Compounding Traumas (Artemis University Book 6)

by Erin R Flynn

  Or that he got dragged in front of his fucking council because of me?

  Maybe all of it. I wasn’t sure, but it made me doubt my decision to speak with him. It might be better if I left him be.

  Why was everything so fucking complicated and this world so godsdamn corrupt?

  I wasn’t sure, and I certainly didn’t have the answers, but just to add to my crazy, I felt energy dancing along my skin and knew Hudson was close. It was intense so near and I looked up before I realized it, catching myself at the last minute so I didn’t meet his gaze at least.

  Instead, I met Lucca’s, who seemed seconds from tossing me on the table and fucking me in front of everyone.

  Yeah, that would help. Men.

  12

  The next morning, I was standing outside the auditorium where a new student meeting was about to be held, ready to start the trouble I’d warned people of. The first group showed up early, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed freshmen ready to learn and excited to start their college experience. They’d already had freshmen orientation over the summer, so this was something else and it involved the exchange program.

  Either way, it worked for my purposes.

  I gave them a gentle, non-scary smile as I handed over a flyer. “Hi, I just wanted to warn you ladies that there are a few convicted rapists on campus. Everything you need to know is on the flyer, along with the number to call if you have any questions.” One snatched it from my hand, and I grabbed what else I had from my bag. “Do you know how to use a rape alarm?”

  “What? No?” one squeaked. “Should we?”

  I nodded. “Yes, and not just because of this. All women should do what they can to protect themselves.” I showed them how the alarm was activated by pulling on the strap, causing an ear-splitting noise once the sensors inside touched when the battery tab was removed. I gave them each one for free, accepting their thanks. “Just tell your friends, okay? Make sure they know and are safe. We know the councils don’t value women like men, so we have to.”

  “She’s right,” one muttered to the others as they walked away.

  I managed to speak with at least fifty women before people started figuring out what I was really doing and taking notice. Several faculty seemed like they might say something to me, but thought better of it when I shot them a look or they remembered who would be upset if they pissed me off.

  A few dozen more and my time ran out.

  Chaddus Thane, the vampire councilman I had met during the joint meeting about Joshua Edelman, walked towards me with several people, including the students I had been giving the flyers out about. I finished who I was speaking to and dipped my head to him.

  “Good morning, Councilman.”

  His eyes flashed shock at my being polite, but it was gone just as fast. “Ms. Vale, you need to come with me.”

  “I’m sorry; I won’t. You have no jurisdiction over me. As you and your council have been informed, any issues you have with me can be directed to my attorney, and they will relay your requests to my council who fully support my decision to stay undeclared.”

  One of the lackeys with him got bold, sneering at me as he moved closer. “That might have worked before, but this time you’re committing crimes against vampires and will stand before our council to be judged.”

  “And what crimes would those be?” I purred. “Slander?” I handed over a flyer to Councilman Thane. “Tell me what on this is untrue and slanderous. Did you not rule that they did in fact drug, rape, and brutalize a freshman vampire and then punish them for it? Did you not rule that she was in the wrong for smearing their reputations and making such an issue over all of this?”

  “There are confidentiality rules,” one of the guys who had been involved and had confronted me with Blake bitched. “You’re going against them.”

  “I’m not actually,” I drawled, rolling my eyes at him. “You’re a convicted sex offender. You’re on the national registry, as you should be.”

  “What?” several people gasped or exclaimed.

  I blinked at them, playing up my surprise how they could be shocked at that. “You all live too much in your bubbles that are like dangerous cults. It’s considered a public service to inform humans when a registered sex offender moves to the area. That’s exactly what I’m doing. A few have been allowed to come back to campus. It is standard for women to warn each other and the freshmen.

  “It’s also standard for the schools to hand out rape alarms and warn people how to protect themselves instead of demeaning victims as your council did. I’m not breaking a single council law or school rule. This was a public council ruling that you made public to set the example against women speaking out on such matters. And you denied my request to testify against them, even as it was done as an attack on me.

  “But now you want to pull me in to face charges on this matter for no crime committed?” I stared down the whole group. “You better have one of the gods on your side to drag me there by force, because you will need it. I’m here for the sole purpose to protect people—your people, all of the people, when you only protect the elite men.

  “And you want to shut that down? Shut me up and slap me with fake charges that break your own laws? I have read your laws, and you are only allowed to take me into custody if you witness me committing a crime by chance, and then you are to immediately hand me over to my council, or their proxy, to face judgment. You are not here by chance, and you have been informed Geiger is my council’s proxy.”

  “The councils were also informed that any issues with Ms. Vale needed to be discussed with our families as she is also under our protection,” Mrs. Vogel added from behind me. “I’m very certain that no matter how sexist your council is, you still acknowledge speaking with my husband, yes?”

  “What are you handing out?” one of her aides asked me.

  I blinked at her a moment and hurried to give over a stack of flyers and pulled out a bag of the rape alarms. She nodded and passed them on to several other helpers, and that was when I saw a few more of the dragon queens had arrived.

  Awesome.

  “I believe all you big, strong men were about to apologize for confronting and trying to not only corner, but illegally drag off a young woman without even allowing her to contact her attorney?” Mrs. Diaz said as she moved next to me.

  Councilman Thane let out a long sigh. “You are making a mistake siding with her when she is upsetting so many and starting so much trouble.”

  “We don’t think we are as taking this stand is long overdue,” another female voice declared. Shock rocked me as I saw Mrs. Von Thann step out from among the others. “This isn’t even about Ms. Vale, but the fact that a council made such a ruling that allowed what happened to one of their own to stand, simply because it was done to a woman.

  “We say we’re better than the humans, and yet we are at least a century behind them in many ways, how we treat women in our society being the main one. It’s enough, and many agree that this is a stand we would take even without her after finding out that rapists, men who drugged and brutalized one of our daughters, were allowed back at our best school while she is shamed and shunned.

  “It is disgusting, and my council agrees with me, incredibly upset such predators are allowed among the female bear shifters who attend here. So they are of the opinion that Ms. Vale should be commended for taking this stance when no one else did, or would, and risk your wrath. I suggest you reevaluate whether or not you are making a mistake on who you are siding with, Councilman.”

  He seemed speechless at the turn of events, giving a quick and shallow acknowledging dip of his head to the royals and nothing more, before turning on his heel and leaving. The others hurried to scurry after him, not sure what else to do it seemed.

  “Damn,” I whispered to Mrs. Von Thann. “Just dayumn. I need to buy you a mic to drop for that because that was beautiful, and that’s the second time I like your council best.”

  She glanced at me. “Second?” Understanding f
illed her eyes when I winced. “Ahh, yes, that time. That was more Mason’s parents, but they didn’t disagree and supported their community, which they do tend to do. They listen better than most councils, which is about as good as we can ask for at times.”

  “Much better than the vampires,” I grumbled. “I was ready for them to come, but I can’t believe they actually did after they didn’t even let me testify, and it was all done as an attack on me. They don’t even try to hide their corruption.” I might have said more, but I was cuffed upside the head. I rubbed it and glanced up at Mrs. Diaz. “Ouch.”

  “Oh, I did not hurt you, but I should,” she threatened. “How could you do this and not warn us? Have we not said we will stand with you?”

  “Yes, but just because I decide to make a move doesn’t mean I need to drag everyone down with me.”

  “Yes, but we still have free will and are old enough to make those choices for ourselves,” Mrs. Vogel reminded me. “Tell us, and as we have before, we can also guide you. Your plans are normally very well thought-out, but we all can do better and need help, Tamsin. You’re too used to flying solo, and you don’t have to anymore.”

  I sighed, staring at all of them in turn. “I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt or pick sides because I pick a fight.”

  “That’s big of you, but we’re big girls too and want to fight the fights we believe in,” Mrs. Von Thann said.

  “I really like you,” I blurted. I smiled when she gave me a shocked look. “Lucca and I had a talk, and he explained some things. Hopefully, he’ll explain what I said to you as well, as I was… I had no idea this world was so vastly different when I was dropped into it.”

  “Yes, well, sometimes I have a hard time believing it as well.” She gave me a kind look that shocked me again. “Some of us have been dying to take this stand, Tamsin. You simply gave us the way and scorched the ground so we would all be able to find true allies that would help. You’ve seen enough of this world to know there are many who would offer help and leave us as roadkill.”

  “Now let the adults do what the adults should and fight the bigger fights, as we can take the hits,” Mrs. Gui added.

  I smiled at them and handed over the rest of the flyers and rape alarms to their aides. I was completely fine with getting help.

  It was simply sad there was so much damn help needed.

  We managed to catch well over half the females heading into the meeting, but hung around to wait until after for the rest came out. It was then I got the full scoop on this exchange thing. It was called the Culture Exchange, and after two minutes of listening, I wanted to roll my eyes at it.

  Mostly because it wasn’t about culture, but a caste exchange. The course work was comparable between the colleges in the supe world, so it wasn’t about one being so much more challenging or getting the culture of a higher level. Sure, it was framed as going to a college in a different area or country, but really it was about money. It always came back to money.

  And power. It was to show how the elites and rich lived, and that those from the lower schools couldn’t compare, and to learn early to stay in their lanes. Every student was to switch one class a semester with a student in the same class at another university, so it was seamless and didn’t upset their graduation path. It was every other year and would allow them to experience most of the universities by the time they graduated.

  Except the program had been shut down about fifteen years ago. Why?

  I bit back the need to roll my eyes again when they explained it became nothing but excessive bullying without the fairies to keep people in check.

  “It truly is a shame that no supe is able to act anything but a fucking immature child without fairies around to be the parent and constantly tell them how to behave and what their morality should be,” I commented, my tone laced with thick sarcasm. “It’s a miracle the world hasn’t completely imploded since everyone is completely incapable of wiping their asses without them, and it’s all the fairies’ fault they can’t.”

  Several people snorted. Mrs. Diaz, who knew I was a fairy, looked ready to burst out laughing, while Mrs. Von Thann gave me a shocked look. It was Mrs. Gui who responded and didn’t know what I actually was. “Yes, well, you know people won’t take responsibility or the blame, so they pass it off and miss how often they make themselves look like idiot incompetents by doing so.”

  “So why bring the program back?” I muttered, moving the conversation along before they focused on my outburst.

  “It was the tradeoff for your continuing education program,” Mrs. Vogel answered. “The councils would support it, but they wanted the program back.” She thanked one of the aides who showed up with trays of drinks someone had ordered from Portal Chow while we waited for the meeting to end.

  “Nothing is that simple with them. There’s more to this.”

  “Of course,” she agreed, studying me. “They’d look horrid if they didn’t support it, as they preach about second chances all the time as opposed to pushing people to the outskirts and Underground. They’d seem like even more of hypocrites if you gave them another way, but then shut it down.”

  “So they did it to show they were in control?” Mrs. Von Thann surmised. “They could ask for it, and they wanted this program back. They weren’t fans when it was shut down.”

  “Smart,” I agreed, thinking there was more to it though

  “They probably thought it would be a way to get you off the turf of Artemis and near someone who might be on their side,” Mrs. Diaz added, giving me an amused look. “They didn’t think Edelman would immediately shut down your leaving and being a part of the exchange. His reasoning was solid that you had enough real-world experience and culture, and what you needed was stability here.”

  I sighed. Heavily. “I can’t even argue that, and I’m glad he got me out of it, but again, that was a conversation to have with me before deciding this shit for me.”

  “My understanding is that it was done on the fly, and it was throw at him, so he couldn’t have something ready or discussed with you,” Mrs. Von Thann defended.

  Fair enough. I nodded I heard her and let it go, filing it away to thank him later. It was nice he went to bat for me then. We mulled it over and enjoyed our drinks in the lovely late summer morning.

  And then the answer hit me. I threw back my head and laughed, holding my stomach as it built and built.

  “Those fuckers.” I fanned my face and got myself under control so I could explain. “This isn’t about the continuing education, but the new addendum. They want the bullying to continue because when Blake or one of their assholes gets kicked out of here—”

  “Who would want to take the spot at Artemis full time after seeing it was full of such elite little shits?” Mrs. Diaz said with a growl.

  I smirked at her. “Exactly. They’re priming the rumor mill and setting the stage that people won’t want to take the spots and start the shit. They can’t fight against the new rules when all the colleges agreed, as most of it is for integrity and holding people to higher standards. But if the spots are still there, the colleges will need the money and income to survive, which is how things have gone all this time.”

  “Which means they have all been speaking with each other since you caught their spies, but still found out what the meeting was about,” Mrs. Vogel mused. “It took them a bit to come up with this response, as it was a scramble to get it into place and scheduled. Everything was in place for the pilot run of the continuing education classes starting next month when they demanded this two weeks ago.”

  “Clever foxes,” I chuckled. “It’s harder to shut them down last minute. They looked nice and amiable, willing to play ball, and the schools would seem like jerks if they wouldn’t give such a small allowance back. But they had a whole Bond villain plan around it. They really are such fuckers.”

  “Assuming you’re right on their purpose,” Mrs. Von Thann interjected, shrugging when several of us glanced at her. “I agree
that’s probably the purpose, but they are sly old foxes. There have been many times I thought they had a plan like that, and it was a completely different goal I wouldn’t have seen coming. They are the elders and council for a reason. However, I don’t think you’re wrong.”

  “You’re simply warning her not to underestimate them,” Mrs. Vogel clarified. “Yes, they’ve been rather lazy in the past years as they’ve not had to be craftier and clever, but they can be. They are incredibly smart to have gotten to the top as most weren’t the original council families. I agree there could be much more at play. You’re used to idiot criminals, and most of the councilmen are not idiots.”

  That was fair, and I could even agree, as many had been smart in the way they’d hidden their misdeeds or illegal activities. If no one had been pushing back on them, then why waste the effort?

  Now someone had and they’d have to step up.

  Let the games begin… Because I was the most lethal when people thought they had me in their grasp.

  13

  Darby gave me more gorgeous yellow roses that made me melt when I went to the cafeteria.

  That night was the freshmen welcome ball, and it was nice not having to go. Most of the scholarship students were glad they didn’t have to attend as well. We had fun not going, sitting on the quad eating and watching all the newbs racing off to the madness and commenting on their attire.

  The next morning, there were more roses.

  And the next. I stared down at them, realizing I did want to talk to him before classes started tomorrow. It would be hard and probably too much for me to handle, but so would having a class with Craftsman, so it was best to at least deal with what I could. I had no idea the outcome of this, but… I wanted to talk to him.

  I missed him, and after speaking with Mel, I realized maybe… I wasn’t sure. Maybe I wasn’t so closed off to him as I’d thought.