“I know exactly how bad it looks,” I said finally, my voice rougher than I intended. “But it’s not what you think.”
“It’s not what I think?” Thornfield’s laugh was bitter. “Valen, I found you in your bedroom with a half-dressed student whosefather is now threatening to destroy this entire institution. What exactly am I supposed to think?”
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to organize my thoughts into something that wouldn’t make this worse. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated?” His voice rose again. “You’re a three-hundred-year-old vampire, Valen! You should know better than to get involved with a student, regardless of the complications!”
The accusation hit harder than it should have, probably because there was truth in it. I did know better. I’d spent centuries learning to control myself, to maintain appropriate boundaries, to never let my nature put others at risk. And yet here I was, having thrown all of that away for a twenty-one-year-old witch who’d looked at me in just the right way.
“You’re right,” I admitted quietly. “I should have known better. But what Archer and I have... it’s not what his father is making it sound like.”
“Then explain it to me,” Thornfield said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because right now, all I see is a professor who abused his position to seduce a vulnerable student. And frankly, that’s exactly what the Quinn family’s lawyers are going to see too when they bring this before the Elder Council.”
I stared out the window of his office, watching students move across the quad like nothing had changed. But everything had changed. In the span of one morning, my entire life had been turned upside down, and I had no idea how to put it back together.
“I love him,” I said, the words feeling strange and desperate when spoken to someone other than Archer. “I know how that sounds. And I know what you’re thinking. But it’s true. This isn’t some feeding addiction or power play. I’m in love with him.”
Thornfield was quiet for a long moment, studying my face with the kind of intensity that made me want to squirm. “How long?” he asked finally.
“How long what?”
“How long has this been going on? The relationship, the feeding, all of it?”
I swallowed hard, knowing that honesty was my only option now. “A few weeks. The feeding started first, then...” I shrugged helplessly. “Then it became something more.”
“A few weeks.” Thornfield rubbed his temples like he was developing a migraine. “Jesus Christ, Valen. Do you understand what you’ve done here? What this is going to cost the school?” He paused, his brows knitted tight. “This won’t just affect you. This could cost memy positionas well.”
The guilt hit me like a brick. I’d been so focused on my own feelings, on what I stood to lose, that I hadn’t fully considered the collateral damage. Thornfield had been nothing but supportive since I’d arrived at Widdershins. He’d given me a chance when other institutions wouldn’t even return my calls, and now I was repaying that kindness by potentially destroying his career.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and meant it. “I never intended for any of this to happen. I tried to stay away from him, tried to maintain professional boundaries, but?—”
“But you couldn’t help yourself?” Thornfield’s voice was sharp with sarcasm. “Is that really the defense you’re going with? That your vampiric nature made it impossible to resist a student?”
“No,” I said firmly. “That’s not what this is about. My nature had nothing to do with it. I fell in love with him because of who he is, not because of what he could provide me.”
“And yet you were feeding from him.”
I couldn’t deny that. The feeding had been part of our relationship from almost the beginning, and trying to separate it out now would only make me look like I was lying. “Yes. But it was consensual. Fully consensual. He understood exactly what was happening.”
“A student cannot give informed consent to a professor, Valen. You know that. The power dynamic makes it impossible, regardless of the magical aspects.”
The words stung because I’d told myself the same thing dozens of times. Every rational part of my brain had screamed warnings about the inappropriateness of what we were doing, but I’d ignored them all. I’d let my heart overrule three centuries of hard-learned wisdom.
“What happens now?” I asked, dreading the answer.
Thornfield sank into his chair, suddenly looking every one of his forty-something years. “Now? Now I have to figure out how to salvage this mess. The Quinn family is demanding your immediate termination and criminal charges. The school board is going to want a full investigation. And depending on how this plays out to the rest of the paranormal community, we could be looking at a hearing in front of the Elder Council.”
My stomach dropped. “You said yourself there’s nothing criminal about this.”
“That might be theonlything they can’t get you on.” He rubbed his face with both hands. “The fact that Archer is twenty-one makes the whole minor thing a non-issue. But that’s not going to stop them. The Quinns have resources.Lotsof resources. And they’re not going to let this slide quietly.”
I thought about Archer’s face as his father’s compulsion overtook him, the helpless fury in his blue eyes. He’d tried to defend me, tried to speak up, but his father’s spell had silenced him completely. The memory made my hands clench into fists.
“What about Archer?” I asked. “What’s going to happen to him?”
“That’s not your concern anymore,” Thornfield said sharply. “Your concern should be what’s going to happen to you.”
I let out a long sigh, collapsing into the chair across the desk from him. “I’m sorry,” I said at last. “And I mean that. I didn’t… I didn’t mean for anyone else to get dragged into this.”
