Feet scrambled loudly on the other side. Mere seconds later, the heavy door was wrenched open and Liam was in front of me with a panicked look on his face. When he saw me, the heaviest sigh fell out, and he wrapped me up in his arms, not even caring about the large bird riding on my shoulder.
"Oh, Rain!" he breathed, hugging me too hard. To keep from getting crushed, Jack took off, flying into the apartment. "I was so scared, and then Bracken said you'd gone to take care of Aspen, but I hadn't seen you, and I knew you were outside - "
"Let her breathe, babe," Bracken said gently as he tugged Liam - and thus me - inside and closed the door. "She's shaken, but she's in one piece."
Liam reached out and pulled Bracken into his embrace, squishing all three of us together. "I just..." And he hugged hard again.
But it helped. Something inside me cracked a bit, releasing all the pressure, and tension, and maybe even pain I was holding on to. Without thinking, I leaned in, shifting so I could get an arm around Bracken too, and the three of us simply huddled together there in the foyer. My eyesclosed, and for the first time, I could actually let it all go, knowing I was truly home.
"I'm ok, Dad," I said, unable to get enough of the way Liam always smiled when I called him that. "Like Keir said, not good or bad, but ok."
Which made him finally let go and lean back, only to cup both sides of my face and look me over completely. "No injuries? Magical burns? Cuts? Heart attacks?"
A little laugh slipped out when the last one made it into my head. "No, I'm all in one piece - but kinda freaking out."
And my phone suddenly went off. Across the room, two more ringtones sounded, making me think both Bracken and Liam's had as well.
"Dad!" Jack demanded. "Dad-Dad!"
"Shit," Bracken grumbled, peeling away to grab one of those. "Liam, it's the decision. Classes will be held tomorrow with attendance by choice."
"You going to be ok to teach?" Liam asked.
Bracken let out a heavy sigh, which made Liam drag me into the main room of their apartment. Jack had claimed his usual spot on the back of the couch. Standing in the middle of the living room, Bracken's eyes were on his phone, his fingers moving, but his entire body looked wrong. It was as if the pride had been drained from him.
Which was when I remembered Fin had been one of his sentinels. Not someone I really spent any time with in class, but he'd been there. Usually in one of the private rooms for more advanced students. Once or twice, I'd heard him call out some taunt to Keir about having to train the newbie, or being good for nothing else.
And now he was gone.
I dropped onto the closest seat, which was the corner in front of Jack. Bracken glanced up, then claimed the other side of the couch, still typing out his message. Liam took the chair, leaning to grab his own phone, which meant it was ok if I checked mine.
Administration:
Due to the recent emergency, classes are canceled for the remainder of the day, but will resume tomorrow. Those who are unable to attend will be given excused absences. Administrative staff will be making their way to the dorms for health checks and to arrange necessary support.
"What does that even mean?" I asked.
"I'm marking you and the court as counted," Bracken explained. "All of the non-emergency staff will begin making the rounds and putting in orders for anxiety, depression, or trauma medication. It's how we count heads and treat the damage, Rain."
"And they will personally notify everyone in each room of Fin's death," Liam said, reaching over to clasp my shoulder. "Did you know him?"
I could only shrug. "Keir introduced me once, but he was a jerk."
"She wasn't even in the same section as him," Bracken added. "I tried to keep him as far from her as possible."
"Because he was a dick?" I asked. "Keir said you asked him to keep an eye on the guy."
Bracken tapped his screen, then set his phone down. "I did, and in a minute, I'm going to go check on him."
"He's in Torian's room," I said. That made both of my dads look at me strangely. "What? Aspen, Wilder, and Hawke are all there. I kinda got to walk through the bathroom."
"They gated?" Liam asked.
I nodded. "Torian said Bracken knows about it, and I figured that meant you did too."
"I know he had one in the closet at my brother's house. He would use it to check on Hawke when they weren't allowed out of their rooms."
"He's got one to Aspen's room as well," Bracken said.
