Knowing he'd let me leave if I wanted, I turned my feet straight for him. "You busy, Dad?"
That word still made Liam's mouth curl into a smile. "Nope, kiddo. Whatcha need?"
I marched into his office, waiting until he closed the door, then turned and stepped into his chest, hugging him hard. "That. Shit's going down, I feel like I don't know the rules, but I'm trying really hard to be a good Morrigan."
"Hey..." he breathed, tilting my head up so I had to look at him. "Ivy says you're doing great. She's proud of you, and that makes me feel the same. This fae shit is kinda hard, huh?"
I nodded emphatically. "Not the fae themselves," I clarified. "They're easy. It's the bullshit, you know? I mean, Nevaeh's magic is back, but it's not completely refueled - or refilled? Whatever. Since Torian stripped her on the solstice, Aspen said she missed the best part, so she's kinda at half power for the rest of the year."
"Which is probably the punishment Torian wanted," he told me.
"Yeah, but she'sWinter," I said. "That guy who got frozen? Winter. Aspen? Winter. See the pattern?"
"And the graffiti," he agreed. "It was clearly anti-Winter. Also, there've been a few more incidents you weren't around for. A girl shoved into the Forge with all that iron before seventhperiod, a teacher's room locked so they couldn't hold class - until Ivy fixed it. Things like that."
"All Winter?" I asked.
He nodded. "So be care..." He trailed off before finishing, then looked around in confusion. "Rain, where's Jack?"
A surprised giggle slipped out. "With Aspen, because we're beingcareful," I teased.
And my dad relaxed visibly. "Good. Ivy and I've been trying to find a way to keep you kids safe - the court, I mean - but we can't do it without being too obvious."
"I know," I assured him. "I also know that would make everything worse, so we're managing. Ms. Rhodes said she won't kick me out, so I'm feeling a little brave about stepping up. Will you tell me if I go too far?"
"I promise," he said. "And don't be surprised if Ivy tells you, either. Brack said you have some sentinels helping out, so just trust yourself, Rain. So far, that seems to be working best."
"And adults usually don't trust kids, Dad."
"Yes, but most adults aren't living in a school for the fae." He opened his arms, offering another hug. "Now tell me you're going to be ok and get to class."
"I'm going to be ok," I said even as I squished myself against him again.
Surprisingly, Liam felt like a dad. He had just enough softness to him to make it nice when I leaned against him. He hugged in the most paternal way I'd ever experienced, too. It was surprisingly nice. Almost as nice as the trust my dads had been giving me.
But of course I ended up late for my third period class. Only fifteen minutes late, but since it was the class Ms. Rhodes taught, it was fine. What confused me was the substitute teacher in there. Today, it was Tag. She dipped her head at me when I made my way in, but that was it. Wilder and Hawke both gave meconcerned looks, but I smiled to reassure them that everything was fine.
The rest of the day was completely and totally normal, though. The court gathered together for lunch. Our afternoon classes were completely boring and predictable. Even my detention class - well, all of ours now - wasn't too bad. The four sentinels stayed to help again. Bracken pushed us hard like always, and we made a tiny bit of progress.
But when that was finally over, we all headed back: the court and the sentinels. From the chatter between the guys, everything was fine. Hawke was even laughing with Pascal, so I shifted closer to Aspen, casually brushing my hand against hers.
"Hey," I whispered. "You look like you're getting better with a sword."
"And I saw you do magic while fighting," she said, giving me the most beautiful smile. "I think Ms. Rhodes was right. This really is helping, and I feel a lot less... I dunno. Weak? Helpless? Kinda both."
"Jack!" My crow said as he flew down to land on my shoulder. "Jack, court. Court, Jack. Rain. Morrigan! Jack, Jack, Jack."
"He was very upset in third period," Aspen explained. "I now know that's when you were fighting with someone."
So I turned to look at my bird. "Did you somehow know I was in the middle of that, Jack?"
He slung his bill up and down, a clear yes. "Jack-Rain. Morrigan. Rain-Jack. Morrigan."
"Uh-huh," I said, wishing he would learn a few more words. "So you knew. Magic?"
He ruffled his feathers showing that wasn't quite right.
"An inherent wildling ability?" Aspen guessed.
