Page 91 of Group Studies

I cut him off before he continued. “Saff, I’m not joining anyone’s harem or adding to what you’ve already built. I’m collecting my own mages, my own life, my own harem. Everyone keeps telling me I’m a powerhouse, and it’s taken a while to sink in, but they're right.” I pulled my wrist out of Saffron’s grip and took a step back so I could look at both mages equally. “Just fixing my hands almost killed Ashe, but once I transferred into him, not only did he fix my hands, but we reversed the damage he’d done to himself. Look around the Institute. Only the things technology can’t replace use magic. I powered my old apartment every time the power went out. Me,” I pointed to my chest, “and I barely noticed it.”

I bounced as I spoke. “I’m special. I know Doctor Roy says I need to find a different way to say it, but I’m a battery pack. I exist to superpower others. Surrounding myself with hot men who I want to supercharge is my new plan.” I nodded a few times, feeling the rightness of my word. “As of this very moment. Given the morals and the legality….” I forced myself to shut up before I lost my newfound passion in self-doubt and semantics. “It’s a plan, anyway.” I pointed at Ashe. “I’m walking out that door to go check on Mercedes right now. You’re not stopping me.”

Ashe grunted.

I swiveled to Saffron. “You have two choices here. You can walk away, or you can start showing me who you are. Beryl calls you Boy Scout. Everyone tells me you’re an example of good in the Institute. But it’s not what I’ve seen, not once. Who is the real Saffron?”

Saffron deflated and looked at the floor. Some of his perfect platinum hair fell into his eyes. I’d never seen the Greek God anything other than confident. It humanized him.

“I’ll come with you,” Saffron agreed, setting his shoulders. “But our break up couldn’t be anything less public, or she would’ve found some way for us to be right back together. You don’t understand.”

I placed a hand on his arm. “I want to.” I hoped he saw the truth in my eyes. “I plan on giving you the chance to explain it to me.”

Despite Ashe’s growl, Saffron slid to my side and gave me a hug.

“Let’s make sure I’m wrong,” I said, squeezing him back. “Mercedes is fuming angrily in her dorm. After that, you can try and talk Ashe into giving us some privacy to chat.”

“Fat fucking chance,” Ashe growled.

I ignored him and tugged both mages out of my tower and down the stairs.

Chapter 14

We came to a stop in the large foyer, surrounded by a maze of halls and stairways, at the front of the Institute.

“She’s not in her dorm room,” I said, closing my text with Roisin. “Alice says she’s not in the library either.”

I hadn’t noticed the librarian add her number to my phone, but I used it now. After a moment’s hesitation, I called Beryl.

“A phone call. This can’t be good,” Beryl picked up on the first ring. I’d expected to hear the sounds of the cafeteria behind him, instead, there was an odd silence.

I put the phone on speaker. “I’m looking for Mercedes. She used magic on Saffron in the cafeteria. The MA hauled her away.”

“Our bro can’t ask his earpiece?” Beryl asked.

Ashe growled.

“You're on speaker phone,” I added.

“Heyo, PeaceCock, your overlord letting you down?” Beryl asked.

I took the phone off speaker and put it to my ear. “Beryl, what’s wrong with you?”

Beryl let out a breath. “Everything, Dot. Honestly. I’m assuming you want me to peek, but I don’t have access anymore, and I’ve got a busy night ahead of me. There are blind spots in the security system. The ones the MA use the most are the big one behind the greenhouse and the one in cosmetology, though that one’s more out of convenience as more female students use that wing.”

My heart dropped. “What? Use? Beryl…”

“Eyes, Dot,” Beryl said. “I don’t have time. If she’s not in either of those spots, call me again after midnight, I’ll be unreachable for a few hours. Gotta get my beauty sleep. Pass me to Ashe.”

I did, my eyebrows furrowed unhappily.

Ashe scowled at the phone while Beryl talked before hanging up and passing it back to me. I pocketed it.

He shifted from foot to foot. “The MA wouldn’t be abusing students in camera blind spots.”

I bit my bottom lip and looked away from him. He so badly wanted the MA to be this perfect beacon of goodness.

“Only one way to find out,” Saffron said, holding out his hand.

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