Dean Thornfield sighed in return, shaking his head. “Look. It’s not like I don’t get it, Valen.”
I looked up in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“My husband and I had a similar issue.” He shot me a look. “We were both students at the time, but a relationship like ours was definitely taboo, if not completely forbidden, since he’s a werewolf and I’m a witch.” He leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands over his chest. “Nothing anyone said could’ve stopped us though. We didn’t care about the consequences. We werein love. And we still are. But it’s not been an easy road and there were a lot of close calls along the way. Even today we don’t tell anyone at the academy that we’re together.”
“It’s Coach Flannery isn’t it?” I asked. “I saw you two at the start of year faculty event last year. You looked…close.”
“Clearly, we need to be more careful.” The Dean looked down at me now. “So I’m not your enemy here, Valen. I understand what a bond feels like and how it makes you do crazy things that other people won’t understand. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to be able to save you from all this.”
“I… I don’t expect you to.” I hung my head in shame. “And I’ll tell them you knew nothing about it. I’ll do whatever it takes to let you keep your job. But I have to find Archer. I need to make sure he’s alright.”
“No, that’s not what you need to do right now,” he corrected. “What you need to do is go back to your cottage and cancelyour classes for the week and start packing your things. I can’t imagine they’re going to wait very long to act on this.”
My stomach sank and I realized he was right. There was no way of getting out of this mess now. My career at Widdershins Academy was over.
“And Valen?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not going to place a security team around your cottage, so if you feel the need to run…” He paused, letting his meaning sink in. “I don’t want to see another of your kind persecuted. But just know this, if you run and they catch you, the consequences will be far worse. So make your decision wisely.”
I nodded, understanding exactly what he was telling me. Run now and maybe have a chance at freedom, or stay and face whatever punishment the Quinn family and the Elder Council decided to dish out. Neither option was particularly appealing, but at least running would give me some control over my fate.
“Thank you,” I said, standing up from the chair. “For everything. For giving me this job, for understanding... for giving me a way out.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Thornfield replied grimly. “You’re not out of this mess by a long shot. And Valen? Whatever you decide to do, be smart about it. The paranormal community is smaller than you think, and the Quinns have connections everywhere.”
I left his office feeling like I was walking through a dream, or maybe a nightmare. The hallways of the administration building felt surreal, like I was seeing them for the last time. Which I probably was. Even if I didn’t run, even if I stayed to face whatever consequences were coming, I’d never be welcome at Widdershins again.
The walk back to my cottage felt endless. Every student I passed seemed to be staring, whispering, though that was probably just my paranoia. News traveled fast on a campus thissize, and by now half the school probably knew that Professor Crowe had been caught with a student.
When I finally reached my front door, I stood there for a moment, my hand on the knob, trying to process everything that had happened in the last few hours. This morning I’d woken up with Archer in my arms, feeling happier than I had in centuries. Now I was facing the end of my career and possibly my freedom, while the man I loved was being dragged back to a family that would do everything in their power to keep us apart.
I pushed open the door and immediately froze. The cottage still smelled like him, like us, like the love we’d made just hours ago. His scent lingered in every room, a constant reminder of what I was about to lose. The rumpled sheets upstairs, the wine glasses still sitting on the coffee table from last night, the comfortable domesticity I’d never thought I’d have again.
I sank onto the couch, burying my face in my hands. For the first time in decades, I felt truly lost. Running meant abandoning any chance of seeing Archer again, but staying meant facing a system that was designed to punish creatures like me for daring to love someone above our station. Either way, I lost him.
In the far corner of the room, I was vaguely aware of a figure stepping out of shadows. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.
“Are you alright?” I heard Lila ask without preamble.
“No,” I replied, not bothering to hide the truth. “And I don’t know if I ever will be again.”
Lila sat down next to me, her slight form barely sinking into the cushion at all. “They took her away from me too, you know,” she said. “Amelia. She was in my room when they came.”
“You and her?”
She nodded. “Yeah. For about a week now.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, letting out a long sigh. “But I’m not going to give up on Amelia. I can’t. She’s… too special.”
“I know the feeling,” I said quietly, thinking about how empty the world felt without Archer in it. “How long do you think we have before they make their next move?”
“Not long,” Lila replied, her voice grim. “Families like them don’t waste time when they want something handled. And they definitely want this handled.” She paused, studying my face. “Thornfield gave you an out, didn’t he?”
I nodded, not trusting my voice. The weight of that decision was crushing me. Stay and face whatever punishment they deemed fit, or run and spend the rest of my immortal life looking over my shoulder.
