Upended Life (Artemis University Book 1)

by Erin R Flynn

  “So you’re Robin Hood for hookers?” Marshall asked as we headed back to the bus stop.

  “One, it’s sex workers,” I answered. “And two, not your business.” I shot him a serious look. “I do not take kindly to gossip or whispers about me. Any of this gets around a posh university and we both know it’s bad for me as they won’t get it right.”

  “Yeah, rich kids like to talk way too much,” Sean sighed. “At least tell us why you did whatever you did.”

  I shrugged, walking along the route for the bus instead of just standing there at night. “I didn’t have a career path or life plan. I had to come up with something given I ran from foster care at fifteen.”

  “Why?” he asked gently.

  “My foster dad liked young girls and I didn’t like my foster dad. He came for me and I got away. I knew that wouldn’t be the story but a troubled kid lashing out and they’d put me in juvie or worse.”

  I shook my head when all three of them opened their mouths.

  “That’s enough of story time. I just need my ride and one more locker right there. What’s the deal after?”

  “Let me message the headmaster,” Dr. Craftsman answered. “I assume your ‘ride’ is a motorcycle?”

  “Yup, the love of my life is a bike,” I chuckled. “No chance of me going anywhere without him.”

  “Him?” Marshall teased me.

  I shrugged. “I’ll make out with hot girls but I don’t ride them. I ride guys.”

  I wasn’t shocked when they both coughed to try and cover the need to laugh or whatever. Dr. Craftsman just gave me a look like he’d never seen someone like me.

  He wasn’t the first.

  Nor would he be the last.

  We retrieved what we needed to and the answer was Marshall and Sean went through a portal first to bring my bike to the faculty parking lot for now. I waved as they said goodnight, warning them not to scratch my baby.

  “We should discuss this debt,” Dr. Craftsman said as we waited for the portal to reset to the headmaster’s office where we were going.

  “Nah, I prefer to let people sweat it out. It keeps it on the front of their mind that they did something wrong so they’ll think about it before doing it again instead of making amends and putting it in their past.”

  “You’re a lot wiser than most nineteen-year-olds.”

  I shrugged. “Living on the street is like dog years. One for six or seven normal ones.”

  “So you’re older than me then?” he chuckled.

  “How old are you?” I asked, not sure how that worked out when he was a doctor or something but didn’t look very old.

  “Twenty-four.” He shrugged this time. “I’m a savant. I tested out a lot of this and that and the rest I picked up fast. Supernaturals look for those to excel, unlike humans, who tend to put them in a corner for being different.”

  “Cool.” And I meant it. That was a cool way to live instead of shitty public schools and no one caring.

  The portal opened again and he waved me to go through first, that tightness in my chest again before I blinked and was in the headmaster’s office. It was a bit jarring and I didn’t think to move so Dr. Craftsman almost knocked me over when he came through next.

  “Sorry,” he muttered.

  “No, yeah, not used to portals,” I chuckled nervously.

  “For the record, they aren’t used all the time and by the average student,” Headmaster Edelman warned me. “They take a lot of power to use when it’s not portal to portal and some just to activate. Emergencies, dire situations, or people with them in their homes are how it normally goes.”

  “Understood.”

  “Julian, if you could do me a favor and wait outside a few moments before showing Ms. Vale to her new room. With classes starting next week and all the new freshmen arriving this week, I can’t be pulling people out of bed.”

  I snorted, explaining when they looked at me. “Classes start next week? How convenient.”

  Headmaster Edelman’s lips twitched. “I find few coincidences in life and a lot of fate. I would think it fate and the powers that be that made this fight or whatever be where your powers flared up. I think something was pushing you to end up here where you belong.”

  That sounded much nicer than the shit places I’d been put at before. I wasn’t as hopeful but I wouldn’t dismiss the idea either.

  Dr. Craftsman agreed and waited outside with most of my bags. It was only then I realized there was another man in the office off to the side.

  “I’m Mr. Geiger, the attorney entrusted with the fairies’ estates,” he introduced, coming over and shaking my hand.

  The door flew open and one of the men from earlier came in and closed the door behind him. “Ah, good, sorry, I was detained.”

  “And you are?” I asked, glancing from him to the headmaster.

  The man chuckled, not looking offended at all. “Right, you’ve had a lot thrown at you. I’m Dr. Salzman, head of the medical personnel the university has for the students’ needs. I just need a bit of blood from you and—”

  “No, really, no,” I ground out, shooting the headmaster a threatening look… Which seemed to amuse him.

  Huh?

  “We can do the test right here in front of you,” Dr. Salzman said gently. “Humans and their vaccines are great. Every human should be vaccinated. For supernaturals, your species in particular, it can impair our magic and abilities.”

  Fear raced through me. “Like permanently? Did I fu—mess up my whatever for good?”

  “No, you’re still young enough to recover,” he said gently. “But I would like to make sure we handle it properly. It’s nothing hard, like taking an antibiotic for a week to clear up what’s in you. I’ve never seen any supernatural suffer permanent effects, just a faster ramp-up of power once they get the cap taken off. Odd side effect to perfectly fine vaccines but our anatomy is different.”

  I nodded, taking off my jacket and pulling up my sleeve as he showed me where to sit and got set up. He placed a small rack with four vials on the headmaster’s desk before sitting next to me and taking my blood like when I used to go for a yearly checkup as a kid.

  “Is it bad if humans had my blood as a kid for tests?” I worried.

  “No, and it’s long expired,” Dr. Salzman assured me. “None would have any reason to do a genetic panel and until that high level there’s nothing different in our blood.”

  I blew out a harsh breath. Well, that was something.

  He didn’t bother with a bandage over the wound from taking my blood. I understood without asking as I always healed fast. Not like movie fast but certainly not like humans.

  Made sense now that I knew I wasn’t one.

  He squirted some of my blood in each vial and frowned as the strips in them reacted differently. “Whoever was in charge of your care were neglectful, as you’re missing one of the normal vaccines human children get.”

  “I’m not surprised,” I drawled. “The human system for orphans and/or abandoned babies is pretty messed up unless you get adopted outright.”

  I cleared my throat nervously, wondering why I was being so honest. I realized it was Headmaster Edelman. There was something… Safe about him. He wasn’t overly kind like a Santa-type character but he exuded confidence that he had the situation in hand.

  And it had been a long, long time since I’d felt that.

  The doctor pulled out three sleeves of what indeed looked like antibiotics for humans and went over how and when to take them. Morning with food for two weeks for two, the other right before bed as it tended to make people sleepy. That one for a week.

  Easy peasy.

  I thanked him as he gathered up his stuff and he hesitated at the door.

  “You’re a very courageous and confident young woman, something I wish we saw more in our young women,” he praised. “I won’t deny that I would love to learn more about you as a fairy, as I was still in school when they were called back to Faerie, but
I would never treat anyone as a lab rat. I do hope I can be of use in taking care of you and making you a fine example of your people.”

  Wow. That was a really cool speech, but he just nodded and left.

  Damn, I would have let him have a little bit of blood to study after hearing that.

  “Yes, right, my turn then,” the lawyer chuckled. He took the chair next to me that the doc had just left and folded his hands over a rather large folder. “Now, I understand you did not know what you were and your situation has been less than optimal. I was told when the fairies came back to reclaim their estates, they would give me something that would verify them and unlock the magic.”

  “Hmm, I’ll have to look through my stuff in storage,” I muttered.

  He smiled brightly. “Meaning you know exactly what I’m referring to but you’re playing your cards close to your chest.”

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  “I would. Bravo for not being the lamb to just follow people around.”

  I burst out laughing. “That is so how no one has ever described me.”

  “Well then, how do you wish to proceed?” he asked. “I will say that what you were to give me was to also be my retainer to become your attorney instead of simply paid from the trust to watch over all of this.”

  I nodded, reaching into my bag and pulling out the extra set of keys to my bike. “That isn’t the one you’re looking for but it’s trusting you with access to my baby. I think that’s a solid step for a first meeting?”

  “It is,” he agreed. “All right, Ms. Vale, I acknowledge this as your retainer of my services and makes everything from this moment attorney-client privileged. What now?”

  “Do you have a list of any confirmed deceased?” I asked after a few moments of thought. “I don’t want to start messing with people’s stuff if they’re alive.”

  “It’s been almost two decades,” Headmaster Edelman reminded me.

  I shrugged. “There could be a lot of explanations as to that. Maybe the portals all blew on their end and they don’t know how to make new ones? Maybe a lot of things, but I would be pissed if I left my stuff in trust and came back to find some girl I didn’t know messing with it.”

  “Fair enough, but you do have the key, so it is yours,” Mr. Geiger assured me. He opened the folder and after flipping through it a bit, pulled out a piece of paper. “Yes, here, I have a list of twenty that were confirmed deceased without heirs at the start of the war or for other reasons.”

  I bobbed my head, reading it over and feeling weird. “Um, so their places are just mine?”

  He nodded. “Along with their assets. I can arrange payment to Artemis University in the morning.” He let me sit with that and after several moments reached over and placed his hand on my arm. “You don’t have to decide today, Ms. Vale. I understand this is all too much. How about I give you the card of one of my younger associates? You can call her when you decide or with questions.”

  “Yes, thank you,” I sighed, my mind too tired and completely drawing a blank. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

  “Good.” He pulled a card out of his briefcase, stuffing the very large folder back in it before standing. He handed it to me. “Claudia is a good woman and attorney. Any of our hours you need are more than covered in the trust so please, make your new life easier on yourself and ask for help or guidance.”

  “I will,” I promised, not willing to fuck up my one chance for maybe something more after watching too many crash and burn after I’d given them a chance.

  Plus, I was nineteen, about to jump into a completely different world and in the elite of them. Yeah, I was going to need a whole shit ton of help.

  He excused himself and left. I turned back to the headmaster, at a loss still and my mind just done for the night.

  “I’ll assign the best I have to help you get up to speed,” he said gently. “He’s a bit prickly but he’s the best, truly. I also trust he will absolutely keep anything he learns to himself. I trust him with student records and more and there’s never been an issue.”

  “Thanks, great,” I agreed, bobbing my head.

  “I assumed you wouldn’t want to make a big splash with your new inheritance?” he asked, more stated, and smiled when I gave him a look that wasn’t my style. “Right, so the normal dorm rooms it is. I put you in with the witches and warlocks. We had a spot there with a freshman and you’ll blend best no matter how you want to handle people asking what you are.

  “Shifters and dragons will be able to smell you’re not like them. Some vampires maybe, but it’s the best cover. We do have an overflow dorm that most live in if they’re not of the main groups but it was oddly filled. And it seemed a way to flag you’re different when clearly you want to not wave that flag.”

  “No, doesn’t seem smart to me after the way some of the people earlier acted,” I drawled.

  “Yes, distasteful to say the least,” he sneered.

  “Yeah, but their thoughts were all about power and…” I shook my head, some of it all jumbled and maybe better left for another day.

  “Yes, you will be powerful and people are jealous of that,” he warned as he stood. He went over to the bookshelves on the far wall and looked around for something in particular. He pulled out a smaller-sized textbook and brought it over to me, showing me the title.

  Facts of Faerie: Mythologies Debunked.

  Then he wiggled the book and the cover completely changed. An Introduction to Runes.

  “Unfortunately for your situation, fairies were ridiculously secretive so there is a lot this book won’t answer for you,” he said as I took it from him, understanding he’d cloaked the real thing so people didn’t see me reading it. “This might be the place to start besides all the studies you will have to catch up on.”

  I winced. “Um, yeah, good thing you didn’t ask for my ACT scores.”

  “Do you have them?”

  I snorted, wincing when he gave me a worried look. “Will that tutor help me get a GED?”

  “Oh dear,” he sighed, nodding. “Yes, I’ll speak with him and keep it quiet. I hope you’re a dedicated student, Ms. Vale. This is one of the finest colleges on the planet, not just supernatural ones. The first semester is an intro though to get people acclimated to the faster pace and being away from the safety net of their parents. So you’ll have that advantage over them, but I suggest you hit the ground running.”

  “Running is my specialty,” I assured him. “I’m a survivor, so I might not make your dean’s list, but I’m not lazy.”

  “Good.” He handed me a large envelope. “I took the liberty of putting together the normal new student packet for you, including your room key, a bit about your roommate, and your schedule. I enrolled you in remedial classes and hopefully that can get you to where you need to be next semester.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, Ms. Vale. Goodnight.”

  I nodded and headed out, sighing again as I walked out of the office. I flinched when I saw Dr. Craftsman waiting with my stuff.

  “Right, yeah, good.” He raised an eyebrow at that. “I think my brain is too mushed to read a map at the moment.”

  He chuckled. “I can’t say I know where you’re coming from but I was thirteen when I started here, five years ahead of the other kids. Not fun, but I do understand being the odd one out of the group. My advice is to just be patient with yourself. You’ll figure it out.”

  I hoped he was right. I really hoped he was right.

  4

  Loud banging on the door woke me the next morning. I leapt out of bed, ready to duck the cops before they busted in.

  I tripped over my bag and almost faceplanted back on the bed, making me realize I wasn’t at the last place I was staying.

  Right, school.

  I wasn’t human.

  Shit, I needed a cold shower and some juice if I was going to wake up and be able to handle all of that.

  The banging sounded again and I sighed, heading for
the door. I unlocked it and threw it open. “Fuck, mate, just chill out.”

  The guy’s eyes went wide as he looked me over, making me remember what I was in. Right, I’d peeled off my clothes and crashed.

  So I was standing in front of the stranger in my underwear. I went over to my stuff and yanked on my shirt and jeans before turning back to him.

  He cleared his throat as his cheeks flushed, totally busted at ogling when I was turned around. I didn’t mind.

  I wasn’t awake enough to mind but he also had that sexy geek thing going on. Just to prove my impression of him, he pushed his rimless glasses up his nose.

  His shaggy red hair was a natural bedhead guys tried to recreate and stuck up for a moment when he ran his fingers through it. But his hair was a deep red, whereas I had bright red that people always assumed was dyed.

  He was right about six feet with a leaner build. I’d be interested to see if he was skinny or there was something he was hiding under that collared shirt.

  “Sorry about that,” I said when he didn’t say anything. “I crashed late and…” I frowned. “Is there a time difference? Where is the school even located?”

  His eyes went wide again before he schooled it. “Wow, so you know like nothing.”

  “Nope,” I agreed, popping the P and swallowing my annoyance as to how loaded that statement was.

  “We’re a few hours west of Kansas City, just south of the Nebraska border.”

  “Huh, got it. Remote enough to draw fewer eyes but not completely desolate like a tundra no one would want to spend four years at.”

  “Yes, but six years.”

  “Six?” I asked, blinking at him when he nodded. “Well, fuck, that was quite the lengthy deal I agreed to without any warning.” I shook my head, moving closer and extending my hand. “Tamsin Vale.”

  “Darby Moore,” he replied, shaking my hand.

  Irish. That was his accent. It was slight like he’d been in the states for a while but there as if he’d learned to talk in Ireland authentic. Again, sexy geek.

  “Thanks for doing this.”

  He slapped on a fake smile. “I didn’t volunteer, I was assigned. The school expects its scholarship students to jump at their beck and call and handle anything they don’t have time to. That’s how we earn our tuition.”