Chapter 16
The car was outside her apartment. E was thankful because she’d had a sleepless night kicking herself.
She hoped Plutus waited in the car for her, but she knew better.
He’d have been waiting outside the thing, propped up against it with his insolent lean and smirk.
Or looking worried about her reaction. No way he’d have waited inside the back of the car for her to climb inside.
The driver shut the door after her, and she found a piping hot, velvety cappuccino waiting for her. Plutus was there in spirit, taking care of her. Always taking care of her, even if it’d only been one week. Now, she knew, he was looking out for his mate.
Nope. She shook her head hard to dislodge the word.
She couldn’t think on it then. She’d spent the night chewing it over, coming to the conclusion it not only felt right, but somehow made her feel better about all the luxury and care around her.
If she were his mate, it made sense he shared and protected.
It made sense for her to trust it. Made even more sense when she was honest with herself about trusting him from the jump for some reason.
A reason tied tight to the rope around her middle that tugged whenever he was near.
The mate bond. Everything seemed so much more logical, and easier to accept, with the mate info.
She just needed to swallow her pride and go talk to Plutus about it.
However, she had to work, and face Mitchel, first.
When she exited the car, the driver stopped her with a soft, “Miss?”
“Huh?”
“Whatever he did, he’s sorry.”
“He told you to say this?”
“No, but he’s a good, fair boss. I saw it this morning when he gave me your drink and told me to come get you and not worry about him.”
She nodded to him in thanks, patting him on his arm for his words. “I know. So am I. It’ll be fine.”
The man looked relieved, and she wondered why he was so invested, but didn’t dwell.
He asked if she needed a ride for lunch, but she told him no.
She’d have a new project and she’d just eat something quick from the little cafe in the museum section.
She didn’t do it often because she couldn’t always afford it.
Now she could.
Her badge wasn’t working properly. She pressed it to the little black box outside the glass door to the work area a few times, the red light flashing after every pass.
Anne strolled in and slid hers over it to let them both in.
“Tech, right?” she said with a little grin.
“Guess the database issues are now extending to security.”
“Yep. It’s why I like books so much. They’re more dependable.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Anne gave a small wave as they split apart and went to their separate workstations.
E opened her work tablet, but it didn’t take her password. She set the thing down, looking around the room to see if anyone else had issues. Everyone appeared to be starting their workday smoothly.
“Edith,” Mitchell called, his voice cold and clipped. “Problems?”
“Yeah. Um, it looks like I’m having tech issues. My badge didn’t work earlier, and now I can’t sign in to the database to get my next project.”
“You were not assigned a new project.” He didn’t even bother to look at her, instead focusing on the gleaming cufflinks in the crisp white shirt under his suit jacket.
“Why?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” he said, turning hard on his heels like a military cadet and stalking toward the door. “You may want to check your university email if you haven’t done so today.”
Dread sat heavy in her stomach as she plopped down in her chair and pulled her phone from her bag.
She clicked the email app, scrolled past the few random listserv emails, and found what Mitchel somehow knew was there: a new message from her academic advisor asking E to meet with her in her office at noon, with an assurance she did not need to go to work today.
Mitchel knew something was up, maybe even made something be up, but she couldn’t think on it too much, or she might hurl all over her workstation. That would not make her look good. She sat there, stunned, then mind racing, for a solid twenty minutes before she slipped her phone back in her bag.
“E, you okay?” Anne called from somewhere, but the voice sounded far away, like the room suddenly became cavernous. E waved her off and, head down, moved out of the workspace, out of the work wing of the museum, out of the museum, without much thought.
Ecouldn’t hide the hard jerk of her head when she walked into Dr. Hamilton’s office to find Mitchel already seated, ankle resting on his knee, a bland smile on his face.
“Edith.” He practically purred, but she ignored him and looked to her advisor, who seemed to be trying hard not to look up at her as she shuffled through papers at her desk.
“Ms. Michaels. Please, take a seat.”
She perched on the edge of the seat, gripping her bag to herself like a shield instead of setting it down beside the chair. “Why am I here?”
Dr. Hamilton sighed and finally looked up at her, her bespeckled eyes filled with enough pity to make E swallow the sudden surge of extra saliva in her mouth. “Your mentor for your required internship has brought a number of concerning accusations to me.”
“Accusations, not proof.” E wasn’t backing down in this.
“Only because you somehow manipulated the evidence,” he said back coolly, as if it didn’t matter to him. As if he wasn’t trying to ruin her career before it even started.
“There is no need for additional recriminations, sir,” her advisor said, a bite in her voice making E hope she’d take her side against the man. “However, such accusations are concerning and could cast a long shadow over our entire program, not just you, Ms. Michaels.”
The dread returned, swift and powerful. “They are still only accusations.”
“True, which is why the three of us are having a conversation instead of a meeting with the graduate director and chair of the department. Or, worse, the board overseeing academic integrity.”
E gritted her teeth. This shit was serious, and even if he didn’t have proof, just being accused in a wider forum could put a black mark on her record she might never be able to remove.
“What are the accusations?”
“That you stole books from the library and digitally erased the evidence of your theft.”
“I did not steal any books.” She spoke the truth.
The one missing book she had any knowledge of went with her willingly.
Found her, actually, because of Plutus using it previously.
Because of the fact she was Plutus’s mate.
None of this was his fault, however. It all rested on the toad with the slimy smile seated next to her.
“The latest book, if verified, would have been a particular boon for our collection. A rare find, as you well know, Dr. Hamilton, a spell book intact. Witches do not part with such history easily.” E snorted at his words.
Of course witches didn’t part with their spell books easily.
In fact, the few human museums and special collections where spell books were held acquired them through the usual human means: death and destruction for gain and conformity.
He cut eyes to her but continued his story. “One of our full-time employees was given charge of the tome then discovered it missing. An outright theft, unlike the more subtle thievery of the previous books.”
E glowered but bit back at him. “You’re certain the previous books are missing? Before, you assured everyone it was just a technical glitch in the system.”
He ignored her question and went right on with his so-called evidence. “In the following days, Edith showed to work looking like…this.” “He flung his hand in her direction.
“Excuse me?” she asked, with far more bite than she might normally show in front of an advisor and boss.
“Come, Edith. The same day the spell book went missing you asked for a raise. You said you asked the department for financial relief as well, yes?”
Dr. Hamilton nodded in confirmation before E could reply.
“Next workday, you show up with Burberry accessories, Louboutin shoes, new clothes. Suspicious to say the least.”
Dr. Hamilton also nodded, and E looked at her bug-eyed.
“You’re going to believe this asshole’s take?”
“Ms. Michaels,” her advisor snapped back, as if the most atrocious thing of the day was E cursing and raising her voice. Not that this dude was trying to drag her down.
“Whether or not you believe me, I did not take the spell book in question or any book for that matter. Also, you have zero proof I took any books. If you had any, you wouldn’t be talking to her.
You’d have called the cops.” He was the type to call the cops at the smallest thing, so he for sure would’ve had cops busting down her door if he could.
He scowled at her, and she gave him a sharp smile in return, now sure he in fact tried that move first and they told him to get lost.
Dr. Hamilton held up a hand, and looked over E as the silence stretched.
“If you assert you did not steal from the collection, and Mr. Collins has no proof, there is little I can do.” Mitchel cleared his throat, leaned forward, ready to argue, when she then stopped him with the same hand.
“However, I cannot have such accusations tarnishing the good name of this department. Therefore, here’s the compromise I propose.
Ms. Michaels, you will stop working at the museum immediately.
I’ve spoken with your committee and they all agreed to meet for your defense in two weeks.
You will present your work then, rather than at the end of July, and be evaluated accordingly.
If you pass, you will graduate in August as planned, but you will no longer be affiliated with this department in any way.
” The offer of the PhD program was off the table, then.
E didn’t care too much about that at the moment.
She was too busy internally freaking out over the fact she had only two weeks to finish something she thought she had six weeks to complete.
That’s a whole lot of work to cram into a very short time.
“I don’t see how–” Mitchel began, but Dr. Hamilton spoke over him.
“Unless you can provide actual proof of her misdeeds, sir, you have no grounds to ask for more.”
He stood and adjusted his coat in jerky movements as he sneered down at both women. “Good day,” he said to the room, stomping out in a man huff.
“Ms. Michaels,” her advisor began, her voice much softer than before now that Mitchel was gone, but it was E’s turn to halt her words with her hand.
“There is no proof.”
“No, but academia is a small world, and accusations take root quickly. They’d smear you, and by extension me, if a scandal broke.”
And there it was. Dr. Hamilton was saving herself at E’s expense.
She huffed out a laugh. “I guess I should count myself lucky you’ll let me graduate. If I can finish in time.”
“I also won’t pull my recommendation for the Ohio State job.”
“Thanks,” E said, her word dripping in sarcasm.
“This is an ugly matter, and I’m doing what seems fair.”
“Fair to you, maybe, but not fair to me. Though people like me don’t often find fairness and equity in academia, right?”
“Now, Ms. Michaels.”
E stood, ready to be out of her presence, done listening to her in any way. “Never mind. I have to go. Lots of work to do. I’ll see you in two weeks.”
She scurried out of the office and her advisor didn’t try to stop her. Her heart felt heavy, constricted, like she’d have a panic attack at any second.
She wanted Plutus.