Compounding Traumas (Artemis University Book 6), стр. 52

14

We must have dozed because a knock at the door had us both sitting up fast and blinking around. He reached for his glasses and put them on before giving me a quick kiss and rolling to his feet.

I wiped my eyes and glanced at the clock, knowing I had to be somewhere soon.

Darby opened the door to reveal Lucca carrying a huge box. They shared a surprised look, and then Darby stepped back to let him in, closing the door behind him so no one walking by would be part of this.

“Hey, hi, so um, you guys…” Lucca trailed off, glancing between us.

Darby was perfect and looked to me as if saying the answer was mine to give or not.

It made me smile. “We’re back together. Slowly.” It was my turn to shoot a glance at Darby. “Um, boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“Damn right we are, agra.”

Good.

“Cool, good,” Lucca said, sounding like he truly meant it, but felt awkward walking into something. Or simply awkward and not knowing what to do after what had happened between us. “Well, I didn’t mean to intrude, and I can come back.”

Darby glanced at the clock. “No, I need to handle some things, and lunch is soon.” He frowned. “But you have something to do. I didn’t mean for us to nap, though clearly we needed it.”

Lucca looked at the clock too, and understanding filled his eyes as he smirked. “How are you doing it? Do you need cover? I can pick you up from your class or whatever and give you cover.”

I gave him my most innocent look. “What are you talking about? I’m not doing anything I would need cover for.”

Lucca threw back his head and let out a full laugh. “Tamsin, I’m sure there’s at least a dozen things you’re up to that you could use cover for.”

“At least,” Darby agreed, sounding just as amused. “Let us help and update our tats to cover the whole topic.”

After thinking back to what the queens and Mrs. Von Thann had said the other day, I caved. Good people wanted to help, but didn’t always know how. “Yeah, okay, if you’re sure.”

“I am,” they said together.

I was already wearing what I needed, but I must have slid off my shoes while laying with Darby, so I put them back on before going to my closet. I felt the energy in the room change and spun on them. “You are not coming with. I can do tons you cannot. Accept that and you would be a liability.”

“We would,” Darby sighed. “Though, I do have a suggestion.” He waited until I nodded. “You kept getting back out of the estates and then opening a portal. You’re defaulting to that after years of thinking you were human and doing your activities. Go in because you don’t know the landscape and specific wall or who’s around, but after you open a portal for the hobgoblins—”

“Open one for myself right there,” I groaned, feeling like a moron. But then I didn’t. “Yeah, that helps, but most times I’ve been meeting up with the fae dogs or hitting two places. Still, I can let them know that I’ll get out that way and change the plans so they don’t worry. Thanks.”

“Anything to keep you safe.”

That earned him a quick kiss to his cheek before I opened a portal to where I was going and rescued the hobgoblins. At first, I had thought to do more on the weekends, but there were more people around then. And it screamed the person doing it had stuff going on during the weekdays when they might have eyes on them.

Like being at college. Sure, that would also be most adults at their jobs, but it would narrow down the suspect pool, and I wanted it as big as possible given most would already point all their fingers at me. If they were smart at least.

“How many did you get?” Lucca asked excitedly when I arrived back.

“I didn’t count,” I admitted with a shrug. “It was a big room, and they were packed in there like sardines. Four dozen at least.”

“Wait, they were all in one room?” Darby asked, not hiding his horror.

I nodded. “These aren’t nice people. They won’t let their slaves go, Darby. Most of the conditions I’m finding are worse than I treat the fae dogs. And I only keep them in the garage because they set themselves on fire. But lots of the hobgoblins are on nothing but old yoga mats for beds with junk whatever leftover stuff.”

“Wow,” Lucca whispered. “As horrible as my father is, even he immediately had two bathrooms converted to facilitate them when they came to work for us. A few bedrooms too. He offered more but—”

“They prefer that closeness,” I defended, nodding that I knew. “I’ve actually spoken with the hobgoblins who lived with you.” I cleared my throat. “They wanted to speak with me on your behalf and tell me how wonderful you were. I wasn’t open to hearing it, but they did tell me that, even with as many issues as I have with your dad, he was always, always respectful and kind to them.”

Lucca sighed. “He was, but he is still racist because he doesn’t see fair folk as equals, but more like dependents or child-like beings that simply have magic that needed to be managed.”

“They said that too,” I confessed. “But they said it wasn’t out of malice, simply he couldn’t understand and hadn’t spent much time in Faerie to know how things truly were.” My lips twitched. “And he was deficient in the brain and incapable of the higher reasoning to learn enough to evolve.”

Lucca’s laugh echoed through my room again, Darby even joining