questioning my sanity.
“I only look at Dewy, and she’s still angry at anyone who comes close to me.” Dressed, he sat on my glistening pillow in dejection. “I don’t know what else to do to show her that I care about her.”
I sat on the other end of the bed and considered Piepen. I’d sent him to the marshes to be with his own kind, thinking he would be happier. He didn’t look happy. He looked miserable. And his new girlfriend sounded horrible. But if I told him any of that, he’d be back sleeping in my drawer again. That couldn’t happen. Yet, I couldn’t manage the level of selfishness needed to leave him to sort out his own problems.
“Did you know that Dewy sent her little sister to spy on me yesterday?”
Piepen looked horrified.
“Not you too! I only touched myself and thought of you when she was sleeping.”
The need to help him faded.
“Stop touching yourself and thinking of me. You’re supposed to be thinking of her. No wonder she’s jealous.”
He groaned in misery.
“You ask the impossible of me. I’ve felt your skin against mine. I’ve marked you as my own. Your smile keeps me awake at night. The only time I can sleep is when I’m wrapped in your underwear, blanketed by your musky scent.”
“I think I’m going to throw up. Did you steal my underwear?”
His gaze shifted right then left. “No.”
“Piepen, you’re using the excuse for advice as a reason to visit me. Ask your new guardians for help with Dewy. They understand brownie interactions better than I do.” I stood and went to the window, which was once again open. The bit of hanger I’d jammed between the jamb and sash lay on the sill. “How do you guys keep opening my window?”
“I didn’t. I swear. It was already open.”
Given his previous lie, I didn’t believe him and pointed at the opening.
“It’s time for you to go. And stop sleeping in my underwear!”
He zipped out into dawn’s early light, and I hoped his appearance wasn’t an omen for how the rest of my day would go.
Chapter Ten
“Good morning, Eliana. How was your weekend?”
Irritation at the unexpected sight of Adira sitting in the dining room robbed me of the last bit of my patience.
“Suitably filled with adult harassment regarding my life choices. How was yours?”
She sighed, her disappointment in my answer plain in her expression.
“I am not harassing you, Eliana. I’m ensuring you continue your progress toward becoming a healthy, self-sufficient adult.”
“Have you even looked up the definition of harassment?”
“You seem to be in a mood today.” She arched a single brow at me.
“Like I said, I had a trying weekend.”
“Is that why you weren’t at the Roost last night?”
My impatience with the conversation grew.
“The point of me going to the Roost is to practice my hunting skills, isn’t it? I went to the pack territory instead.”
“I want you at the Roost every night. You can feed there.”
“If there’s one thing you’ve taught me, Adira, it’s that we can’t always have what we want.”
“You’re being very difficult this morning.”
“Because I won’t feed where you can monitor me like I’m part of some wildlife documentary?”
A flicker of surprise flashed in her gaze, and I knew my statement had struck close to the truth, which only provoked my intolerance of her.
“I’ll see you at the Academy,” I said on my way to the kitchen door. I paused just before leaving the dining room and looked back at her. “Oh, wait, that’s right. You’re discreet about your obsessive monitoring and use your network of observers to keep you updated. I guess I won’t be seeing you then.”
I marched through the empty kitchen and got into my car. It wasn’t until I was almost to the Academy that I realized my stupidity in challenging Adira like that on the morning I was supposed to hand over a shovel to the druids.
Mentally cringing, I pulled into the nearly empty parking lot and hurried inside with the shovel in hand. The few mermaids in the pool gave me odd looks before remembering to hiss at me and dive under the water.
Anne looked up from her place near the sink when I entered and gave the shovel a curious look.
“It’s the only personal item I could get,” I said.
“That’s not very personal.” Doubt coated Lauv’s expression as well as her words.
“I know it’s not. The windows are spelled against anything non-human, though. I’m lucky I got this.”
“Whatever,” Meg said. “Let’s just try it.”
I handed over