Jace
He had never expected to be grateful for Ray, but he was now. As they walked to the dorms, dozens of students and several teachers expressed how relieved they were that the boys were safe. Most of them mentioned what they had witnessed of the near-catastrophe.
Opposite of him, the students were more relaxed and animated by the minute. They seemed to have bounced back from the terror quickly. All of them were currently focused on the impressive power displays by Carl Washington and Clarke on their behalf.
But those efforts shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place. Everyone in that classroom had been in considerable peril. His mate, and every underage student, could have been killed, or at least sustained serious wounds from this attack.
Killing Mitch would ensure the safety of Clarke and all the boys. The wolverine didn’t understand the concept of laws, and gathering evidence of a crime.
A battle of wills ensued, man versus wolverine. Jace had never felt such a division between himself and his animal side. They had always been two parts of a whole.
Now, his primitive instincts were opposed to human rationality. The thought of solving this with violence was disturbingly tempting. But, he couldn’t succumb to it.
Even if he wouldn’t end up in prison over it, and he would, shifting to his wolverine and attacking Mitch would traumatize the boys further. They needed his moral support, not his protective fury.
Ray picked up the slack as they walked, chatting with the boys to provide a sense of normalcy. He thanked the older students and professors who approached them for their concern. There was tension beneath his amiability, but that was logical.
The caster sent a couple of worried glances in Jace’s direction, but it was subtle enough that the kids probably didn’t notice. He engaged Jace in conversation on neutral, surface topics. Ray’s chatter helped Jace stay in control, and seemed deliberate. Thus his gratitude to the caster monitor.
By the time they reached the greenspace behind the dorms, Jace’s wolverine had stopped pushing for murder. He wasn’t precisely calm, but willing to listen to human logic.
Jace won the internal argument by reminding his wolverine that Mitch was probably not the only threat on campus. He would be unable to protect Clarke from prison if he was arrested for killing Mitch. Without him, Clarke would be alone in her search for Charlie.
Ray summoned a few frisbees from the caster dorm, and told the boys to relax. At a request from Liam, a game of checkers floated toward them, and landed on one of the stone tables. Once the kids were engaged in activities, he turned to Jace.
“Are you good, now, or do you need a minute?” Ray asked quietly.
“I wouldn’t say good, but I’m better,” Jace replied. “Thanks.”
Ray shrugged. “One of my best friends is a shifter. His animal is extremely protective, especially of children. These students may be nearing adulthood, but they have no control over their powers and animals. They were defenseless today. I saw you struggling, and knew your wolverine had to be losing it.”
That was surprisingly sensitive of Ray, but they hadn’t spoken to each other often about anything that wasn’t strictly work-related.
“Hey, that’s cheating!” One of the boys shouted with laughter in his voice.
Jace looked in that direction, seeing that Marcel had shifted to his mountain lion, and caught the frisbee in his teeth. Seeing the kids happy and goofing off settled Jace further. They were safe.
“The fact that Carlos is in the infirmary has to make it harder to calm your wolverine,” Ray said, continuing the previous conversation. “You’ll be able to relax when he and Clark join us later, and you can see that they are fine. In the meantime, if you need a distraction, say the word.”
“I appreciate it,” Jace said honestly, but with a baffled look at the caster monitor.
“What?” Ray asked. He wasn’t belligerent about it, only sounding curious.
“It’s just weird,” Jace said. “You and me, seeming to have the same goals, getting along, having a pleasant conversation. Good, weird instead of bad weird, but weird.”
Ray sighed at that, looking sheepish. “I thought Mitch and I were friends. Being the newest monitors with a lot to live up to, was one of several things we had in common. I felt like an outsider here until he was hired. We got along right away. The first drill this year was humiliating, because I didn’t wake up immediately to the siren.
Mitch had been ranting that Dean Stanhope favored Clark for the teaching position because they both have physical powers.
I made the mistake of assuming that he had facts, or some kind of evidence, to support that theory.
“When the dean commended Clark, I thought Mitch might be right to feel that way. But, I allowed my embarrassment over being outperformed by a brand-new hire and my friendship with Mitch, to cloud my judgment. I’m not proud of that.”
Jace nodded as he thought about it. “You were supporting your friend, and not looking any deeper than that, taking his word for the truth,” he said.
“I’ve never seen Dean Stanhope discriminate against anyone for any reason.
He doesn’t favor a particular classification.
You may not know this, but Clarke has a master’s degree, and is working on his doctorate.
He was a substitute teacher at high schools near his home town for years before applying for this position. That is why he got the job.”
Jace still had to concentrate, and be careful to refer to Clarke as he and him in conversation. He was getting used to it, but it didn’t come naturally. A slip of the tongue would be disastrous.
Ray cocked his head, and nodded thoughtfully before speaking, “And Mitch has a bachelor’s degree with one year of teaching experience. Naturally, he never admitted to that, or probably even bothered to ask.
“Within a couple of weeks after the start of term, I realized that Mitch has a persecution complex with no basis in reality. I couldn’t condone his senseless vendetta against Clark Voudrie.
“Several of the older students have classes with elementals. Some of them are good friends. They are really worried about what is going on in the elemental dorm. The conversations I overheard on that subject were sobering, and made me confront some ugly facts about both Mitch and myself.
“I’m not an ambitious guy, or as good at this job as you and Clark.
That is no one’s fault but mine, though.
I had backed the wrong horse, and mistreated someone who didn’t deserve my anger.
My disgust with myself and worry about the elementals had me so preoccupied that I forgot about the football game.
Most people would have left me to sink after being such an ass, but Clark invited the boys to ride on the bus without attitude. ”
“We did it for the kids, but I see where you’re coming from,” Jace said.
“Because your priorities are where they should be,” Ray said.
“Clark could have been snide. I would have deserved that, but he wasn’t.
Mitch, however, called ranting that the boys betrayed him by leaving with you.
I had already decided to sever ties with him as much as possible.
Mitch has gone off the deep end. When I said I was meeting all of you at the game, and didn’t want to be late, Mitch started screaming that I would be dead to him if I went to the game. ”
Ray spoke calmly, but it was clear that he had been very unsettled by the verbal altercation. Mitch had completely lost touch with reality.
“That’s disturbing, and worse than I thought,” Jace said.
“It was unnerving,” Ray admitted. “I hung up mid-tirade. He sounded completely insane.”
“You know that Mitch is probably the one that attacked the classroom, with his own students inside,” Jace said.
“Yeah, I thought so as well when the boys described what happened. This couldn’t have been an accident. I don’t know who else it could possibly be,” Ray agreed. “Obviously, I never really knew him.”
“People tend to hide stuff, and present what they want others to see. You saw what Mitch showed you, not the complete picture. All we can do is move forward,” Jace said. “You realized that you made a mistake, and were man enough to admit it.”
Jace doubted that he would ever consider Ray a buddy, but the caster did seem to be speaking honestly. He wasn’t the most motivated monitor, and as such, it made sense that Ray would have felt a sense of solidarity with Mitch, who had also been scolded.
Ray had been good with all the kids Friday night, and the young casters seemed to like him. That spoke in his favor.
“When I went to invite the elemental kids to the game, Mitch was combative, and the mood in the common room was like a funeral parlor,” Jace said. “He tried to stop the boys from leaving.”
“I figured as much, the way Mitch was screaming at me over the phone,” Ray said.
“Heath Halston walked with me to the stadium, and I told him everything that was going on,” Jace said. “He suggested that I report what I witnessed to Abner Livingston, and I did. I think you should do the same with Armando Garcia.”
“I wasn’t sure what to do, or if Garcia would take me seriously, since most of what I know is hearsay,” Ray mentioned. “But I agree that it’s necessary, especially in light of today’s events.”
“Make it clear that you disagree with Mitch, and that the safety of the students is your priority,” Jace suggested. “As far as I am aware, everyone considers you and Mitch to be allies. Taking a stand against him is the right thing to do, and will change how they perceive you.”
Ray listened, and nodded thoughtfully. “Ugh. I can’t say that I like the idea of admitting my failures and idiocy, but you’re right that it needs to be done. I’ll send a message requesting a meeting with Professor Garcia later today.”
Jace offered to order pizza, and quizzed the boys on preferred toppings. He texted Clarke to get her and Carlos’s order. Ray said he would handle the beverages.