Chapter 26 #2
For that split second, I felt happy that someone at Thales was including me.
I should know by now not to expect any of the students to include me, but hope is a strange emotion.
No matter how many times you get kicked while you’re down, hope motivates you to believe in a better, different, outcome.
I don’t want to lose hope, but I seriously need to work on not being so disappointed when the result is always the same.
Bugby caws, drawing me back to problems I can fix—getting out of here. The front door is open, suggesting they’re all home, but I know only to trust myself. And right now, my internal alarms are going crazy.
I attempt to walk through the doorway with my arms up and out, in case the wards are back. The electric shock and the shrill of the alarm confirm they are, and I jump backward to break the connection. “Assholes.”
I shake my arm out to get rid of the residual buzz I got from the spell.
Interestingly, there’s a lack of purple energy anywhere, which makes me think Emrys wasn’t involved in setting this trap.
I take a step back and notice one of my smaller boxes of belongings is on the porch with a scribbled note on top.
I read it and crumple it up into a ball before throwing it against the spelled doorway as I yell into the house. “You shithead. Don’t you dare touch my things or ask Rodderick to drop them off! I will come and collect my boxes if you’re too chickenshit to bring them.”
The ball of paper hits the spelled area, sounding the alarm again, before it sails straight through, landing inside Cane’s clean house.
I hope they’re in there, trying to relax, getting pissed every time the alarm sounds because that’s twice now it’s gone off. That thought has me racing down the stairs, back into the forest where hundreds of pinecones litter the floor, but I only grab what I can carry.
I throw cone after cone into Cane’s house. The mess they make as they break apart, as well as the near-constant shrill of the alarm, brings me so much peace.
With a skip in my step, I pick up my box, stash my latest finds near the bottom of it, and start the walk back to my dorm.
I’m so relieved I’m returning to my room and will be able to see Orion again, yet the thought of going back to my room and it being empty of all my belongings makes me queasy.
Perhaps because I’m still hyped on my badassery, a very simple plan of getting my belongings back formulates.
I take no time at all to type the message to Professor Cane, and after rereading it a few times, I hit send.
I probably didn’t need to include Master Maddern in the email.
I suspect Cane truly believes he’s accountable to no one, but regardless, I want a paper trail, just in case something happens to me or my belongings.
There’s excitement in the air, and a lot more students are outside, enjoying their freedom.
I let myself get swept up in the enthusiasm tearing through Thales instead of moping about.
Turning onto the path down to Nomina House, the noise drops off considerably, but it doesn’t mean the students in my dorm aren’t celebrating.
All the windows on the floors above mine are open, music blares from a portable speaker, and for the first time since I arrived, I get to see how many Noms are students at the academy.
“May-May!” a familiar voice calls out, and Orion, always the scene stealer, splits away from a group he’s talking with to sprint over.
“You look better,” I call out while also placing my box down and stepping away from it.
The surrounding chatter dies down to an awkward quiet as other Noms watch. Orion ignores them and catches me in his arms, making me jump up and down. His enthusiasm is infectious, and I can’t help but laugh with him.
“Get me away from them. Being sick is one thing, being in lockdown with them nearly pushed me over the edge.” He sets me back down but doesn’t let me go as he walks closer to them.
Considering it’s the first time I’ve had a hug or any kind of nice physical contact, I sink into his side as he turns us to face the crowd. “Maya’s spending the day with me, in my room, without you all bitching. We’re going to put her stuff away, then going to have dinner. Bye.”
“Excuse me.” I jab my finger into his side, trying to shut him up. There are way too many eyes watching, and not everyone holds the same enthusiasm Orion does.
“What? I don’t need their permission for you to be up on my floor.
Despite what some of them believe.” He keeps his arm around my shoulder as he leans down to pick up my box, but because he’s so tall and I am not, he nearly knocks me off my feet.
“Did you shrink yourself, or did someone get you with a spell, shorty?”
He gets another jab to his ribs for being rude, making him belt out a laugh. It’s loud, nearly loud enough to hide the poorly concealed disapproval coming from our fellow Noms.
Orion drops his arm when he comes to the door, waving me in before him. “So, you have about a hundred or so things to tell me.”
I throw my hands up, embracing the theatrics like he does. “Right?!”
Bugby chooses that moment to join us. The flap of his large wings echoing through the foyer of Nomina House makes Orion duck down defensively.
“Luna’s tits, what the hell? Watch out, Maya!”
I giggle under my breath, stepping out of the way so Bugby can fly straight up to my floor while also fueling the fire, pretending I’m worried too. Orion snatches my hand, then turns and starts creeping slowly back the way he came.
“I think that’s a pterodactyl, it’s freaking huge. We need to run,” he says quietly, barely moving a muscle.
Orion keeps his focus locked on Bugby, who’s peering down at us. Tension rolls off Orion, and he squeezes my hand in warning before he pulls me backward.
I follow him until I can’t contain my giggles anymore. “For the record, Bugby would probably peck your eyes out for calling him a dinosaur.”
Orion freezes, then spins around and bends down lower so we’re eye to eye. His lips are mashed together, and one of his eyebrows is sky-high, making me snort like a pig. He tuts and doesn’t get out of my face, letting me see the twinkle in his eye. “What in the bloody moons did you do, May-May?”
I feign innocence before giving him a playful shove out of my way and racing up the stairs. It’s like a starter’s gun, and Orion’s earlier trepidation toward Bugby attacking him is replaced by competitiveness.
Orion and I bounce off each other and the walls as we tear up the stairs, trying to slow each other down. The world flashes past us until we both pull on the brakes and finally take notice of what has been done.
“What the literal fuck?” Orion growls, sounding the most inhuman I’ve heard him.
Shock steals nearly everything from me. I move on autopilot back to the landing, so I can take in the entire scene.
Not one surface has been spared. Every wall and door is marked with a message or threat.
“Go back to where you came from” and “No one wants you here” are repeated the most, but there are other threats that are too horrible to repeat.
I mean, I already knew a lot of the students and the faculty didn’t like me, but to see it scrawled so many times, and on every surface, is like a punch to the throat.
If their intention was to induce as much fear as possible, they certainly delivered. I rub a hand over my chest, trying to ease some of the anxiety bruising my insides, but the damage is done.
Orion appears in front of me, blocking the vile messages.
His hands wrap around my face, forcing me to focus on him.
He drops his forehead to mine and holds me so tight, he stops me from falling apart.
“I’m so sorry, Maya. These assholes are not worthy of you.
Let’s figure out who did this shit so we can get their asses expelled. ”
I lean into his friendship and stop fighting back the tears.
I’m destroyed by the damn cruelty of these beings.
At the same time, my tears are a symptom of the buildup of emotional pressure more than the pain they’ve inflicted.
As fast as my meltdown came, it fades replaced by something more significant—determination.
“They really suck, don’t they?” I ask, pushing out of his hug.
I use the bottom of my T-shirt to wipe my face before taking a big, noisy inhale, and blowing out the rest of the shock.
Orion’s eyes search my face, his hands still stretched out, ready to catch me again.
“I’m not sure I can stay here,” I admit.
He grins like I’m only just catching on to something he’s already decided. “No question about it, we’re roomies now. You want to top and tail with me?”
“No chance,” I say, shaking my head. His face drops. “I need lots of hugs tonight. I’ll be the little spoon.”
He’s back to smiling again now that he’s heard me out. “Big spoon, it is.”
I’m so left of center, though, my moods flipping every which way. A sudden thought hits, and before I can catch myself, he sees it. Orion stares at me, waiting for an explanation.
“I just thought, what if you had already planned for someone else to come over, you know? I’m basically forcing myself on you after you’ve been locked in your room for so long.”
He loses his usual vivaciousness, replacing it with steely resolve. “First up, you’re adorable. Second, even if I had arranged a hook up, you’d still be my priority. Okay?”
My eyes get watery again, only because I get overwhelmed by Orion’s friendship. In such a short amount of time, he’s firmly entrenched himself as one of my favorite beings, ever.
He rolls his eyes. “I’m seriously offended you’re only now realizing how phenomenal I am.”
I go in for another cuddle but twist at the last minute and wipe my wet cheeks and nose all over his T-shirt.
“Maya! That is not how we show love!” he grumbles, but he laughs as I pull him back in for a proper hug.
“You seriously are amazing, Orion. Thank you for being my friend.”