“What you did put yourself in jeopardy. Not to mention this institution,” he snapped and I understood. “I’ve been fielding calls from Congress and the press all morning, wanting to know about the rift, about you. Do you understand how hard it is for me to hide you, to hide what you are, when you’ve allowed yourself to become the girl who slew the minotaur overnight?”
The girl who slew the minotaur.
I gulped.
“I’m sorry, Dean Clarke,” I said and I meant it. Truly.
Dean Keegan Clarke was the only other person besides my uncle that knew what I was. Outside of the university, outside of the people I had grown up with who knew me and protected me, there were scientists who would want to study me, extremists who would want to kill me, and leaders who would want to use me. I tasted bile as my gut roiled with what I had almost exposed.
“You will get your things in order and you will return to close this rift,” he commanded and I stood up straighter, like a soldier receiving her orders. “I will have your classes covered. Xavier and I will help you in any way you can but Ren, we must close this rift.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“If they are growing, if monsters of ancient times are returning, it’s going to become more and more difficult for me to continue convincing the director of the DAA that these are mere astrophysical anomalies. Soon, we will lose access, you will lose access, and therefore, the person who has the greatest insight into what these are beginning to seem like they are will be barred from investigation. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“We’re running out of time.”
“Precisely. Whatever you find out, Professor Belling, and I mean no matter the source, you come directly to me. Have I made myself clear? Ignorance can not divide us. Not with the weight of the DAA bearing down on us.”
“I understand, Dean Clarke. And I assure you, I will report to you the moment I’ve returned from the rift.”
The Dean opened his mouth as if he intended to lecture me even more but then merely waved me away instead and I assumed that I was dismissed. My required debriefing with the Dean after every journey completed, I strode from his office, already pulling out my phone.
The DAA couldn’t be trusted. But they already knew about the rift, had gotten there even before I had. Given their significant advantage of resources, I had to move fast. I began typing out an email to another female professor I had met a few years ago at a conference about, of all things, telescopic technology. She didn’t work at Hadley. She was located on the other side of the country. But if anyone had any ideas on how to properly amplify a polarity machine, I thought it might be her.
So engrossed was I in my email that I hardly realized how far I’d walked until I reached my classroom. Pushing inside and grabbing the briefcase I had left just inside the door, I headed for the room on the other end, my office, still tapping away on my phone. My mind was such a jumble of bewilderment that I failed to realize I wasn’t alone.
I had reached my desk, set my briefcase down, and sent my email before I looked up to see a devilishly handsome man sitting in the seat across from mine.
His dark hair had a bit of length to it but flowed upward from the crown of his head in a soft wave, undoubtedly the work of some gravity-defying product. His eyes were dark as well and set below his arched brow. He possessed smooth, perfect bronzed skin, a chiseled jawline, and lips that spread slowly into a smirk the more I examined him. I refrained from rolling my eyes. As attractive as he was, his pretty face wasn’t what had me staring. He was emitting a soft purple glow.
From experience, I knew what that meant. So I let my eyes slide over him to the other half-formed shape on his right side before taking my seat and folding my hands in front of me, trying to appear unguarded.
“My office hours are from one to four,” I said impatiently, fiddling with the cuffs of my sleeves to appear distracted as I regarded him. “I’m afraid you’re early.”
“Make an exception,” he drawled, that vexatious smirk still drawn upon his lips.
I raised a brow, leaning back.
“Why should I?” I asked. “For a Fae.”
His smile snapped right off of his face. That arrogant expression turned to vague mistrust and expertly hidden surprise. I could feel his unease as he leaned, ever so slightly, toward me. He fidgeted, one finger rapping silently against his thigh, the only indication that I had made him uncomfortable.
“How—” he began but I answered before he could finish.
“Whatever glamour you’re trying to impose doesn’t work on me. Nor are the invisibility efforts of your friend seeing any success.”
In a blink, another man materialized behind my visitor. I made a concerted effort not to jump at his sudden appearance. Though I was unused to seeing magic wielded so casually, so easily, I would not give them the satisfaction of knowing how very on edge their use of it made me. This new male sported dark hair so long it hung past his shoulders and had to be gathered, half up, into a band at the back of his head that held it out of his face while leaving the rest of it free and flowing. His eyes were brighter, almost golden, and he had the remnants of a thin and jagged scar, now raised and white, running across his face diagonally from right chin to left temple.
“You’re a hybrid,” my visitor spoke, sitting back in his chair, propping up a knee, and rubbing his chin in wonder. “Incredible.”
“Don’t call me that,” I hissed, turning my attention away from his companion.
He held up his hands in mock surrender.
“Forgive me,” he said but I knew better than to believe it was a genuine apology. “Usually, those living in the mortal realm, even with Fae blood, can’t see through my glamours or that of my men.”
“What do you want?” I snapped, having lost all patience with them.
