“Do you have class later?” I asked.
Lorcan and Flynn looked at each other and shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out,” the Aussie said. “Anyone want the bathroom before I shower?”
I declined and said I’d head to my dorm. With Lorcan in the bathroom, Flynn and I had privacy once more to share a longer kiss goodbye.
When I came to the Menagerie to report for my work-study chores, I went to Wolf’s office. Typically, the grungy, rough-spoken man gave me tasks in advance and simply trusted me to do my business independently. I respected the faith Wolf had in me and my abilities, his way of honestly treating me like an adult rather than a kid or student. Perhaps with the hell of last night, he’d forgotten to leave a note out for me. Wolf wasn’t there, but Otis was, and he asked for my assistance at the stables.
I didn’t mind, and I bet Wolf wouldn’t either. As long as I kept busy, there was a chance I wouldn’t succumb to the nastiness in my head: remembering my ruined chances at a college away from here, the horrid loss we’d gained last night from Bateson’s hybrid disaster.
Not long after I began tending to the stalls, Paige came by. She sometimes assisted with less-hands-on tasks, but if she was near the Menagerie or stables, it was more often because she was bored and wanted to hang out with me while I worked. Turned out she’d been hunting me down. Her frustrated sigh surprised me.
She explained with good reason. She’d been sent to me. Ethel, of course, had gotten word about what happened last night. Paige had learned about it over the coffee they’d grabbed together on their way to the library.
They hadn’t only shared the news. Ethel had given Paige the task of warning me.
“Glorian suspects you have a neala.”
I raised my brows at her, holding a pitchfork full of hay midair.
“A stone. A gemstone.”
I nodded. Neala. That’s what Nevis gave me? I filed the new name away.
Paige whistled and a couple of horses down the row nickered in response. “That’s not…that’s not good.”
“That I have one? Is it dangerous?” I hadn’t read of any harmful elements of alexandrite. And the pawn shop guy hadn’t hesitated to pick it up and peer at it closely.
Paige slumped to sit on a bale of hay. “Not dangerous to you. But dangerous for you.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” I stood and let the tines of the pitchfork down. I leaned my forearm on the handle.
“It’s dangerous that Glorian thinks you have one.”
I cocked my head.
“Because she’ll want it.”
I snorted. What didn’t that woman want from me? She’d already taken a chunk of my happiness and stomped on my dreams of an independent future.
“Did Nevis give it to you?” she asked in a low whisper as though the tall, white horse behind me would blabber the gossip.
I nodded. I hadn’t told anyone how I’d been cured of the mold. They must have simply assumed Nevis had used his elven powers to draw the mold out of me and get rid of it. He had, but the stones he’d touched amplified the strength of his powers. Just like it had for mine last night in the greenhouse, and when I’d rescued Knightley, I guessed.
“Before he left, he gave me one of a pair he’d been wearing on his necklace. Said it was Anessa’s and felt I should have it.”
Again, Paige whistled long and slow. Horses replied once more. It would have been funny if I wasn’t so annoyed.
Glorian wanting something I had. My powers. My stone. My uncle. It was getting old. Like everything else the headmistress envied me for, I hadn’t realized I was in possession of something so coveted.
“I didn’t know it was a neala. I looked it up and learned it was a large cut of alexandrite.” I shrugged. “I really didn’t know that it was a…a…booster for power.”
“For Pure power, not just any elven energy.”
I nodded, but still hoping for more.
“Mom made it sound like Suthering and Marcy wouldn’t admit to knowing you had one.”
“They couldn’t have. I’d never told anyone.” And I’d always kept it hidden under my shirts. Unless someone had been using X-ray vision to find my cleavage, no one would ever know I wore it around my neck.
“Well, they have to know you have one, because they saw you use it last night at the greenhouse, but they wouldn’t tell her what they witnessed. Not exactly.”
Again, Suthering was saving my butt from her. And this was at a school. I wasn’t supposed to have to worry about a high-up member of the faculty trying to get me. A headmistress wouldn’t have been my enemy at any other school in the real world.
“She wanted me to warn you.” Paige frowned at me, a soft expression of sympathy. “She thinks Glorian will want to talk to you and ask.”
Or demand. Whatever Glorian wanted didn’t matter to me. She’d struck too low and close, interfering with my college applications. I didn’t owe her a single damn thing.
“Thank you for the heads up,” I said, huffing before trying to smile.
Paige checked her watch and winced with a squeak. “Damn. I’m behind. I thought for sure you would’ve been at the Menagerie. I didn’t realize you might be out here.” She stood and pulled her coat closer around her. “And of course you don’t have your phone or tablet…”
I sucked in my lips to avoid smiling. “They weren’t charged.”
“Neither of them?”
Nope. Because I’d spent the night in the guys’ room and my chargers were in mine. If I told her where I slept last night, that’d keep her here asking ten thousand and one questions and squeeing in girly excitement. If she was already behind, better I share that update some other time. “Sorry for taking your time.”
Maybe my tone was too sad for her liking. I hadn’t meant to come off as dejected. But it was hard. Too many things had taken potshots at my mood in too short of a time.
She didn’t waste a breath before clutching me into her skinny arms. Paige hugs were always welcome, and despite my work clothes, I returned the embrace.
“We’ll catch up more later.” She stepped back and eyed me closely.
“Yes, we shall.” I waved at her and returned to my work.
Alerted of Glorian potentially looking for me, I carried on the rest of my day a little more on edge. I finished my work tasks and even shared lunch with Otis. Then, I met up with a junior to work in the primates’ wing. I’d passed Wolf in one of the hallways. He’d been on his way to tend to something in the reptile rooms but he’d called out that Suthering asked him to tell me Bateson’s class was canceled until a replacement was arranged for the rest of the year.
I’d heard her myself, furiously announcing she was quitting. Accepting the same message in a different way today drove it in even more. And it made me wonder.
Is she going to have to answer to the journal she’d submitted to, and explain she’d basically killed the insects?
Where will she go? Does she have a lineup of other schools and colleges to teach at?
What will she tell the world about elves?
How…
“Uh, Layla?”
I looked down from the vague spot on the wall I’d been staring at while I pondered too many questions. Water splashed onto my calves and I jerked.
The junior laughed. “You were a mile away.”
I smirked at him good-naturedly. I’d been filling a water bucket and it had overfilled during my misplaced attention.
“Layla.”
I stiffened at someone else calling my name then. I twisted the faucet off and hauled the bucket to where it had been before I’d claimed it to clean it and refill.
“Layla.”
Still, I carried on with my tasks, collecting emptied food trays and too-battered toys the chimpanzees loved to abuse. A mother chimp walked up to me and watched.
“Layla!”
The female chimp leaned around me and glanced at the person calling for me, ire growing with each repetition of my moniker. She c
ould stand there and scream for all I cared. Unless that disturbed the animals.
Dammit. I should get her away from here. For their sake.
“Layla?” the junior asked, likely wondering if I was spacing out again and unable to hear Glorian screeching my name.
“Can you finish up in here?” I asked. The boy nodded. “I’ll be back in a second. I need to get more bowls from the supply room.”
“Uh…sure…”
I didn’t wait to leave the main habitat room and enter the long, narrow storage ward. Clacks of low heels followed me.
“I don’t appreciate nor do I deserve this disrespect from you,” she scolded as she came up behind me in the room.
Merely hearing her persnickety voice angered me. I’d have to hash this out with her one way or the other. No one else at Olde Earth knew I’d applied to outsider colleges. Only she did. And she’d ruined it for me.
“You deserve even less.”
She gasped and strode up to me. I was facing the shelves of food and water containers, not even looking for or needing anything in here. I didn’t want to see her scorn, though, because I was sure mine was the only kind warranted here.
“You have no manners. No respect. Just like—”
I spun to face her and spat out, “If you even dare to mention my mother—”
She sneered at me. “I’m not here to talk about that woman.”
“And I’m not here to listen to anything you have to say.”
Instead of rising to my smartass reply, she took a deep breath and tilted her head in that annoying way she did. I wasn’t going to change my tune and her tipping her ears up or down wasn’t doing a thing about my hostility, either.
“Why are you so temperamental with me today?”
“Only today?”
She narrowed her eyes then. “I could remember when you were…shy. Careful to speak your mind.”
“Careful.” I gave her a sardonic laugh then. “What do I have to be careful with now?” I let my arms flap out. “You’ve already taken my future education away. What else should I be careful about? I’m merely counting down the days until I don’t have to see you again.”
Her nostrils flared. “You had no business applying elsewhere.”
“Who made you the puppeteer of my life?”
“I know what’s best.”
“No. I get to make that decision. Not you.”
She grimaced and started to shake her head. “You’re nothing more than a child. A naïve, stubborn girl who doesn’t even know what she’s capable of—”
I groaned. “I know. Dammit, it’s taken me three years to experience it all, and more, but I know.”
More than that, I knew I could be an elf outside of the Academy. I was convinced many could.
“And I’m plenty capable of telling you that you will not control my life.”
“You will regret leaving. You cannot forsake who you are.”
I stepped past her and had no other goal in mind than to leave this ward now. And in five more months, I could leave her for good. “Good riddance, Glorian.” I felt a foreign yet surging high at having told her off. At finally standing up for myself without hesitation.
“And I refuse to let you leave with that neala!”
Her words stopped me in my step. I stood there, heaving hot breaths of anger. Nubs of growth sprouted from the wooden beads on my bracelet and I closed my eyes for a taste of calm before facing her again.
“It was given to me. Therefore, it belongs to me. Not you.”
She rushed close to me again. “It doesn’t. That neala is a family heirloom. It belongs to my son.”
I scoffed. “My mother’s stone belongs to Ren?”
“Mr. Mason had no business parting with that stone. Just another example of how frivolously he views our ways. We’re suffering a crisis of low staffing, a disappearing council, and that man is the epitome of such disgrace. He turned his back on elves, on Olde Earth, and his departure only paved the way for others to leave.”
I shook my head. “No one wants to be told where they should spend their life. Or with who.”
As though I hadn’t even spoken, she continued ranting. “That neala is a rare and powerful item. One that most certainly shouldn’t be in your hands.”
“All I know is it’s not getting in yours.”
She bared her teeth. “Why must you fight me?”
“I’m only defending myself. You constantly try to control and suborn me into living a life you somehow justify for me.”
“I want to justify keeping our ways alive. I only want what’s best to ensure we preserve our legacies and culture. If everyone continues to leave, who will keep this place running? Who will keep our bloodlines unchanged and Diluted?”
“Not me.”
She made a fist and raised it, not to strike at me, but a gesture of irritation. “After all that you’ve witnessed the last three years. All these horrible examples of creatures being mistreated, you still can’t see that you’re needed here? That a Pure elf has to contribute back to her kind and must stay to do so?”
Dropping out of school had never appealed to me, but right now, it sounded like the sanest thing to do.
“Let me make myself clear. I will go wherever I want to build a future for myself. And even though you interfered with my college applications, I am not staying here a minute after graduation.”
She didn’t speak. Simply glared at me.
“As long as you’re here, I’m not staying.”
Chapter Eighteen
After my run-in with Glorian, I headed to my dorms. I’d thought that having a chance to tell her off, letting her know I’d found out she’d destroyed my college hopes, and clearly state that I wasn’t going to linger at Olde Earth, I’d feel lighter. It’d felt good, almost natural, even, to stand up for myself. Yet, I was still mad. And confused.
I’d meant it. I wasn’t going to stay at Olde Earth and go to college through one of their partnered schools. But…what were my options then?
The oppressive challenge of deciding what to do after May was daunting. It felt too crucial, that whatever choices I made in this timeframe, those were the ones that would impact the rest of my life.
Being a vet had been my aspiration ever since I was a kid and read James Herriot’s books. Old, but they’d stuck with me. A vet. It made perfect sense. Only, it was unreachable now. I couldn’t commit to more of an Olde Earth education. I couldn’t stomach any more of Glorian and her mind games.
When I climbed the stairs to my floor, I frowned at the person waiting for me at my door. Not only that, but there was also an ancient after my company. I didn’t want any company other than my grog.
Standing in front of my door was Suthering, his mashed-up ancient Cat Breath—Bella—curling around his legs. I watched the green, scaly tail loop around his pant leg and found it weird. I had no issue keeping a maned, spiked-tail grog with me at all times. But a half-lizard? Other than the thing’s face, it didn’t exactly scream cuddly.
“Hello, Layla. How are you?”
I deadpanned at him and proceeded toward my door.
“Glorian spoke with you.”
“That’s a nice way to put it.” And false. I put my key in my lock and sighed. At one time, I’d looked up to Suthering. He’d brought me to Olde Earth, pulled me out of the small-town confinement of Coltin with little opportunities of a decent education. I still respected him, and I didn’t truly resent him for bringing me here. He’d never once tried to tell me what to do, and he’d always been ready to defend me from other councilmembers—as much as he could.
He didn’t deserve my coldness.
“I’ll be happier after I graduate,” I said honestly, answering his question finally. I did have manners. Glorian just smeared some of them to not matter when I was near her.
“Only a few months to go. Can you believe it?” he asked, still standing in the hallway after I opened my door.
“Come on in.” If he’d been
waiting here, it was clear he wanted to at least speak with me more than pleasantries of how are you.
He followed in and Cat Breath bee-lined for the little cushion I’d set out on the floor for Knightley. A bed, even though the grog had an unbreakable habit of sleeping on mine.
Knightley followed the cat-lizard and Bella hissed.
“Easy, girl,” Suthering warned.
Still, Bella sniffed at the bed and then sat next to it. She licked her shoulder. Knightley plopped into the often unused cushion and curled up, as though to say this is mine, back off.
“How are you?” I asked Suthering, my manners returning more and more the longer I relaxed in the comfort of my own space.
Suthering sat in my chair, still pulled out from my desk, and I took a seat on the other one, a soft armchair that was usually a holdover spot for me to put clothes that weren’t completely clean to hang up or put back in my closet but still decent enough to wear again.
“Overwhelmed,” he admitted frankly. He leaned back in the chair, causing it to squeak slightly at the larger weight than just me as it usually held. Reclined, with his head tipped to the ceiling, he closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face.
Over the last three years, I’d gotten more and more comfortable with the headmaster. A firm line of distance remained, a boundary of our roles keeping us clearly distinguished as student or head of the school. Friendship had slowly picked at the edge that should keep us more like acquainted strangers. I’d lost some of the prejudice I’d held for him, assuming he was nothing but business and too formal and stuffy. Watching him not even bothering to hide his exhaustion or stress made him that much more approachable. And made me care more than I should.
“As are you, I imagine,” he said once he sat forward again. “She asked you about the neala? We didn’t admit you’d used one last night. But the greenhouse does have surveillance cameras that all of the council have access to. I bet she checked that feed as soon as she left us there.”
I didn’t think he, Wolf, or Marcy would sell me out to Glorian in any way and I thought he’d know that. The chance he was outright telling me they had my back made me wonder if he suspected I didn’t trust him.
Victory: Year Four Page 15
