Page 72 of Monster Girl Awakened

Dylan

It’salottoprocess. A shit ton. I shake my head as my thoughts swirl around my head like a fucking merry-go-round. I’m lucky enough to have a fairly rational thought process so I’m able to separate my emotions from the new information and look at it with neutrality. I can completely understand why Corin didn’t tell us about his job before, the same about Nessa’s borderline vigilante behaviour.

The difference between them though, is that she told us it willingly whereas Corin didn’t tell any of us and I can’t help but wonder, if it wasn’t revealed, how long would he continue to keep it a secret? Out of everything that has been revealed today, that is what I’m caught up on. To my understanding, he is on board with Oscar’s and my idea to court Nessa together. For her to date all of us. But his job is a big secret to keep in a relationship. It breaks a lot of trust, whether you weren’t legally able to tell people, or not.

I suck in a breath, eyes flitting between everyone before landing on Corin who is still beside me. “When would you have told us if Ezra hadn’t outed you?” I ask, a curious sensation pinching in my chest.

The large man averts his eyes and I grit my teeth, the urge to growl rising in my throat. “After my assignment is complete,” he whispers with a grimace. My nostrils flare, that pain intensifying. It’s then that I realise what it is. Hurt and betrayal. Over the last few months we’ve gotten closer, he’s one of my few friends. One that I’ve let a lot of my defences down around. It hurts that he didn’t trust me to protect his secret. My eyes drop to the floor, only flicking up briefly to see an echoing flash of hurt tighten Nessa’s expression.

The silence is thick with anger and everything unsaid. It’s me who speaks up again, to get us back on track. We didn’t meet up to put Corin’s head on the metaphorical chopping block, we met up to come to a decision on working with Ezra. “I want to hear more of what Ezra wants to say, because I would be interested in a position with the SFBI,” I say.

Oscar straightens, still appearing slightly dazed by the information overload. “I’m not sure how to feel about everything you’ve both kept from me, but I have my own secret that I should tell you, since we’re sharing.” My eyebrows raise in surprise. I really wouldn’t have expected Oscar to have anything to this level. My head cocks to the side and he waggles his eyebrows at me, a small grin showing at my interest. His attempt at lightening the mood draws a weak chuckle from Nessa and a tiny smile from Corin. “I have a job outside the Academy.” Nessa gives him a pointed look and he groans, running a hand through his pink hair. “I fight at a club every few weeks to support my mother. Nessa and I ran into each other their the other day.”

I sit back, concern rising in my chest.Goddess, he can’t be much older than twenty, how long has he had to do this to help his mother?

Oscar

I force a somewhat natural looking smile onto my face, careful not to make full eye contact with anyone as everyone’s focus narrows in on me, pity and sympathy practically radiating from their pores. I know they mean well, but I’m not going to crack open the cluster fuck of issues I have surrounding my mother yet, so I do what I always do, deflect with humour.

Letting out a chuckle, I nudge Nessa playfully, eyes meeting hers. “Now that you are all aware that I process the amazing skill set needed for this job, I’m gonna add my decision, which is that I’d like to talk to Ezra about it more.” I waggle my eyebrows as I mention my amazing skill set and manage to draw some chuckles, the mood in the room lightening considerably. It has some of the tightness in my shoulders easing.

Dylan pushes to his feet, eyes locked on Nessa. “I suppose this means that we’ve come to a decision then. We’re going to meet with Ezra about everything.”

I nod in agreement as does Nessa, but I don’t miss the slight tightening of her expression. Biting the inside of my cheek, I lean over to cup her elbow, stroking her skin with my thumb. “Are you okay? I can’t hope to understand what it’s like to have to give up something that you’ve spent years working on…” I trail off, words escaping me. She’s so strong to do this. Then again, with her double life and research into the SFBI, she may have already prepared herself for this being a clause in the future when she applied to work with them.

Nessa’s golden eyes drop to the ground for a moment and she seems to get lost in her thoughts, shoulders curling inwards a little, before she snaps back to the present. After letting out a long breath, she straightens, eyes hardening. “I’ll be alright.” She then looks down at her watch, lips tipping up into a smile. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. My dad’s are going to give me a call in fifteen minutes and I got a package delivered this morning that I’m pretty sure is the balance stone they promised to send. I’ve got to pick it up from the mailroom.”

I grin, her happiness infectious. “See you later,” I murmur, the other two saying their goodbyes too before she ducks out of Corin’s dorm room. The second the door clicks shut I’m on my feet, stalking towards Corin. All that anger and confusion I pushed down with Nessa present, rising to the surface. “You lied to us.”

Dylan steps into Corin’s space too, and the Mountain Man, as Nessa has dubbed him, rises from his place on the couch, expression blank.

“I don’t get it, you had so many opportunities to tell us yet you didn’t,” Dylan says in a soft voice, the hurt he’s feeling clear in his pinched expression. “You could have told us then put a rune on us to make sure that information was locked away. Anything, but you didn’t.”

That has Corin’s facade fading and he scrubs a hand over his face. “I know. I know and I’m sorry. In case you haven’t already noticed, I’m pretty shit at trusting people. It’s no excuse though, and I understand completely if you’re pissed at me, but please don’t push any of that anger onto Ezra or what he’s offering. It’s an amazing opportunity and he really is a good boss. And although I know it’s not much, I am sorry.” Corin looks between us, sincerity heavy in his gaze. It has me letting out a breath, all the anger draining from me.

“Okay,” I say, rolling my lips in. “I’m not going to lie and say that I’m not still upset, but we’re okay.”

Dylan draws back too but looks less sure about his feelings over Corin, and I draw closer to him. The vamp is too sweet for his own good, despite the slightly clinical demeanour he takes on most of the time. “I’m not sure,” Dylan says, voice low, not meeting Corin’s eyes. “I won’t let it cloud my judgement on Ezra though.”

Corin lets out a slow breath and nods, body still tense. “I’ll speak with Ezra and we can meet up to discuss it when he gives me a time and day to meet.”

I mumble an agreement, exhausted. We silently exchange another look between each other before we go our separate ways. We need to work it out though, for Nessa’s sake.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Nessa

Isitbackonthe couch, coffee in hand, eyes fixed on Lexi as she stares off into space. We met up to talk about the offer that Ezra has made both of us, but so far all we’ve done is make coffee and stare into space. My eyes slide to the opal-like stone that is sitting on my dining room table, and I can’t help the tingle of excitement that zaps through me at the thought of using it in my next potions class. The package that came was in fact the balance stone from my fathers, though I haven’t had the chance to test it out yet. They gave me a brief rundown on how to use it when they called earlier and it seems like I might finally be able to create a potion to completion, without ruining it or making it explode. It’s honestly a shame that you can’t just use a balance stone as an instant fix for any other type of magic.

I blink away the thoughts, and refocus on the reason we met up today in the first place. “So,” I inquire, drawing the word out.

The woman in question shoves her hand through her rainbow hair, before letting out a huff. “Yes, Ezra spoke with me about the job offer.” She pauses, pale eyes flitting over my expression before she lets out a breath. “And the clause.”

My jaw tightens as a rush of opposing emotions crash over me about that clause. Even though I’ve mentally decided to accept Ezra’s deal, I haven’t fully figured out how I feel about it yet. I know it’s the most logical step for me to take, but it doesn’t make it easy to give up this vendetta that I’ve had for years. I shake my head at my own thoughts, now is not the time to work through this emotionally. I need to be here to support Lexi’s decision.

My eyes settle on the woman in question as I nod in acknowledgement to her words and she continues. “I made it clear to him that if I agreed, I’m only going to be sitting behind a desk, no field work. He accepted that right off the bat, and I said that I needed to speak with you before I made my decision…” she trails off, eyebrows furrowing and it hits me.

I sit back, eyes flaring wide as I search her expression. “You already know what you want to do?”

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