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Chapter Thirty-Eight

RAIN

A spen stayed. Not just that night either.

And sure, she sometimes went to check on her brother, but our evening in the atrium convinced her she could handle being on her own again.

Sometimes she asked me to help her contain her power, but it had been well before there was a real problem, almost like she'd figured out she could lean on me.

Sadly, the rift between Torian and Keir was only growing.

Wilder and Hawke made sure Keir spent lunch with us, and they refused to let him isolate himself in his room.

During our lessons, he said it got easier to deal with Fin's absence every day.

No, he didn't like it, but he no longer felt as guilty, or like he'd failed.

Over the weekend, the group of us hung out in the atrium, checking out the new plants.

Well, all of us except Torian. Aspen's little flowers had visibly grown, even in such a short time.

It was from her magic, though, which was cool.

Naturally, I went to check on the bubble plant - the Elysian Burst - so I could spend some time petting it and giggling at the bubbles.

Hawke left halfway through. Keir and Wilder assured him it was ok, and Aspen seemed tense, but I understood.

Her brother was in one of his pissy moods.

She'd pulled away, he'd pushed Keir as far as he could, and now he was paying for it on his own.

Yeah, well, the smug prick deserved it. If he couldn't suck up his pride long enough to apologize, then he had no one to blame but himself.

Everyone else on campus had moved on. The Hunt attack had been short, brief, and didn't affect most of them.

After this long, it was little more than a distant memory.

Hell, over the weekend, I'd even heard a girl say it meant we had more time before we had to worry about it again.

She acted like the whole thing had been little more than a timer reset!

But then Monday rolled around.

When I dragged my ass downstairs to the Never, Ms. Rhodes had a cup of coffee for both of us.

Mine smelled suspiciously like chocolate.

Lifting a brow in confusion, I headed for my chair on the far side, dropped my book bag on the floor, and moved Jack to the perch that was really just a spare chair.

"What's going on?" I asked.

She slid a rather large paper cup towards me. "Your... zez, I believe? Bracken reminded me you like a little coffee with your cocoa. He may have also mentioned why there are a lot of new plants in the atrium, and why I saw shadows down there last week."

I gaped at her in astonishment - but still took my coffee. "That was like Tuesday!"

"And you seemed to have it under control," she pointed out. "I was merely waiting for you to say something. You didn't, so I'm offering a trade. A drink for a story. I'd prefer the story about Aspen, but I respect your privacy enough to accept any story you think I should hear."

Lifting the cup, my eyes narrowed, but I took a drink. That showed I accepted the deal. Thankfully, there wasn't a magical surge, so this wasn't that kind of deal, but the fae still treated the agreement as binding.

"Why did you wait a week to ask?" I pressed.

She leaned back, one arm still extended to toy with her own cup on the table.

"I didn't. Rain, this school isn't filled with children .

My pupils are young adults figuring out what it means to grow up.

That means you all deserve the space to make mistakes.

However, when those mistakes are magical, someone has to be ready to clean them up.

Bracken and I are merely two of the volunteers. "

"So all the teachers know?" I asked.

"No," she assured me. "All the teachers here monitor the tension, the agreements and disagreements, and we have protections in place to limit any magical mishaps. Yet when it comes to Aspen Fox - as you well know - those 'mishaps' can be dangerous. "

"Same with Torian, right?" I stopped myself before asking if it was because of what he was.

"Which is why Liam and Bracken live on the floor they do," she agreed with a dip of her head. "But I want to know about you."

"Yeah..." I took another drink. "Ms. Rhodes - "

"Ivy," she corrected. "See, in this room, for this hour, we are not teacher and student. We're not even adult and teenager. I'd prefer we look at this moment more as the Morrigan and a fae. Just two women who are proud, capable, and working towards the same goal."

Ok, that was weird, so I asked, "Why?"

"Because for this one hour," she explained, "I want you to have the confidence and security to know you can talk to me about anything. No rules will be broken and no punishments laid." She paused. "Assigned? Given? I'm not sure about the most modern phrasing there."

"Given," I assured her.

Which earned me a smile. "See? I have things to learn as well.

But in here, for this time, everything outside gets to wait.

Rain, I will even promise you that no matter what you say or do in here, there will not be school-mandated punishment.

Sadly, I can't say no punishment, because if you attack me, I will defend myself. "

I looked over at Jack. "I'm missing something, right?"

He shook his head. "Morrigan!"

"Mmk," I mumbled. "So what happens if I let slip something that might kinda break the rules?"

"Then I ignore it." She tipped her head to the side. "After all, I can't exactly act on something I learned in confidence when I am the one who offered the agreement."

"Jack!" my bird agreed, nodding his head.

Wait. "Can you hear the truth, Jack?" He nodded again, which made me think he was currently working as my lie detector. "What about deception through truth?" I asked next.

"Jack!" he insisted, nodding as big as he could.

So I looked back at Ms. Rhodes. "But calling you Ivy is still weird, and I'm worried I'll slip up outside."

"Which is fair," she assured me. "You still have the coffee."

I smiled at the subtle nudge to start talking. "Ok, so like, Aspen's staying in her room again."

Ms. Rhodes slowly closed her eyes. "I am fae, Rain."

"In my room," I corrected, "but that would get me moved. "

She lifted an elegant finger. "Ah, but you see, now I have a reason to let you know that your relationship with Aspen - however you've named it - seems to be helping me.

" She lifted a brow almost mischievously.

"For two weeks, Aspen and Torian have been crackling with magic, trying to diffuse it in any way they can.

Both of them have been down here, burning it off to manage their control. Did you know that?"

"No."

"And yet, all that use barely dented their levels.

Many of us have been trying to help the pair stabilize, because when a fae feels strongly, their focus wavers.

I'm sure humans do as well, but their focus loss results in a little distraction.

For a fae, it could be a thunderstorm in the halls or a tornado in the atrium. A little more damaging."

"She, um..." I grunted, trying to find the words. "She said when the Huntsman grabbed her, she thought she'd die. And Torian thought she'd die. So they'd been reassuring each other, because they just found each other again - "

"For the first time," Ms. Rhodes corrected.

I paused because it wasn't how the story had been told to me. Everyone made it sound like they'd been reunited, but was it my own imagination, or had they said that? Didn't really matter, though.

"Well, she's been trying to put her power into plants," I said. "Um, my room kinda has a lot."

"She made a jungle again?" Ms. Rhodes groaned.

"No, more like pots and stuff, but they're cool. I like them. It also smells really good in our suite, and Spike watches the door, Glow lights the room, and things like that. They're all nice to have around."

"Which is why we keep the atrium, because they are."

"But I came home the other day from class and she was making plants, and she said she had too much magic, so she kinda, um, poured it into me."

That made Ms. Rhodes sit up. "How?"

"Like, she touched me?" I glanced at Jack to see if I was screwing up.

"Morrigan!" he insisted. "Shadow!"

"Right!" I remembered. "My shadow grabbed her too."

"Jack!" he huffed.

"And Jack was on her shoulder. Well, like hugging her."

Ms. Rhodes looked at Jack. "Pulling magic from her?"

He shook his head, stood as tall as he could, then pulled in a big breath. It made his breast stick out noticeably. Then he exhaled and ruffled his feathers.

"So you caught the spill-over?" Ms. Rhodes asked next.

"Jack!" he agreed. "Shadow." He shook his head.

Yet on the wall behind him my shadow started moving. Instead of sitting like I was, it stood, making it both taller and more noticeable. The thing lifted its hands like it was frustrated, both palms up and the fingers spread. Jack merely turned and rattled at it.

Ms. Rhodes was staring at the thing. "What do you mean when you say your shadow grabbed her?"

"Like it held her hand."

"Her shadow's?"

"No, hers," I insisted. "It stands up sometimes, or can be like, um.

.. three-dimensional? Normally, it's just like that.

" I gestured to the wall. "But even when the Hunt was here, it blocked the Huntsman's sword for me.

The thing just solidified, grabbed the blade, and smiled like it was having the time of its life! "

"Smiled?" she asked.

I nodded. "Sometimes, the eyes appear. Well, it's more a lack of shadow where the eyes should be, and it can evidently smile too. Same way, but like, its face is more of an emoji, you know? Just holes for the eyes and a curve for the mouth."

Across from me, Ms. Rhodes licked her lips slowly. "So it protects you?"

"Shadow!" Jack declared.

The dark form swatted at him, but it was still flat. Still, when my shadow connected with Jack's, the bird rocked on his perch. Turning his head, Jack cawed in annoyance, then followed that up with a litany of sounds which came across as angry.

"Jack?" Ms. Rhodes begged. "Excuse me. Um..." She looked back at me. "Rain, is it acting out on your urges? Teasing or annoyance? Anything you maybe wish you could do, but know you shouldn't?"

"Um, sometimes?" I guessed. "Mostly it just does its own thing. I mean, it's the one who came up with the idea to call Bracken Zez."

Her eyes jumped to Jack. "Not you?"

He shook his head.

"Why?" I asked.

The headmistress pulled in a long breath, almost as if bracing herself.

"Joan didn't have an active shadow. She had her abilities.

They were dark magic, but more like mine than yours are.

The Crow King did not spend time with her the way you and Jack do.

" She paused, pressing her lips together.

"Rain, the last Morrigan's powers were nothing like yours, and I'm trying to understand what that means. "

"Morrigan!" Jack said. "Rain-Morrigan. Morrigan-Shadow. Jack-Shadow. Rain-Shadow. Rain-Jack-Shadow!" Then he nodded. "Rain-Jack-Shadow, Morrigan."

"Um, I think that might mean that me, Jack, and my shadow work together to make Morrigan magic?"

"Morrigan!" he insisted. "Morrigan, Morrigan, Morrigan!"

"Together the three of you make up the Morrigan?" Ms. Rhodes guessed.

Jack nodded once, but hard. "Morrigan," he assured us. "Rain-Morrigan."

"I dunno what that last bit means," I admitted.

"I think," she said, "Jack is implying you have the control here."

The bird twisted his head. "Jack?"

"Jack has the control?" she tried next.

He twisted his head the other way. "Rain?"

"You and Rain work together to control her power?"

He shook his head at that. "Jack. Rain. Rain-Jack. Rain-Jack, Rain. Rain, Morrigan!"

"He gave his power to me, which made me the Morrigan, but he can still help?" I guessed wildly.

"Rain!" Jack nodded. This time, it was a lot, slinging his beak as fast and as hard as he could.

Ms. Rhodes chuckled at his antics. "Ok. So how does the shadow fit in, Jack?"

"Shadow-Morrigan-Shadow," he replied.

"Not following," she admitted.

The bird pulled in a breath, then sighed before ruffling his feathers. "Rain-Jack, Morrigan. Rain-Jack-Dad-Court, Shadow. Hunt, Shadow. Shadow." He pointed his beak at Ms. Rhodes. "Shadow." Then to me. "Shadow!" And finally to the shape on the wall.

And right on cue, my silhouette lifted a hand and a tendril of darkness wafted up. Ms. Rhodes tensed so hard she sat up straight. I groaned, waving the dark - and clearly terrifying - smoke-shadow away. Jack simply extended his wings and flapped in place once.

"Are you controlling that?" Ms. Rhodes asked .

"Nope," I said.

"But that isn't possible," she breathed. "Rain, you're the Morrigan, not your shadow. It's..."

"Shadow!" Jack supplied. "Rain-Shadow."

"Yeah..." I drawled. "Jack, I'm getting the impression no one really knows what you mean."

"He does," Ms. Rhodes reminded me. "He's still someone, Rain. Never forget that. Your companion is as fae and as powerful as I am. He very much is someone. We simply do not speak the same language."

"Isn't there a spell for that?"

Slowly, the woman shook her head. "If we had spells to learn faster, this entire school wouldn't be necessary.

No, I'm sorry. Learning is one thing we all have to do the hard way.

Evidently, that includes me, because I'm going to figure this out.

As for you, young lady. You just keep doing what you're doing, because it seems to be working. "

"Even though you don't understand it?" I asked.

"Ah, but I think you do." She caught her cup of coffee again, smiling as she lifted it toward her mouth. "You know what feels right, so go with it. So far, it seems to be working."

"Including taking some of Aspen's magic?"

"Especially that," she assured me. "And so you know, it's the main reason I have no interest in moving you.

Your fathers approve of your relationship.

Your companion does as well. From what little I know, it seems your shadows are helping Aspen find her control again, and it doesn't matter how you're doing it. "

"But, um..."

"If dating is what helps, then just give me enough to explain it away," she broke in.

"I have parents to appease. Parents who think of life on much longer timelines than you do.

At the same time, Aspen can easily become dangerous.

As long as you're buffering her excessive power, I can make a strong argument for why I need you exactly where you are. "

"So don't come out as a couple yet, huh?"

She canted her head. "It's easier if you don't. I also won't ever tell someone when to come out."

"Yeah..." I breathed. "I didn't even think of it like that."

"Oh, but I did," she assured me. "That, Rain, is my job."