Dodging Calamities (Artemis University #7) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,30
to do the same. Then they both crawled in bed with me. I lay curled up on Darby’s chest as Lucca spooned me from behind, both comforting and holding me protectively.
It was perfect and perfectly what I needed.
And even better, they each made love to me when we woke. Darby moved above me as he told me how much he loved me and needed me. Then he rolled us, and Lucca took over while I was still lying on my boyfriend. He whispered sweet everything in my ear and thanked me for giving him the chance to find this happiness.
It was exactly what I needed, what my soul craved.
After a sweet shower with them, I grabbed my phone and called Mrs. Vogel.
“Well, this is a surprise,” her amused voice greeted.
“I know,” I sighed. “But you have to know it’s awkward for me.”
“It is, and I’m still your friend no matter how long it takes you to figure out what you need to, and your feelings,” she said gently. “It’s awkward for me as well as I, as his mother, want to push you towards Hudson, so that is why I took several steps back. As a woman and a friend, I understand, and I’m on your side—he’s an idiot.”
“He’s still your son. I know, thank you.”
“Good. Then why did I deserve a call this fine morning?”
I told her the situation, being honest about the request and laying it all out for her. She knew me well enough I wouldn’t push for this if she didn’t want it, but I couldn’t think of any reason she would object.
She was quiet several moments when I was done, but then sighed. “As my mother told me, she was in the wrong. She listened to the wrong person and believed some faulty intel, and on top of that, mishandled the situation. She said she tried to explain later, but Mrs. Brooks’s mother wouldn’t even give her the time of day. She didn’t blame the woman and took full responsibility.”
“How do you want me to handle this? Do you want to get involved with her?”
“Oh absolutely, and you’re doing a lovely job, as your kind always does, of making friends where there has been hurt or issues. I would ask you even call her right now and tell her what I shared with you. I think it best we even meet this weekend at the bakery if she could manage it. It would deter the warlocks from doing something too rash.”
I agreed, which was why I made the call. Mrs. Brooks agreed as well, hurrying to swing a quick face-to-face for tea after lunch. Mrs. Vogel could do the same, and both were pleased to put the past of their mothers behind them.
The meeting was even better. They were both genuinely nice women and the hobgoblins shined, showing what they were plotting for the winter holidays and supe traditions. That would go over well with the wolves and mean a lot of sales for the bakery that now employed a ton of hobgoblins.
They decided to set up another meeting with a few of the other council mates and another queen for the weekend after to enjoy the time, instead of a rushed one for appearances. I also put a dinner with the Brooks on the calendar for Darby and I to attend, which meant I would have to have another one with the group of wolf shifter elders, or more individually.
I actually didn’t mind. If it helped our cause, I would do it, and they were pretty chill, not pompous and pushy like the others I’d met. I’d definitely suffered worse.
Now, we just had to sit and wait to see what the warlock councilmen did in response. I had a feeling it would fall short of our expectations given how much everyone was building up the crazy. Granted, there had been a lot of crazy coming from them, but there had to be a limit as to how far they would really go.
Right?
7
“Tamsin Vale, you need to come with us. It’s a matter of supe security,” a man declared Monday morning as I headed to class.
Well, we were wrong about the warlock council making a move. No way these guys are with them. For one, they were too big. Warlocks were like normal humans. Not that other groups stood out, but there were humans we all looked at and had thoughts that maybe they were too big to be human.