19. Gavin
This week feels like it’s taken forever.
The dorm is tense, and everyone’s on edge. I’d love to say it’s simply because it’s Wren, but it’s more than that.
Though I’m not too proud to admit she’s most of my stress. I’ve been easily keeping myself at the top of the academic ladder since I started last year, and I just know she’s going to mess it all up.
I’m trying my best to just ignore her entire existence, but it’s nearly impossible when she’s everywhere.
Her scent lingers, and even when she isn’t physically here, Julez is more than happy to bring her up.
Titus only speaks ?German around her, and Nolan is only ever here for meals now.
This was meant to be our safe haven, a place to relax and enjoy the spots we’d worked so hard to achieve.
Last year it was, but now…
“Have you talked to your father about her yet?” I ask Nolan the second I walk through the portal and into the pool house, seeing him sitting on the side, dripping wet and probably fresh off a practice run.
“Hello to you, too, asshole,” he grumbles, pushing to stand. He shoves a hand through his dark hair to push it out of his eyes.
This room is locked up from the outside. Nolan’s father had it ‘shut down’ so that he could practice anytime and without eyes. Which is just a fancy way to say he put a closed sign on the door and told everyone that one of the pumps was broken.
That was last year, though, and how he continues to get away with that excuse is beyond me, but I couldn’t care less.
Nolan’s scales shimmer in the overhead lights as the water runs down them, and I have to look away. Not only are they blinding, but they are beautiful.
I can see why men have willingly been following the siren call for centuries, and I don’t even like guys like that.
“What do you want, Gavin?” he groans, not even attempting to hide his annoyance, his voice husky now that he’s out of water but still half-shifted.
Rude.
“Have you talked to your father about moving her yet?” I repeat, rolling my eyes because I already asked him once; he just wasn’t paying attention.
He grabs a towel and dries his hair, and I can’t look away as his scales begin to melt back into his skin, his gills receding.
Nolan’s transformation has always amazed me, as I don’t have another form. Julian and Titus do, kind of, but it isn’t like Nolan's. Their ears or eyes change, just minor parts of them, which is still cooler than being boring like me. Even Dimitri has a partial shift.
Though I guess it could be worse, I could have been born a mortal.
I might not know what my mother was, but sorcery is more than enough, and I can and will continue to grow my powers… as soon as I can get them under control.
“No.”
Wonderful, I’ve pissed him off.
“Will you be talking to him?” I push because it’s hard enough to have a conversation with him half the time as it is, but when he’s mad...
He sighs, his head falling forward, and his shoulders sagging. I almost feel bad. That is, until I remind myself that this is what’s best for all of us. We need her out so that we can relax and have our space back.
He’s feeling the pressure from his upcoming swim meet, and having her here isn’t helping. This isn’t my fault, but his father's; I’m just trying to ensure we get it fixed before it does us all in.
“I have a meeting with him in an hour.”
He stalks away into the locker room, and I let him go. I know he and his father have a pretty shitty relationship, and I hate to push him to do this, but I think he might be the only one who can.
I turn back to the ‘utility door’ and back out of the fifth bedroom to our dorm.
Julian had spelled it to hold a portal that allowed Nolan to get in more practice time, so despite there being one room left, he told us he wouldn’t fill it.
It was the dean’s way of ensuring his son continued to be the best, and so far it had worked.
Nolan’s never lost, but he isn’t the only one improving, and I fear what might happen if he lets his father down.
The guy is a top-notch asshole, maybe not as bad as my father, or so I’ve heard, but at least D and I are free from him now.
I make my way down the stairs and nearly miss being smacked in the face by one of the pillows that usually decorate the couch.
“What the fuck!” I shout, ducking out of the way just in time.
“SHHH!” Julez hisses from across the room, and I whip toward him, eyes blazing, only to find his hand out, finger pointed at something on the other side of the room, another pillow already ready in his other hand.
I know what it is even before I look, but I can’t stop myself from looking anyway.
Yet another reason she needs to go, as if she hasn’t haunted my mind enough over the last ten years. Ever since she beat me at the divisional spelling bee in fifth grade.
She’s curled up on the couch, and while I’m not the biggest guy, Nolan towers over me, but Wren makes me feel huge.
If any of us tried to lie on that couch, we would be sporting stiff necks and probably waking up on the floor.
But somehow she looks perfectly comfortable and at peace, which I didn’t realize wasn’t her normal until right this moment.
I stop dead, eyes glued to her, taking in the way her blonde hair escapes from her braid, falling over her shoulders and around her face. The soft rise and fall of her chest and the way her pink, pouty lips are slightly parted.
Damn, is she drooling on my pillow?
I’d left her a pillow and blanket the first night; despite how much I might want her gone, Dimitri would wring my neck if he knew I let her freeze.
Fuck, he’s going to be pissed when he finds out she’s on the couch too, but it’s not like I can do anything about that.
I bet I’ll never get the scent of her out of them.
I shake the thought away and turn back to Julian to find a shit-eating grin on his face, and I know he noticed my longer-than-necessary pause.
Great.
“I told her we aren’t going to tiptoe around just because she’s asleep. We have lives.”
His smile melts off his face so fast it’s almost scary.
Julez is almost always happy, but I know better than to piss him off. The fae are dangerous and powerful; even if I had control of my own powers, he’s got nearly a millennia of practice with his.
He made that portal for Nolan in less than three seconds with no questions asked, and it’s been stable ever since.
Do you know how hard that is for a sorcerer? I could practice for years, and it would still eventually become unstable, probably within a few months. And unstable portals are dangerous; anyone can hijack them, or they might send you, gods only know where…
Yeah, no thanks.
“She was out late studying, and it’s seven am. She never sleeps in, so hush before I hush you!” he hisses, and I see the spark in his eye that warns me of just how he will hush me.
No fair.
With a huff, I flip him off and head to the kitchen. He watches me go as if daring me to do something.
Believe me, I’m tempted. It’s not like I think Julian would ever really hurt me. But I’ve pushed him too far a time or two before, and well, it wasn’t exactly fun.
Instead, I grab a banana and some water and sit my ass down and eat. Titus sits across from me, munching on pancakes. There’s a nice hot stack of them in the center of the table, and they smell great, but I know Julian made them, so I won’t be touching them.
After a few minutes, I feel Julian leave, probably headed upstairs to get ready for the day, and I let out a sigh, relaxing a little bit.
“You need to stop pushing him.” Titus doesn’t even glance up as he continues eating and reading over some sheet music. He speaks in English now since the object of his loathing is currently unconscious.
I debate for a moment whether to let him know that Wren knows other languages. Well, I’m not sure about multiple languages, but at least one. It had been part of one of our advanced placement requirements: being fluent in another language.
But what are the odds that it would be German of all languages? It’s not even in the top three most commonly learned secondary languages, so he shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
“I’m not trying to push him,” I say, snagging a pancake off the stack and taking a bite of it, annoyed that it tastes so good. Why are the fae so good at cooking? “I just don’t feel the need to cater to the princess. I thought you, of all people, would understand.”
That seems to get his attention, and he finally looks up from his sheet music to glare at me.
Julian and Titus have never made sense to me; they’re just so… opposite, in literally every way.
Where Julian is sunshine and rainbows, Titus would be hurricanes and tsunamis.
Though they both have that whole scary thing pretty down pat.
I look away first, unable to hold his gaze as his usually honey-golden eyes bleed red. He knows I hate it when he does that, though; judging from his glare, I’m not sure if it’s because of me or her.
“I’m not a fan…” he grits out as if each word were carved from the depths of his soul. “But Julian is. So know that pushing her pushes him.”
I collapse back in my chair, tossing the last bite of my pancake in my mouth with a grumble.
I know he’s right, but I don’t have to like it. Actually, I really, really hate it if I’m being honest.
“What the heck does he see in her?” I glance at her where she’s still asleep. I mean, yeah, she’s pretty, I guess, but for someone like Julian…
He could have anyone he wanted in the whole school, man or woman.
Though I guess he doesn’t have the best track record, given that he and Titus have been together for nearly five years now.
Maybe he likes assholes; that would explain why he’s so drawn to her.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter why. Just stop pushing him. The last thing we need is him getting in trouble for the mortal,” he huffs before turning his eyes back to his music.
I purse my lips and look down at it to see Dvo?ák: Cello Concerto in B minor. Strange, that wasn’t what he was practicing last week.
No, this piece is much more difficult and very long.
I don’t ask, instead eating my banana and finishing off my water as my brain runs wild. Trying and failing to think of all the reasons Julian might like Wren.
The list is very small…
Unless.
“Oh shit, do you think she could be his—” I cut myself off at the last second, slapping a hand over my mouth when I realize I’ve been way too loud, way too close to her.
We both whip around to look at her, and my heart sinks into my stomach when she shifts.
Did she hear me?
Oh gods, what will I do?
How do I explain?
A million thoughts run through my head before she settles, and I sag so hard I’m face down at the table.
That was close.
“Watch what you say!” Titus growls, his voice low and full of promises of violence.
I deserve that.
“Sorry,” I mumble, not bothering to pick up my head.
I’m going to need a minute.
I have no idea what they do to those who expose us, but I don’t want to find out. It’s something that gets talked about like the boogeyman, and I’d like to keep going on with my life as if that’s only just fiction.
It’s quiet for a while, but even after that, my question still nags at me.
I lift my head to find Titus has finished his pancakes. He stacks his sheet music in a pile that he tucks under his arm before he stands, grabbing his plate to take to the sink.
“So do you?” I ask, unable to curb my curiosity despite knowing I need to mind my own damn business.
Titus freezes, his back going rigid for a moment before he sets his plate down in the sink.
For a second, I think he’s ignoring me until he sighs, and I swear I can hear the weight of it.
“I think it’s certainly possible…”
I wait, expecting more, though I’m not sure what. It’s not like there’s any explanation of destiny; it just kind of does whatever it wants.
He makes it a few steps, and I get the feeling he’s had enough of this conversation, but I just have one more question, and at this point, I might as well ask it.
“And if she is?”
He stumbles, tripping over his own feet before he catches himself and simply stands there a moment, eyes closed as if the idea physically pains him.
Mates are rare, like really rare, and even more so for the fae.
This time, he does ignore me as he leaves, walking quickly as if worried I might ask something else, and I don’t blame him. I can’t imagine the way he must feel knowing the man he loves might not be his much longer.
Yeah, suddenly his distaste for her makes a lot more sense.