But Hawke merely shoved a hand against the wall and leaned in a bit. "Rain," he said.
That made me pause. "What about her?"
"You keep thinking of her as the cute little human girl. She's the Morrigan, Tor. A real one who's here to help us. A fuckinggoodone, too."
"Yeah, she is," I relented. "But stories of Morrigans were different when it was someone else caught up in the middle of that shit."
"Mhm," Hawke agreed. "And yet we got one of our own. We, Tor. All six of us. Eight, if you count the crow and the shadow. Means the odds aren't as bad as you think."
"Still pretty bad."
He murmured at that and leaned back. "So's detention for being late. I have to go. You need to talk to a girl with a bird."
I chuckled, because he was right. So, flicking my hand to dismiss him, I turned my feet up the hall, continuing to my biology class. When I stepped in, my eyes scanned the room, but I found her in the last place I expected: sitting beside the chair I usually used.
"Good morning, Rain," I said politely as I took the seat beside her.
"Everything ok?" she asked, giving me a suspicious look.
"Had to get an update from Hawke."
So she leaned in. "There's something going on."
I flicked a finger, subtly asking her to wait, then turned toward the back of the room. "Hey, Jeff?"
"Yeah, Torian?" the guy asked, looking up quickly.
So I crooked a finger.
He scrambled out of his chair and hurried over. When Jeff reached our table, he leaned over the end, putting his head close to both mine and Rain's.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Something changed since before the break," I said. "What is it?"
"People are trying to say your court is the real one," he whispered. "Some think you're in shit for it. Others think Aspen's the reason the Hunt keeps coming here. Rain's going to stop it, you're either a pretender or the real heir to the Summer throne. Then there's the big one."
"What's that?" Rain asked.
Jeff's human-like eyes turned to her. "You killed one."
"Ah," I said, nodding while hoping Rain didn't respond to any of that. "So people are just talking?"
"Freaking the fuck out is a better description," he explained. "Everyone's sure the sky is falling. Some have said the Mad Queen is coming. I guess you're supposed to unlock the doors or something?"
"Shit," I laughed. "Sorry, my friend. No one gave me a key - magical or otherwise. I'm stuck here like everyone else, and happy about it."
"Good to know," Jeff said before pointing towards his desk, then heading that way.
And yet the moment he was gone, Rain leaned in again. "Tor - "
"We can talk about this at lunch," I told her.
"Jack!" her crow grumbled.
Rain just sighed in the way girls did when annoyed. "Look, remember how we talked about human lie detectors?"
"Yeah?" What the hell was she getting at?
