25. Dimitri
Ispend my free time getting things ready for classes, lessons, and whatever else I can find to keep myself occupied.
It works until around dinnertime, at which point I’ve done literally everything I can.
I’ve gone over so many scenarios, and short of offering her my own bed, which I’m pretty sure would be a terrible idea, I don’t have a way to get her off that couch.
Well, that’s not entirely true.
I do have one possible solution, but I don’t like that any more than her being on the couch. If I’m being honest, I actually think I like it less.
Gavin had said that Julian was wrapped around her finger; I’m sure he would happily share his bed with her…
Nope.
I know Julian. The thought of him fucking her and throwing her away makes me want to punch him in the face, and he technically hasn’t even done anything yet.
I sag back in my chair and debate another cup of coffee. I’ve had four today, and while I’m not exactly tired, I am bored. Glancing at the clock, I write off the coffee when I see it’s almost seven in the evening.
If I drink another cup now, I might as well just stay here all night and work, which honestly wouldn’t sound so bad if I hadn’t accidentally passed out here the last two nights.
I head out, fighting the urge to check my old phone for the billionth time today. The volume’s on; if she ever messaged me back, I would know, and checking every five minutes is seriously depressing.
I don’t blame her, but fuck…
Making my way to my apartment, I let my mind wander to her emotions.
On the surface, she seems happy enough, but there's more, and as I dig deeper, the urge to help her and hold her only grows.
I’d never felt so utterly lost as I did when she sat panic-stricken in my office, and all I could do was talk her through it. Her hand on my chest had felt like a brand, a mark that will sit on my soul forever.
The flux in her emotions these last few weeks has been intense, but despite it all, there’s a bitter loneliness that she just can’t seem to shake. And even when she’s happy, she’s afraid.
I can’t say I blame her; she’s already lost so much. How she can still be this beautiful, caring person, despite life trying so hard to crush her, is beyond me.
What I do know is that she deserves better than my asshole brother and his friends treating her like shit.
I unlock the door and flick on the lights before locking it behind me and heading into the kitchen.
I could have grabbed something from the faculty lounge or even the cafeteria, but I’d been so lost in Wren’s emotions that it hadn’t even occurred to me. Instead, I move to the fridge and hope there’s something to get me through the night.
I’d really rather not go back out.
What I need to do is go shopping.
The lounge means dealing with other faculty, and the cafeteria means dealing with students. One would think the students would be worse, but honestly, they’re both pretty bad, and at least with the cafeteria, I might get to see Wren.
My mind does a wonderful job of picturing her with Julian, or worse, sitting alone and sad.
I’m not sure I’m strong enough to resist the pull to her.
It’s hard enough already.
No, I just need to hit the store this week, pick up some simple meals, and stick to myself, the way I always have.
Thankfully, I still have pizza in the fridge from yesterday, and that will have to do. Skipping the stove, I toss it in the microwave and eat it on my way up to my room. The house is quiet, the way it always is, and where I once reveled in it, I now find I kind of hate it.
I’d wanted to be free of my father, to ensure my brother was safe, but being alone wasn’t part of the plan. With Gavin in the dorm, what else was I to do?
Pulling off my clothes, I grab a quick shower and brush my hair out before brushing my teeth, pulling on boxers, and falling into bed.
Five years ago, it was hard to imagine a life where I was free from my father and wasn’t in jail.
He wouldn’t have cared either way, but I knew I was Gavin’s only hope. I had to get him out, give him a real shot at life.
I’d almost thrown it all away for Wren once; I’d been so tempted that night we met. But Gavin needed me, and it was my job to keep him safe. I was the only one who could, something I knew she would have understood with a brother of her own.
But what about now?
Gavin’s free, and here at the academy, my father can’t touch him.
He’s in control of his future the same way I am.
Is she worth risking it all, after everything I’ve worked toward all these years?
I lay back on the bed, my head on the pillow, as I let my eyes fall closed. I see her in my mind, feel her emotions as if they’re my own, and I know that some of that hurt she carries is because of me.
Yeah, she’s worth it.
Monday and Friday’s classes quickly become my favorite, the time between them feeling like an eternity as I try to find ways to see her more often.
I could have her come to my office on Tuesday or Thursday for a second weekly check-in, but honestly, I’m already pushing it with once a week.
Saturdays give us an unrestricted amount of time because those aren’t my actual office hours, but the days in between drag.
It took everything in me to bite my tongue when Julian came in with his arm wrapped around her on one of her earlier days. Of course, he noticed my annoyance because nothing gets past his senses, and now he thinks it’s a game.
One I’m going to lose if he keeps it up.
His arm on her shoulder was bad, but today he’d pulled her close, his arm around her waist as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and fuck me if she didn’t turn the most beautiful shade of red before she ducked her head and all but ran for her seat.
Worse, I feel her embarrassment and nerves, no doubt from him doing that so publicly, but beneath that, there's desire and something more blooming deep down that I’m not even sure she’s aware of yet.
It makes me want to punch him, and judging by the smug smile on his face, he’s well aware of what he’s doing, but I’m not the only one who took notice.
Gavin looks pissed, which doesn’t surprise me in the least, but Felix…
Well, the fact that he’s paying attention at all is strange, though I have no idea if he’s upset or just curious; his face is just as cold and impassive as always.
Though the fact that he’s even here is strange, not that anyone who doesn’t know what to look for would know that with him hidden in his shadows.
“If you're not in this class, you need to leave,” I say the moment the bell rings, earning a glare from Julian before his lips turn up in the shit-eating grin I’ve known for years now.
Technically speaking, Julian is much older than most of us because Fae have such long lifespans. Having grown up in the fae realm, he aged slowly, so while he’s about four hundred, he looks the part of a nineteen-year-old.
He fucking acts like it too.
“Whatever you say, D-man.” He backs out of the door with a salute, letting the door fall closed before I feel his magic fill the air.
He’s strong; his parents are both full-blood Seelie Court members, a rarity, and one their families were all too happy to arrange when it came time for them to get married.
Julian is the pinnacle of a golden child, except for his grades in his actual classes. Getting that boy to pay attention is like trying to teach a dog to write his name.
Mortals would simply get the chills as his magic shifts around them, their bodies unable to process it the way the rest of us with magical stores do.
For the rest of us, it’s like a shot of espresso; his power tops off our own for a momentary buzz, and given this is a mostly magical class, I now have a bunch of buzzing students.
Asshole.
The only person who doesn’t so much as blink is Wren. Not to his magic or the fucking nickname, thankfully.
I wonder if that has something to do with her being a dud, and I make a note to look into that more.
I don’t care what she is; I just want her to be mine.
Moving ?around my desk, I go to the board to start my lecture, sending off a text with my back to them.
Give me a chance, please?
I hear her phone vibrate as I continue writing topics on the board, and I have to resist the urge to turn and see her face as she reads the text.
It’s not necessary, though, not when I feel her emotions as if they’re my own.
Her annoyance, sadness, hurt, and longing before it all disappears as she pushes her emotions aside, no doubt to focus on class.
Fuck.
I tuck the phone into my pocket, not wanting to look at the pitiful slew of messages I’ve sent over the last few weeks, all with no reply.
I know I can fix this; I just need her to let me in, to give me another chance.
When I turn to face the class and see her beautiful blues looking back at me, I know I need to get close to her, even if only as her professor for now.
Maybe if I can get her to trust me enough to open up about her problems, she will mention us, and I can push her back to me or even confess.
What could go wrong?
I make it through class, giving them their individual projects to start on as I make my way around to see if everyone has got the gist of the assignment. I only make it to three tables before I’m stopped.
“Mr. Adler!” Rose leans over her desk, purposefully pushing her chest up as if that might entice me.
It’s almost worth losing my job to tell her that desperation doesn’t look good on anyone, but then again, I’ve got a new reason to keep it now.
So instead of telling her what I really think, I bite back my annoyance and waste the next twenty minutes answering her stupid fake questions while she bats her eyes and tries to speak in a sultry husk that makes it sound like she’s a pack-a-day smoker.
I step back when she reaches out, attempting to run a finger down my arm.
“If you have any more questions, you can email me. I need to check on the rest of the class.” I walk away before she can reply, but I know she’s pouting; it’s what she does.
She’s so used to getting what she wants, no matter what it is. Like Julian, she’s important since she’s the first succubus to have the ability to fully shift in about one hundred years.
Most of the big families are looking to marry their sons to her, some even their daughters, and Rose lives for the attention.
She also lives to have everything she wants, which is why she’s so set on thinking she can have me. Her daddy sure tried, and had I still been under my father's thumb, I’m sure I’d be stuck with her. As if I needed another reason to be happy we left.
I move through the room and can hardly bite back the smile that pulls at my lips when not one other student stops me.
“Any questions?” I ask, stopping beside Wren.
I’m not the least bit surprised that she already seems to be flying through the assignment, but when she doesn’t seem to hear me, I can’t bring myself to walk away.
“Wren,” I say, clearing my throat, and feel bad when she flinches.
How am I so bad at this?
She looks up at me in question but doesn’t speak, and I repeat myself.
“Any questions?”
“No.”
She turns back to her laptop and notes, and I’m forced to walk back toward the front of the class despite the way the bond begs me to go back to her, to complete it and make what we have more than just emotional.
I hope to someday, for sure, but to go from no idea there's anything beyond mortals to mated to a super… well, that might be pushing it even more than my disappearing act.
The bell rings not long after, and while everyone else is in a hurry to pack up again, it’s almost as if Wren exists in her own world, oblivious.
I’m about to call her name when Gavin stands, making his way toward my desk, and I remember we’re supposed to go shopping today for some stuff for the dorm and my apartment.
Crap.
I see the second he notices her, his face scrunching up in annoyance, his jaw clenched as he stops dead.
“What’s she still doing here?” he snaps, his voice far too loud in the now mostly quiet room as the last of my other students trickle out.
That gets her attention, though I’m not sure if it’s the volume of his voice or just him. I have to imagine she’s used to his attitude by now, despite how much she doesn’t deserve one bit of it.
I’ll have to talk to him while we're out. I’d thought he would get over this one-sided grudge against her, be the bigger man, and all that.
“It’s her class, asshole,” Julian snaps from the door, and we all turn to see him standing in the doorway. The magic that wafts into the room lets me know just how he got here, and the look on his face tells me this is normal for Gavin.
Great, definitely not the bigger man then.
“Julez.” There’s no mistaking the relief in her voice when she says his name or the fact that she’s using his nickname.
Fuck, so maybe his little display wasn’t just a way for him to poke at me.
Not that I care, and he can’t really say much either, considering him and Titus.
It’s fine; her having Julian is good; she needs someone in her corner.
I try to convince myself, and while I know that’s true, I can’t say I love it.
“Let’s go, Pookie.” Julian nods toward the door, and she’s up and moving so fast I nearly growl.
Wren’s nearly out the door when she pauses for a moment, looking back at me over her shoulder.
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Adler,” she says before Julian whisks her away, and I’m left with my asshole little brother glaring at me.
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Adler.” He mocks her in a stupid, high-pitched voice that sounds nothing like her, and this time, I do growl.
Gavin cocks a brow at me but keeps his mouth shut.
“Grow up,” I snap as I grab my keys and head out. He can follow or stay here, for all I care.