Year Two: Rebels - Cara Wylde Page 0,61
was alone again. I allowed the tears to flow freely.
* * *
As I walked into the dining hall for lunch on day one of semester two, Davien caught up with me and gave me an envelope. I cocked an eyebrow, opened it, and looked inside.
“How?”
He grinned. “I have my ways. Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything.”
The envelope contained a single plump feather from Domina’s wing.
“It was emotional. I asked her to see me in the courtyard, and I did this whole thing where I apologized for having led her on. Although we all know I never did that. Okay? It was all in her head. But it doesn’t matter. I was the bigger person, and I apologized, told her I never wanted to break her heart and all that. Then I asked her to give me a feather as a parting gift. You know… like in the movies, guys ask for a lock of hair? She didn’t think twice before plucking one off and giving it to me. So there. Now you have two of the five ingredients. It’s progress.”
“Thank you.” I grabbed a salad and sat down at the MDC table. Davien sat beside me, and Seth joined us in seconds. “But you were honest, right? When you told her it was never your intention to break her heart?”
The incubus rolled his eyes. “Actually, yes, I was honest. It’s not like I spend my days plotting how to better break women’s hearts. We’re cool, Domina and I. Friends, she said.”
“Okay. That’s good.”
“How are you feeling?” Seth asked me. “You haven’t gotten out of your room a lot lately. I was half worried you weren’t going to show up today.”
“I needed time to think. And space. You two aren’t very good at giving me space.”
“Sorry.” He grinned at me. No, he wasn’t going to move.
I was once again sandwiched between these two idiots who didn’t want to give up on me. On us. And I was so grateful for that! One of these days, I’d have to pull it the fuck together and tell them how much I appreciated them.
Adrian was at the professors’ table. All through the lunch break, I could feel his gaze on me. When the students started clearing the tables and leaving for class, I looked up at him.
“I need to start dream traveling again,” I told Seth and Davien. I never broke eye contact with Adrian. “And I want you two to guard me. Professor Wyvern, too.” I looked back at the incubus and the sphinx. “Please. I need you to start getting along. We’re in this together, okay? I don’t know who the father is, but it doesn’t matter. Because I care about all three of you, do you hear me? You mean so much to me. You worked together once and saved me. I need you to do it again.”
Davien ran his hands through his red hair. He looked like he was frustrated.
Seth hung his head, unwilling to meet my gaze. Eventually, he nodded feebly.
“Yeah, okay. I can try.”
“Jesus,” Davien complained. “This sucks balls.”
“Please try?” I pleaded.
“Okay, whatever. But your beloved Adrian doesn’t seem to like us much, either.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
* * *
And talk I did… It was surprisingly easy to convince him. He’d just come from the Unseelie Court, where he’d spent the winter vacation with his daughter.
“She is better,” he told me. “Since she took the plant you gave us, she hasn’t aged a day. You helped her like no one, not even myself, could ever help her. So, I’m here for you. Whatever you need. And if you want the incubus and the sphinx around, too… I’ll accept that. I won’t tell you what to do with your life, Yolanda. I can only support you.”
And that was how the three of them ended up in my dorm-room late at night. I wasn’t going to attempt a jump to the universe of the cosmic spawns, but I hadn’t dream traveled in a long time, and I felt anxious. Scared, even. Normally, I would’ve done this alone, like I had so many times. Corri was there, too, ready to assist in any way, if needed.
“This should be easy,” I said as I slipped into my bed and pulled the duvet over me. “I won’t be long. Just… don’t make a sound. Don’t talk, don’t move… Breathe silently.”
“I won’t breathe at all, how about that?” Davien chuckled.
Since we’d found out that I was pregnant and that there was a chance he could