No. I wasn’t a coward. It was my idea to expose myself to the school. If I ran at the first inconvenience, then what did that say about me? Besides, I still had a job to do. Those opposing my family were still sneaking around, making secret plans to take the supernatural community back to the dark ages. I couldn’t leave and let them get away with it.
The leader of the little group stopped in front of me, her big eyes blinking up at me. I startled. Her irises were mismatched, one black while the other a bright blue. I’d never seen anything like it before.
Witches had a natural affinity for spells and potions. Some thought their powers came from nature. Others, a far more sinister place. I hadn’t known any witches well enough to ask for certain. Though the mismatched eyes of the witch before me did feel unsettling in a way, as if it weren’t just her looking back at me but someone else behind those curious eyes.
“Miss Durand... Jack. Can I call you Jack?” she began, a small smile on her lips, her arms holding her books tight to her chest as if guarding against me.
I almost laughed at the sight. As if she had any reason to be afraid of me. She could turn me into a bug and step on me without a seconds thought. I should be the one wary of her.
I nodded in answer, letting her get what she needed to say out.
“Now that you have come into the light so to speak, we...” She glanced at her fellow witches behind her. “We were wondering if we could ask you some questions... I mean, if you have the time.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about my parents’ plans for the council—”
“No! No.” She cleared her through, her eyes dipping down to the ground before coming back up to meet mine. “You misunderstand us. We want to know aboutyou.”
“Me?” I frowned. “I’m nothing special.”
“Oh, but you are!” The witch’s eyes lit up, her hand reaching out for me before dropping it. “You’re the first child of two human servants. Which is a miracle in itself, but the fact that you aren’t merely a human or a human servant bound to your parent’s master but something more is something of a magical and scientific marvel.”
My brows furrowed. “I guess.”
“We would just like a moment of your time to ask some questions, maybe run some tests.” She glanced back at her fellow witches who nodded in agreement. “So that we can document and maybe explain the phenomenon that you are.”
Being called a phenomenon made me feel squeamish. Almost like I was some freak of nature they wanted to lock in a cage and study. Of course, I also didn’t want to piss off a bunch of witches by saying fuck no.
“Can I think about it?” I offered up instead. “I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”
“Oh, yes. Of course. We understand,” she quickly reassured me. “I’m Tabatha, by the way, my friends call me Tabby. I believe we have History of Vampirism together.” She paused as if waiting for me to confirm.
I had no idea so I just nodded.
“So just find me in class and let me know.” Tabby grinned broadly and then waved to her friends to follow her as they walked past me and into the cafeteria.
I stared after them unsure what exactly had just happened. Voices started coming my way, and that sudden urge to run and hide came over me once more. Xinyi had clearly shown it was easy to find me in my new room.
Hopefully, no one else was as resourceful as the small woman, and I could finally get some peace and quiet.
Chapter 4
Jack
By the time classes were over, I was ready to collapse. Everywhere I went, someone wanted to talk to me about something or another. People I’d never seen in the entire time I’d been here suddenly wanted to be best of friends.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have Xinyi to be my buffer all day. She had classes of her own and her relationship with Iris. It wouldn’t be fair of me to rely on her too heavily.
After all, this was what I wanted. It was my idea to reveal who I was so our enemies would show themselves.
So far though... no dice. I had plenty of fan girls and guys, but those who didn’t fall into that category just glared or ignored me completely. No one had outright tried to attack me or show their malign intentions.
It’d only been a few days so there was time for that to change. I’d have to make sure to be seen around campus to give them the chance to expose themselves, even if all the attention made me want to hide in my room instead.
Sludging up the steps to my tower — not really, but that’s what it felt like — I longed for the comradery I had before I announced my heritage. Even then, people hated or liked me because of me and not just because of my family.
Now, it was hard to know who I could trust. At least, Xinyi and Iris hadn’t changed. They didn’t seem bothered one way or the other about who I was. That was a refreshing change of pace.
I only wished Kyren felt the same way.
