“They will not save you from our wrath. It’s not even about Tamsin, but our word as dragons giving our protection. We will not allow any doubt in the strength of those promises. The next student—exchange or otherwise—who tries anything underhanded with her—in class or outside of it—will deal with us. Your councils know this as they were warned.”
“It’s why they’re offering you the brass ring,” I told the students, appreciating the backup, but not wanting Hudson to speak for me. “You’re expendable. You fail and get eaten by my guards or stomped to shit by dragons, and it’s no skin off of them. They’ll disavow you or anything you tried.” I snorted when I saw his disbelief. “What do you think happened to the other exchange students who got booted?”
“They got booted because their councils didn’t back them up,” Natalie about purred, smirking when other people looked shocked. “Wake up, people! Our councils don’t care about us. They care about power and what they can get. Those councils denied everything and blamed the students as making it all up so they didn’t have any issues about crossing lines. They will do the same to you. We are all pawns to them.”
My eyes went wide as I heard in her mind that her council had tried to drag her in, but Geiger had interjected and told them that if they tried to drag a student off this campus without a valid reason and to another closed door meeting over his dead body. That man was seriously done with all the corruption and bullshit.
Good. More people should be. Enough!
“And the dragons aren’t the only ones on her side,” a female I sort of recognized said. “She got rid of Koch, who rooted all through our minds and fucked with our shields. She’s helped us see the corruption and protect ourselves.”
Office hours! She was one of the first to truly come to my mental shielding office hours asking for real help, even when she was done with the class. Rock on.
“So this ends,” Hudson declared. “If you came for the exchange program to get to her—leave. She is off the table, and you will piss us all off and incur the wrath of dragons. And before you give me some bullshit about student code of conduct, you’re breaking it going after a student, and dragon protections are exempt from those rules. That gives me free reign to eat all your asses. My dragon would love it.”
Oh, I just bet River would. He had to be having a horrible time with all this crazy.
Security showed up and took the guy away, and finally, finally it seemed people were realizing the shit was real, and everyone was done with the crap.
For now at least. My luck was never good enough that it would last too long.
One could only hope?
24
I felt like I blinked and another few weeks went by. I was glad, because things were calming down and classes were going well, but I was so, so ready for midterms and break. Even a week… I simply needed a break. At least from Artemis. I wouldn’t get one from this world, but I would take what I could get.
There would be a ton to do over break, but mostly sneaky hidden stuff, which I much preferred anyways.
I had just sat down with my tray in the cafeteria at dinner when several large men who looked out of place walked in. I bit back sigh. All the students packed in the place, and I didn’t even need to guess who they were there for.
Zack and Ray seemed to understand that as well because I felt them reach me before the strangers.
And someone must have alerted Edelman because a temp portal opened right as the group stopped in front of me.
“Tamsin Vale, you need to come with us,” their leader instructed. “We have questions you are required to answer, as you’ve been implicated in a theft from the home of a hawk councilman.” He glanced around as if making it clear that all the people there was why he wasn’t telling me a name.
Funny, because I was damn sure all those people being there was why they were doing this to me now.
“Well, this is a new ploy,” I purred, making no move to obey, smirking at them even. “What did I supposedly steal from an unnamed councilman I’m sure I’ve never met, as I’ve never met a hawk elder?”
The guy’s eyes flared with anger at my snark and dismissive attitude, but there was something more. My telepathy instantly told me he didn’t want to be there either.
And this whole thing was bullshit in his eyes. Glad we both thought that.
“We weren’t given a list of the items you are accused of stealing, but there is valid reason to believe it’s you,” he answered.
The cafeteria went eerily quiet.
Ray was the first to break the silence. “You came here to seriously drag her off to be interrogated for a theft when you don’t even know what was stolen? Did I just hear that crazy right?”
The guy shot Ray a less than friendly look. “The councilman is withholding that information at the moment and—”
“Then he can’t even file a report,” Zack cut in, a snarl in his tone. “We have laws and rules, just like the humans. You cannot report a theft to open a valid investigation without actionable evidence, including a damn list of what was taken.”
“Yes, I know this, Captain.”
“Captain?” I purred deeper, glancing at my guard.
He nodded, but kept his focus on the supe police. “I was with the supe police for over twenty years, retiring at captain when
