I followed him out of the office after exchanging a worried look with Touya, who made a beeline for the headmaster's office.
We stopped at the door to the human world, and Nolan turned to look at me. He smiled, but his heart wasn't in it.
"What happened?" I asked, confused beyond belief. "How do you know the headmaster?"
Nolan rubbed his face, frowning when he accidentally pulled at his lip ring. "It's... it's a long story. I'll tell you later. I need to get to work."
I clenched my fingers into fists, then forced myself to relax them. "Okay. Can I come over later?"
"Of course. I'll be at the Lair till two, so you can meet me there whenever."
I nodded, then leaned up to kiss him. My heart stopped twisting in on itself when Nolan kissed me back, and I clung to him as I soaked in his warmth. Whatever had happened between him and the headmaster, it wasn't going to affect us.
Once he'd left, I walked back inside, pausing when Touya called my name from the open office.
"Yeah?"
"Zephyr wants to see you," he said, his brows furrowed, his chestnut eyes full of worry.
I swallowed. I'd never been to human school, but I'd watched a lot of shows, and I imagined this was how kids felt when they were called into the 'headmaster's' office.
With a soft exhale, I walked through Touya's office and into the headmaster's. He was seated behind his desk as if nothing had happened, but I could see marks on the dark wood of his desk where he'd clutched it too hard with his metal hand.
"You wanted to see me?"
The headmaster nodded, his blue eyes flicking away a moment after they met mine. The shadows under his eyes looked deeper than they'd been the last time I saw him, and his flesh and bone hand trembled where it rested on the desk. He was exhausted. No wonder Keoni was so worried.
I took a seat in one of the visitor chairs, the one I'd imagined Nolan would sit in as I introduced the two. I clutched my hands in my lap, bit my lower lip, fidgeted in the chair.
"Congratulations on finding your mate," the headmaster said, and I blinked, then offered him a slight smile.
"Thank you."
The headmaster nodded to himself, then placed his arms on the desk, linking his fingers.
"Zamir, you've lived here for a few years now, and the Sanctuary is your home. It will always be your home. But I'm afraid I can not allow your mate to live here."
"What? Why?" I demanded, and he shook his head, his eyes on his fingers, as if he couldn't look me in the eyes as he told me this. He probably couldn't.
What had happened between them that was so bad? I couldn't imagine Nolan doing something to hurt another person, let alone the man who'd saved my life.
I opened my mouth to ask, but I knew the headmaster wouldn't tell me. If I wanted to find out what had happened, I'd have to ask Nolan.
"We were planning to move in together," I murmured. "Here. Move in here."
The headmaster stayed silent, and I sighed.
"I guess I'll move in with him, then. I can feed on him now, so I don't have to worry about being around humans."
He stayed silent. If I couldn't hear his heart beating, couldn't see the waves of guilt, frustration, remorse, and anger washing through him, I'd have thought he was a statue.
I nodded to myself, then stood up. "Thank you, Zephyr. For saving me, for giving me a home. I don't know what happened between you and Nolan, but the man I've come to know, the man who has a journal full of people and a house full of animals he loves, he wouldn't do anything that could intentionally hurt someone, especially to someone who is as good as you are." It was the first time I'd called him by his name, and it was almost freeing, in a way.
He swallowed hard, but still didn't say anything, and I left, walking past a frowning Touya—clearly, the headmaster hadn'tbothered with a silencing spell this time, and he'd heard bits of our conversation, at the very least—as I headed toward Forest.
I packed up a bag, took Scrappy to Haruto, and placed Dots in the carrier I'd brought him over in.
Keoni found me before I could leave, and I didn't have much to tell him, but I promised to call as soon as I got the whole story from Nolan.
Leaving like this was impulsive, but I did want to be with Nolan, and if I couldn't do that here...
I'd be back, of course. Like Zephyr had said, the Sanctuary would always be my home. It just wasn't the only home I had anymore.
