Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,65

If his wasn’t full of so much grief and upset, it would get us caught.

Or him in serious trouble for having such strong feelings for a student. It wasn’t against the rules, but someone would bust him and start shit because they could. Because it involved me.

Probably that would be the culprit.

The problem was we had to have sex to activate a new charm.

“Okay,” I breathed, not sure what else to do. The last thing we needed was more trouble.

“We can go back to slow after,” he murmured. “I understand you weren’t ready for everything in the dreamscape.” He sighed when I flinched. “I didn’t mean that. I meant naked snuggles in bed or any of it. I knew that without even knowing you thought it a normal dream. It’s easier there. It was for me too. You’re still asleep.”

I considered what he’d said and nodded. “Yeah, it was easier. Calmer. Not so much of everything conflicting. It was like how River or Lucca’s bear thinks and feels as opposed to Hudson or Lucca.”

“I never thought of it that way. I don’t… I’m not a shifter or dragon. It’s not something I can comprehend well.”

I snorted. “My telepathy was the only way I didn’t completely lose my mind trying to understand it all. I could hear the thoughts and get it better then.” I cleared my throat and gave him a tentative glance. “Before break ends. We’ve got a week still.”

“If that’s what you want.” He kissed my forehead and didn’t push it.

He also didn’t let me go for a while. At least a half an hour, he held me on his lap and we snuggled without saying a word. It meant something. There was meaning to it, I was sure of that, but I had no idea what.

I rarely did.

14

The Friday before school started again and I needed to return to campus, we decided it was time to unfreeze more fairies. Everyone else was already back at campus—even Izzy—and had brought my stuff, but I was more than safe with all the fairies now staying at my house.

My magic was doing that weird spidey sense thing and had been for a few days. I didn’t think it had to do with the plan, but some sort of warning. Something was up and it was trying to let me know.

Why the fuck couldn’t it just send me a damn text?

It got worse about an hour before we were to start and for some reason, I knew to head to sitting room in the other wing. I didn’t worry that was creepy or question it, simply throwing up my barrier and cloaking myself from everyone before heading that way.

And was I ever glad I did.

“You’re not hearing me,” Neldor sighed as I slipped into the room since the door was ajar. “This won’t work if we’re not a united front. She’s an idiot to unfreeze more dark fairies, but we have to use that to our advantage.”

“It’s fair and so is she,” Cluym defended. “As fairies, we praise fairness, not criticize it.”

Neldor shot Cluym an amused look. “Only when it’s not being stupid. It’s putting her at a disadvantage for the power struggle we’re in.”

“You’re in, Neldor. She’s not playing this game with you. You’re the only one focused on the struggle between the thrones of the two realms. Her priorities are on saving all fairies and our planet.” He sighed. “And honestly, I’m disappointed that’s where your focus is.”

Neldor stopped in his tracks and gave Cluym an unfriendly but mostly confused look. “What?”

“We’re in crisis. Serious crisis. All our focus should only be there and yours is not.” He held up his hand when Neldor went to argue. “There is looking ahead and planning properly and there is what you are doing. It will take years before we can recover all our people and have some sort of life like we once had.”

“I know that,” Neldor snapped.

“Do you? Do you really?” Cluym pushed. “I think you are forgetting that, skipping thoughts of the recovery because of guilt. But the guilt is not yours, Neldor. Your mother did this, and we did all we could to try and stop her. If you continue on this path, the guilt of things going wrong when they didn’t have to will be yours.”

“I’m seeing the ripples and how it will shape the reformation of our world in the wake of all that happened. If Tamsin keeps being at the center and the one to