Chapter 16 #3
The constant back-to-back speeches left little time for chitchat, and the group started to get antsy. It was a far more formal event than any had previously attended. Hopefully, they’d survive long enough to slip out unnoticed later in the evening.
Kraken’s guild master made his way up to the stage, an older man who practically competed with Wadsworth on seniority. After prattling on about himself and the founding of Kraken, he invited Enchanter Ortiz up to the stage.
“It’s nice to take a moment and congratulate those who not only protect this city but work to make Kraken a stronger guild,” Ortiz said. “I’d like to give a huge shoutout to my interns. In years past, I’ve had some real duds.”
He did not just say that. This fucking guy.
“Most of these academy kids have no idea what they’re doing.”
Seriously? It was like he had a whole speech on the incompetence of education, while refusing to admit his narcissistic mentoring style fundamentally failed his former charges.
“But I have to say, Yaritza Vargas, Jamius Watson, and Melanie Dawson are true shining stars.” Ortiz beamed with pride, unleashing a fiery celebration to draw everyone’s eyes to his interns sitting at a nearby table.
The three of them clammed up momentarily, then soaked in the attention and applause.
“Kraken is fortunate to be blessed by such skilled interns,” Ortiz continued. “Not only are we honored to help them grow into successful graduates, but we of Kraken would like to extend a formal invitation to all three as acolytes next year.”
Wow. That was a hell of an offer. Ortiz was an obnoxious tool, but he did work at one of the top ten guilds in the state. For each of them to receive this opportunity was massive. Even if they ended up applying elsewhere, they could land competitive offers from another guild.
While interns weren’t officially offered salaries, some were given stipends in the form of food and housing, scholarship programs for colleges, and honorary bonuses, which were basically a yearly paycheck in the form of some grandstanding unofficial pay.
“I hope you’ll all take a moment to congratulate each of my interns later this evening,” Ortiz continued before turning the speech onto himself.
He rambled on about his selflessness a bit longer than necessary.
That wasn’t just my thinking, but the combined thoughts of several in attendance.
When he did finally move his speech back to my students, he discussed their combined efforts in helping bring down one of the greatest threats this city had ever seen.
I rolled my eyes. Winston Cobalt was certainly dangerous and a member of the notorious Celestial Coven.
That said, independently, I wouldn’t consider the witch that big of a threat.
Still, I silently joined in on the applause offered to Yaritza, Jamius, and Melanie as they were praised for their valiant efforts.
The day dragged, and even my telepathy was worn out as the moonlight fought against the bright city lights. A breeze trailed alongside Carter as he flew through the streets, allowing the current to lighten the trip.
It turned out that working under Gladiatrix involved a lot more than PR stunts.
His muscles were jelly, making it difficult for him to channel both his levitation and telekinesis roots at the same time in order to fly.
Still, his heart fluttered, and he pushed himself to reach the Cerberus facility before their evening closing.
Well, technically, the guild was 24/7 to ensure optimal proficiency and clientele satisfaction, but the official hours of operation went from seven to eight.
Aside from the skeleton crew working overnight, the last of the staff exited the building.
Among those final members was Guild Master Campbell, who hopped into the back of a town car and went home.
Her assistants and interns were quick to follow now that the building had been closed for the evening.
Jennifer split off from the rest of the girls, unable to handle the conflicting emotions much longer.
Despite the frustration chiseling away at her spirits, her eyes lit up when Carter delicately landed in front of her with his hands tucked behind his back.
He looked quite awkward with a gym bag slung over his shoulder and against his hip, while keeping his arms behind himself.
“Date night,” she said with a small sigh. “Which I am super excited for. Don’t let my face fool you.”
“Of course not, Emo Queen.”
Jennifer tsked, playfully shoving Carter’s shoulder. Playing into the push, he backstepped dramatically and flailed one of his arms at Jennifer. She was so caught up in his theatrics, she reached out and, instead of grabbing ahold of him, she was left holding the bouquet of black roses.
“Ooooooh.” Jennifer sniffed the wicked flowers. “So sweet.”
“Well, if you’re looking for something sweet…” Carter revealed an oddly shaped box in his other hand.
Oh, Christ. It was a coffin-shaped box of chocolates.
Jennifer squealed, delighted by the gesture.
She opened the coffin lid and basked in the sight of all the skull head chocolates.
Quite a disturbing display. Some had red jam smeared over them for a bloody surprise.
Some had what I could only guess was lemon jelly meant to represent pus or something equally gross.
There were also spiders and fingers and bats with floppy wings in this ghoulish box of chocolates. The most unsightly part was watching Jennifer pop three pieces in her mouth at once, devouring them.
“Sorry,” she said with a mouthful. “Missed lunch and my break and still somehow didn’t come close to finishing my assignments today.”
“No worries,” Carter said with a grin. “Busy, busy, busy learning how to run this city.”
Jennifer rolled her eyes, then popped a skull in her mouth. When she bit down, for the briefest of seconds, she envisioned Layla’s head cracking beneath her teeth. It was of little comfort, but the gooey insides sent a rush through her.
“More like learning how to tolerate those who will be,” Jennifer said, struggling to keep up with the other interns. “Want a piece?”
Carter shook his head, then opened his gym bag, revealing a smoothie of some type.
“Just gonna have this to load up for tonight.”
“Uh, do you want to reschedule?” Jennifer asked, finding the grueling workload of their internships coupled with actual class work exhausting, since she wanted to finish strong academically.
Unlike most students, Jennifer planned on attending college while working at a guild as an intern.
It wasn’t that guild witches avoided higher education; it was more like we streamlined coursework with online degrees.
The added education made it easier to negotiate salaries when getting bumped up from an acolyte to a paid enchanter.
Still, my administrative casting degree—basically a glorified diploma in magic comprehension—didn’t do me much good when I left the guild life.
Alas, it was the most popular degree for guild witches to obtain.
It had a straightforward pathway, it was offered online by nearly every college program in the state, and guilds came to expect it since it provided fundamental applications for casework.
All the same, Jennifer wanted more. She had an interest in engineering, and if she wanted to balance the two goals, that meant she had to put in more studying in her third year than nearly all her peers.
A lot of them focused on lighter coursework to make room for their heavy internship obligations. Not Jennifer, though.
“I don’t mind rescheduling,” Jennifer said, adding a twinge of guilt because part of her wanted to go study. But another part of her never wanted to open a book again.
“No, because if we reschedule, then we’ll keep pushing back date night,” Carter replied. “I was thinking a light stroll through the park, catch up, and then part ways.”
“So I can study, and you can do your evening trainings?”
“Precisely.” Carter smiled.