“You never asked.”
“Well, I’m asking now.”
He looked over and smiled again. “Freelance photography. I run my own business, if you can call it a business anyway. It’s mostly me relying on Craigslist posts, Facebook ads, and hoping recommendations spread word of mouth from happy clients to their friends.”
“So weddings and stuff?”
“Among other things like puppies and little kids. And I may or may not have caught a few guys creeping around on their wives. And vice versa.”
“You need to get yourself a website. I mean, if you don’t have one already.”
Gabriel laughed as he set one arm behind my shoulders. His squeeze sent tingles dancing over my body and zipping over every nerve. “You’re cute when you try to give advice, Sky. I have a website, but again, I’m not the only photographer in Chicago, and I’m not exactly at the top of the Google search results.”
“Still… I’m sure your parents wouldn’t really cut you off. Not over a girlfriend.”
His arm dropped and he leaned back, hands on the bench while he gazed thoughtfully at the sky. “I may have to start charging you for your lessons, at least, I would if you weren’t mine now. My, uh, ward.” The final words came as a quick addition.
His. His ward. My heart did a weird double beat. “Any changes I need to know about?”
“Nah. Let’s continue as we did when Monica was around.”
“Right. As we did with Monica. Except that she was sort of a snob and I don’t want you to hang around out of sight the way she insisted. So… there’s that.”
“That will make things easier. Thanks.”
“No problem. So, besides the highway incident, did the rest of your holiday go okay? Because as much fun as I had, things felt sorta off.”
Gabriel canted his head, almost birdlike. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “I heard wolves out where I live, which isn’t common. And sometimes I felt like I was being watched. There’s weird stuff going on.”
He leaned forward with his elbows resting over his thighs and gazed into the narrow space between the two buildings. After a long pause he murmured, “That doesn’t mean much.”
“Oh?”
“Attribute the feeling of being watched to a higher perception of the world around you, including the non-shapeshifting variant of my kind. Your senses are going to register birds as people.”
“It was more than that.” He raised a brow until I continued. “There was a wendigo in town.”
Gabriel let out a long breath. “Shit, dude, are you sure?”
“Positive. Dad’s sentinel confirmed it—not that I was supposed to overhear it, so please don’t mention this to anyone.”
“Anything you tell me stays between us, Sky. Anything else?”
“No, not really. Things were really quiet after that, except my dad wouldn’t let me borrow his car. Everywhere I wanted to go, he offered to chauffeur me around instead.”
Gabriel grinned. “Considering your accident-prone history of the past couple months, I can’t blame him. I wouldn’t let you behind the wheel of my ride either.”
My hand hit his chest in an ineffectual swat. He chuckled and bumped his shoulder into mine.
“There’s a lot of shit going on. I wouldn’t worry too much. My dad once said there’s gotta be at least a couple darklings in every state, you know? Sooner or later, someone has to cross paths with them. I’m just glad this one didn’t try to take a bite out of you.”
I bit my lower lip. “That’s the problem, the darklings in Virginia all seem to want to take a bite out of my family. I overheard my parents saying a valravn ran them off the road too.”
Gabriel jerked back, staring at me, his spine rod straight and eyes wide. “A valravn?”
“Yeah. I don’t know the full story.”
A neutral mask slid into place over his startled features. “Maybe it’s for the best. They probably want you focusing on your studies instead of worrying about them.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
He bumped shoulders with me again, only this time he also squeezed my hand. “Anyway, I should probably get going. When Rodrigo gave me the provost’s note, I freaked and ran out to make sure Jada wasn’t telling tall tales about me beating her on the highway or something. I’m not even unpacked yet. Or showered.”
How the hell did an unshowered guy smell so good? “Yeah, I should probably do the same. Hey, do you think Dedrik is going to flip out again?”
Gabriel considered the question then shook his head. “No. He’s graduating and has a chance to move on into some real work. If he had stayed here he’d be missing out on opportunities.”
“Then why did he offer?”
He shrugged and glanced away. “Maybe he has a crush.”
I punched him in the shoulder that time.
“Or maybe it’s the tradition that means something to him. I mean… his mom did die protecting your dad, right?”
We both sobered up. Sentinels didn’t die often in the line of duty, but every single member of the Blackwood line had died in the service of one of my relatives, all the way down to my great-great grandmother.
“I guess I’ll talk to him and let him know.”
“You disappointed?” he asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “No, I’m not. I think Riordan is right about us making a good team and, well, I trust you.”
“Hey. Gimme your phone real quick.” After I unlocked and passed it to him, he entered his information then returned it. “Give me a call after you register for classes and we’ll work out a schedule for the city.”
“Okay. See ya.”
After a wave, Gabriel headed toward his residential building.
And I wondered why the hell he’d tried to brush my concerns aside like he knew something he didn’t want to share with me.
15
Secret Admirers are Better Than Traitors
After the impromptu meeting in the provost’s office, I went to see Mrs. Hansford to have adjustments made to my schedule. Flying solo without Monica’s supervision meant I’d be earning the fieldwork credit for myself.
My guidance counselor didn’t even try to disguise her aversion to me, as if I were to blame for Monica’s failure to pass her classes.
“You’ll need to drop fencing to take Musical Theory.”
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not taking music classes. It’s an elective, and I don’t want it.”
“Young lady, I am the guidance counselor, and it is my job to—”
“Guide me. And you’re doing an awful job of it. If you won’t take my needs seriously and behave like a professional, then I’ll just have to make a complaint to the provost.”
The tip of her pencil snapped against the paper on the desk. Her face mottled red. “Your Spanish teacher has cleared you from any further requirements. That leaves a spot open in your schedule for Divine Intervention.”
“Wait, that’s a sophomore class.”
“Yes, but seeing as how you have your own charge now, you are required to take the applicable courses. A decision in which I assure you the provost will approve.” Her voice dripped hauteur, giving me a taste of what I suspected all the shifters and vampires experienced whenever they visited the high-and-mighty mages who disdained their species.
It took a moment to reel my temper in, although it welled inside and threatened to overflow. I smiled thinly and nodded. “Then that’s fine.”
Five minutes later, I strolled out of Student Services, still simmering. For a while, irritation pulsed in a mild tension headache surrounding my scalp. I breathed in and out, trying to find that sense of peace achieved through meditation, then focused on reading the crumpled printout clutched in my hand. A hectic schedule of classes awaited me. There was everything from English to Political Science and I still had to make room for faerie classes too.
“Hey, girl, you look like you need something to pu
nch. Are we hitting the gym today or what?”
Anji’s voice snapped me from my funk. She’d snuck up beside me, and I hadn’t even noticed. “Huh? Oh, sorry. Just finished my course selections.”
“How’s it looking?”
“Tuesdays and Thursdays are going to be torture.”
She laughed at my exaggerated groan. “You still taking fencing?”
My mood lightened in an instant, and I grinned. “Oh yeah. I plan to get past your guard this semester.”
“Looking forward to you trying. See you later at the gym?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in about an hour. That good?”
“Works for me. See you then.” Anji grinned then jogged ahead of me.
While Liadan and Pilar were gone to get their own schedules worked out, I had the place to myself. Too restless to sit around and wait for them, I changed and went straight to the gym.
By the time Anji joined me, I had already clocked a few miles on the treadmill.
I walked another five minutes to cool down while she stretched nearby.
“All right. You ready to crush your squat record?” she asked.
“Totally ready.”
“Let’s start there then since your parents—” Anji stopped, eyes gone wide. I twisted to see what she was staring at and ended up gawking too.
Dedrik Blackwood stood behind me, dressed in gym shorts and a sleeveless black muscle tee. His biceps were about as thick as my thighs, if not larger, and both were scrawled in ink. When he wasn’t wearing oversized sweats or dressed in a Star Wars costume, he resembled a sexy book cover model for a Viking romance.
“You ladies need any help?”
“Oh, hey.” Not one of my wittiest greetings.
“Hey, Dedrik,” Anji said. “And nah, we’re good. Just gonna see if this chick can graduate to the next weight set.”
“Yeah?” He flashed a good-natured smile. “What are you at now, Sky?”
Sky? “Um,” came out instead of an intelligent answer, then I kicked myself for letting another set of hot muscles distract from the afternoon’s goal. “Ninety-five I think it was.”
“Don’t often see the fae working out so hard. Good for you. Mind if I come along, or is this session girls only?”
“I don’t mind. Sky?”
“That’s fine with me. Maybe with you around the guys won’t hassle us as much.”
“And stare like creeps,” Anji added, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, that’s not a problem I generally have.” He chuckled and gestured for us to lead the way.
Due to the number of students with supernatural strength, a number of the weight machines had been augmented with spells affecting their gravity, making them heavier and more difficult to move.
Last time I visited the gym, a senior bear shifter benched a weight set rated at almost two thousand pounds. I didn’t hope to reach that level of achievement, but I wanted to do more than just run and stretch. Especially now that I’d been involved in more than one dangerous encounter.
Some asshole had left a thousand pounds on the bar. Before Anji could begin to unload it, Dedrik stepped forward and hauled off two of the hundred-pound plates. “So, Skylar, how was your holiday?” He removed the rest and set thirty-five pounds on each side of the bar, twenty more than my usual.
“It was okay, I guess.” I hesitated to say anything before I remembered this was exactly the place I could talk about what I saw, with two people I trusted as much as I trusted Gabriel. After all, Anji was a good friend and Dedrik’s mother had died for my family. Leaning in close to them, I lowered my voice softer than a whisper. “A wendigo shot through my town.”
Both wolves swiveled their heads to stare at me.
“Seriously?” Anji asked.
“Yeah. I’m probably not supposed to say anything though, so don’t spread it around. I know I probably shouldn’t speak about it, but it’s been bugging me.” And Gabriel had waved it off.
Dedrik rubbed his chin. “Are you sure? I know Gabe fucked with you in the Autumn Woods, but that’s a huge accusation.”
“I overheard my dad say his sentinel confirmed it. A valravn even tried to run them off the road while I was at school.”
“Shit,” Anji breathed. “No wonder you’re all ready to get pumped up.”
“I seem to attract trouble, so what better way to make sure I stay in one piece?”
“I know anyone else would tell you ‘let your sentinel handle it,’ but I admire what you’re doing,” Dedrik said. “It’s good to be prepared. After all, there may be times a sentinel isn’t there to protect you.”
“See! That’s what I’ve been telling everyone.” Finally, someone understood.
After tugging on my lifting gloves, I scooted under the bar and into position.
The additional twenty pounds kicked my ass. By the third set, my screaming thighs protested raising the bar for a full ten reps.
“That’s only six,” Dedrik said.
“Can’t do more.”
“You can.”
Did he not realize my legs were on fire?
“He’s right, girl. Come on. It’s only four more.”
“Easy for you to say. You can do this with two fingers.”
Seven. But their encouragement fueled me, and I breathed through it until I reached nine. On the tenth squat, when I was seconds from collapsing on my ass, Dedrik raised the bar into the cradle again.
“Bad ass. Knew you’d do it.”
Two hours later, after Dedrik finished introducing us to his leg-day routine, we parted ways from him at the locker room to hit the steam room and shower. When I emerged to wait for Anji to finish dressing, he was outside in his jeans and sweatshirt. He tossed his keys from one hand to the other.
“Oh, hey. You still around?”
He fumbled his keys like I’d startled him. The little black wolf charm on them glittered in the light when he bent to sweep it from the ground. He had an amazing ass. “Was waiting for a chance to talk with you. You have a moment?”
“Sure. Oh, yeah, by the way, I’m not sure if they told you, but they assigned me to Gabriel long-term. Riordan expelled my mentor.”
“I know. Gabe told me about it. It’s cool. I was kind of mad at first, but it isn’t his fault.”
A relieved breath whistled from me. “Good.”
“Breaking tradition kind of sucks, but maybe it happened for a reason.” Dedrik dropped both hands into his pockets and glanced toward the weight room floor. “Like maybe I can take you out sometime into the city now.”
“Huh? I have Gabriel to take me out into the city.”
“I mean, like take you out to dinner. A date.”
My brain crashed like an ancient Dell computer. “Uh.”
“It’s fine if you say no.”
Gabriel’s tease about Dedrik’s crush echoed through my thoughts. It had seemed ridiculous, but apparently he’d seen something I hadn’t. “No. Shit, I mean, that’s not what I meant. Sorry. But, um, is it even allowed?”
“For shifters to date fae? Yeah. I mean, it’s not encouraged, I guess, and some people have a problem with it.” He quieted and said after a moment, “It’s cool if you don’t want to deal with the shit too. I get it.”
“It’s not like that. I’m a little surprised I guess.”
“Well, think it over. The offer stands, anytime you want to take me up on it.”
“Can I ask you something first?”
“Yeah, sure.” He tucked his hands in his pockets and gave me his full attention.
“Did you deliver a gift to my room before Christmas?”
“No, but now I’m wishing I had. Why?”
“Nothing, just trying to solve a little mystery is all. But, um… I’d love to go out with you. In fact, I’m free this weekend.”
His wide, earnest smile made his hazel eyes brighten and crinkle at the corners. “Great. Here, let’s swap numbers and I’ll text you some dinner options.”
“Sure, b
ut trust me, I’m easy when it comes to food.”
“I’ll find something adventurous then.”
Anji joined us as I finished putting his number in my contacts list. He excused himself and jogged off, leaving me with Anji’s knowing grin.
“So, I see you’re into older men. Older shifter men.” Anji laughed and nudged her elbow into my ribs. “Not that I blame you.”
“Shut up,” I mumbled. “He’s hot, okay? And he has a nice smile.”
She laughed again and threw her arm around my shoulders. “There’s going to be some wolf chicks really sore that he’s off the market, but honestly, you have great taste. Most of the senior guys are kinda gross, but Dedrik is ridiculously sweet. Plus he has the sexy German accent thing going on.”
I laughed. “He does, doesn’t he? My mom once told me Dad’s accent was the second thing she noticed about him after his eyes. Green is her favorite color, so it made her super happy that I got his eyes.”
“See. Meant to be.”
Maybe it was. And maybe, despite my initial reluctance to date, I finally had some boy-worthy news to text Mindi back home.
Acquiring textbooks for the upcoming semester, training for my new job at the campus bookshop, and meeting at night with Gabriel consumed most of the week. Friday afternoon, I jogged with Dedrik in the Autumn Woods, since, as a senior, he had the privilege to enter Tir na Nog as my sentinel. Whether because of the location or the company, I logged my longest distance ever before I needed to stop for a break. After we both cleaned up, he drove me to a Russian teahouse out in the city where stuffing my face like a glutton impressed a guy instead of turning him off.
And nothing tried to eat, chase, or kill us. I called that a successful first date.
The remainder of the weekend I devoted to my girls. We slept in, lazed around in our pajamas, and generally took advantage of our last two days before school started back up.
Sunday night, sleep remained elusive. I tossed and turned, sipped chamomile and lavender tea, even considered texting Dedrik since he was a night owl werewolf, then eventually tugged on some sweats to hit the training yard when drugging myself with herbal solutions failed.
The Hidden Court Page 19
