Page 16 of Class Studies
Professor Garnet clenched his fists and frowned at me. “Your time in here this morning is up, as is this conversation.”
I shook my head, my eyebrows pinched. “Please….”
He signed and unclenched his fists. “I will look, but only if you promise me you will not take apart your socket.”
I looked at the floor. I couldn’t promise him. “I’ll try everything else first.”
“If you can’t promise me, at least promise me you won’t leave me out,” the professor’s raw voice came from right next to me as his shoes appeared in my view.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t want to get you into trouble.”
Professor Garnet cupped my cheek, and I looked up at his concerned expression. He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders. After a heartbeat, I molded myself to his side.
“Stop worrying about me.” His stern expression left no room for argument. “If dissecting your socket is your only option.” He squeezed me to him. “Just promise you’ll come to me. That sort of experimentation is so new.” The corners of his mouth pinched. “There are places where magical tech is legally being explored. We can figure this out together.”
I frowned. “Legally, so, MA controlled?”
He walked toward the door, pulling me with him whether I wanted to or not.
“No,” he said firmly. “The MA’s not the government. They’re the branch enforcing the laws we live by.”
My eyebrows furrowed. Before we left the Nest, he pulled me back to his chest and wrapped me in a hug. “Please, don’t do anything stupid. I’ll find out what I can. I’ve checked out The Nest for us every morning. Focus on your scales and get in touch with who you are. Your master didn’t make you.” He ran his hand across my stomach and cupped my socket. “This doesn’t make your magic special.”
I leaned back, glad he couldn’t see my skeptical expression. Just because he didn’t want the two to be related didn’t mean they weren’t.
Technology might not be what made my magic, but my socket worked flawlessly. Ashe said he spent a lot of his time cleaning up after the disasters experimentation left in their wake. Professor Garnet’s reaction confirmed how volatile the combination usually was. I needed to know what made me different. It was the only way I could reverse the damage I’d caused.
Despite my early exit from The Nest, Saffron stood at the base of the stairs. A breakfast burrito stuffed with bacon and cheese, by its smell, waited in his hand.
“Learn anything?” Saffron asked.
I took the burrito and peered at his frowning face, trying to decide if the question was rhetorical or if the good professor had already passed on my plan and was using Saffron to try and distract me.
“The length of Professor Garnet’s tongue,” I answered, giving him a cheeky smile.
Saffron looked up at The Nest. A few students near us made shushing noises. I held back a giggle and waltzed out of the library.
Chapter 4
I finished my burrito while Saffron and I meandered toward my first class. Not knowing where to start with my socket, I pushed aside my new idea. Instead, I focused on the Greek God next to me.
My uncompleted transfer strained, but I held my lust in check. I did this to myself by transferring into the professor. Saffron didn’t deserve to be used, and I refused to manipulate him again.
The Greek God focused on a random point before him as we walked. I had no doubt his situation with his father’s company and the loss of his lineage contract with Mercedes weighed on his mind.
“I don’t know if I can help, but if there’s anything I can do,” I said to Saffron as we paused in front of my history classroom.
Saffron scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I made this mess. My Golem’s brilliant, if morally questionable.”
I blinked, obviously not having any idea what was on his mind.
“I shouldn’t have dumped all your magic into him.” Saffron scowled. “And walked him back to his locker in front of half the student body. Anyone in advanced runes could work out, at least in part, what my intentions were.” He sighed. “It only added fuel to whoever started the rumors about me.”
I squeezed his arm. “It’s not your fault, and, ah, I was actually asking about your other problem.”
Saffron’s scowl deepened. “I can handle my family and Mercy, especially if I admit I was wrong.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I strung Mercy along to keep my family happy and assure my aptitude. Both are blown to hell now. My fight with Cozbi….” He groaned. “I’m sure, tanked anything left. I can’t imagine that will be my last altercation, either.”
My heart wrenched. When this mess started, Saffron planned on us getting together. I don’t know exactly how that would’ve worked, but he assumed he’d still have friends and could protect us. Now, all he had was the do-over of our tenuous friendship.