Page 106 of Class Studies
I pulled on my braid and looked at the floor.
Ashe mumbled something else, and Beryl barked out a laugh.
My earlier confidence drained out of my shoulders. They were probably laughing at me. I’d no clue what I was doing. I unfolded my legs and jumped down, wobbling slightly. “We can’t do anything about Tederwinkle. He’s here doing whatever he’s doing, and, ah, I'll focus on what I do.”
Tanwyn gave me an encouraging nod. “Which is?”
I bobbed my head. He and the professor already knew. They spent the afternoon taking turns with me in the Nest, which sounded way hotter than it actually was. Tanwyn wanted me to share the theory we’d come up with. “My magic’s unique, which we already knew.” I wrinkled my nose. “After the last five exciting hours scouring the restricted section—I’ll arrogantly say my magic’s an embodiment of infinity.” My heart beat faster. “It’s some sort of neutral power related to the universe's origin.”
I ran my hands down my braid. None of this changed who I was, but it made me question my past. Which always led me to Damon and what he stole from me. “Tanwyn’s thinks one of my parents is a natural mage, and the other is a creature like one of his summons.” I tapped my forearm. “They respond to my magic when I touch his tattoos.” I looked at Ashe, cocking my head to the side. “That matches my DNA test, right?”
Ashe flushed. “You’ve got a shit ton on your plate, Kitten. Officer Keres didn’t want you to fucking freak out.”
I flattened my lips and waited.
Ashe tugged on his beard. “Your DNA wasn’t fully human.”
I didn’t have the energy to be mad at him. Instead, I nodded and looked at all my guys again. “One of my parents was born of pure power floating around the edge of reality.” I giggled darkly. “Because that’s a thing which can have a baby with a mage.”
My insides twisted. How had a pairing like that come about? Was I a child of love so deep it crossed species or something much darker?
Unaware of my inner conflict, Beryl and Professor Garnet chuckled while Ashe and Saffron shifted uncomfortably. A dopy smile lightened Tanwyn’s dark features. He traced Yordle on his forearm and looked at me like no one else existed. My lips twitched into a smile of my own, and I looked down at my skin, remembering the rainbows reflecting off my crystal scales.
My past didn’t matter. I loved my mages and my magic so full of color.
A light bulb flickered to life above my head. “I don’t need Abe’s test.”
Tanwyn blinked. “What?”
I rubbed my hands in front of me. “Right, so, the meeting's done? We’re joining team five, still sticking together in the halls. The Tederwinkle situation is watching and waiting. And I’m some weird magic person hybrid.”
I clapped, mimicking Professor Garnet, to adjourn our meeting and rushed the few steps to my workstation, ideas for runes already running through my head.
“Aphy, we still need to figure out our sleeping situation,” Saffron said.
“Ah.” I flipped to an email to write a list of supplies. “It’s been working as we have it, right? Maybe get another bed or two. Students aren’t harassing Wyn, right?”
An awkward silence descended behind me. I shifted uncomfortably, not liking the weird energy in my tower but unsure what caused it. Instead of dwelling, I focused on what I did understand. I stuck my magic inside people, and it mixed with their very essence. I’d been an idiot trying to modify Abe’s work. The magic powering a potion was a single piece of what made up a mage. I didn’t need to look at the slice. I needed to look at the person and their spectrum.
Focused on my work, the soft talking and opening and closing of my tower door didn’t fully register in my mind. I typed my final item for Abe into the email and excitedly pressed send.
“Ashe,” I called out.
When he didn’t answer, I turned to find my tower empty except for Vac, napping in front of the door. I took a frustrated breath.
Despite the late hour, I confidently walked to Abe’s office with Vac on my heels and knocked.
Abe cracked it open before raising an eyebrow. “I assumed one of your boyfriends would be picking this up, not you.”
I frowned. “We had a team meeting, and they left when it was over.”
“Hm.” She closed the door and returned with a cardboard box, placing it in my arms. She leaned against her door frame. “Trouble in paradise?”
My heart skipped a beat. “No?”
Abe snorted. “Then why are you picking up your own supplies?” She waved her hand at me. “Men are sensitive creatures with fragile egos. Not that I care.”
I waited for her to give me an ultimatum or blackmail me for more of my beads of will, but she didn’t add anything else. I leaned toward her. The stick-thin, wrinkled woman never looked healthy, but deep bags hung under her eyes tonight. Her usual well-kept hair stuck out at odd angles as if she’d been pulling on it. The fluffy material of her dress, wait, was she wearing a bathrobe?