Page 63 of Gift from the Tree

Endless fucking paperwork. Paperwork my assistant should be able to do easily, but instead, she forever tries to come into my office with ridiculous fucking questions as an excuse to be near me, so I just do most of it myself. Endless calls from parents believing their money will sway me to pass their kids even if they aren’t ready.

It’s fucking foolish of them to think I could be bribed with money or social status, especially for grown-ass adults who should be more than capable of handling their shit without mommy and daddy interfering, but that’s just not how the elite operate in Elementra.

They forget, though, I am money, and I am social status. It’s obvious they forget who the fuck my Nexus is since we’re all here and not in the limelight of the Central.

I throw myself into pointless and meaningful work all the same. It’s got to get done, there’s no other choice, so there’s no point bitching and complaining about it. It’s hours before my timekeeper goes off, giving me permission to back off the work and get ready for lunch. Routine. Stick with the routine and I can get through the day.

Let’s see what our Primary has to say.

Tillman arrives first, coming in and dropping down on the couch in my sitting area before leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

“Taking a power nap, are you, brother?” I ask, arching a brow at him. It’s not like him to be tired in the middle of the day.

“Couldn’t sleep last night, got rocked in the jaw at dawn, and the senior recruits are acting like it’s their first fucking day of school. They all lost their fucking minds in the month break they had,” he complains, not bothering to open his eyes. I can’t help but laugh about him getting hit. When he first told me, I tried to hold it together, until Draken began reenacting the whole thing and I lost it.

Tillman isn’t one to lose focus in a tense situation, but it seems Willow had him a little distracted this morning. I walk over to the bar and put on some coffee when there’s a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Boys, how’s your first day going?” Gaster asks with his typical grandfatherly attitude, always needing to check on us.

We both respond with a grunt. “How about yours, Gaster?”

“Marvelous. The best first day I’ve had in ages,” he says as he sits down. Hearing him, but not looking at him, I think he’s being sarcastic until I turn around and his smile takes up the majority of his face.

What the fuck has got him so cheery?

Before I can question him, Draken comes barging in, not bothering to knock, dragging a giggling Willow behind him. “Hey, hey, everyone.” He slaps Tillman on the shoulder, jumping over the back of my couch.

“Draken, you’re going to break the furniture,” I snap. He’s forever doing the exact opposite of what he’s told to do.

“Nonsense. Come have a seat, kitten.”

I roll my eyes at him and those fucking pet names for her.

“Willow, how was your first class?” I turn my attention to her, watching her gravitate toward Gaster.

“Wonderful. I made a new friend.” She beams like that’s the most important news. I hope that isn’t the only thing she has to share with us. I’m happy to hear she’s getting along, I guess, but I have a lot of shit to take care of.

“Who?” Tillman cut in.

“Her name’s Oakly.”

“Oakly. The tracker?” he asks, sitting up a little straighter.

“Yes, and if I find out you’re pressuring her to join your little E.F. teams when she doesn’t want to, I’ll kick your ass.” Her eyebrows are drawn down in a scowl, lips pinched, her version of an angry face. I hold in my smirk because it’s fucking precious seeing her tiny ass go up against the mountain that Tillman is.

“She has a gift that’s only been seen a handful of times in centuries.” Tillman tries to reason with her.

“I don’t care. If she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t want to.” Willow plops down beside Gaster and crosses her arms, officially declaring that conversation over. Tillman won’t drop it, though. We need a tracker badly, and that girl has promising potential.

“May I have a cup of coffee?” she asks with her nose turned up in the air, smelling the coffee aroma.

Smelling has become her new thing. We’ll have to explain to her that her senses are naturally heightening now that she’s in Elementra. We’ll leave out the part where all our scents will be even more potent to her, though. After handing her a cup of coffee that I already had ready, she brings it to her nose and takes a deep breath before trying it and humming. I turn my back on the room and grind my teeth so hard, you can hear it.

Fuck, this awakening is making this so much harder. It’s taking everything in me not to snatch her out of her seat and sit her in my lap.

Tillman makes a humming noise, drawing my attention to him and his knowing look, meaning I broadcasted those thoughts a little too loud and he picked it up. Sneering at him, I fish out my communicator and send a message to the kitchen to go ahead and bring our lunch up. I’ve done good about keeping this fucking bond in check for the better part of the morning, but all it’s taken is a few looks and some sweet words to fall from her mouth and it’s back to wreaking fucking havoc in my chest.

---