I took my time in the shower and thought about the day before.
A dead body.
A weird conversation where adults hadn’t seemed overly concerned about who’d made the body dead.
And Oanen.
He’d managed to weird me out again. After Eliana had ditched me in the living room to warm my breakfast, Oanen had sat next to me on the couch and watched TV. Simple. No big deal. Except he’d put his arm behind me on the back of the couch. Still not that big of a deal. Until I’d felt his fingers on the back of my neck again. The soft stroke, up and down, had spread a tingle of something racing under my skin.
I’d bolted. Me. I didn’t bolt. I decked people.
I groaned and stuck my face in the spray of hot water, wishing I didn’t have to go to the Academy. The idea of skipping Monday check-in bounced around in my head until I remembered how Trammer had come for me the last time. If I wanted to avoid a ride in his dead-body car, I needed to go with Eliana.
Turning off the water, I mentally prepared myself for another Monday.
By the time Eliana pulled up in front of the house, I’d talked myself up enough to greet her with an enthusiastic smile.
“Hey, Megan,” she said when I got in. “You look much better than yesterday. Headache gone?”
I only felt a tiny bit of guilt that I’d lied about having a headache to get her and Oanen to leave.
“Yep. All better.” I leaned forward and eyed the skies. “No Oanen?”
She shook her head slightly. “He’s running late, but he’ll be there.”
I settled back in my seat as she took off and debated asking her about him. He was like her brother. Did that make him a closed topic?
“Can I ask you about Oanen?”
“Sure. But you better make it quick. I’m not sure how long it’ll be before he catches up.”
“Does he have a girlfriend?”
Instead of the yes I was hoping for, she let out a crazed shriek that nearly gave me a heart attack.
“Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I was right. I mean, I saw you checking him out that first day we rode together, but I wasn’t sure if it was check-checking him out. He’s going to go crazy when—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Timeout. I wasn’t asking because I’m interested.”
“Right.” She drew out the word in obvious disbelief. “I’m a succubus. I know you’re interested every time I get a whiff of your l-lust when you look at him.”
I ignored her stumble on the word and her beginning blush.
“What? No way.”
Her peal of laughter filled the car.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” I said quickly, denying the possibility of me with Oanen. “It’s like window shopping. I might like looking, but I have no intention to buy.”
“Too bad,” she said. “Because I’m pretty sure he has his eye on you. And he really wants to buy.”
“I’m not for sale. Ever. We talked about this. I have way too many issues to be someone’s other half. I’m barely my own half. I just need to know what to do.”
“Do? What do you mean? Did something happen?”
A distant cry cut through the air.
“Never mind,” I said quickly.
She said no more but grinned the entire way to school.
As usual, our flying escort zoomed ahead as soon as we reached the gates.
“Can you let me off at the front?” I asked her.
She did as I requested, and I quickly closed the door on her knowing smile. Once again, Adira waited for me in the main lobby.
“Good morning, Megan.”
“Morning.”
I followed her to her office, took my seat, and released a slow, calming breath, relieved that I’d managed to escape face to face time with Oanen.
“Is everything all right?” Adira asked.
“Yeah. Sure. I mean, except for finding that body over the weekend, everything’s great.” I might have been more convincing if I’d managed something other than a sarcastic tone.
“Yes. The body. A man named Jesse who was into human trafficking. Would you like to talk about him?”
“Not really. He was a scumbag. That much was clear when he detailed how he wanted to rape Eliana then sell her. I can’t say I’m overly bothered that he’s dead. I am bothered by how none of you seem too concerned about who did it, though.”
She smiled slightly. “Good. That should bother you. I’d like to change things up for you, Megan. I think you’re ready, and very able, to start attending sessions daily.”
Disbelief coursed through me.
“What?” I fisted my hands, already knowing how this would end for me. “I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.”
“Whenever you start feeling angry, I want you to let me know who triggered your anger.”
“Before or after I beat them bloody? I mean, that’s why I’m in Uttira, right? Because I don’t have much control over my temper. Because I want to hurt everyone and everything ninety-eight percent of the time. Adira, I don’t have many people in my life the way it is. The few friends I have managed to make, despite my amazing personality, are going to bail when I start getting into fight after fight.”
“You’re not among humans anymore. You might be surprised by how your friends here react when you do fight. However, I encourage you to come to me before you beat someone bloody. If you can manage.”
I sat back in my chair and considered what she was asking of me. Try to control my temper? My gut reaction demanded that I laugh in her face. But I couldn’t because, as Oanen had pointed out, I had managed to control my temper with Jesse. However, I’d had Eliana right there. It wouldn’t be that way here, though. I doubted Adira would be too impressed with my efforts on my own. I’d probably get into so many fights that she’d kick me out of school. Maybe even Uttira. Two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have cared. Now, though, I had a friend. Maybe more than one if I counted Fenris and Oanen. Although I did want to be able to leave town, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be banished from it or whatever their punishment would be.
“What happens when I fight here?” I asked.
“You will not be expelled if that is your hope. If it proves too much for you on your own, I will assign someone to stay with you at all times while you’re at the Academy. I believe Oanen is already in most of your classes.”
The idea of Oanen with me every minute of the day made my insides go funny.
“No, I think I can manage on my own with minimal carnage.”
“Good.” She stood, and I knew we were done.
Leaving the room, I wandered toward the main halls, lost in thought. Although I had issues here, they were far less than at a human school. I’d get small flashes of irritation, but not full bursts of my true temper. Unless Aubrey was around.
“Hey, Megan,” Eliana said when I reached the main hall. She straightened from the spot where she had been leaning against the wall.
“How’d it go?” We started toward our first session together.
“Okay, I guess. Adira wants me to start attending daily.”
Eliana’s face lit up with excitement.
“That’s great. I can pick you up and drop you off every day. There’s this new show I’ve been dying to watch but not alone.”
I grinned knowing where this was headed.
“Yes, you can hang out with me after school.”
Her smile widened, showing perfect, white teeth.
Further down the hall, a voice rose above the rest and ignited my temper. As my steps faltered, the back of Eliana’s hand touched mine. The contact was enough to calm the heat of my anger so I didn’t charge forward.
“I don’t care what you need to do, just keep her away,” Aubrey seethed, glaring at Oanen who didn’t look the least bit upset.
“I didn’t do it, you know,” Fenris said softly beside me, making me jump.
“What?” I turned my head to meet his earnest brown gaze.
“Kill that guy. I couldn’t care less what everyone else thinks, but I want you both to know I didn’t do it.”
For whatever reason, I believed him.
“Okay,” I said.
“Good.” He gave me his best boyish smile. “You still owe me a spaghetti dinner. What about this Wednesday?”
I glanced at Aubrey, who still spoke in a barely hushed, vehement tone to Oanen.
“I don’t know, Fenris. Aubrey already has it out for me the way it is.”
“That’s exactly why you’re going to say yes.”
I sighed and playfully grinned back at Fenris.
“I’ll see you Wednesday at five.”
The bell rang, and Eliana and I headed to our first session.
As the minutes dragged into hours, I couldn’t say I looked forward to a whole week of Academy time. Sure, I liked hanging out with Eliana, but as Adira had pointed out, the rest of my sessions were with Oanen.
When I saw him after the first session, he didn’t ask about my headache and acted completely normal. He quietly sat beside me in class; and in the hallways, he kept me from losing my cool whenever my temper spiked. I only had to report to Adira twice that day for two separate girls. I didn’t bother going to her every time Aubrey set me off, though.
By the end of the day, I was more than ready to escape and beat Eliana to her car by less than a minute.
“How’d you do after lunch?” she asked, backing out of her spot.
“Not too bad. Thanks for making me something, by the way. It was way better than having to wait in line. I’ll need to remember to pack a lunch tomorrow.”
“I didn’t do it; Oanen did. He thought you might want to avoid the crowd in the cafeteria. What’s up with you and Fenris? I thought that was just a friend thing.”
“It is.”
“I don’t know. Remember what I said about sensing emotions? There’s a whole heck of a lot of lust coming off of him. Although, to be fair, he’s always sending off waves of the stuff.”
“He knows where I stand. I can’t do relationships. I’d be bad for any boyfriend’s health.”
Overhead, a griffin cried out, reminding me our conversation wasn’t exactly private. Neither Eliana nor I said anything else the rest of the way home.
“I don’t understand why Adira and the Quills are forcing it so hard,” Eliana said, gripping the steering wheel tightly in frustration. “I proved that I could feed. Why can’t that be enough?”
“I think they’re afraid that if you get hungry enough with a ready, willing food source nearby, you’ll snap.”
“I haven’t snapped on you.”
“That’s because you’re not pulling lust or passion from me. I’m the wrong food group.”
She sighed and shook her head.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“You have time. You said it yourself. Adira’s telling you now so you can wrap your head around it. The end of term is a long way off, and you get a break before the new term and your deadline. Plenty of time.”
“What about you and Fenris? Ready for tonight?”
“There’s nothing to be ready for.”
She snorted.
“Every time he’s near you, he’s sending off waves of sexual energy. I’m betting he’s going to make a move tonight.”
This time I snorted.
“I’m betting he shows up at school with a black eye tomorrow, then.”
She laughed and parked in front of the house.
“We can watch a few episodes of our show before I have to start dinner,” I said.
She killed the engine and came inside to keep me company until four. Granted, she teased me the entire time and bailed as soon as I pulled out the pot to start browning the meat.
“Good luck,” she said, giving me a tight hug.
“Don’t need it. I don’t plan on doing anything you wouldn’t do.”
She laughed and left me to get dinner ready on my own.
I only enjoyed about thirty minutes of quiet before Fenris knocked on the front door. Since I was in the middle of draining noodles, I just called for him to come in.
“It smells amazing in here,” he said, walking into the kitchen.
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure how much to make and think I overdid it. Hope you’re hungry.”
“Starving.” The husky note in his voice was the only warning I had before his arms wrapped around me, and he hugged me tightly from behind. His hands didn’t grip anywhere inappropriate. In fact, other than his arms, and his nose sniffing in my hair, he didn’t touch me. Still…
“Er, Fenris? This doesn’t feel like just friends.”
“Sorry.” He pulled away. “I was just really looking forward to this.”
I put the noodles in a bowl and drizzled them with oil before setting the dish on the table.
“I bet you were. More Aubrey avoidance time?”
He gave me a sheepish smile.
“Something like that.”
“Well, sit down. I think I have everything just about ready.”
After his hug, I thought things might get awkward. Instead, dinner progressed in a relaxing stream of conversation. I learned a bit more about the Council’s weak investigation into the body I’d found, and Fenris got to hear all about the shows Eliana and I were watching because I didn’t have much of a life beyond that. He didn’t seem to mind, though. He listened attentively and asked questions as if he was actually interested.
It didn’t seem like an hour had passed until he sighed and looked at the clock.
“I better get going.”
“An hour is all she gives you?”
He chuckled. “If I’m lucky. Hopefully, she’ll leave you alone. It helped that Oanen was here last time she showed up.”
I said nothing as I walked him to the door. He surprised me again with a tight hug and his face buried in my hair.
“Thank you, Megan. This meant more than you know.”
He turned and left before I could respond. Watching him get into his junkie car, I hoped that this dinner with him didn’t mean more than I wanted it to.
“So,” Eliana said when I got in the car, “how was dinner?”
“Nice.”
“Well? Was I right? Did he try to put any moves on you?”
“I don’t think so. He hugged me when he got there and hugged me goodbye, but I think it was mostly just friendly. I don’t hug many werewolves so I’m not sure. He sniffed my hair.”
She snorted a laugh.
“Are you serious? That’s funny stuff.”
“It was a little weird; but other than that, he was a gentleman. It doesn’t sound like his father is any closer to ferreting out who might have killed Jesse. All the adults are accounted for, and none of the underage wolves had left the barrier that night, not even with adult supervision.”
“Honestly, I don’t think the Council’s too worried about it,” Eliana said. “They sent a few guardians to affirm the guy’s disappearance wouldn’t be questioned. I guess he was into bad enough stuff that no one will really care if he just goes missing. And because of what he meant to do here, he apparently had been pretty quiet about where he was going when anyone last saw him.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that no one seems to care that there’s a human-eating creature here?”
She laughed.
“The gods made us all differently. Some feed off of humans without killing them, like I do. Or like I would do if I wasn’t so hung up on feeding. Some creatures, like Oanen, are just here to protect. And some others? Well, they like flesh. They have found ways to satisfy their hunger for it without killing every human they come into contact with. It was hard for me to come to terms with all the different ways we use humans. Obviously, I’m still hung up on a few. But, I keep reminding myself, no matter how one of us feeds, we all still need to eat. It’s not any of our faults we were made the way we were.”
“So you’re okay with the occasional dead body?”
“If it’s humans like Jesse? Yes. His death prevents the death of innocent humans.”
She had a point.
When we got to school, Oanen was waiting in the parking lot. His steady gaze swept over me and settled on the bag I clutched in my hands. On Tuesday, he’d packed another lunch for me. I had assured him he didn’t need to keep making meals for me, and even though his expression hadn’t changed at the time, I’d felt that telling him so had somehow disappointed him. Now, I felt the same thing as he stared at the bag hiding my leftover spaghetti and garlic bread.
“I can smell it!” Aubrey screeched.
I looked to where Fenris and Aubrey stood near their car. He had her arm firmly clasped in his hand to keep her from running this way.
“Calm down,” he said.
“You said you had spaghetti at home. Why do I smell it here?”
Something tugged the bag from my fingers. I turned my head forward again and blinked at the up-close view of Oanen’s snuggly fitted shirt. He didn’t say anything as he looked down at me and slipped a paper lunch bag into my hand.
My pulse increased the longer he stood so close. I opened my mouth to ask what he was doing, but the moment his gaze dipped to my lips, I forgot what I meant to say.
“I should have known it was you,” Aubrey said from behind me.
Oanen broke his gaze away first and looked at Aubrey. I turned, ready to confront her, but Oanen quickly anchored me to his side by the weight of his arm settling over my shoulder. My confiscated lunch dangled against my arm.
“Morning, Aubrey,” Oanen said.
Her gaze shifted to the bag that hung from his fingers to the brown paper bag that I clutched in my hands. Oanen had once again covered for Fenris. Or maybe me. I still wasn’t sure who he was actually helping.
“Hey, Oanen,” Fenris said. “I forgot to ask. You guys going to be at the Roost on Friday?”
“Of course,” Oanen said.
Fenris looked at me and Eliana for confirmation, too.
“Sure,” Eliana said.
Aubrey glared at me. I grinned.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” I said.
