CHAPTER 4
“I still can’t believe my grandfather invited ‘eligible family friends’ to dinner when he knows I’m soul bonded,” Aiden seethed in the carriage ride to the academy from the ferry.
I sighed. He had repeated this phrase, or variations thereof, multiple times since the week prior. “He’s not here now. And he’s been made aware of how serious we are.”
“He should have known the instant I wrote home about you in second year.”
“You knew they had a thing about witches being the mate of beasts,” I said.
“Yeah, but?—”
“No.” I ignored everyone else in our carriage and straddled Aiden, putting my finger over his lips. “I don’t want to hear anything more about this. You’re mine, I’m yours, and if your family has a problem with that, you’ve got my grandfather on your side. You know he treats you as family already. I get that you’re hurting, but you have got to let it go. Let Hayden come around to how things are done in today’s world, or else he’s the one who’ll get left behind.”
“It just pisses me off,” Aiden mumbled around my finger.
“If he wants Chateau Evans to continue to grow in power because of the heir living there, then he needs to grow up.” I hugged Aiden, resting my head on his shoulder. “Otherwise, I’m not sure I feel comfortable living there with someone who might try to bite my head off.”
“We’re beasts, not praying mantises,” Aiden grumbled.
I laughed. “Set me on fire, then.”
“He’d never do that.”
“No, he wouldn’t. But he’d get under our skin in little insidious ways. That doesn’t sound appealing.”
“Understatement.” Aiden sighed. “It’s not like we’re going to be home much anyway. Not at first. We’re going to travel the world.” He kissed the back of my hand. “Unless you’ve changed your mind?”
I shook my head. “No, that’s true. But when we come home for the holidays, I want to be welcomed, not simply tolerated.”
“Oh, well in that case, Doyle Manor it is.”
I chuckled. “I have no problem with that.”
We arrived at the academy, the towering castle blocking out the rising sun.
“The last first day,” I said, feeling melancholy.
“And then we get to start our lives together,” Aiden reminded me.
The others got out of the carriage first, and I took advantage of the short amount of privacy to kiss him deeply, our tongues dancing.
Slightly dizzy, I got up and hopped out of the carriage.
“Let’s go get our room keys.”
We had to separate, as the boys wing was on the opposite side of the castle. Only married couples got to room together, and I was envious of Bruce and his wife Clarissa. Hazel was already waiting in line, looking a little green from her own ferry crossing, and I joined her. She wasn’t in the mood for much talking, so I spent most of the wait listening to the conversations around us.
By the time I received my room key, I had more pressing things to attend to than setting up our room.
“I need to lie down anyway,” Hazel said weakly. “Once you’ve warned Professor Reynolds, you can come back to the room and hopefully I’ll feel better.”
“Get Lilia to cast a healing spell on you. She’s the best at them,” I said, referencing our third roommate. “She’s already checked in.”
Hazel waved at me, clutching her potted plant to her chest, and I headed down to the second floor and the teacher’s offices. It was nice that we were on the third floor this year, the closest to the classrooms.
Professor Reynolds’s office was locked, and he didn’t answer when I tapped on the door. I looked around the hallways helplessly, unsure of where to look for him next.
There weren’t many people around on this floor. The students were all on the floors above me, getting settled in their rooms, and the professors were mostly in their offices, getting ready for the new term.
I spotted a familiar face halfway down my hall.
“Hey, Gràineileachd,” I said, approaching the human-sized giant. “How are you settling in?”
He shook his shaggy hair out of his eyes and looked up from his mop. He frowned. “You.”
“Me,” I replied cheerfully.
He grunted and continued mopping.
His hair kept getting in the way, so I opened my purse and took out a hair elastic, making it regular sized. After a beat, I strengthened the elastic so it would contain his unruly thick hair. “Here.”
Gràineileachd squinted at my hand. “Wazzat?”
“For your hair,” I explained. “You can keep it. I have tons of them because I’m always losing them.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know how to use it,” he mumbled.
“I can show you,” I offered.
“Why?”
“Because you’ll get frustrated with your hair if it keeps going in your eyes.”
He stopped mopping and rested the handle against the wall. “I mean...” He crossed his arms. “Why are you helping me?”
“Oh.” I lowered my hand a bit. “Well, you seemed like you didn’t really want to fight us. You seemed nice.”
“I’m not nice .” He spat the last word at me.
I stepped closer and took his hand, pressing the elastic into it. “You keep telling yourself that.” I beamed at him. “Do you need me to show you how to put your hair up?”
He glared at me. “No.”
“Okay. Do you know where Professor Reynolds is?”
The glare turned suspicious. “I thought you were with that big fire fellow.”
I chuckled. “Have the girls already tried following him around? I promise, I need to see him urgently, and not to flirt with him.”
“Grain,” the giant said.
I blinked. “Sorry?”
The grizzled giant flushed. “I changed my name. It’s Grain.”
“Ah. Pleased to make your acquaintance. Again,” I said.
Grain jingled the keys on his belt. “You can find him in his office.”
I was getting whiplash from the conversation. “His office was locked and he didn’t come to the door.”
He grimaced. “If you’re serious about not being like the other girls, he’d know that you are genuine if you use your name.”
I nodded my thanks. “Good idea. I’ll give that a shot. If it doesn’t work, Aiden might be able to help.”
“Some of the guys have tried, too.”
“Oh dear.”
Grain picked up his mop again and continued cleaning the floor. “Good luck.”
“See, you’re not so bad,” I teased.
“Bah.”
I left the grumpy janitor behind, pleased with my progress with him, and returned to the professor’s office. I knocked, calling through the door, “Hello, Professor. It’s Siobhan. I need to speak with you urgently, please. It can’t wait for class tomorrow.”
Silence stretched on for far too long. I was just about to give up and go retrieve Aiden when the lock squeaked and the door opened a crack.
“What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait?” Professor Reynolds asked once the door opened fully.
He looked tired. I decided not to comment on his appearance. He had dealt with enough.
Instead, I launched into describing the conversation I had overheard upstairs. “Emma made a love potion this summer, and plans on spiking your drink the first chance she gets,” I explained quickly. “She used one from her grandmother’s spell book, and she made it in June. I know you can handle yourself, but the side effects of an old potion could be rather drastic, and I thought it was best to warn you.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep an eye out.” He moved to close the door.
“I’m sorry this is happening to you,” I said. “Is there anything you can do? Report her to the administration?”
Professor Reynolds looked sad. “Then she would get expelled and wouldn’t receive her education.”
“They couldn’t find a less drastic way to punish her?”
“Once I report, the punishment is out of my hands. I have no say in how extreme the consequences are. I’d rather handle the situation on my own.”
I shook my head. He was too kind hearted. “I can talk to her?”
“If you like.” He smiled a little. “Don’t go making enemies in your last year on my behalf.”
“No, I’ll only make them for myself.”
He chuckled, looking a little more alert. “I have enjoyed having you in my class.”
“Thank you. I’ve enjoyed your classes.”
I left him and returned to the third floor, finding my room without trouble. Lilia and Hazel had started decorating our room, the furniture arranged in our usual configuration.
“You’re looking better,” I said to Hazel, wrapping my arms tightly around Lilia.
“You were right about Lilia having a potion that would help,” Hazel said. “I can’t wait until the end of the year. I only have to cross the water once more, and then I can put down roots.”
“Literally,” I teased the dryad. “I’ll make sure there’s a portal to my house so you can come visit without crossing the water.”
Lilia stared at me. “I thought you were going to make Doyle Manor your home base. What changed?”
I wrinkled my nose. “We’re still on the fence about that. It’ll depend on what the Evans family is like at Christmas, I suppose. But Hayden made a good point about heritage and strengthening the Evans power at the Chateau. Our house hasn’t been in our family as long as theirs, and my father chose not to live there, so making it our summer home wouldn’t change much.”
“You’d become British for him?” Hazel said, shocked.
I laughed. “I’d still be Irish through and through. You can’t get rid of me that easily!” I shrugged. “I’d just be living there when we’re not traveling.”
“Still a big change.”
“You have no idea,” I muttered, wondering if I’d ever be accepted by the Evans family.