Managing Expectations Read online

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  Find A New Series To Love…

  About the Author

  Other Titles by Erin R Flynn

  A Supernatural Script Inc. Book

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  My name is Tamsin Vale… And I’m no longer no one. I’m not simply an abandoned orphan without any answers. Granted, most of the answers led me to ask more questions, but I have at least some now.

  Fairies aren’t what I was promised they would be and I’m certainly not what they want, but I’m the only one who can save them from their magical prisons. They’re the best help I have to fix so many wrongs in the world and keep the ones I love safe, given all the threats against me.

  And if that wasn’t enough to crack my sanity, I’m still on rocky ground with the men in my life. Why the hell did I think it was a good idea to get involved with more than one?

  I’m trying not to run. After almost two decades of knowing that the only way to keep myself safe is to run, it’s not a reaction I can easily change. I might be making a mistake by not running away from what people want of me.

  Because who I might become to defeat the monsters would be as bad as the people I’m fighting against.

  Artemis University is an ongoing hot burning reverse harem, university-age paranormal academy series with darker elements, strong language, violence, and a heroine who follows her own moral compass of what is right… And who she ends up giving her heart to.

  1

  Thirty-three people died in the attack on Geoff’s pack. Thirty-three.

  Twenty-two men.

  Eight women.

  And three under the age of eighteen.

  They killed three kids.

  I screamed when I learned that. I screamed and screamed in pain when Iolas informed me that a six-year-old boy, a nine-year-old girl, and a fifteen-year-old boy died in the attack.

  And there was not a fucking thing they could do to go after Councilman Shurr or any of the other vampire elders who’d orchestrated it all. The evidence was all gone. There was no trail of payment. The load of magical items was always meant to be payment to the Underground for the job, so Shurr wasn’t going to care that they were gone.

  But there was more to them than that. The crafty bastard was as smart as I’d been warned the councils could be.

  “Could you repeat that?” I had asked Taeral as he filled me in on the situation.

  “The goods that were meant for the Underground were trapped,” he repeated. “Our belief is that Shurr not only set up Geoff, but the Underground.”

  “So the vampire council could have the win of taking out some Underground and raising their stock.”

  “Yes, that’s our belief as well.”

  “Well, we can’t have that.”

  He had raised an eyebrow at me. “Taking out Underground?”

  “Raising their stock. We’ll take out all the Underground we want. We’re not letting those assholes have anything but a big fat, fuck off sandwich.”

  Which was the first fun planned for my spring break.

  Laying the trap had been easy and fun. There were a few hiccups and speedbumps along the way but nothing big.

  Containing my excitement until we got to catch the fuckers was the hard part. I was going to get justice for those who were senselessly killed and several pounds of flesh for the pack who had done a lot to help my people.

  Darby and I walked along the night market in a small fishing village in the Caribbean as I ate some of the local food. We had finished midterms and immediately focused on what came next before I had a forced break everyone in my life demanded.

  Even the fairies who were desperate to have their friends unfrozen. They had banded together and requested I actually take spring break off. I honestly couldn’t deny them when light and dark had teamed up just to get me to behave.

  But this was first. This was my Friday night adventure and then I had a week of… I wasn’t really sure. I was so focused on this plan that I left the rest of the details to the others.

  All the lead-up and worry, the anticipation and excitement still never prepared me for the actual moment and adrenaline rush of when the trap was sprung. No matter how many times I’d worked to catch bad guys, no matter how many situations I’d gone into as bait or traps set, I could never prepare fully for that moment.

  Time seemed to slow down as six temp portals opened all around the market, their lookout sending the signal it was the right moment to catch me.

  Man was he going to be in serious trouble later for that call.

  And then everything sped up as vampires came pouring out of the portals, several tossing magical items at the stalls to freeze all the humans so they could handle supe business with less mess to clean up later.

  Oh, were they going to be in for a shock.

  “You got lax in your security, Ms. Vale,” Shurr’s top aide taunted me as he took center stage, a few other council aides standing with him. “You shouldn’t have pissed off the Rothchilds so they stopped protecting you.”

  I glanced around and took in the situation, shaking my head when I saw at least two hundred council guards. “I think we both know I don’t need them to protect me if you brought this many guys to grab me.” I gave a dramatic sigh. “But none of the big guys, huh? Well damn. I lost the bet on that. I was sure one of the councilmen would come in person to gloat. Damn.”

  “You can’t always be right, agra,” Darby chuckled. “Four top aides is still good.”

  “Not enough,” I grumbled as I held out my hand and called the magic of the portals to me, shocking about half the people there. “You guys really need to study your opponents better if you didn’t know I could do that. I did it the last time someone set a trap for me that I knew about and had fun with.”

  The aide did a double take. “Knew about? You knew nothing about this. You lie to save face and hope your emergency charms activate. They won’t. We made sure of that and have cell jammers. No portals will be
opening to save you.”

  I was itching to see if I could get around whatever they had, something Darby clearly caught on to as he moved his arm around me.

  “I don’t think she needs them, mate,” he taunted them. “But ya fucked.”

  “Oh, my sexy Irishman’s accent is getting thicker. Hot,” I purred, leaning against him. “Someone’s excited for a Caribbean vacation for sure.”

  The aide snorted. “Mr. Moore will spend the remainder of his life in council prison for disobeying council mandates and you will be taken to a black site for—”

  “Bad, bad things,” I mocked, not wanting to hear the details.

  I had enough nightmares.

  I winked at the guy when he got pissed. “How are those humans you froze?”

  The moment he flinched and glanced at the stalls, I leapt into action… And so did the dozens of fairies who were pretending to be stall owners wearing fairy essence suppressing runes. I threw up a barrier around Darby with a thought and handled dozens of guards using that restraining rune that White and Edelman had the last time I’d blown up a trap.

  Well, one of them. I threw a lot of wrenches in a lot of plans. People should start calling that a Tamsin Special or something.

  That would be cool.

  It worked annoyingly well because it meant I wasn’t going to get much fighting action. As if someone heard my wish, five guys who seemed to know how to work as a team leapt towards me. One actually got my arm—which I think surprised us both—but then I flipped up onto him and then him over me, snapping him like a twig in the process with the help of a different rune.

  And then fairies were there to make sure I didn’t get a scratch.

  So were Rothchilds who had been there as tourists as well.

  What shocked us all was when Hudson—who had been hanging out of sight with Juan and Lucca—stormed into the middle of it all and punched the lead aide guy right in the face. “Our family protects her. I’m tired of the disrespect of her and my family! She’s not a diamond you are all trying to steal, but a person! My family matters and we keep our vows!”

  Three of the Rothchilds had to pull him off of the guy when he kept punching the vampire. No one could hide their surprise at him going against the plan and blowing like that.

  But one shared a look with him and I knew why. It wasn’t about his family’s honor, but he’d been the one to hold me as I cried and screamed after learning so many of Geoff’s pack had died. It killed him that I’d been in so much pain and we’d lost children in this fight. I knew he and River were struggling with it too.

  We all were. What happened was horrible.

  And we wanted people to bleed for it.

  I would give them that. It wouldn’t bring back their children or any who had died, but I also promised Geoff that the Royal Performers would give a tribute in memorial for his fallen when we could. That had shocked everyone there… Besides, Iolas and Taeral who were both beaming with pride I had made such a declaration.

  I was sure there were layers to that but I left it alone. Part of me wanted to double-check they weren’t my uncles or something the way they both seemed to be adopting me as Geiger had.

  Which was super gross since Iolas had been in love with my mother. And that had led to a night of me spinning out wondering if fairies were like cool with cousins or any form of incest.

  My mind was a scary, scary place.

  For the record, the answer was no. A resounding no from what Cluym told me.

  Good.

  With all the hidden fairies, it took next to no time to handle that many vampire guards who couldn’t use magic like we could. Even with their conduits, it wasn’t close to a fair fight. Plus, the Rothchilds knew who the main players were to go for and didn’t hesitate to do so.

  Meaning I only got to throw one guy.

  Fuck.

  All that adrenaline and upset was coursing through me. I wanted more than a handful of aides and a couple hundred guards. They would have more. They would get more. It wasn’t enough!

  I was about to let Darby out of his protective barrier but then thought better of it when I saw no one was paying attention to me. I had been protected and everyone restrained. I was in no danger and the adults were handling everything.

  I had no eyes on me.

  Time to get some fucking justice then.

  Darby caught on at the last second and tried to break his barrier, shaking his head in argument when I held up my finger to my lips. Oh well. I’d get him to forgive me later. I hid myself and slipped into the darkness, moving away from the group and opening a cloaked portal to my actual prey.

  Councilman Shurr.

  For a second, I thought he saw me or the portal since a vase hit the wall two feet from where I walked into his study—or I assumed it was—but then I saw the line of charms on his desk. All of them flaring brightly as if signaling people were in trouble.

  Oh yeah, his people definitely were.

  I changed my barrier so nothing else could see, hear, or record me but him and chuckled darkly. “Bad day at the office, darling?”

  His head snapped towards me and he narrowed his eyes. “You.” He leapt over the desk but froze when I clucked my tongue.

  “We both know you can’t take me. Not physically or magically.” I walked closer and ran my fingers along the back of one of his chairs. “It’s a shame you didn’t come tonight. I was looking really forward to that.”

  “You’ve done it now,” he snarled. “You’ve abducted my aides and guards. You’ve broken into my home and I will—”

  “What?” I tilted my head and studied him. “I have dozens of witnesses that you were going against the dragon royals to seize me and Darby. Hudson Vogel and Juan Gui were right there to witness it all. Their guards had fun rounding up your idiots like nothing.” I gave him a moment with that. “And I broke in here? Any witnesses? You think any surveillance will see me?”

  “My word means more than yours,” he snarled.

  “Maybe, but there are hundreds of people who currently see me back where all your plans are being shattered. But I wanted a chat as you have a debt to settle.” And listening to his mind for two seconds, I figured out the best way to do it. “Oh, you want me as your whore. Does your mate know that? You want a fairy born witch as your whore and personal blood supply and have been trying to find one.”

  “Stay out of my head, witch,” he hissed at me.

  I wasn’t going to argue that with him, leaning over the back of the chair and batting my eyelashes at him. “You like the red hair, huh? A tight ass on a young athletic woman like me and with big tits no less, and your shriveled little dick just tries to salute for me.” I eyed him over and snorted. “That’s a hard pass.”

  “That’s enough of your filth.”

  I ignored him, infusing magic into what I said next. “Because the vampire in my bed is all I need. He’s delicious and vigorous with me. I love rough sex. You wouldn’t believe what he does with me. What I’ve let him do to me.” I swallowed down my feelings on what had happened and used it as fodder to fuel this sick fuck’s fantasies. “He’s almost killed me he drinks so much from me. We love it.

  “We love taking things over the edge. When he goes almost feral with me, I orgasm so hard I gush. Magic pours out of me into him from my blood and the more he fucks me, the stronger he becomes. He feasts on me in every way and all of me gives him power. You want that power, don’t you? You hate Darby because you know his cock fucks me when you want to have me.”

  “Yes, you have to be mine,” he whimpered, completely caving to the magic. “I have to have you!”

  I glamoured some pillows on the couch to be me in his messed up state and he attacked them, tearing into them and then… It was hard not to vomit. All the while, I used fairy runes for interrogation, and Shurr poured out the dirty secrets I hadn’t known, but wanted to bring him and others down. Definitely enough to give us leads and places to find more misdeeds.

  And then
I placed an obsession spell mixed with an anxiety fairy rune on him that was used for interrogating, not sure exactly what that would do to him, but willing to find out. I’d have to make popcorn first to enjoy the show, but I was pretty damn sure it would be a show.

  Then I got the fuck out of there, his behavior with the pillows seriously disturbing me. I came back out of the portal to where I’d been in the Caribbean to feeling like someone about to be grounded by her parents for the first time in her life.

  Except Iolas and Taeral weren’t my parents.

  And I was twenty.

  But whatever, at least I finally got to experience the feeling.

  However, I focused on Darby who was released from my barrier the moment I went into the portal. “I know you’re not happy and I did something that’s going to bring up bad memories for both of us, but I think it’s going to be worth it and—and I’m going to be in a bikini this week. Or less. Mostly less.”

  He ground his jaw as he adjusted his glasses. “That’s cheating, agra.”

  “I know, but you kiss that spot under my ear and along my neck when you talk me into stuff so I think it’s sort of fair too.” I raised an eyebrow when he opened his mouth. “It’s how you got me to take a vacation where I would wear the bikini or less if memory serves.”

  The sigh he let out could be heard in other time zones for sure. “What did you do? You went to see Shurr, right?”

  “I don’t know if you want to be complicit,” I admitted, glancing around. “Did anyone else notice I left? I was hoping for the alibi since his security nor surveillance caught me.”

  “No, he came right to us and informed us you left and what he saw,” Iolas answered. “And the fact you can somehow lock us from opening portals and following you is maddening. I don’t even know how you learned such advanced magic or—”

  “I didn’t,” I muttered, glancing away and crossing my arms over my chest. “I didn’t learn any of that, and I don’t even understand most of portals yet besides where Darby helps me in Physics 102, Iolas. It just happens. My magic helps me how I need things. I didn’t realize I was telling it to intentionally lock you out, simply cloak me and the portal.”