Page 110 of Class Studies

Ashe frowned. “It’s not fucking done yet.”

“Well,” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m about to walk to Abe’s office and offer her whatever she wants just to have a shower, so maybe it can be close enough?”

Ashe took a deep breath and dramatically gestured to the makeshift opening. Together, we followed Wyn into Ashe’s project. Curved walls met my gaze. Gray dust from Saffron’s explosion covered everything, including beds resting on either side of the small room. A standard-issued clothing chest and matching bedside table gave the two spaces a homey feel. In the center of the room, separating the beds, a massive dual-sided desk sat mostly assembled.

“I thought these were storage closets,” I said in awe.

“That’s a washroom at the far end.” Saffron pointed. “There’s a matching room on the other side. Tanwyn and I will take this one, and Beryl and Ashe the other. Keith already has an entire tower, so he’ll have to figure it out.”

I rubbed the grit on my arms. “You’re not staying with Keith?”

Saffron put two fingers under my chin and drew my gaze. “I love Keith, but it’s you keeping us together.”

My magic stirred, kissing my joints, and I flung myself into Saffron, sweat, dust, and all. Saffron wrapped me in his arms and kissed me properly for the first time in weeks. As our tongues danced, my magic edged toward him, and I tore myself away before I transferted.

Saffron grinned. “I assume I’m out of the doghouse.”

I nodded a few times, my hand on my chest.

Ashe scowled and shimmed up to my free side. “I did all the fucking work.”

I rolled my eyes and stepped out from between them.

“I don’t want to be our leader.” I put my hands on my hips and pursed my lips. “And rules just exist to be broken as far as I can tell, so I don’t know why we need them.”

Ashe winced. “I fucking hate that I see where you’re coming from. But, Kitten, think of it as fucking communication instead of rules. We,” he growled, “don’t get along.”

Tanwyn stepped to my back and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Think of yourself as less of a leader and more of a peacemaker,” he whispered. “I know I’m new, but certain of my summons don’t get along well, like your guys. I’m careful with who I put with who.”

He kissed my cheek. Ashe and Saffron stepped away from us in opposite directions, picking up random bits of wall and debris.

I sighed unhappily.

Tanwyn wrapped his arms around my waist. “You’re the glue holding us together. We’ll sort this as a team, but we’ll get along better if it makes you happy. Maybe just a few house ru….um guidelines, so when we get on each other’s nerves, we can refer to something instead of arguing. We don’t have to stick to it exactly.”

I took a deep breath, seeing his logic. “We don’t have to stick to our rules. Life is about change. We can do whatever we want.” My nose wrinkled, my words dangerously close to Officer Keres’ a few days ago.

Tanwyn kissed my neck. “Exactly.” He lowered his voice. “Although I’m flattered by how powerful you know I am, I don’t enjoy slinking back to my dorm like an outsider. Would you?”

Pain shot through me. “No.” I spun, resting my hand on his chest. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Tanwyn cupped my cheek. “I did, I do.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You could’ve just told me. We didn’t need to go through all of this.”

“I will in the future.” Tanwyn placed his hand over mine. “Professor Garnet thought you might learn better by watching.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course, he did. I traced one of the tattoos on the side of the summoner’s temple. Whips of orange magic tangled around my fingertips. “I’m sorry. You trusted me to balance things, and I didn’t.”

Tanwyn hugged me fiercely. “No apologies. We’re learning together. Now, what shall we do?”

“Ah.” I eyed his dusty figure. My magic tingled I licked my lips.

Tanwyn’s eyes sparkled. “About the dirty rooms.”

“Right.” I shook myself. I was dirty, cold, and angry. Maybe not so angry anymore.

I raised my voice. “Tanwyn knows some fancy runes to help us clean up. Let’s get my tower fit for five.”

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