by Sarina Dorie
“Um, yeah, you’re forgiven.” I was trying so hard not to laugh. I couldn’t think of anything clever or witty to say in response.
“Is that all, Mr. McDougal? Or is there more unsolicited advice you wish to gift me? Perhaps I should postpone this meeting with Miss Lawrence so that I can benefit from your other gems of wisdom.” Thatch stood.
I took it that was my cue to go. I rose too.
Thatch nodded to me. “Good day, Miss Lawrence. We will continue this conversation at a later time.”
Rudy snorted. “The principal has urgent need of your presence at his office, Mr. Thatch.”
I headed toward the door, walking into Rudy and bouncing off him. I caught myself from falling over and went around him. It seemed like he would have moved out of the way if someone couldn’t see where he stood, but he must have been pretty stubborn.
Thatch didn’t have the same problem of stepping into Rudy as he trailed after me, sidestepped a new place that I suspected Rudy had stepped into, and kept going. “Indeed. I’m always delighted to be of service and at the principal’s beck and call.”
Rudy raised his voice. “You know, Mr. Thatch, your old principal might have put up with your bad attitude and smart-aleck ways, but Principal Dean isn’t going to tolerate such insolence.”
“I’m certain you’re right.” Thatch inclined his head. “As before, your wisdom knows no bounds.”
I rolled my eyes. It was no wonder people hated Felix Thatch with the way he went on. “You don’t know when to stop, do you? Was that really necessary?”
“Not everyone can be pleasant and kind as you endeavor to be. I’m certain that’s why students and staff would prefer to speak with you rather than me.” He gifted me with a small smile.
Thatch rarely praised me in front of people. I wondered if he was softening in his resolve to let the world think he hated me.
Thatch halted in the hallway outside his office. He strolled back to the door and closed it. From the wide berth he gave, I suspected he had no problem sensing where Rudy was. His brow furrowed. He leaned forward and sniffed the air. “That smells like Gertrude Periwinkle’s perfume. Interesting. Did you happen to confiscate one of her lotions the other day?” His eyes narrowed as he examined the empty void. “Or do rules of not dating colleagues apply to everyone except administrative and classified staff?”
“I’m going to go have breakfast now,” I said, not wanting to get between Thatch and his newest enemy.
Gertrude might have been his ex-girlfriend, but I suspected he didn’t know how to keep his nose out of anyone’s business. Not that I was judging. I found plenty of ways to get into trouble on my own.
My next method for getting myself into trouble probably was going to be sneaking into the library crypt to do more research.
Thatch kept his word and visited Art Club. There were only fifteen students in there. I suspected it was because we’d run out of clay, and it was too cold outside to dig for more. That was my students’ favorite material.
I worked at my desk. Thatch set up an overly large canvas on an easel in the nearest corner, but still some distance from where I worked. It was close enough he could occasionally make a comment to me without students hearing his every word. Balthasar and Ben walked in late, halting in their tracks when they saw Thatch.
“What is he doing here?” Ben asked.
“Duh. Painting. What does it look like dumb—” Hailey caught herself from swearing. “Dummy?”
I nodded at her approvingly.
Thatch’s presence was enough to drive Ben and Balthasar away, though Ben still lingered momentarily, watching Maddy, who sat between Hailey and a boy with webbed fingers and short green hair. Students talked about the upcoming winter vacation. Hailey, Maddy, and Imani were excited about the idea of staying with my fairy godmother again.
I wanted to see my fairy godmother, but I also worried about attracting unwanted Fae attention. Thatch was always saying not to let Fae know who I loved. I didn’t want my fairy godmother to become a target of the Princess of Lies and Truth.
My gaze settled on Thatch working on his painting. Imani snuck over to try to peek at his art. He waved her away. A minute later, Maddy feigned interest in my watercolors, trying to get a peek at Thatch’s canvas the entire time.
Maddy pushed aside her blonde hair, smiling at me. “You think I’d be better at watercolors with my affinity. I can never make mine look like yours.”
“The point of art isn’t to look like someone else’s. It’s to express ideas. It’s to develop your own style,” I said. “Art develops creativity.”
Hailey rolled her eyes. “Easy for you to say. You make everything look good.”
Thatch set down his palette with a thud. “That is called practice. Anything you wish to master, whether it’s art, arithmetic, or alchemy takes time and effort.” Thatch raised an eyebrow in challenge. “If you put half the effort into my class that you did for air pelota, then you would have passed your quiz today.”
“How did we get on the subject of alchemy? We were talking about art.” Hailey made a face at him. “Art Club is supposed to be a positive environment. Miss Lawrence doesn’t like put-downs.” She looked to me for confirmation. “Right?”
“Yep. Every time I hear a put-down, I require two positive comments instead of negative ones.”
Thatch lifted his nose in the air. “I’m not being negative. I’m being constructive.”
It didn’t surprise me he remained quiet after that. If he didn’t have something nice to say, maybe he was following the adage that it was for the best he didn’t say anything at all.
Hailey sat at her table, manipulating a ball of fire. She turned it into a bird, using her fingers to pinch the wings into shape. Whenever she used her Elementia magic, her eyes smoldered like hot coals, and even her chestnut hair looked brighter.
“You’re doing really well with your fire sculpture,” I said. “This is one of your best ones so far.” It had taken her two years, but she’d progressed from making fireballs that resembled turds into recognizable images.
Grogda, or Greenie as she insisted on being called, tried to sneak over to where Thatch sat painting.
“No,” he said firmly. “I will not show my art until it’s complete.”
“It’s probably something really wicked,” Maddy said.
Hailey snickered. “Like Mr. Thatch yelling at students chained to the walls in detention.”
“Indeed. You’ve guessed correctly,” he said.
I laughed at that. His eyes met mine. I wished I didn’t have to keep so much space between us.
Considering the painting he was working on was a skeleton holding a scepter, I didn’t think it was that risqué. If he intended to use the method I’d seen him previously use of layering muscle over the bones before adding skin and then clothes, that might have been more scandalous. I didn’t see him mix blood into his oil paints this time either, so he wasn’t using blood magic. I didn’t know what purpose that had served in his painting of Gertrude Periwinkle. Perhaps it was how he had revealed her future of youth and beauty even if she hadn’t known it at the time.
“He’s mixing a lot of titanium white with ochre and hints of cadmium,” Imani whispered, eyes twinkling as she looked to me. “Maybe Mr. Thatch is painting a person. A woman.”
Greenie leaned closer to Imani, making no attempt to hide her whisper. “Hmm. I wonder what woman he might paint.”
“No one living would be that pale,” Thatch said adamantly.
“Just show them your painting so they stop trying to guess,” I said.
“And stop this delightful method I’ve devised to torment them? I think not.” He grinned, such joy in his eyes, I didn’t know what the students might think.
I continued with my own watercolor. It was one of Khaba. If I didn’t like the way it turned out, I wouldn’t show it to him. But if I did, I considered whether I might give it to him as
a gift. Then again, sometimes people didn’t like my portraits. I painted a side to my subjects that they didn’t always want others to see. I didn’t know if this would be the case here or not. So far, I had only layered washes.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. I had the sense someone was watching me. I sat up in my chair, looking around. A breath sounded close to my ear.
I froze. “Felix,” I said quietly, afraid a Fae was near.
I wasn’t certain whether to shout for everyone to run or to remain quiet and only alert Thatch. I gathered my electrical energy inside me. Or tried to anyway. Fear made my affinity feel like a dry well.
Thatch must have heard the trill of fear in my voice. He immediately stood, eyes scanning the space around me. The wheezing breath ceased.
Thatch held his paintbrush like a wand in a defensive gesture. “Mr. McDougal, how kind of you to join us. Do you wish to create a painting in Art Club as well?”
In the moment it took for Thatch to rise and growl out two sentences, I had gathered my wits enough to project myself out of my body. I felt the weight of Rudy’s heavy frame crushing against his lungs and heart. He stood closer to me than I would have liked, intruding on my personal bubble.
“Perhaps another time,” Rudy said, his voice coming from right behind me.
I scooted my chair back, which collided with him. It wasn’t a complete accident. “Sorry,” I said with enthusiasm I didn’t feel. “I didn’t realize you were standing so close.”
Rudy grunted.
Thatch’s eyes narrowed at the empty space. Students glanced around.
“Who’s that?” Hailey asked.
“It’s a man.” Maddy fixed her gaze on the place my own awareness sensed him. With her siren affinity, she had a way of detecting male hormones. Even when Derrick had been invisible, she’d known he was near me.
“Yeah, I sort of got it that he’s a man from the voice,” Hailey said. “Who is he? A ghost?”
Thatch stood, his posture stiff. “This is Mr. McDougal, one of our new security guards. Say hello, children.”
Students greeted the security guard with tepid enthusiasm.
“Is this the guy who has been getting students in trouble for having electronics?” Hailey said.
“No,” Thatch said sharply. “Students have gotten themselves in trouble for that. It is a school rule. The consequences are outlined in the student handbook. Those caught breaking school rules are aware of the consequences. I do hope all of you are smart enough not to try to hide electronics on campus. It would be unadvisable.” His gaze raked over them.
I suspected Thatch was trying to warn them in his way.
Trevor chewed on the handle of a paintbrush nervously, his tell either giving him away or just attesting to his hunger. Maddy reached across the boy sitting next to her and snatched the paintbrush out of Trevor’s hand.
“Nice painting, Miss Lawrence,” Rudy said. “Something about it reminds me of Khaba.”
I was about to acknowledge the compliment and tell him it was. Thatch spoke first.
“Dean Khaba,” Thatch corrected, emphasizing the title. I was surprised he would insist on a title of respect for someone he didn’t particularly care for. Then again, if nothing else, Thatch was never against using professionalism as an excuse for being persnickety and pedantic.
“No one told me you were an artist as well, Mr. Thatch,” Rudy said. “Though, the subject doesn’t surprise me. You do seem the type to have a fixation on such morbid subject matter.”
“What did he paint?” Trevor asked excitedly.
“A skeleton,” Rudy said with a chuckle. Spite dwelled just below his skin.
A chill migrated up my spine. Rudy had been there long enough to get a peek at Thatch’s painting—and probably long enough to know he was being a jerk by outing Thatch’s artwork. That meant that Thatch hadn’t known he was there. His Celestor magic and his Red affinity combined didn’t make him infallible. If a measly invisible man could get by him, I didn’t doubt the Princess of Lies and Truth could as well.
After the students left, Thatch closed the door, his hand on the wood. He closed his eyes. I thought he had a headache from the way his brow furrowed. I placed a hand on his arm. He lifted a finger to tell me he wanted me to wait. I did.
“No one is in the room, nor the stairwell outside your room,” he said quietly.
“How did Rudy get in here without you noticing?” I whispered.
“It is more difficult to sense one more addition to a room when there is already a group nearby.”
Hopefully that meant he would sense someone uninvited while it was the two of us. Though I didn’t know if we would ever be safe in a crowd like the cafeteria.
A wan smile touched his lips. “In addition, I might have been . . . distracted.” An eyebrow arched upward. “It isn’t every day I get to sit near you and gaze at your beauty for so long.”
My brows rose in wonder. “Are you being serious? Or are you teasing me?”
“A little, but it’s true.” He winked.
I stood on tiptoe and planted a peck on his cheek. If he hadn’t leaned toward me, I wouldn’t have been able to reach him.
I rubbed my lip gloss from his cheek. “I think someone needs to do his homework and practice not allowing himself to succumb to distractions. Isn’t that what you’re always trying to tell me?”
“Touché.” He snagged an arm around me and hugged me to his side.
I noticed the way he kept one hand on the door.
“I could just lock that,” I said.
“It’s better that you don’t. Then you won’t be chastised by the principal later.” He leaned against the door. “This way you can simply blame me and say I was blocking the door.”
“Did he chew you out for that? For locking a door?”
“No, Khaba was the one who discussed that with me. The principal had other matters to speak to me about, namely that he doesn’t approve of my methods of giving students detentions. Furthermore, his delightful security staff confiscated a cell phone from my desk, which Mr. Dean believed to be mine. I pointed out the ridiculousness of the notion, especially when I deigned to touch it, despite the risk to my Celestor magic, to show him the gallery of photos of students. Following that topic, he fixed on the idea that I spend too much time with my girlfriend—Gertrude Periwinkle.” He waggled his brows at that. “Not that Mr. McDougal or Miss Llewelyn have caught us together. He simply is going off of rumors and his memory of our relationship when he last worked at the school.”
“Is that what the perfume comment was about this morning?” I asked. “You were letting them think you’re the jealous boyfriend?”
He shrugged. “He did smell of her perfume. If she wants to date Rudy McDougal, that is up to her. I only allow them to draw the conclusions that best benefit me.”
“It sounds like you’re playing with fire.” I rested my head against his chest.
“It doesn’t affect me as it does you. You’re young enough you still care what people think of you.” He kissed the top of my head.
The knob rattled. A soft knock came at the door. Before I could answer, Thatch took hold of the back of my dress and tugged me out of his embrace. I staggered back. Thatch opened the door.
No one stood on the landing.
Thatch dipped his head in acknowledgment. “Good evening, Miss Llewelyn.”
“Hello, Mr. Thatch,” a female voice said cheerfully.
“I trust you’ve met Miss Lawrence, our art teacher.”
“Yes, thank you,” she said.
Thatch waved a hand at the empty space in front of himself. “As you may have guessed from the family name, Miss Llewelyn is Balthasar’s older sister. She was an excellent alchemy student.”
“Oh gosh! Was I? I don’t remember. It was so long ago. Twelve years.” She giggled. “I guess I had some good teachers.”
“Oh. Wow, twelve years,”
I said. “That’s a big age gap between you and your brother.”
Balthasar was one of my worst students. I wondered if she had been a hellion as well.
Her crush on Thatch thrummed in her chest, keeping time with her heartbeat, so strong I could hear it without even trying. I didn’t know whether this made my relationship with Thatch even more risky if some former student who wanted Thatch all to herself caught us. Her interest here was filled with a different complexity than Rudy McDougal’s superiority.
Thatch inclined his head to Camelia. “If you don’t mind, I should like to have a quick word with Miss Lawrence regarding some of her students before I leave.”
She groaned. “Hopefully my brother isn’t on your naughty list again.”
“Not this time,” he said. “His attendance has increased since you were hired on.”
“Awesome!” I could hear the smile in her voice. “I’ll come back in a few minutes for the routine sweep I’m supposed to do. Mr. Khaba wants me to pay special attention to the wards in this classroom to make sure they remain free of Fae tampering.”
“I trust it will be done with the same thoroughness you once used to complete your assignments when you were my student.” The hint of a smile touched his lips.
“I won’t let you down!”
I noticed the way she didn’t say she wouldn’t let me down. It was my classroom.
Once she left, he closed the door once again.
I eyed him skeptically. “That young lady likes you. You were playing her.”
“I am not beyond using people when I need to.”
“That might come back to bite you later.” If it didn’t hurt Camelia first.
I thought about Khaba’s insinuations about Thatch using me. Elric had said sooner or later I would see Thatch’s true nature. I pushed those thoughts from my mind. I wouldn’t let either of them bias me with their skewed views of Thatch.
Thatch leaned against the door. He drew me into his arms again. “I’m not too concerned about Camelia. One of the reasons she accepted the position here is because she wanted to keep an eye on her younger brother. After their parents died, she became his guardian.”
