what we can do to help. Be the man I love and make the right decision with me.”

  Well dayumn.

  Collins was quiet a few moments. “You won’t have bodies for people to find, right? I—my mother—please don’t make her bury me.”

  “No, we won’t do that,” I promised. “We’re going to make it seem like the council did something they shouldn’t or you ran. Either they killed you and tried to make it seemed like you ran, or you really ran. No sending messages to your family and friends, but I’m fairly certain your mother will know you well enough to know the truth.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, she knows I would take my mate and run before there was even a chance she was hurt.” He swallowed loudly and nodded. “Okay, Vale, we’re with you. I told you we were with you as long as you did your best to keep my mate alive and protect us. I’ve seen how you go to the mat for those on your side. We’re on your side.”

  “Welcome to the team.” I smiled at them and then at Neldor. “Let’s get started.”

  For the first time since I’d met him, Neldor gave me a genuine smile that we were on the same page and just as excited as I was. “Let’s.”

  3

  “Fucking Melvin,” the councilman seethed, toning back his aggression, signaling he wasn’t putting the blame on Collins.

  “Councilman Melvin? He said so?” Collins asked, clearing his throat when the councilman shot him a nasty look. “I apologize. It’s not my place to comment on any of this. It’s simply…”

  “What? It’s simply what?”

  Oh, Collins was going off-script and I wasn’t sure why.

  He scratched his cheek but then cleared his
throat. “Would you like another drink, Councilman Ozorio?”

  The man nodded. “One more, and then I have to clean up this mess. What were you going to say? And don’t give me that crap about it not being your place. Speak your mind, Collins. I should have asked you sooner what you knew.”

  Collins went over to the sideboard and poured him another drink, dipping his head as he handed it over. “I simply wonder what Councilmen Melvin could get out of all of this. The oath wasn’t simply Melody Rothchild’s, but Trigger Rothchild’s for the whole clan. They would never renege on that oath when that same oath protects the Vogels. Over how Vale brought Ainsworth to justice?”

  “You’re right,” Ozorio muttered. “I didn’t think of it or on it much since Melvin said it was for certain and Shurr was pushing to jump on this. He was up to something as well, but it’s hard to figure all of this out when Ward and Thane refuse to be involved. They look the other way but will not speak on any of this, referring to it all as nonsense and distractions. The girl is the last known fairy born witch.”

  “Edelman has not confirmed that,” Collins interjected, shaking his head when Ozorio went to object. “That’s all I know. Vale refused to dig into her birth after finding out something that upset her. Edelman didn’t want to push with how every college tried to sway her to attend and bungled it during the Culture Exchange.”

  “What do you think she is?” he asked, but then did a double take. “How do you not know? Why weren’t you called in when an unknown was brought into Artemis? You should have been there to witness her use the species crystal.”

  Well fuck. One of the idiots finally pieced that together.

  Before I could even react, the Dark Guardian nearest to me froze the councilman and his guards.

  “Thanks,” Collins whispered, swallowing loudly. “Crap.”

  “Yeah, that happens when you go off-script,” I grumbled.