17. Stella
17
Stella
“Are you sure you guys are good?” I ask Sia over dinner. “I don’t mind stopping by again today to study more.”
Her smile has grown brighter these past two weeks since I started regularly meeting up with her coven and giving blood. Her hair is shinier, and her skin has lost that chalky tone, too. It’s nice to see all of them looking healthier. I worry that will be noticed, but they also have a plan for that.
“Oh, I think we’re good, actually. I feel quite comfortable with where I am in my studies,” she replies with a twinkle in her eyes. “Plus, I would hate to cut dinner short. This steak is one of the best I’ve ever had!”
“You’re totally right,” Tree says, spearing a piece on his fork. “I don’t know what they did this time, but it is excellent.”
“Laying it on a little thick there,” I whisper to the vampire I now reluctantly call a friend. He shoots me a grin that shows off his fangs.
I haven’t seen Clay today, and Ryan told me he wants to spend some time in the library, and Jule is nowhere to be found, so it’s me and the coven tonight. I take the last bite of my dessert, a tiramisu that makes me wonder if I’ve ever had anything delicious before now, and gather my trash.
“I’ve gotta get running, but let me know if you want to study!” I say, slinging my bag over my shoulder. They wave at me, and I leave the dining hall, looking everywhere for the elusive blue-haired leprechaun. I haven’t seen him in over a week, and that time was only a glimpse of blue from the corner of my eye. I wonder if he’d find me in the woods again if I went out there.
I head out into the forest, deep within a clearing with a view of the stars, to write down more information for my exposé.
It’s not in hopes of seeing him. Not at all.
With the forroweed rolled tightly in a cigarette and filling my lungs with its sweet smoke, I scroll through the notes I’ve taken so far, trying to find a pattern.
I know a few things for sure.
First, students don’t seem to begin their transition into a simplynatural until year two. I’m not sure why, but for the first four quarters someone is here, they are more or less themselves, simply becoming more reserved as time passes. Sometime in their second year, they become more than willing to follow the rules against their spirits, and their personalities grow subdued.
The next thing I know is that the teachers are not immune to this standard simplynatural personality – except for Michael, err, Professor Jessup.
I’ve got to try hard to keep that professional boundary in place. After I slipped up in his office when we reviewed his ledger, he’s been cold to me, and I know I need to keep my personality on a tight leash around him.
I brought into this the knowledge that no simplynatural remembers much of their time here. Well, it’s either that or they refuse to talk about it. Many of them are iffy about interacting with anyone from their supernatural lives at all.
I’ve also learned here that no one seems to know any supernatural who chose prison and got out.
The cherry at the end of the cigarette glows brightly in the dark as I take a long drag, scrolling through the pages of notes I have. I’ve written down every anecdote my friends have told me about their interactions with simplynaturals outside of the Academy and references to their spirit rules.
I wish I could get that ledger from Jessup. It would make this so much easier.
After an hour of going through my notes, I slam the lid of my computer closed, grumbling out loud. “I don’t feel any closer!” I pull out the mint tin that I keep my rolling supplies in and grab a few pinches of forroweed. The plant is already snaking through my bloodstream and loosening my muscles, but I’ve always needed a little more than my friends to get the same effect. “I need that fucking ledger,” I mutter.
“What ledger?”
I startle, dropping the cigarette, my legs kicking and my computer sliding off my lap. “Asshole!” I shout, brushing the loose weed off my jeans. “Now I’ve wasted it.”
The leprechaun lowers himself down next to me and holds out a cigarette of his own, already lit. I move to grab it, and he places it on my lips instead. “Inhale, banloach ,“ he whispers.
I do, my lips trembling at the proximity of his fingers, tempting me to dart my tongue out and lick the pad of his thumb. In the starry light of the evening, his eyes twinkle with mischief. After I’ve filled my lungs, he pulls the cigarette away and leans back, leaving a gap between us that I’m fighting not to close.
He’s magnetic. I don’t know if this is a side effect of his spirit, but I feel tethered to him. My eyes try to find him in every room I’m in, and I want to know his secrets.
I want to know his name.
“Can you tell me your name now, please?” I ask breathlessly. I clear my throat, trying to hide how his proximity affects me.
He laughs, and it transforms his face. He pulls his legs up so his feet rest on the forest floor, resting his arms on his denim-clad knees. His blue hair looks almost purple in the low lighting. “No thanks. I quite like this air of mystery I’m cultivating. It’s part of my appeal, I think.”
I huff, rolling my eyes. “I guess I’ll keep calling you blue-hair leprechaun then.”
“I mean, that’s one thing to call me, I guess. Kind of a mouthful.” He pulls on the cigarette, the cherry glowing bright in front of him, and gives me a lazy grin. “Not that I’ll give you anything else to call me.”
“Have you even been going to class?” I ask, turning against the tree holding me up to face him more fully. “I haven’t seen you around.”
His eyebrow quirks up. “Been looking for me, have you?”
My face heats, but I roll my eyes as I respond. “Don’t think so highly of yourself.”
“Sure thing, I’ll get right on it,” he says, leaning forward with the forroweed in his hand. Once again, he holds it to my mouth as I take a hit from it, but this time, when he pulls his hand away, he drags his thumb on my lower lip. A shiver wracks my body at the contact. I’m sure he notices, but thankfully, he doesn’t call me out. “What have you been working on so hard out here?”
“Been spying on me, huh?”
“Always, banloach . There’s nowhere you go that I don’t know about.“ He speaks with such confidence that I kind of believe him. But I would know if I’m being followed, wouldn’t I? It’s not as if I am oblivious to my surroundings.
I shake my head, clearing the idea. He’s just trying to get under my skin. “What’s banloach , anyways?”
“Ah, only a nickname.”
“What does it mean?”
He shrugs, stubbing out the last of the forroweed. “I’ll tell you when I tell you my name. Now, I must know, what secret are you keeping in that computer of yours?”
I bite my lip. Even though he makes my stomach flip and my knees weak, I cannot and trust this male. But if he is as slippery as he says and can go unnoticed, he could be an ally and help me get what I need. “I will tell you, but I need a favor first.”
“I’m listening.” He reclines and stretches his legs out, crossing his arms over his chest.
Sucking in a deep breath, I rush out the words that could be my downfall if he reports me. “I need you to steal something from Professor Jessup.”
At my words, he leans up, his eyes lit with excitement. “Oh, this is not at all what I was expecting. Tell me more.”
“He has a ledger in the bottom right-hand drawer of his desk, but it’s locked. I need that ledger, and then I need it returned without him noticing it’s missing. I will tell you everything if you can get it to me.”
Maybe not everything. But if I said, ‘I’ll tell you most of it,’ he wouldn’t take the bait.
“And what is in this ledger?” He can’t hide the curiosity in his voice. “Why is it so important?”
“I need the information within it. When you bring it to me, I’ll share what it is and why.” We lock eyes, his searching mine for sincerity, and I hope he sees what he needs to. After a minute, he sits back against the tree and nods.
“I’ll do it.”
“And you’ll return it, too?” My stomach twists at betraying Michael, but I need this. If I have any hope of writing an article that will blow this place up, I need those rules.
“I will.” He stands up, brushing the debris on his pants back to the forest floor.
“Wait,” I say, reaching for his hand. “I have a question.”
He looks at where my hand landed on his, and I wonder if he feels the fire that rages between the two of us. I almost yank my hand away when his eyes soften. “Yes?”
“If you’re a leprechaun and deal in luck, how did you get caught and sent here?”
“My luck ran out, sweetheart. But don’t worry. I got it back.” He taps one of the golden plugs in his ear and winks. “See you around, banloach .”
I watch his retreating back until I can’t see him at all, and then I pack my stuff up and go to leave.
“Stella!” A voice shouts, harried and full of fear.
I stumble backward, startled to see Clay having appeared out of nowhere in front of me. “Clay! You scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry, Stella, but I’m in trouble. I need your help.”