Compounding Traumas (Artemis University Book 6), стр. 42
To which Geiger messaged me and asked if I wanted to spend my entire inheritance on their billable hours. I had laughed. I had more than enough new income from those inheritances, not to mention the interest on all the money sitting in banks, to afford them for whatever I needed.
I simply replied asking why I didn’t get a bulk discount yet, or at least like frequent flyer miles, like credit cards gave. He wasn’t amused.
Mel had found it hilarious, and I had a feeling Claudia did as well, but wouldn’t ever admit that since Geiger was her boss.
People were abuzz about the new addendums to the student agreements, several shooting me dirty looks as if knowing who was behind it all. I wouldn’t even deny it, but it was disgusting that it wasn’t already a thing at the schools. Humans had integrity all the time without needing fairies to make them do what they should. I refused to accept this bullshit it was all because fairies were gone.
It was corruption and laziness that no one pushed back and demanded better from their society. They were such children, they needed fairies to tell them how to behave and live?
Fine, this fairy would.
We had just sat down with our trays when someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned to see Darby laying down two massive yellow roses next to me on the table. They were astoundingly beautiful, and I knew they had to have been made by his magic. I swallowed loudly, and then again, when I met his gaze, my heart fluttering at how handsome he was.
I wasn’t sure what I might even have said, but he simply smiled and dipped his head to Izzy in greeting before walking away. Wow, so he wasn’t pushing or being over-the-top, simply apologizing now that he could. I mean, he said he wrote letters, but it was hard to get them to me when he hadn’t know the address or no one would bring them. I had blocked him on my phone.
So he really hadn’t had a way to apologize or talk to me.
I was still staring at the roses when another throat cleared. I prayed it wasn’t Craftsman, not able to handle him anytime soon, even if I’d have to. Relief filled me when I saw it was Dean White, until I saw she wasn’t happy.
I couldn’t keep the sigh in, and I saw mirth dancing in her eyes at least. “Good morning, Dean White. What can I do for you?”
“I need to ask you a few questions about a situation I’ve been apprised of,” she answered. “Well, it was demanded of me to question you and make sure you weren’t lying.”
“Sorry you were put in the middle of whatever nonsense is going on now, but I’ll answer what I can without my lawyer.”
Her lips twitched, seeming relieved I immediately went there. “There have been reports of hobgoblins being abducted from their homes. Have you abducted any hobgoblins recently?”
I snorted. “No, no, I have not.” That was true. I didn’t abduct them. I didn’t even carry them off or extract them. I opened a portal, and they went through all on their own, not even knowing who had done it.
“Do you know anything about it?” she pushed.
“I heard from Keya that dozens of hobgoblins arrived at the main estate of HAVEN, asking for sanctuary as they were being held elsewhere against their will.”
She nodded. “I need to verify where you were the past two days.”
“What time exactly?”
“They’re unsure, but they think about one in the afternoon, our time.”
“Yesterday, she was training in the rec center then,” Ray told her, carrying a tray and walking with Zack. “I was right outside the entire time. She was in there for a couple of hours.”
“The day before, she was at lunch with Mel, Izzy, and I,” Zack added.
Izzy nodded to confirm it. “And then we were ordering stuff in our room until we all went to grab dinner.”
Dean White nodded she heard them. “Have you used the portal in the student union or faculty lounge since you’ve been back?”
“I have not,” I confirmed.
“Wonderful. Thank you for answering. I will report back my findings clearing you.”
“I’m disappointed that’s all you’re doing, Professor White,” Blake interjected from a few tables over. “It’s not like Vale hasn’t stolen hobgoblins before.”
I’d picked up on a few things about how supes did ranks and subtle slights. I wasn’t sure if it was how humans did it at the college level, but it did get confusing. On my first year schedule, White was listed as Professor White, as she was my teacher. However, she was a dean, so unless she was acting in her capacity as a professor, we really should address her with her higher title.
So Blake was actually slighting her by calling her Professor White right then.
Bitch.
I stood so I could see them both. “You cannot steal a person, Blake. The hobgoblins are free people, and I’ve helped them escape people who forget that—including your family.”
She blinked at me as if I was speaking another language. “They’re hobgoblins. You stole our servants.”
I fisted my hands and tried to reign in my anger. “Liluth is a person who was basically your family’s business manager and now runs the co-op. How you can—”
“Oh please, they’re fair folk,” she drawled. “You cannot equate them to the rest of us.” She rolled her eyes when several people gasped. “We all know it, but most try to be polite and placate them.”
“No, Blake, most aren’t fucking racist like you,” I sneered. I threw back my head and laughed at what I heard in her mind. “You’re just fucking jealous they’re more magically gifted than