Page 131 of Gift from the Wing

“Too soon for the dark humor. Too freaking soon.”

“My bad.”She snorts, but I see it for what it is. Little shit is trying to shove it down and bury it with jokes.

“So lunch instead of breakfast? I can’t believe they let us sleep this long.”

“I woke up once when it was still dark out and my body was like hell no, bitch, back to sleep you go. Apparently, Jamie tried to wake me up so he could do a thorough check, but I wouldn’t budge.”

“I bet so. You needed the rest. So lunch?”I ask again since she didn’t answer me.

The silence on the other end paired with the longing I feel pulsing in my chest gives me my answer. She wants to stay cuddled up with her men. Understandably.

“Ahhh, I see. Someone wants to stay in and be a pampered princess today,”I tease so she knows I’m not upset.

“Well, they do know how to pamper me. You’re okay with that?”she asks quietly.

“Umm, of course. I completely understand wanting to be wrapped up in your men’s arms for the day.”

“Tomorrow then. We’ll make a girls’ day out of it and make the men go to work.”She chuckles and I shake my head at her.

“Sounds good. Check in with me today when you’re not busy,”I say with a little saucy tone.

“I’ll check in during water breaks. Love youuuu,”she singsongs and I groan.

“Gross. Love you more.”

Her laugh fades from my mind and I close my eyes, cherishing the sound. Elementra knows I wouldn’t know what to do without her.

“So what’s the plan, little wanderer?” Draken asks.

“She’s going to stay in with her guys today. We’re going to spend tomorrow together.”

“You plan on introducing her to MommaVito?” he asks.

“Yeah. Maybe we’ll make it an all-girls day and hang out with Tanith as well.”

“Mom has a meeting in the morning with a few of the academy headmasters and I’ll be joining her, but we should be done by lunch,” Corentin says.

“Oh, about what?” I ask nosily.

“Well, the number one objective is she plans on checking for marks. Not that we think any of the headmasters are betraying us. They’ve been vetted extensively, but time and time again, loyalties have been compromised. If it proves they’re all good, she’ll be discussing increasing security, strengthening their wards, and she wants me to give them a breakdown of the attack on our academy. Even though we’ll leave out the part about how it was a targeted attack, how the Mastery handled their formation, gathered and held the students hostage, and what they’re doing to the hostages is all information the headmasters should be made aware of.”

“You two aren’t going alone, right?” I ask immediately. The thought of just him and Aurora checking for marks and possibly exposing one alone worries me. Despite realistically knowing, unless every headmaster is corrupt, then they can handle themselves.

“No, Tillman will be coming so he can check their minds. That’ll be how we see if they wear a mark and all my dads will be joining, plus a small team of E.F. members.”

“Okay, good. Speaking of the academy. We have three days until classes resume,” I say, open-ended.

It feels a little surreal to me after everything that’s happened. I haven’t been to the academy since we rescued Keeper. We have so many other things going on, I sort of forgot I was a student.

“Are you reading my mind this morning, princess?” he asks teasingly.

“No, was that what you were bringing up next?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a few things to discuss.”

“Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good,” I taunt. Whatever he has to discuss isn’t the end of the realm level discussion judging by his relaxed posture and nonchalance.

Rolling his eyes, he takes a sip of his coffee first, then sets it down and laces his fingers. I may have spoken to soon on the seriousness of the topic. “I think you’ve far surpassed any of the classes the academy will provide you with. I don’t see any point in you continuing enrollment.”

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