Page 27

Verity

“ Y ou what ?” I shrieked at my brother Hale. All the happiness I’d felt from trying fish-shaped waffles with different fillings at the bakery I’d gone to with Jonas evaporated.

My younger brother had done some bizarre shit in his life.

Nothing topped this.

“Your car was old. You live in New York City. You don’t need one.” Hale shrugged, as he stood there, unrepentant.

My younger brother was my height, but had a more traditional alpha build. Like usual, he wore too-tight jeans and cowboy boots. He had Mom’s long, luscious brown locks, tanned skin, and nose, along with Dad’s face and blue eyes.

Right now, those eyes blinked at me as if he’d done nothing wrong.

“It’s not that old,” I fired back, well aware that despite the cold, we weren’t the only people in the greenhouse area and attracting stares.

The fact that people watched me didn’t temper my anger.

“That was my car. Mine. That I bought with my own money and lent to you.” I threw the lily bulb in my hand at his chest.

“Ow.” Hurt crossed his face as saltiness tinged his fruity scent, which always reminded me of pluots and honey.

Dare chuckled, wearing his usual heavy eyeliner and all-black, including his BosTec Orchestra hoodie. “Wow. I didn’t realize your voice could still reach that pitch.”

Picking up another, I threw it at Dare. “You knew and didn’t tell me. Hale, you’re not supposed to street race anymore. While I can get another car, we can’t get another you.”

I threw another bulb at Hale for his stupidity. Bulbs he and Dare cheerfully dug up from several of the gardens on the Marquess and Briar campuses, carefully labeled and boxed, and brought on the train instead of in my car.

“Verity, it’s okay, whatever it is,” Mercy said, coming outside with a tray of coffee cups from the shop at the campus center.

“No, it’s not,” Jonas said from where he mixed potting soil for me.

We worked at the outdoor tables next to my greenhouse–soil, pots, equipment, and plant bulbs everywhere. The greenhouse manager had brought in heat lamps, which helped with the chill.

“He wrecked my car street racing, ” I shrieked, throwing another bulb. “Then, took the insurance money, bought a motorcycle, and wrecked it. All this happened before Christmas, and he didn’t tell me. ”

I threw several others in rapid succession, taking care to make sure they were all from the same box, so the strains didn’t get mixed up. How did he even get the insurance money? It was my car. What was I still even paying insurance on?

“You promised not to wreck it. You promised.” I threw another. “Street racing! Last time you did that, you nearly died.”

I did one nice thing for Hale, and this was what I got?

Mercy gave him a hard stare that was a dead ringer for Mom’s angry look, her plum scent spicy with anger. “You’re shitting my dick. You did what now?”

“Ow. You throw hard,” he pouted. “Why are you so mad? You just said you could get another car.”

“Yeah, not what she said,” Jonas replied. “What is your plan to replace it?”

Hale looked like a trapped animal. “Do you know how much a car like that costs? Given the university shut down my side business, I can barely pay my rent, even with my jobs. There’s no way I can buy you a car. I bought the motorcycle so I could get to work. I didn’t crash it while racing.”

“No, just jumping cars,” Dare tattled, sorting through the plants my sister had sent from her backyard.

“Dare.” Hale looked hurt. He didn’t mean to be as reckless as a kappa, but he was. Our little brother Pax was proof the chaos gene didn’t come from Mom, but Dad.

Dare’s dirty hands went up. “I don’t want Ver pissed at me.”

“You sure as shit don’t. She does a fuckton for all of us, and this is what you do?” Mercy put the coffee down on the table where the box of pastries sat.

“Your side business? You aren’t supposed to do that anymore. Hale, you could get arrested for that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“What’s his side business?” Jonas gave him a look.

Dare shrugged. “He’s an organic chemist. What do you think it is?”

He’d manufactured a drug that tested like a legal recreational substance but acted like something stronger. Mom had been so proud of the formula that she’d looked the other way with the understanding that if the university–or police–caught him, she wouldn’t protect him.

Though after Mom had gone to jail the other parents had asked him to stop–and he’d agreed.

So I’d thought.

Hale rolled his blue eyes. “Technically, it’s not illegal because it’s too new. But yeah, the university was butthurt.”

Mercy punched Hale in the arm. “You ding-dong. I should drink your coffee.”

Dare scurried over and got his and took a gulp. “Thank you for getting us coffee, Mercy.”

“Verity paid for it.” She scowled. “I was going to learn to drive on that car, Hale.”

“It’s okay.” Jonas held me tight. “Mercy, we got you some fish-shaped waffles. They’re in the bag on the table. They don’t get any.”

“I… I didn’t mean to. Being an adult is a shit show. I didn’t realize how much everyone else did for me until I was alone, and no one was there to do all the things.” Hale’s voice broke.

“Same,” Dare sighed. “There are things I now have to do that I didn’t even know needed to be done.”

“Why are you upsetti?” Dean barreled in with Grif and AJ.

“Hale wrecked her car.” Mercy punched Hale again. “He’s also been street racing and dealing drugs.”

“Ow, Mercy.” Hale sighed and rubbed his arm. “Hey, I never realized how much things like rent and bills cost. Sometimes I give Mom money so she can buy things in jail.”

Oh. I didn’t know he gave her money. Visiting, but not money. Mercy did, but not much or often. Usually for holidays.

“You could have told me when you saw me at Christmas,” I fired back, as Dean took me from Jonas and hugged me tight.

Hale’s head hung. “I know. Dare told me to.”

“Wait, you deal drugs, jumped a car with your motorcycle, and you street race?” Jonas frowned.

“The jump was sick. Let me show you the video.” He got out his phone, then froze. “Um…”

This was my life. Hale came out of the womb causing trouble. Like somehow newborn him caused a power outage in the hospital nursery.

“Want me to have security escort them out?” Saphira asked, in her lab coat, coming out of her greenhouse from checking on her flowers. “Hale, that’s some dumb ass shit, even for you. And I was there for all seven times you blew up or set fire to the lab at Briar, and when you fell through the roof, and fell off the roof.”

“Greenhouse roofs don’t count.” Hale shrugged.

“Don’t wreck my greenhouse. They just fixed it,” I growled, so angry and upset my stomach hurt.

“I… I’m sorry, Ver. I dug up all the plants and boxed and labeled them like you asked. It was hard work with the cold ground. I started setting your greenhouse up for you, because I know how you like it,” Hale pleaded.

Which he had–and planted ordinary lily bulbs that I’d bought, in their place on campus. All my bulbs on campus had been planted as part of various annual campus beautification projects.

Okay, and a senior prank.

Though he’d dug up the bulbs in the garden behind the house of the university president, which I’d asked him to leave.

I sighed as I kicked the ground. “You can stay. Unless the greenhouse manager kicks you out. How long are you two here for?”

“We’ll head out to Boston on one of the late ultra-bullets. It’s shitty that someone destroyed your research, and it’s shitty your place flooded and ruined all your shit.” Dare sipped his coffee.

“Why don’t we get some work done?” Mercy directed. “Lunch is courtesy of Verity’s expiring dining dollars. But if everyone works hard, I’ll take you to Tito’s for dinner.”

“Ooh, I like that place.” Dare nodded.

“Tito’s is open?” Jonas asked, drinking his coffee.

She nodded. “Yeah. Gwenifer’s working tonight, and I want to tip her massively. She’s worried about making rent because she couldn’t work during the storm. Her boyfriend was stuck on the West Coast with his university hockey team so he couldn’t work either.”

“That sounds stressful. I appreciate you bringing me the bulbs. Hale, I won’t demand you buy me a car, but I’m very disappointed that you couldn’t be honest with me,” I told them.

Hale ducked his head as his cowboy boots kicked air. “Sorry, Ver.”

“Good. Now, let’s get to work.” I gave everyone jobs, needing to focus before I smacked my brother into the next state.

Jonas snagged my waist. “Are you sure you’re okay? AJ brought the SUV. I can dump their asses at the train station.”

“It’s fine.” I rubbed my temple. “The parents told me I’d regret lending him my car.”

We set up all the tables and containers. Hooked the systems back up. Figured out which bulbs got replanted. It was hard, dirty work, which the cold didn’t help with.

“Lunch.” Dare came out of the lab. He and Mercy had gone to get food.

“Thanks.” I finished potting my bulb. I went over to one of the outdoor sinks and washed my hands.

“Professor Thorne?” a male voice said.

“Hi, Angel.” I turned around and saw my student from last semester.

“Um, can you go easy on Samantha? She’s a good person.” Angel wore a hoodie, shorts, sunglasses, and flip-flops.

Good people didn’t wreck someone’s life’s work.

I sighed as I dried my hands. “It’s not up to me. There was a lot of damage.”

“She, um, didn’t do it because she hated you. Sure, she sort of talked shit online, but it’s her whole social media persona, not who she truly is.” He shuffled his feet.

“Please tell me she didn’t do it for likes?” Though there hadn’t been a video of it.

“Someone offered her money to do it. She took it to help pay her tuition, not realizing how bad it was. Then they ghosted her, and she never got paid. She got caught. They said she wouldn’t get caught.” Angel frowned.

I paused. “Someone was going to pay her? Do you know who?”

“She doesn’t even know who they actually are. Anyhow, she’s really sorry.” His head bowed. “One poor decision and everything she’s worked for…”

That was how bad decisions went.

“I’m so sorry for everything she went through, but like I said, it’s university property. However, if she can figure out who it was, that could help,” I told him.

“Oh, it could? Thanks, Prof.” With a wave, Angel walked off.

I entered the lab and found everyone in the lounge eating an assortment of food.

“Is everything okay?” Grif put his arms around me.

“Someone paid the girl who wrecked my greenhouse. Well, she was supposed to be paid,” I said, leaning into him. His scent got sweeter with every day.

“Shit.” Grif squeezed me. “Do we know who?”

“No. It could be anyone.” I sighed and sat down and grabbed a sandwich. “Thanks again for everyone’s help.” We were nearly done.

“My money is on Derva. Bitch.” Mercy made a face.

“Mine’s on Fuckboy Freddie the asshole,” Dare added.

“Wait, those two are around? Fuck-a-doodle.” Hale made a face and then stuffed half a sandwich in his face.

“And together.” Mercy rolled her eyes.

“Fuck, that sounds toxic.” Hale downed most of his drink.

Dean looked at his phone. “We’re invited to a taco eating contest this afternoon at Taco Hut. Ladybug’s bringing her cat? ”

I looked at the picture of the fluff of orange and white fur. If it had black stripes, I’d think it was a baby tiger. “Are we sure that’s a house cat?”

“You can’t actually be sure with Ladybug,” Dean replied. “She’s always bringing stray animals to the rink. That’s how Nia got Pupper.”

“And there was the racoon in a bucket,” Jonas added.

“She found Marty in a tree on campus as the storm was hitting. It’s been only the two of them throughout the storm. He’s so cute. I met him yesterday at the rink when we were cleaning up,” Mercy gushed.

“Taco eating contest? I’m down. Like we’re eating tacos with the Knights?” Hale perked and reached for another sandwich.

“Yeah, it's something they do sometimes. Usually it's the younger Knights,” Dean replied. “Carlos, Dimitri, the rookies…”

“That sounds fun,” I agreed. But Carlos and Hale were not allowed to be friends. No, I didn’t need that catastrophe in my life. Also, I know I’d seen Carlos before, but I didn’t know where. Perhaps he’d done some fitness modeling with me–or he had a big sponsor and I’d seen his ads around.

“Great, so we’ll get this done, eat tacos, and go to the bar. My sort of afternoon,” Hale said as he tipped his chair back, unwrapping the sandwich.

As long as we got everything done. And my actual work, to fix all my research, was only just beginning.