Page 68

Chapter Sixty-One

RAIN

I t wasn't a surprise when our afternoon classes were cancelled. What shocked me was that none of the court made it back up to my room until a few hours had passed. When they trickled in, all of them looked tired, but in the mentally and emotionally exhausted sort of way.

"Bad?" I asked.

Aspen nodded, but she didn't say anything until she'd reached me and leaned in for a kiss.

It didn't even bother her that Hawke was sitting right beside me.

She simply nudged him out of the way. Keir saw that and chuckled, making his way over to flop down on my bed, but when he crooked a finger at Torian, inviting him to get close? Yeah, that was cute.

"Keir..." Torian tried.

"Don't care," Keir said. "Rain's good with it."

"Yep," I said, pulling Aspen down into the padded chair with me.

It was a tight fit, but I was ok with being pressed up close beside her.

When she giggled and tossed her legs over my lap, I liked it even more.

Seeing us, Wilder made a little noise and headed over to claim the loveseat with Hawke.

Surprisingly, Hawke didn't even try to be subtle.

He pulled Wilder's back up against his chest, the pair of them crushed almost sideways so they could make it work.

"I don't think we got them all," Torian said.

"Probably not," Hawke agreed. "There were the ones with the doors, the ones who came at Rain, and a few more placed around the room to make sure Celeste got her hands on a hostage."

"She's dead," Wilder said gently. "Hawke, we all made it clear you were acting for the court."

"My orders," Torian said.

"But you didn't tell me to kill her," Hawke said, his words just a little too flat.

"I didn't need to," Torian said. "You knew what had to be done, and you did it."

"I didn't fucking mean to kill her!" he snapped.

And as one, all of us reached for him. It didn't matter if we had to lean, twist, or get up to do it. All I knew was he needed someone to be with him, and I had a feeling my friends all felt the same.

That was when he broke.

Hawke tried not to cry, and he mostly succeeded.

Still, he gasped a few times, and he kept looking away to blink hard.

I knew what that felt like, so I would never make him feel bad for it.

If he wanted to cry, this was a good reason to do it.

If he didn't, then it only meant he would be ok.

This? It worried me more than all the other options.

So we talked to him. We worked it out. In that moment, cramped in a small dorm room, with all of us trying to hold the man who'd just risked it all to save people who might end up hating him, the lines between us vanished.

Torian wrapped his arms around both Wilder and Hawke.

Aspen grasped the guy's hand. Keir brushed Hawke's hair back, and I rubbed his leg, since that was all I could reach.

Bodies lay against others, and none of it mattered at all.

We came together without fear or shame, and between the gasps and mumbles of reassurance, we worked it all out.

They'd planned for this attack to be a suicide bomb of sorts, or so it seemed. The pebble that was still in my pocket? It was a piece of the same stone that had made the crow in my bracelet. Ms. Rhodes didn't know how anyone could've gotten it, but she was going to handle that part.

We needed a game plan for how to deal with Hawke revealing his wings.

To me, that was easy. The court kept thinking of the students here as being just like them, but they weren't. In many ways, they were more like me.

We'd grown up in a world with Disney and Pixar.

Our fairytales were animated, and the monsters were cute.

Myths and legends were blurred with the eraser the church had wielded over the centuries, and what was left had all been sanitized for younger audiences.

But it was Keir who had the best idea yet. "We go to the gym this afternoon to test the waters," he said. "The sentinels may not be there. For all we know, having classes cancelled means they'll be busy, but if they are?"

"But Pascal knew," Wilder pointed out.

"And the rest didn't," Keir said. "They're his friends, so let's see if they're pissed about this, and then we'll have a better idea of what we need to do."

And that was how we ended up dressed in workout clothes, heading across the lawn as a group. The halls upstairs had been bustling, but sneaking out was easy. We simply put Hawke in the middle of us and didn't stop until we were outside. Even better, the lawn was completely vacant.

But when we walked into the gym, the clack of sticks proved we weren't alone.

The first person I saw was my zez. Next was Pascal, but there were too many impacts to be only two men.

Heading around the corner, I found Bran, Daivon, and Axel smacking the wooden dummies in the same pattern I'd been taught to use as a warm-up.

"The man of the hour!" Pascal said, all but announcing us.

The clatter slowed to a halt, and all four sentinels turned toward the door as Hawke and Torian moved into sight. Keir was in front of them. Aspen and Wilder followed behind.

"What the fuck, Hawke?" Daivon asked, stepping forward to the railing so he could look down at us.

Hawke dropped his head. I watched his shoulders slump right after, but when Torian opened his mouth to reply, Daivon lifted a hand at him.

"Daivon," Bran said, "don't be a dick. That shit today was rough."

"Hawke!" Daivon called, ignoring his friends. "Why didn't you tell me we're on the same side, huh?"

And I felt the strain immediately vanish from my own body. Behind me, the rest of the court relaxed as well, but Hawke's head slowly came up.

"What?" he asked, sounding like he was sure he hadn't heard Daivon right.

"I'm neutral, man," Daivon said. "I mean, Bracken said you're a wildling, so that means you are too, right?"

"He's Summer," Torian said, his tone making it clear that wasn't up for debate.

"Yeah, but I'm technically Summer and chose neutral."

"Earth," Keir corrected. "That's what we've been calling it."

"That," Daivon said, gesturing absently at Keir without looking away from Hawke. "So if my fellow sentinel - because you sure as shit aren't my duke - is caught between Summer and the middle, then we're kinda like the same, right?"

"I..." Hawke had to pause to swallow. "I guess?"

"Yeah, but I want to know something," Axel said, moving to lean beside Daivon. "What the fuck is a jevadu anyway? I mean, you've got wings! Seriously, man. I want wings!"

But I quickly looked at Bracken, aware he was saying absolutely nothing. My zez caught my eye but shook his head subtly, making it clear we should not interrupt this. Then he smiled. That, more than anything else, convinced me this would all end up ok.

"I was born with the ability to call them," Hawke told Axel.

"Can you fly?" Pascal asked.

"Yeah," Hawke mumbled.

"Fuck yeah, he can," Keir said, shifting over to slap Hawke's shoulder. "That's how we survived when the Hunt attacked on spring break. He saved my ass."

"So we're the only ones who didn't know?" Bran asked.

"No," Hawke said. "The court are the only ones who knew, and we didn't tell Keir and Rain until that night.

" He paused. "I didn't want to tell them.

Torian's known for a while. Aspen found out.

Wilder..." He paused to smile at his boyfriend.

"He's known since he got here. Torian basically told him to deal with it or die. "

"Close enough," Wilder agreed.

"And I've known since Liam found Hawke and Torian in foster care," Bracken said, finally stepping forward.

"Ms. Rhodes knew before he was accepted into Silver Oaks.

Just so there's no misunderstanding, Hawke is fae.

He might be a wildling, but so is my daughter, which means I will not tolerate slurs against them. Not in my class, and not out of it."

"Seriously, Bracken?" Pascal asked. "Do you think we're going to say shit about a guy who's stood with us against the Hunt?"

"No," Bracken admitted. "But I think someone will.

I think that today, a lot of students saw something they've been told to fear.

For many, the easiest way to push back against that feeling is to attack.

Words, looks, things they'll call jokes.

It doesn't matter, but it will happen, and Hawke is one of us - have I made that clear? "

"Heard!" the sentinels, including Keir, replied in unison.

Bracken nodded once, accepting that. "Hawke has abilities that are going to be useful. As you saw today, he can wield Wild magic in some ways, like Rain does. He can drain magic - "

"It's how I get the power to mimic seasonal magic," Hawke explained. "I have to feed on it."

"I've donated," Pascal said, looking at the others. "It's kinda like getting a pair of shots. Granted, I didn't have any magic at that time, so I don't know what it would do to my own ability."

"Right after," Wilder told the guys, "you feel a bit low, like you don't have the juice to conjure or enchant anything. That lasts for about ten minutes, then it replenishes quickly. Within a day, there's no effect."

"We are magical creatures," Torian said. "So are wildlings. It might be a different magic, but it ends up being symbiotic. Also, Hawke is my best friend. He is my advisor. I refuse to hear the word 'monster' used when referring to him."

"Unless it's in jest," Hawke hurried to clarify. "I mean, no different than us calling each other assholes, right?"

"I'm honestly more concerned about that bitch calling Torian a false prince," Bran said as he turned, heading for the stairs that would bring him down from the raised area at the back.

Pascal, Axel, and Daivon followed, the group thundering their way over. From the other side, my zez made his way closer, gesturing to the benches. I claimed one, and Bracken sat beside me. Everyone else found a space so we could all sit close enough to talk at normal volume while facing each other.

"Here's what everyone needs to know," Bracken said. "On Faerie, jevadu are considered terrifying. Yes, they hunt us. Not exclusively, but they will feed on us to fuel their power. They are always male, and they have children with sidhe women."

"Which is how I can pass," Hawke explained. "My mother was wealthy enough that I fit into society, and her money explained away my childhood weirdness. I quickly learned to hide that so I could pretend to be one of them."

"Do you know your father?" Keir asked.

Hawke chuckled once. "I do. I was supposed to go with him once I was older and safer, but the Mad Queen happened first."

"Most jevadu are left out for their fathers to take," Bracken told us. "Many are killed instead, but while jevadu are dangerous, we think of them the way people here think of polar bears. You don't want to see one in person, but you also like that they exist, even if they're dangerous."

"Are you dangerous?" Axel asked Hawke.

He shrugged. "No more than my friends?"

"Are you freaking out?" Daivon asked. "I mean, you kinda grew wings in front of the entire school."

"And killed that girl," Pascal said softly.

"Yeah," Hawke breathed. "I didn't know what else to do, though. Rain got knocked out, and we've seen that shield before."

"When they attacked me," Pascal told his friends.

We all nodded, and while the feeling in the gym was morose, it wasn't aggressive. In truth, it felt more like we were all on the same side, but we knew shit was about to get bad.

Then Bran leaned over, dropping his hand onto Hawke's knee. "You stepped up, though. You sacrificed to save the rest, and to me, that's nothing more than what we promised when we became sentinels."

"We've got your back, Hawke," Axel assured him.

"And I know how to spread rumors," Daivon said. "We'll help where we can."

"Which will help more than any of you know," Bracken told us.

"But Hawke, I want you to talk to Liam as well.

When you're done here, come to my place.

What you're doing is hard, and I don't want to pretend like it isn't. You are changing an entire generation of minds, and while I can't do it for you, I will help in any way you need. I'd like to think we all will."

"You're one of us, Hawke," I told him.

That earned me a smile, but the other guys all offered their own comments about being there for anything he needed. Hawke's eyes dropped to the ground, and he leaned over his knees like he was trying to hide from the overflow of support, yet I still saw the smile taking over his mouth.

"And now," Bracken said, pushing to his feet, "I think it's time to hit things. Go warm up. Stop smothering Hawke, and let's see if you can stand against him when he isn't holding back!"