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Chapter Thirty-One

RAIN

I spent all of history and most of biology with Liam, talking about everything.

Mostly me and Aspen, though. He praised me for realizing the effect trauma could have on her, and how it might strain our relationship, but assured me it would be ok.

Also, if Aspen did dump me, there were still other fish in the sea - and then he named all the rest of my friends.

Oddly, that helped. Not completely, but it did put things in perspective, and I needed some.

If the worst happened, Aspen and I could still be friends.

She didn't need to hate me, and if I respected her, then she might not.

Yeah, it would be awkward for a bit, but I was more than willing to work through it.

Liam reminded me I could also change rooms, but I didn't want to. I wanted my girlfriend back! I wanted to make sure she knew she was safe. I missed the sound of her voice, the way her blue eyes sparkled with some kind of mischief, and all those sweet, exploratory kisses we'd shared.

Yet when I walked into the cafeteria for lunch, my eyes immediately jumped over to our table. It was empty. That made me scan the line, finding her and Keir in it, making their way forward. Torian, Wilder, and Hawke were further back. Ok, we were all here, so this was fine. It had to be.

"Court!" Jack tried to whisper.

"Yeah, saw her," I assured him.

"Jack!" he tried next .

"Wanna pick food?" I asked.

He nodded vehemently, leaning forward as we finally reached the glass window. Turning his head this way and then that, the bird examined his meal options. When he found something he liked, he cawed. That led to a game of me pointing and asking until I found what he was talking about.

As for me, I went with a big salad. Maybe it had some chicken in it, but Jack liked it, and no one acted weird when he ate it. Adding extra cheese, some of those little fae flower-bites, and smothering it in dressing meant it would be yummy too.

By the time I reached the table, the entire court was already seated. I moved to the chair beside Aspen. She gave me a smile, but Wilder was going off about Ms. Rhodes making him take notes.

"And she knows I'll remember it. She made me do it for Rain!"

"Which means Rain needed the notes," Keir pointed out.

Wilder scoffed. "Her? Shit. She is a fae history vacuum."

"Really?" I asked.

"You want to know everything," Aspen pointed out.

I turned and our eyes met. Blue. Damn, her eyes were so amazingly, perfectly, freezingly blue. It was a shade I didn't even have a name for, because the sky was never that color, but I loved it.

"I've missed you," I breathed.

Her eyes jumped away, landing on the table. "I didn't want to screw up, Rain."

"I know," I hurried to assure her. "And I know it was a lot. I get it - I really do. I just wanted to make sure you know you're missed."

Under the table, she reached over to clasp my hand. "I..." A smile flickered over her lips. "Yeah, I think I did need that."

"Fuck..." Wilder groaned. "They're being cute again."

"Flirt with your own," Keir told him.

"Wait, that isn't happening yet?" Hawke asked, wagging a finger between Keir and Wilder, yet ultimately ending on Keir. "C'mon, what kind of a fae are you, man? Just think of the power move it would be to seduce one of those Winter lovers."

I giggled.

Nope, I didn't mean to, but now that I had the inside scoop, things like this landed differently.

Last semester, I would've been sure it was a sign there was nothing between Hawke and Wilder.

Now, I knew there definitely was, but those two were so fae they couldn't imagine monogamy.

Never mind the whole thing about Summer and Winter conquests.

There wasn't animosity or challenge in it.

Rather, Hawke was making fun of everyone else and letting Keir in on the joke.

"Keir's been crashing in Hawke's room," Aspen told me, keeping her voice down. "Hawke's been in Torian's suite, using the extra room."

"And you're with your brother, right?" I squeezed her fingers reassuringly. "Not alone?"

"Yeah," she said. "It's helping. Rain, this is one of those things I can't really talk about."

"That you're staying there?" I asked, because she'd just talked about it.

"The why," she corrected. "I'm not avoiding you intentionally. It's just..." She made a face, proving she'd hit a block.

"It helps?" I asked instead.

"Yeah. A lot."

"Then just try to leave some directions for the plants, hm? I mean, am I supposed to refill the bathtub every so often, or let it all drain out?"

"I'll make a list," she assured me, but her entire body had softened. No, relaxed. "I'll even draw pictures of the leaves, so you'll know which is which, ok?"

"And add names?" I begged. "I mean, I know Glow, but he's a something. A kind of alcohol?"

Torian barked out a laugh. "Close enough. They're called Moon Shines because they shine like the moon, not because of the human crap."

"But moonshine is alcohol," I countered.

Jack chose that moment to take off, fluttering around our backs until he landed on the one empty chair beside Torian. "Jack!" he demanded.

"You have your own food. Stop begging," Torian told him.

The bird just turned, inspecting Torian closely. "Morrigan."

"Wrong person," Hawke joked.

"Yeah, he knows that," Aspen pointed out. "What do you want, Jack? Use your words?"

"Court-Rain!" Jack insisted. "Court-Rain-Court." Then he shook his head in a clear no. "Rain-Court-Court." That got a yes. "Rain-Court-Dad. Jack-Rain. Court-Hunt. Rain-Morrigan-Court. Rain-Rain-Rain-Court."

"Did anyone make any sense of that?" Wilder asked.

But Hawke was looking at Jack intently. "Rain has been alone?"

Jack nodded as big as he could.

"Ok..." Hawke said. "And she should not be kept from the court?"

This time, Jack said no, the headshake small and quick.

"So what was the right option?" Hawke asked .

"Rain-Court-Court!"

"Rain, Aspen, and Keir?" Hawke tried.

Caw! Jack nodded, hopping in place at the same time because he was happy.

"Seriously?" Wilder asked. "How does that make sense, Hawke?"

"Well, Jack is the bird," Hawke explained. "Rain is the person, but Morrigan is her magic. Or her being magical. Court seems to work for all of us, both as a group and as individuals. Dad is pretty self-explanatory, and same with Hunt."

"But he said something about the Hunt," Wilder pointed out.

"Yeah, I think he's saying we're all off ever since it happened, which makes sense," Hawke said. "Our schedule is off and - "

"Monster fuckers!" a girl called out, cutting Hawke off.

All of our heads snapped to the sound. Sitting there, one of the jester girls was smirking like she'd just won an award. I was pretty sure it was Camila, the same girl Hawke had snarled at in the lounge. Around her, the other faelings all laughed.

"Monsters?" Torian asked, pushing to his feet. "You stupid..." The air in the room began to stir, knocking napkins from tables and moving people's hair.

But beside me, Aspen had her jaw clenched. It didn't take long before the breeze chilled. Up above, something crackled, making the hair on the back of my neck lift. Then thunder rumbled, but it was higher-pitched than I was used to. Smaller, maybe?

"Hey," I breathed, pulling Aspen's hand into my lap. "Ignore them. They're just wannabes, right? None of us care about what they say, and what anyone else thinks doesn't matter."

"I'm talking about the fucking Winter bitch!" Camila yelled next, aware she was getting a reaction.

"That fucking - " Torian lunged forward, clearly intending to go after her, but Keir was right there.

At the same time, Aspen growled and frost began to coat her skin. Hoping to snap her out of it, I cupped her face, forcing her to look at me. Keir was blocking Torian. Wilder and Hawke were scrambling to get around the table, over to our side.

"Morrigan!" Jack screamed, jumping over to Keir's shoulder so he could stare at Torian. "Court-Morrigan. Rain-Morrigan!"

"Rain-Court," Torian muttered, relaxing as he turned back to see his sister. "Aspen, Rain can't be hurt. Let it go. "

As if she'd been in a trance, Aspen sucked in a breath and finally looked at me. "Rain?"

"How do I help?" I begged.

"I need to... Um, can I magic you?"

"Magic away," I told her. "Supposedly, I can take it."

So she twisted, catching my hand with her other one, so now both of hers were pinning my palms between them. I couldn't even describe what followed next. What she poured into me was neither cold nor warm. It wasn't dark, but quickly changed into shadows.

Between one second and the next, I went from feeling my magic to brimming with it. I'd never really been able to identify the "levels" Ms. Rhodes talked about - until now. This was like going from hungry to stuffed in a millisecond!

It also made me realize how little power I'd been working with this whole time.

My mouth fell open in surprise, my gaze held Aspen's, and our fingers clung to each other - but here in the cafeteria, we couldn't do more. Aspen just kept pushing, and I kept taking. Every time I was sure that was it, a little more rushed in, proving I still had another layer available.

And none of it hurt.

Shit, it actually felt good. Like a glass of cold water on a hot day, a meal when I'd been without, or the way my dads hugged me.

It was fulfilling some kind of need I hadn't realized I'd had - and quickly.

As Aspen poured her magic into me, time seemed to slow, but the court converged around us, shielding Aspen and me from view.

Then my girlfriend sighed, sounding like the air just fell out as she slumped forward. My grip on her hands kept her from going too far, but Torian surged in to catch her shoulders.

"We got you, Asp," he swore. "Jack was right. Rain's the answer."

"I am?"

Wilder palmed the back of my neck, leaning down until his mouth was beside my ear. "We do not talk about this in public."

"Do we talk about it ever?" I turned to meet his eyes.

Black. Cold. Worried. And yet his answer was merely a tip of his head. That meant yes.

"Do we need to leave?" Keir asked.

"Aspen and I do," Torian said.

"Then I'm walking with you," Keir told him. "Gotta make sure my bestie's good, right? "

The tone was hard. There was no joke in Keir's words or the way Torian was glaring at him. The pair were at a standoff, but they also didn't look ready to throw down.

"You might be late for class," Torian pointed out.

Keir shrugged. "Bracken will give me a pass."

"And Rain?"

"Hawke will walk her to the Forge."

"Fuck," Hawke muttered, because the Forge was filled with metals he didn't like. "But yeah, I will."

"And Wilder?" Torian asked next.

Keir smiled. "He's going to go see Liam for his next class."

"Hm," Torian murmured. "Seems you have all the answers, huh?"

"This time," Keir said. "Next time, you can make the decisions. I just want to make sure Aspen can rest without someone else saying things between the two of you are cause for a rumor."

"Please, Tor?" Aspen asked.

"Aspen?" I breathed, worried about her now.

"I need to lie down," she explained. "I don't want to break the school."

"And I got you," Keir said gently, leaning in to offer Aspen his hand. Then he raised his voice. "Oh, and Rain? If another jester talks shit about my friends? See how they like Wild magic, hm?"

"Yep," I agreed. "I can make wolves now. They chase people until I tell them to stop."

Keir nodded, Aspen leaned on him, and Torian followed. Yet as those three headed towards the exit, I looked over to see the entire table of jesters was silent. They weren't even talking amongst themselves.

"Yeah," Wilder said softly. "I think I like the new guy."

"I keep telling you he's cute," Hawke pointed out.

"And Rain's got enough to worry about," Wilder said. "Pretty sure she wouldn't want me making a move on her guy."

"Wait." I pulled my eyes away from Aspen just as the doors closed behind her. "What?"

"Keir," Wilder clarified. "He's one of us, Rain. We approve."

"Oh." And then I processed the rest of what he'd said while I'd been worrying about Aspen. "How does that even work? Like, with Keir."

"Tab A, slot B?" Wilder said.

"Fae love!" I clarified. "Although, love is too strong a word."

"Lust," Hawke corrected. "Let's go with relationships?"

"I prefer relationships," I agreed .

"And Hawke," Wilder said just a little too casually, "you two are cute too. So every time you pick on me about spending time with Keir, I'm going to remind you of all the hours you spend with Rain."

I huffed. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"No," Wilder told me. "Sorry, Rain. You can't decide who thinks you're important. It's one thing you don't get to consent to."

"That isn't what you were talking about," I countered.

Wilder shrugged. "It's still the truth. I'm not touching the rest. Besides, we're easing you into this whole fae thing. Don't want to chase you off, after all."

Jack made a hacking noise. "Morrigan," he grumbled. "Rain-Morrigan. Court. Rain-court." Then he nodded once.

Hawke just leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Pretty sure Jack's saying she's already fae'd up.

" He grinned at his own bad pun. "I mean, she's got some Winter magic, some Wild, and will probably get some Summer at some point.

That's about as fae as it gets, so she doesn't stand a chance. "

"And we don't want to lose her either," Wilder said, his dark gaze hanging on me. "I'd hate to do something terrifying and chase her off. Might be a good reason to stay away for a bit."

Aspen. He meant that was why Aspen had been avoiding me. This was Wilder's way of making me feel better!

So I said, "Yeah, but maybe one day the court will figure out I've got nowhere else to go, and I'm not easy to scare. Besides, none of you can hold a candle to the Huntsman, and I didn't run from him."

"She didn't," Hawke agreed.

"And that," Wilder said, "is a very good point."