Drowning Studies (Artemis University Book 2)

by Erin R Flynn

  I nodded, quickly wiping my eyes and taking in a long breath, getting hit with Craftsman’s scent. He didn’t wear cologne but I could smell the hint of something minty and I liked it.

  I blew a raspberry when I sat up, feeling silly I’d gotten like that. Then I realized what Mel had said. “You knew?”

  She gave a slow nod. “I grew up around Tanesha Jameston and she’s got it on lock but I noticed a few things. I mean, you would randomly flinch and not just in that jumpy way some survivors of shit do.

  “It was like someone was yelling ‘boo’ to you and then you’d send a death look to some random person. It took me a bit to realize you weren’t just staring off into space upset but yeah, I figured it was probably that.”

  I rolled my eyes. “So much for me thinking I totally had it on lock. Geez.”

  Craftsman cleared his throat. “Not to change the topic but a bit… Marshall said you figured out your power clap? You focused it at Glen? How?”

  Juan snorted from the next booth over. “Someone’s ready to win.”

  “Win?” I asked, glancing between them.

  Mason turned around as well and it put our faces almost intimately close. “Every year there’s power battle between the freshmen. It’s sort of like a tournament of knocking each other out, but instead of fighting it’s who’s got the cooler tricks. So if you win your first challenge, the other winners of the first round can step up and try and top what you did.

  “If they do, you’re out. If you do then you keep going. Sort of like illusionists in Vegas competing tricks but you have to have control and focus. You lose automatically if your fire goes wild or whatever.” He smirked at Craftsman. “And the power assessor of the winner gets a prize plus fewer students to deal with next year. Do you have any others this year?”

  “No, I wouldn’t normally be eligible until my third year teaching and then I would get a dozen leftovers,” he answered, beaming at me. “But I not only got the golden ticket, but you demanded me.

  “And Edelman wasn’t eligible for the prize. So you and I are going to make damn sure we bloody well win so not only does the first unknown take the cup but I’m not subjected to that next year.”

  “What are leftovers?” I muttered, glancing around them.

  Lucca cleared his throat. “There’s a draft pick of the freshmen before they even arrive. Blake bragged she was picked to work with her assessor first round since she’s a Ward and would be powerful.

  “So professors try to pick the best-known families like the best pro players on their team and gives them a better chance. The newer teachers get stuck with the leftovers and too many as they don’t need that much help.”

  I sighed, shaking my head. “That’s a lot of assumptions again.” I glanced at Izzy. “Is your assessor like that?”

  She waved her hand back and forth. “Somewhere in the middle. Professor Campbell is newer but five years teaching I think, so not bottom of the barrel. There are a lot of us in her group though, but she’s just trying to get us what we need, not training champions for the tournament.”

  “Good for her but the prize is twenty grand and her family is better off than me since I was cut off,” Craftsman grumbled.

  “You were cut off?” I asked gently, frowning at how that could be.

  He sighed, nodding, as he realized he’d let the cat out of the bag and couldn’t not finish telling us.

  “That woman at the ball said it all. Craftsmans love to collect their savants and geniuses and would have adopted me into the main family. But that came with a price and strings to puppet me as they wanted.

  “My parents made it clear they weren’t interested in giving up parental rights to me when I was young. But after my dad died in an accident, things got worse and he was the Craftsman. So they tried to steamroll my mum.

  “I flat out told them they could go fuck themselves and gave up my trust all Craftsmans get to free us. We’re still at a standoff as they’re always sending me mating candidates randomly and trying to fuck around with my job here. The last time I said I’d take my mother’s maiden name so they couldn’t count me at all.”

  “That couldn’t have gone over well with the head of your bloodline,” Lucca muttered, shaking his head.

  “Yeah well, that bastard can sod off. We’re not all alive to amuse him and play his games while he gets more and more power and money. It would be one thing if it was all for the good of the family—the whole family—but he cares only for him and his first son’s family. The rest of us are pawns. It’s disgusting.”

  “So we’ll win and you can flick the guy off that you’re able to survive without them,” I said firmly.

  He sighed, giving me a tired look. “He’d probably spin it as his win somehow and boast it before trying to select another woman for me who will obey him and get me in line.”

  “Fuck that,” I growled, clearing my throat when I saw heat flash in his eyes. Not how I meant it, but yeah, no woman was just coming in to rule him.

  That was my job.

  “I’m not letting your douche relative take credit for what I can do and you helped me get there. I’ll make sure Geiger gets on it so we’re ready.”

  “You’re learning fast,” Hudson praised.

  But I didn’t get what he meant.

  “Geiger is a force to be reckoned with, more pull than my father even,” Lucca explained. “He’s a senior partner at the best supe law firm and has some of the biggest name clients. How did you ever land him?”

  “I didn’t,” I fibbed. “Claudia’s my main contact, an associate who kinda knew my cousin, I guess? But she answers to Geiger and he taps in if she’s going to get snowballed. It’s how they work?”

  “Well, that was some nice luck,” he chuckled. “He’s one of the top five lawyers we have. And him at your back—even to tap in on the tricky stuff—makes people think twice before coming at you.”

  “So call him in sooner, got it.” I sighed. “I should have done that with psycho Blake.”

  “You have to let the school handle it first, as Claudia may be your attorney but she’s not the law here,” Craftsman reminded me. “Plus, I think Edelman did a pretty good job of handling that.”

  That was true and I admitted that. There was no way anyone could have planned for things to get that crazy that fast.

  Our food came then, cutting off our conversation, and that might have been for the best given I didn’t want people to know as much as some of them did. Obviously I trusted Hudson and Mason seemed okay, but Juan was more the gossip player guy and information with that type was trouble.

  And then there was Lucca with the head of the school board father who had wanted to breed the last fairy when found. Yeah, I had extra objections to that since it was me. So I knew his father’s sins weren’t actually his, but… Why risk it?

  Especially when the guy kept showing up wherever I went. That more than anything made me cautious of him.

  The laws of stalking didn’t change if the person was hot or rich.

  4

  I inhaled my food and honestly, I wished I’d gotten a fourth burger—I’d been that hungry. When I asked for a refill on my drink, I handed over my card to pay, Craftsman trying to argue since he crashed our ladies’ night outing.

  “There’s that British charm I adore,” I teased him, still insisting to pay as I’d ordered the same as the three of them. Well, I ended up eating the rest of Izzy’s burger and fries so I won the table for sure.

  “So the power clap?” Craftsman pushed when we left the diner.

  “Shhh, the competition is here,” I teased him, nodding to Izzy in a not subtle manner. She burst out laughing, looping her arm with mine as Mel took the other side.

  “For the record, I have three portal passes too and Mel has unlimited ones if someone powers the portal. I think we need to start plotting some hot spots to hit. So the next time Professor Richardson is a dick you have something to hang onto instead of snapping back like I heard you did.
He’s going to keep poking you to win if you do.”

  “I defended myself when he implied I was cheating.”

  “Not everything is a fight anymore,” Mel said gently. “Sometimes not engaging is the best win because you dismiss them as not worth your time.”

  “You’re not wrong,” I agreed, waving off what they might have said next. I wanted happy. “So where? Boston? We could take a few trips to their seafood markets, right?”

  “That was a fast answer,” Craftsman said behind us.

  “I’ve always wanted to go there,” I admitted with a shrug. We reached the ice cream shop and I ordered three sandwiches—two for me and one for Darby—hoping we were eating on the way back to the portal. I was pretty tired and wanted my bed.

  Hudson bumped into me twice and I got the hint, flipping my telepathy back on.

  “You fucking taste better than any of these flavors, love.”

  “Let me eat you tonight, my princess. I’m gonna lick you nice and slow and make you moan more than any of these treats can.”

  I shivered as both thoughts hit me at the same time along with a few others of the group. I rubbed my forehead, all their voices too loud. “No, Juan. My answer will always be no. You put it in Blake, it’s never going in me.”

  “Of course you turn it on in that moment,” he grumbled. “Why now?”

  I jerked my head to the guy behind the counter as if saying I was leery of him. Yeah, normally it was useful to know if someone was spitting on my food or doing something they shouldn’t be, but right then it was just a good cover.

  The ice cream sandwiches were even better than I had hoped, the cronut perfect for even more rich goodness than regular cookies. I inhaled my first before we reached the portal, already having texted Darby I was bringing him one back.

  He was waiting at the student union for us, shaking his head when I gave him his treat. “Do I always get a doggy bag?”

  “No, that’s for not being a nosy brat and rushing over to my drama and leaving things be.”

  He glanced behind me and saw the group, shrugging when he met my gaze again. “You can take care of yourself and fight your own battles. You don’t need me to be your knight when you can kick ass on your own. I don’t like spectacles or being dragged into crap either.”

  “I know and I woves you for it,” I cooed.

  His eyes flashed shock when he took a bite. “Shit, that was definitely worth the walk across campus. Thanks.”

  “See you in the morning.”

  He nodded. “I think this is the last weekend of crush tutoring. You’re getting it fast and I think we’re at the point we can do single sections three days a week.”

  “Awesome,” I sighed, glad that was his call. “I kept thinking my brain was going to leak out my ears.”

  He nodded. “Let me know if you need me for runes practice or any help there.”

  I thumbed in the direction of Craftsman. “He’s my species advisor and power assessor now.”

  Darby raised an eyebrow at me. “Well good, but if he also tutors you in runes, we might want to just tether you to him.”

  I shrugged. “There are worse options. He’s polite and cleans up after himself. If it was Khan, Nelson, Tate, or Richardson I’d run the other way for sure.” I smirked at him when he gave me a questioning look. “You learn a lot when you can hear thoughts. Like a lot.”

  “Terrifying,” he grumbled.

  “Melody, are you going back to their room?” Craftsman asked. “I want to take a look at the super calendar Ms. Kincaid set up for Tamsin. We need to start training and practicing right away.”

  “You asked for it,” Izzy reminded me when I opened my mouth to say something snarky. “You literally asked for it—demanded it even.”

  “I did, but I’m still crashing so don’t expect more than a grunt back.”

  I finished my second sandwich before we reached the dorm, giving a half-hearted wave to the guys. Now that my tummy was full I was crashing fast.

  The second I was in the room, I went to my closet to change into jammies and crawled in bed.

  “Don’t forget the hobgoblins,” Izzy reminded me as if that would click something with me.

  “Right, you told me about them. I’ve not seen any,” I muttered as I snuggled into my pillow, tuning out Mel and Craftsman in the background.

  “Yeah, because they take off the first few weeks of the semester,” she explained, smiling when I frowned. “They’re not always the most patient people. They don’t deal well with freshmen or whiny rich kids who were spoiled over summer break. So they wait until we fall into routines without them and come back to handle the weekend cafeteria and cleaning of campus.”

  “Got it, be nice to the little guys. What do they look like?”

  “Like trolls.”

  I thought about that. So they had crazy hair and plump little butts? That would be very hard not to laugh at. I mean, growing up human and then coming to live around living and breathing dolls?

  Yeah, I wasn’t that mature.

  I didn’t think anyone was.

  The next morning, I woke up pretty early and feeling much better. Normal morning tired but also pretty good for getting all that out of me that had been bubbling up.

  I took a shower and let Izzy sleep, deciding to embrace the college life and go to breakfast in lounge clothes since it was going to be a long day of studying.

  I also made sure to grab the new book I’d ordered from Ms. Calloway when she’d sent me a list of suggestions. I’d been jumping all around and trying to figure out what I could—which wasn’t much with so many classes and two high school classes to get caught up—instead of starting at the beginning.

  When she’d sent me the list, Anatomy of Fairies seemed like a big bold “start here,” so I did.

  And now I was excited to read it… After I put a textbook cover on it because everyone didn’t need to know I was researching fairies constantly.

  I realized the mistake in my assumption on hobgoblins when I reached the cafeteria. Izzy didn’t mean the troll dolls—or even the DreamWorks movie—no, she meant more the rock trolls from Frozen.

  Geez, just how much had a supe given to Disney?

  They definitely weren’t made of rocks though and way more proportional—just really short. Two feet, maybe a bit bigger, but their ears were rather large—but cute—and they weren’t wearing shoes.

  Though I was glad for the clothes. I’d had dreams of naked doll trolls dancing around the cafeteria last night.

  No one naked made my food.

  But I could see the comparison as they had a grayish-blue tint to their skin. Which I realized was totally wrong when I saw a bright red one getting talked down to by a student.

  My mouth fell open. Their skin was like mood rings. He was red for pissed. Grayish-blue must be normal or mellow.

  So fucking cool. This was the magical supe world I’d thought I’d come into.

  I made sure not to stare as I loaded up my tray. The food was still awesome but it was toned back with them in charge.

  No omelets to order but a scrambled egg buffet with toppings that was easy to refill. Two different buffet stations were closed and honestly, I thought it was great. There was a huge selection of cereals out instead of some of the normal buffets and stations.

  It was fun.

  Relaxed weekend mode. Two thumbs up from me.

  Especially as I loaded up with bowls of cereal I’d never tried before and glasses of milk to eat them as I was ready. Some fresh juice and I was ready to get settled in and learn about myself.

  And not in the dirty way but that was always welcome too.

  I got clued in on something big in the first chapter overview.

  Fairies are grazers. Along the lines of the human term “grazing” in reference to herbivore animals that eat when they see food and throughout the day instead of carnivores that specifically hunt their food—like humans—fairies are different. They never reach a state of full t
hat most beings do.

  Their vast magic takes vast fuel so they eat two to three times as much as most supes—who generally eat two to three times as much as humans—but they can never overeat and feel full. Any additional fuel their bodies do not utilize goes into their magic and power, their very aura as well.

  The tradition of big meals and feasts after battles started long ago with fairies as a way to recharge after using their magic but also to get ready for the next battle in a war or in case more problems were to come. Fairies are very cautious and distrusting by nature, so to them it wasn’t a celebration of what was won but a fortification of their bodies and magic as after battle is a good time for other foes to attack.

  That really explained several things and something I clearly needed to know as I ate a lot but not as much as I should be apparently. I also needed to show that to Craftsman.

  I was pulling out my phone when I felt something hit my leg. I looked to my left and no one was there.

  Until I looked down. A very little hobgoblin was jumping and head-butting my thigh to get my attention. Oh damn, that was so cute.

  “Good morning,” I greeted with a smile.

  She beamed at me, her skin bright yellow which seemed happy, and held out an apple to me. Why was she giving me a gift?

  “Thank you, I was thinking of getting an apple,” I fibbed, glad when she smiled as I took it. “Would you like to join me?”

  “Please,” she said.

  Oh, she was a kid. She sounded like a five-year-old might talk.

  I pulled out the chair next to me and helped her up there, realizing she was waiting for me to eat her gift. I bit into it and thanked her again, eating it in between my cereal.

  “Me too!” another little voice declared not long later.

  I glanced down to find a hobgoblin with orange skin. Nervous? They were holding a plate of cheese and grapes.

  “Darfin too!”

  “Well, thank you, Darfin, I’m Tamsin,” I introduced, taking the plate from him.

  The girl introduced herself as Elasha and apparently the two of them started a trend as five more hobgoblin kids came over and brought me more food. They climbed up on chairs on the other side of the table and just stared at me, smiling when I ate their food.