Weakened Mountains (Artemis University Book 4) Read online

  “Is easier to make fall,” she muttered, bobbing her head. “Wise and certainly not wrong.”

  “I learned it from Mel,” I admitted. I sighed as I looked back to Mr. Rothchild. “You just cannot let it go. Would it help if I told you Mrs. Vogel knows what I am?”

  He thought about it a moment. “Yes, it would.”

  “You bastard,” I hissed, feeling the hurt from Mel. “You trust her, and not your daughter?”

  His gaze finally snapped to Mel. “No. No, that is not what this is, Melody.”

  “It’s not,” I confirmed, hearing it in his thoughts. “You’ve been out of the loop for years on the threats against the Vogels. Mrs. Vogel clearly has not. His logic isn’t wrong, just too rigid, and this uncomplicates the matter for him.”

  “Fine, but enough already,” Mel growled. “And enough of the animosity towards Tamsin. She told me Father said a conversation about the past should be had one day and I agree but without her. She didn’t do a damn thing but save my life and save me when I needed it. More than my life, I lacked purpose and was lost. So enough.”

  “Agreed,” that woman said, and I heard from her mind she was Mr. Rothchild’s mother. “And we were told this meeting was about the future and possibly take care of threats against the Vogels. Also explain why two more of our clan are leaving to follow your cause instead of ours.”

  “They are the same, Grandmother,” Mel snapped. “We’re protecting people as our ancestors did. Our clan is huge. Not all of us are constantly needed to protect one royal family no matter how large they are too. We are allowed options. Our own paths even. There is nothing wrong with that.”

  “That remains to be seen as I do not understand the path.”

  “We also don’t need your permission, Grandmother,” Avril Rothchild cut in. She was Mel’s older cousin who was going to be the main person in charge of the havens. “Your blessing is always welcome, as families should support each other, but I am not a child that needs permission.”

  “You are not, but a discussion before decisions are made is not too much to ask either,” she countered.

  Avril raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh, and we’re allowed to question our orders and assignments? That flawed view of seeing us as soldiers and subordinates only and forgetting we’re clan and family has been rectified since Melody left?”

  “That’s fair,” Mel’s mom cut in. “But again, we’re getting off topic. What have you brought us to discuss, Tamsin?”

  “We are going to start the interviewing and hiring for security for the havens, hobgoblin sanctuaries, and groves. We’d like your support in doing it.” I held up a finger when several people opened their mouths at once. “I don’t know any of you besides Mr. Rothchild chaps my ass.

  “But Avril and Ellen are awesome. Also, whoever made my sword. And I trust Mel with everything, so I have to hope there’s more good in your clan than bad. I also don’t know the supe police people, but Mel says you guys have a contact you trust, you’ve worked with.”

  “We do,” Mr. Rothchild confirmed. “Higher placed and honorable. They were a great help when several clans tried to overthrow the Vogels like other royal lines and install their Alpha choice.”

  “So what is this plan you have, Tams?” Mel asked, her tone so full of snark that I expected it to spill out all over the table.

  “She doesn’t know?” her mother questioned.

  “No, and part of this meeting is to repair this,” I admitted, gesturing between Mel and her parents. I didn’t know who her siblings were but yeah, the family issues. I sighed, leaning forward and tapping my nails on the table. “Look, I’m going to give it to you straight because Mel appreciates that, and she’s always said her clan does.”

  “We do,” her grandmother confirmed, giving me a curious but amused look.

  I could work with amused.

  “Have any of you seen Demolition Man?” I waited until several nodded. “Mel’s assured me that the supe Underground isn’t like that where it’s really the good guys who had to go underground to not be crazy ruled. However, I’ve not exactly had the best experiences with any elders or supe authority so far, so part of this is also getting a chance to see that’s true for myself.”

  “Understandable given how new you are to our world,” her grandmother agreed, holding up a hand to ward off any other objections or criticism. “And your last goal?”

  “To really catch baddies no matter what side they fall on,” I answered easily. “We all know some of the worst people ever have worn the pope hat and called themselves men of god. It’s not always the side but the person that’s evil and we’re trying to do some good. Which undoubtedly means evil will come and try to do what evil does.”

  “Of course they will. You have clear outlined goals, but do you have a plan?”

  “Or do you expect us to just handle it for you?” Mr. Rothchild asked, his tone clearly implying he thought that.

  I snorted. “No, we don’t need you at all.” I rolled my eyes when he and several others looked taken aback by my bluntness. “We’ve been kicking ass and giving bad guys their dues for years without you. The difference is if you want to give us a hand with the ones that will be a threat to the Vogels, as they’re supe ones. If not, that’s fine too.”

  “We’ll hear out your plan,” her grandmother declared before anyone else could.

  “Okay.” I blew out a raspberry. “I am open to suggestions to improve it, but basically, we call the candidates in to interview. When they get there, they get the standard employee application thing to fill out. Once that’s done, I—posing as just a normal admin, glamoured in case they’ve investigated us—call one at a time into the next stage.

  “There they fill out a more in-depth questionnaire. Any telepath can tell you the moment you ask someone something, they think of it. Asking them in a questionnaire while I’m smacking my gum and typing won’t give them any warning.”

  “What will you really be doing?” Mr. Rothchild asked.

  “Typing out what they’re thinking,” I responded simply. “I have several questions I want asked, but we can work on wording or what to add. If the answer is something like ‘the elders are fat cats and suck’ I agree with that and that’s not a flag. If it’s more than that and runs along world domination, we have a problem.”

  “Smart,” her mother praised. “What comes next? Where do we fit in?”

  “If they pass, I lead them to the real interview with Mel, Avril, and/or Ellen. If they don’t, I think they get led to you guys and maybe Tanesha Jameston. When I spoke to her last she mentioned she was up for helping with the havens. Yeah, that would be a help and she’s—”

  “A much more powerful telepath than you,” Mr. Rothchild explained. “She’d get more information and could give us more.”

  I snickered, shaking my head when several people gave me confused looks. “I was going to say experienced telepath. She might be older and more powerful in general, but you either hear thoughts or you don’t. But sure, you explain about the gift and power you don’t have. Mansplain it to me who does.”

  “I like her,” someone muttered down the table.

  I ignored them and raised an eyebrow at Mr. Rothchild, challenging him to disagree with me. “She might be able to break mental shields, but that’s not being a telepath. You can only hear what someone’s thinking if they’re thinking it. And believe me, I know how to get people to think what I want them to. I’m aces at it, mate.”

  His lips twitched but he didn’t apologize or go back to it, moving on instead. He really was pushing how much crap I’d put up with for Mel. “I’d like to see this list of questions. Our police contact would also be there to—”

  “No, absolutely not,” I argued, crossing my arms in front of my chest to make an X. “No, police have procedures and your guy might be clean but who he has to tell might not. You tell him after. Even I know you got some big Underground guy with the fairy property traps after the sanctuary property start
ed and it all fell apart when more councils and players came in the loop.”

  “She’s not wrong, and it’s smart she’s so distrusting,” Mel’s grandmother agreed.

  Mel just snorted. Yeah, I was pretty damn distrusting always.

  “We’d like to discuss this a bit before we give you an answer,” Mr. Rothchild informed me.

  I nodded. That was fair.

  “As long as we’re here, I have a matter to bring up as well,” Mel informed them. “Artemis has offered me a full-time instructor position. It seems someone started a bunch of shit about how useless Coach Khan was and especially compared to me. So, he’s being reassigned solely to coach of sports teams and I’ve been offered the instructor position.”

  “We would need to discuss giving you permission for that,” Mr. Rothchild said after several quiet moments.

  I winced, knowing that was the very wrong thing to say.

  Sure enough, Mel growled, slamming her fist onto the table. “Did you hear me ask for fucking permission? I am not a child, Father. I am not your employee. You do not own me.”

  “Then what do you want, Melody?” he barked. “Clearly you don’t want your family and have chosen to make a new one of your own—”

  “That’s not fair,” I snapped. “She’s trying. Why don’t you? You can’t even give an inch when she is.”

  “How? How is she?” he demanded, rage filling his eyes.

  “Your mom just said not ten minutes ago that she wanted discussions before decisions and here Mel is bringing up what was offered to her. Well geez, that sounds like a big fucking inch for a discussion among the clan. A chance for you to give your blessing on her choice or state your worries like a loving parent instead of a fucking dictator.”

  A fly farting in the room could have been heard with how quiet everyone went.

  “Is that what you want? What you’re trying for?” Mel’s mom checked after several more tense moments.

  “Yes,” Mel answered. “Maybe?” She pushed to stand. “I don’t know, Mom. The Queen said you were distraught I ran, that you looked for me. But then you never called me after she told you where I was. Father came and started trouble at the school and with my life. That was all. I thought maybe you needed… This was a mistake.”

  “Mel,” I whispered as she stormed out. I stared at her parents with promised retribution for hurting her yet again. “She’s admitted she messed up by running. That she was young and mishandled the situation. Why can’t you? Why can’t you admit you were wrong too? You were the fucking adults, after all. Love her more than your control or whatever bullshit plans you had for her.”

  I tossed over the folder I’d brought with my proposed questionnaire and hurried after Mel. I froze when I got to the door when Mel’s mom spoke.

  “Is this what she wants? Is this what will make her happy?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I didn’t even know she got the offer so it must have just happened. But she’s your daughter, so if you can’t even ask her that, do you deserve a daughter as awesome as her?”

  I left, cursing under my breath when the guards told me Mel took the portal back. Fuck. I couldn’t do anything right lately.

  I found myself heading towards the balcony facing the mountain that was still needing to be cut down some before construction could start. My power ramped up and up as I got closer, needing to get this out of me. One of the guards caught on because I heard him radio in a warning in the background.

  The power clap came out fierce even as I hurried to flatten out my hands so it focused that way. It cut through the section I’d hit last, keeping it level so it would be helpful at least.

  The anxiety was still there though. I squatted down and wrapped my arms around my legs, staring at the mountain and wishing I could get this out. My heart beat faster as my skin felt cold but then hot and super sensitive, my mind swirling and unable to focus. I felt seconds from falling over the edge of the balcony, though I wasn’t near the edge.

  “Want to talk about it?” a deep voice asked from beside me. Hudson squatted down out of the corner of my eye and for some reason I instantly felt a bit better.

  “Just wondering how much more I can mess up lately,” I grumbled.

  He snickered, which wasn’t a response I was ready for. “I don’t think it’s you who messed up. Mrs. Rothchild is currently—and loudly—handing Mr. Rothchild his ass.” His lips twitched when I glanced at him. “She was under the impression Mel needed some time to get settled back into the supe world before her family reached out, if she could be open to it. That clearly wasn’t the case.”

  “Oh boy,” I sighed, plopping down on my butt.

  He did the same and bumped my shoulder, so I turned on my telepathy. “What else is going on?”

  After a few moments debating, I decided to answer since he paid so much attention to me that he would notice once school started again. “Something happened with Darby. It’s not something we should talk about, but it wasn’t his fault.”

  “Does Mel know what happened?” he asked after a bit.

  “Yes. She’s not mad at him. She said he messed up, but we all do, and he handled it the right way.”

  “Okay, then I won’t rip him apart.”

  I bit back the need to roll my eyes. Overbearing dragon.

  “He’s not the only one who’s done it.” He nodded when I shot him a surprised glance. “The vamps need to stop acting like it’s only those who go way off the rails or completely psycho. It’s not true. They act above the problems shifters and dragons have, but they have their own too. Instead of owning it and helping each other, they hide it, leaving each of them to choke on their mistakes.”

  “I don’t understand why,” I confessed after trying to work out that logic. It just didn’t make any sense.

  He shrugged. “They’re seen as the biggest monsters in most myths or even to other supe species. I’ve seen the red eyes and it even freaked me out. And I turn into a huge fucking dragon. It’s the feeding from other people. There’s such a cannibal stigma with it that they protect themselves with an armor of aloof, but it backfires. You hear the whispers now and again that someone lost it.”

  “Just while feeding or when things got mixed and… Complicated?”

  “Mixed or complicated.” He frowned and shook his head. “I think if they lose it during just feeding that is a real sign something is wrong, or something is seriously going on with them. I get not telling the rest of us, but they need to tell each other. Other dragons got why my dragon flipped shits even if other species didn’t.”

  “I’ll tell Darby though, thanks.”

  He nodded and we sat there for several minutes just staring at the pretty scenery. It was nice, relaxing and simply being for a bit.

  “Can we discuss what happened? It might not be the right time, but I think it will take something else off your shoulders.”

  It took me a moment to think about what he was even talking about. Right, I snapped at him the night of the ball. I nodded for him to go ahead.

  He shot me a relieved look. “I didn’t consider her my date, date because I didn’t ask her. It was more like a plus one in my mind. But you’re right that I should have warned you I would have a date. It’s not my party though. I didn’t even know Mother invited you until I heard you were coming with Darby.”

  Yeah, okay, I could see that. I… He had a family dynamic like I never did. That seemed like a normal thing and it wasn’t his deal even if he was an adult. I nodded.

  “I did, however, have a conversation with Mother that going forward I should know which of my classmates, friends, or people of my age are invited to our family functions as it affects me too. She seemed rather pleased I took such initiative and realized I wasn’t a child anymore. So, thank you for making me see that. I hadn’t, and I get how that came off to you.”

  “And I’ve never had a mom or dad or family parties. I’m sorry I didn’t understand it would go that way.”

  He no
dded, his shoulders relaxing a bit, and I did as well. I didn’t even realize I had been tense with him.

  “I would never sniff after someone and not have a conversation with you. We might be casual, but you are someone I respect and my friend first. I would never disrespect you that way. I’m sorry I didn’t clarify that. This is the norm for me. I never thought how it seems from an outside perspective.”

  “Okay. Glad we cleared that. I wasn’t sure.”

  “You’ve said more than once you can only give me what we have now. I respect that. I don’t think it was fair to put it on me that I haven’t tried. I’ve flat out said I wanted you to wear that dress I gave you when we had dinner.”

  I winced. Yeah, he had said that.

  “That was why I got so snippy with you. You hurt my feelings. You made me sound like I was playing with you and I’m not.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “You’re right.”

  “Thank you. I will say that I haven’t pushed because you know my feelings are genuine and not playing you. That’s what’s most important to me. And I cannot give you normal, Tamsin. I’m a prince. I can’t give you cute dates and sweet college dating like Darby. He’s no one, and I say that not as a judgment.

  “You were clear you have too much shit in your life right now and being more or out as together would bring a lot of shit on you. I know this. You honestly don’t even know the half of it. Would I do it to be with you for real? Yes. In a second. I just know that if we do it now, with how new you are to our world, it would cost me you.

  “The bullying wouldn’t just be vampires anymore but dragons with eligible sisters or the females at school. Fuck, females from other schools. I don’t want huge fucking dragons coming after you. And I don’t want my family in danger because I started shit with a family who could take over if we gave someone reason to take us out.

  “Not now. Not when we’re not sure what this is, or you can’t handle more. So, I’m not asking it of you. That’s not the same as not wanting more. You told me to start seeing the reality of our situation after I messed up at that meeting and I have. That’s the reality. There is no other woman I want. If that changes, no matter if we’re casual or you have a boyfriend, I promise we’ll talk first.”