18. Salem
Chapter eighteen
I walk up the stairs and pause outside of my dorm room door to take a moment and gather myself. The door numbers 415 are straight except for the five, but it’s the best sight I’ve seen all day. Today felt as if it wasn’t ever going to end. I sigh with relief as I push open the door and walk into the common room. Skye’s bedroom door opens, and she gasps when she sees me there. I give an awkward wave, then frown when I see her holding a packing box. I shoot her a half smile while she appears as if she is about to cry, gripping her box tighter. “Well, we had a good run.” I give her a shrug because, right now, that’s all that I can offer her.
Skye’s heart rate is escalating; she lets out a breath before firmly pursing her lips. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe what they are saying. I don’t want to be involved or in the middle of it. School is hard enough, and I don’t want the additional drama. I hope you understand.”
I walk towards my room, wanting to be alone. Part of me wants to not say anything else to her. The other part of me, the part that took everything everyone dished out today, wants to say something. I turn to look back at her and tilt my head to the side, my eyes assessing her. It’s something I don’t think I will be able to not do, looking for weaknesses. “Which part don’t you believe? The part where I ran away or the Anti-Fae prison facility?” Skye’s hazel eyes widen, her lip trembles, and she almost drops her box. My eyes nearly roll with annoyance as, once again, someone thinks the worst about me. As if I would hurt her, it wouldn’t even be fair, and being a coward doesn’t make you a bad person. “I’ve fought worse things than Lulu. Being alone doesn’t scare me. I am used to it. Believe whatever you want. It makes no difference to me.” I give her a nod. “Good luck.”
It wasn’t like I didn’t get it because I did. I wanted to lie low during my studies here at Black Rose. Of course, Marcus ruined that, as did Lulu. As I close the door to my room. I place my back against the door and lean against it before I slide down to the floor. For the first time, I miss my cage. The imperfection on the wall that I can talk to my person. I told her I was okay with being alone, but was I? 203 was with me, at least in solidarity. It hurt. Today hurt. I will not show it to the world, though, only in the privacy of my room.
A loud thumping knock pulls me from my thoughts. Somehow, I am sure it’s more bad news for me. A soft knock on my door, and Skye’s voice calls through my door. “Umm Salem? There is a girl here–”
“Save it, little girl. Continue with whatever you are doing, which appears to be moving.” That voice has me pausing. My head tilts to the side as I listen closer.
“This is still my dorm room.” Skye tries to sound brave, yet there is hesitation there.
“From those boxes you have there, I would say that’s a load of shit.” I stand at that. Why do I know that voice?
I open the door and tilt my head, looking at the fiery redhead. She looks amazing. She reminds me of a gothic badass princess, as she wears all black against her pale skin. Her bright green eyes with heavy-lined black eyeliner widen on me as she sucks in a breath. “It’s really you.” Tears fill her eyes, and it looks like she is trying to keep them at bay. Hope and happiness hit me in the chest. My hand goes up to my chest as her emotions hit me so hard that it feels like it might knock me off my feet. I haven’t felt an emotion come off of someone so hard before, and the feeling of it has me tearing up.
I blink at her, confused about where her emotions end and mine begins. “How do I know you?”
She pushes forward into my room, closing the door behind her. Her green eyes seem to almost blaze as they narrow on me. “What the fuck did he do to you?”
It’s my turn to look confused. “What did who do to me?” A lump in my throat doesn’t seem to go away. I feel like I can’t breathe for a second as I stand there before someone, and I can’t help but feel rather exposed. My arms want to cross so she can’t look at me.
“Marcus! Who else!” She screams out, her voice loud, and her painted red lip quivers with emotion. “It’s been six years! I never heard from you after your birthday or the day after. All my calls were unanswered. Doors were slammed in my face when I went over. It wasn’t until school that I found out you ran away.” She shakes her head aggressively as she cries. “That’s not true, though. I never believed it.” She points at her chest, then back at me. “You wouldn’t leave me! You wouldn’t do that!”
Pain erupts in my head, making me fall to my knees. My hands grip the sides of my head. “I can’t remember.” Maybe if I push my brain, I can remember, but it only hurts.
She also falls to her knees before me. “It’s me, it’s Ember. We have been best friends since we first met in preschool...” She laughs. “...not that I gave you much of a choice.”
Warmth invades my chest, and my hand grabs hold of it. That name sparks something inside of me, making me feel happy. “Memories are gone. Your name…” I point to my chest. “…I feel it here?” My head shakes, and I must sound insane to her. I sound insane to myself, let alone a normal person.
She grabs my hand. I try to pull away, but she grabs it and squeezes it tight. Images of us flickering around fill my mind. I can see her projecting things at me, whether she knows that’s what she is doing. “There are rumors about you.” She practically whispers, her eyes darting around slightly like someone could be listening. “Nobody believed me when I told them you wouldn’t have run away.”
I shake my head. “No, they wouldn’t believe you.” I squeeze her hand tight. “You should pretend to believe Marcus. It’s not safe to go against him. It’s unsafe to be friends or be seen with me.” Every part of me wants to protect her from Marcus. Maybe it’s the fact that she believes in me. Everyone else at this academy believes the worst, yet she believes me.
She shakes her head and her jaw tenses. “No. You don’t get to not be in my life.” Ember digs through her bag. She pulled out a small frame that had a beautiful moth that looked like it had eyes in the wings.
My fingers reach out and touch the glass where the delicate wings are. I feel something tug at my heart, and a memory is there of hiding things away—my treasures that aren’t allowed to be found. “You would bring them to school in little boxes. After you disappeared, I framed them all. I kept them for when we came to the academy here like I always promised.”
The tears gather in my eyes, and for the first time, I don’t feel ashamed of them. I throw my arms around her. I feel love and hope as she returns my hug, holding me tight.
The room goes cold, and I know Constantine is here. However, before I respond, Ember pulls me behind her like she will take on a Prince of Hell. Aww, she wants to protect me. “Oh, Kitty has claws.” He puts his hands up to his chest like paws. “Meow.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Most fathers have a knocking rule. Ember, this is Constantine. Constantine, Ember.” I motion between the two of them for the introduction.
He makes a weird face, scrunching up. “Stop with the word father; it makes me sound like a dictator. Either Dad or Constantine, those I can handle.” He motions between me and Ember. “Are you the roommate?”
I wince slightly. “No, I already lost my roommate. This is Ember. She knew me from before. We were best friends?” I don’t mean for the last part to come out as more of a question. This is another thing I didn’t see coming, and I’m trying to play catch up and keep my head above water.
His eyes widened. “From before? Are we positive her loyalties aren’t with Marcus?” He narrows his eyes as if he is scrutinizing Ember. My spine straightens, and I want to protect her from Constantine’s suspicious gaze. “And when you say you lost your roommate, did she move out, or am I about to be involved in a crime?” He shrugs. “I’m okay with either option. I must know what my night will entail and if I need to change clothes.”
Ember looks at me, her eyebrows furrowing, before looking at Constantine. “The quick version of events is that Lulu is out for this one’s head. The roommate tucked her tail and ran away. As for Marcus, he always hated me. Both him and her mother. We had to be friends in secret. I never believed she ran away. He threatened me when I kept coming by after she left. They told me it was probably my fault that she left, that my blood being tainted gave her unrealistic expectations for her power.” Ember rolls her eyes. “That’s everything in a nutshell. Plus, I’m pretty sure he got lawyers involved, not that my parents would tell me otherwise.”
“What an asshole,” Constantine states before tilting his head to see the moth. “And you bring gifts of dead bugs… that’s cool.”
Ember laughs, “There is more where that came from. I had boxes of stuff stored at my house that she needed to keep safe.” Her voice goes lower. “She likes weird shit.”
I frown and look down at my moth. My eyebrows furrow, and I hold it closer, wanting to stick up for its feelings even though it’s dead. Constantine stops my protectiveness over my moth. “Sorry to break up this party, but we received a summons from Dean Campbell’s office.”
“Fuck.” I mutter, wondering which part of my day I will get a strike two for. I give Constantine a cringe smile with a shrug. “So I kicked a pretty boy’s ass today in Professor Merrick’s class, who, by the way, is not a fan of mine at all. He tried to embarrass me by failing me, and it backfired. Lulu and Oliver have started an ‘I Hate Salem’ fan club. It doesn’t matter that I don’t remember any interactions with them. Then, my roommate moves out. So, one of those is probably why we were called in.”
Ember’s eyes widened. “You seriously kicked Gage’s ass? I heard about it but didn’t know if it was true. He is like the golden boy. His parents are loaded and pretty sure they own half the corporations. They have been trying to get him to follow in their footsteps. He isn’t a complete asshole, hot as hell for sure, though.” She fans herself, and I laugh while thinking about him. Ember isn’t wrong on that end.
“Oooh, I like her.” Constantine points at Ember. “You will be a wealth of knowledge since I lived up to my sloth name.” He winces and hesitates slightly. “I don’t know what has happened with the Ministry or the powerful Fae running this place.”
Ember’s hands go over her mouth. “Holy shit! You’re Constantine Blackthorne?” She looks at me and then back to Constantine. “Your mother fucked Constantine Blackthorne? Then had you?” Her voice gets higher. “And she thought I was a bad influence! What a hypocrite!” She winces and shoots Constantine a look. “No offense.” Holding her hands up in surrender.
Constantine points at her and smiles. “I like her even better now. But seriously, we got to go.”
I look at Ember, “Be careful. See you soon?”
She rolls her eyes and lets out a huff. “You’re not getting rid of me.”
I nod. “If you want out, nobody will fault you. It’s going to be dangerous being friends with me.”
“Yeah, yeah, we will catch you up later, Ember. We already are on strike one and didn’t want to get to three on day one. If we do, then this whole thing is for not.” Constantine grabs my hands, the room blurs, and we stand inside an office.
The large cherry desk we sit in front of has a plaque that says ‘Dean Campbell.’ Everything in his office is grand, with gold leaf, medals, and trophies lining the tops of his bookcases. Constantine looks at Simon and then at me. “Do you think he might be overcompensating for something?”
“You sure took your time.” Simon crosses his arms and shoots Constantine a glare.
Constantine only shrugs before looking bored as he sits down. “It was my daughter’s first day of school. What kind of dad would I be if I didn’t see how it went?”
“I must say, I don’t enjoy this side of you.” He narrows his eyes. “It’s freaking me out a bit.”
Before Constantine can say another word, the door opens, and in walks Dean Campbell. From the look on his face, it doesn’t appear that he has lost the giant stick that is wedged up his ass. “Well, well, well, the infamous Salem finally makes her appearance. You took your time getting here.”
“To be fair, I didn’t know we were supposed to have this meeting.” I tilt my head and hesitate. “Infamous sounds a bit… what’s the word I’m looking for?…” I look to Constantine, who has a flash of a smile before it’s gone. His face became serious, pensive, yet helpful.
He steeples his fingers to his lips and hums almost to himself. “…Leaning towards pretentiousness. I was catching up with my daughter on her first day here, which is why the delay occurred.”
I swear the man’s dark brown eye twitches at me. “Let’s get down to business, shall we? Professor Merrick kindly requests your withdrawal from his class. He suggests private tutoring from Mr. Louis, who has been applying for a job on campus. Of course, this must be funded to add him to the payroll.”
He looks over at me and smiles like he has won something. The smile quickly disappears when Constantine claps his hands together. It starts as a slow clap before quickening. “Splendid idea! I am happy to fund Samuel Louis to teach my daughter. I would consider it a personal honor.” Constantine pauses as he looks over at me. “He has helped train some of the best agents to grace the FPS.” His attention goes back to the Dean. He thought he would create a new rift between us at the cost. “I had doubts about Merrick, but clearly, he knows what a talent my daughter has for combat. I heard he got to see it firsthand today.”
“Indeed.” His voice is dry as wallpaper. “Your roommate requested a transfer. You have a room suitable for two. This means you may get a roommate later on.” I nod my head because I assumed that might be the case. “If you drive a new one away with childish antics, we might also have to consider increasing your room and board.”
“My antics?” My voice has an edge to it.
“Yes. You’re on strike two, Ms. Blackthorne. Your antics–”
“If a private room is available, I am happy to pay for her to move into it now.” My father chimes in quickly, cutting off the Dean before he can say anything more.
“This brings me to the next problem.” He smiles like he has won. “Parents have already been calling about you, inquiring about the gossip about you and your species. We know very little about Midnight Beasts. The only one on record is also a Blackthorne; we know very little about him. So, I am thinking about the quarantine cabins. They are all available and might be more suitable since we know little about Midnight Beasts. We can get ahead of this now.”
“Wait a minute! You were saying something about her driving away a possible new roommate. Now you want her to live in the quarantine cabins where shifters go to have a heat or can’t control their animals?” Constantine is practically foaming at the mouth.
Dean Campbell smiles, saying, “I am not saying she will be in quarantine like the ones who cannot control their animals, but yes.”
I hold up my hand to stop Constantine from speaking. “I’ll take it on three conditions.” My arms cross because I know I will have to battle for this.
“You’re in no position to negotiate.”
“I feel like I’m being very accommodating, considering everything. Plus, it seems like this could cause some legal action. You and the others seem to have a vendetta against my beast. There are laws in place, you know.” My eyes narrowed on him. My brain flashed to all the ways I could kill him. Taking his fountain pen that sits at the edge of his desk and jamming it into his eye is, so far, my favorite. Bashing his skull in with his name plaque comes in at a close second.
“Are you threatening me?” His nostrils flared with anger, yet I could feel his nervousness take root. His head beads with sweat.
“I have a feeling you have already been bought and paid for. We are simply talking.” I cross my legs and lean back into the chair. “We are negotiating. I get to change the cabin how I see fit, considering I will probably live there for the entirety of my tenure here. Then, I get to pick the cabin, and you knock off some dorm charges so some money can pay for Mr. Louis.”
Dean Campbell looks like he is about to swallow his tongue. Simon chimes in, “You could have people from the waiting list move into her current room. That would help with the financing.”
Constantine slaps the top of the desk, causing the Dean to jump. “Is that all, or is there more on the agenda to ruin my daughter’s time here? She has been through enough, and now she has to jump through hoops for you.”
“Yes. It’s all her words against the Ministry. There doesn’t seem to be any record of her existence in this anti-fae prison. Your daughter’s word doesn’t carry much weight against all of that. Then, when we try to get things sorted out, you all ran out of the meeting before things got settled,” Dean Campbell says condescendingly. He knows damn well that he is baiting Constantine.
Constantine’s hands slam on Dean Campbell’s desk. He leans over the desk and points his finger at me. “You damn well know there are statements out there! Marcus had her expunged from the records to help hide his part in this.”
Dean Campbell tilts his head to the side and narrows his eyes before leaning back in his chair. An air of confidence is now coming from him. “I know no such thing; however, I do know that the head of the ministry with a stellar record has been trying to help his… wife’s indiscretion, even though it brings him shame. What could he be hiding?”
“He is corrupt, and you know it.” Constantine doesn’t even bother to hide his anger from me at this point.
Standing up, I grab Constantine’s hand and squeeze. We knew this would be a challenge; we didn’t have to prove anything. I could try to prove it, but of course, he would dispute everything I had to say. Instead, I call him the name that might get him to trust me. “Come on, Dad. Let’s go see these cabins because they sound lovely.” I lived in a cell. I could easily live in a cabin.
His anger disappears for a second, and he looks at me, slightly shocked. He isn’t stupid and knows I needed to shock his system. But he nods before he points once more at Dean Campbell. “Eat a bag of dicks, Campbell.”
Constantine flips him off before grabbing my hand. The next second, our feet are touching down on the grass at the edge of the woods. As I look into the distance, I see one of these cabins. My mind flashbacks to my run in my shifted form. I assumed these buildings spaced a mile from each other were bathroom changing stations for shifters. Staying in the small cabins is more like a punishment than anything else. Clearly, Dean Campbell is rolling out the red carpet for me. He is sending a message to me, which is, ‘Don’t get comfortable here.’
As I turn to Constantine to voice my inner thoughts, I see him stomping off, trying to cool down. I shrug, deciding to explore these shitholes rather than wait for him to calm himself. If I waited on him, it could be a while, and making one of these livable and spider-free is going to take a while. I am not the best at teleporting myself, but I give it my best shot and manage to teleport myself the short distances between each cabin. I am eager to find the right cabin, which has me taking advantage of my teleportation, causing my body to pop in and out, disappearing and appearing at all angles of each cabin. It makes travel much faster than walking around. I can see myself getting spoiled by this form of transportation. Yet, as I make my way between each cabin, each one is worse than before. As I reach the cabin on the campus’s edge, I know it’s the one. It will be a walk to class, but my nose has been susceptible since becoming a shifter. This one smells acceptable. There is a subtle smoky smell that lingers here in the air.
I walk in and spin around the place. Yes, I can see myself living here after we make some major upgrades. I step back outside and see a still annoyed Constantine, who stomps over to me. A smirk appears on my lips as I watch him glare at me before he wags his finger toward me. “I think it’s been too long, and people don’t properly fear me anymore. I am going to make sure they properly fear me.” He let out a growl, and I felt the Dean better have some good wards up at night.
I give him an unimpressed look and wave him off. “Get all Prince of Hell later. Right now, our mission is to fix up the fuck shack.”
He shakes his head before closing his eyes and takes a breath as he holds up his hand. “You’re not helping the anger levels. My daughter is going to live in a fuck shack.” Simon shows up a moment later, and Constantine glares his way. Snapping his fingers before pointing at him. “You were some help back there.”
Simon groans, shaking his head. “I have to pretend not to care! We lose all insider information if he knows I am siding with Salem. Plus, you two were doing a bang-up job. It’s a wonder his head didn’t explode.”
Constantine chuckles. “I would have paid extra if that had been the result. But come on! Salem didn’t deserve that or this place. He has given her two strikes already; it hasn’t been a week yet. It’s the first day of class!”
I turn towards them and give them an unimpressed look before motioning to the cabin. “Can you both be helpful? Constantine, can you get rid of all the furniture inside? I am not sleeping on that bed. Simon, can you put your magic to good use?” I motion to the room that has a small crater. “I don’t mind the moss, but can you make it less holey? Maybe fix the door?” I motion to the door in question, which looks like it had been kicked in at one point. I could make a small patio on the front and hang some fairy lights. The inside is just open, with a small closet and a bathroom. Beggars can’t be choosers.
“You have little faith. Let me make this shithole into a shithome.” The man rolls up his sleeves, and I swear it makes me slightly feral. What is happening to my body? My panties get somewhat wet from watching, but I shake that off when Constantine clears his throat. Every party has to have a pooper. My party pooper walked in, sucking the sexual tension right out of the doorless cabin.
Constantine holds up his finger to Simon and walks up to him. “She prefers the term fuck shack to shithole.” I slap my hand over my face; this will be a long night.