So I'd worked hard to become as normal as possible. I took my cues from the stories I'd grown up on, many of them written by humans. I adored action movies with heroes who saved others. I'd matured, found my place in my weapons classes, and learned that I loved being the hero. For me, that meant doing something about Fin.
It had started with yelling. A few months later, I'd settled things between us with my fists - and the girl had made it home with her pride intact. Two weeks later, I'd asked her to the Summer Solstice as my date. Two days after that, Bracken had pulled me aside for a very long talk.
That had been when I'd agreed to keep an eye on Fin. All I had to do was not request a room change. If Fin did, it would be denied. Bracken wanted me to make sure anyone with him was there by their own true consent. Male, female, or anything else. Luckily, Fin had always preferred to target women, so it was pretty easy to tell the difference between his pals andhis targets.
Nineteen years old, still a virgin, and now dead. A piece of me felt guilty for that. I'd kept him from dating. I'd cockblocked him in the worst way, and now he was dead. The guy hadn't even had sex! The one thing we were all chasing - in one way or another - and Fin had failed.
But that was stupid. Sex wasn't a reward. Plus, if a girl had truly been into him, then fine. I wouldn't have stopped him from dating properly, but there had been little to like about him. Fin was - er, had been - arrogant, cruel, and amused by the suffering of others. He'd lashed out with a truly fae temper, held grudges like a human, and manipulated like a monster.
That meant I'd won, but it didn't feel like a victory. This felt like failure. There was nothing to celebrate in his death!
I forced myself out of his room and back to the shower. There, little things of his still caught my eye, but I removed them all. His toiletries went in a box on the sink. His towels were sent to the laundry. I even cleaned his hair out of the drains, stripping away all the painful reminders of his existence and wishing my memories would be as easy to erase.
I was checking my own room for anything of his when there was a soft rap at my door. When I opened it, the person on the other side wasn't who I'd expected. Granted, I wasn't surewhatI'd expected, but Hawke Woods was clearly not it.
"Hey," Hawke said, tipping his head like he was asking for an invite.
"Yeah, come in," I said, opening the door wider.
"Bracken sent me," he explained. "Weapons classes are canceled, so I was asked to walk Rain back. I mean, since you weren't there."
"Shit," I breathed. I hadn't even thought about that.
Hawke huffed out a weak laugh. "She's able to walk home on her own, you know. The way you and Bracken hover over her is going to eventually become smothering."
"She's never faced the Hunt before!" I shot back, a little too much accusation in my tone.
Hawke simply murmured under his breath and moved across the room. Pulling out the chair beside my desk, he spun it around and dropped into it backwards. My eyes dropped, aware how casual he made invading my space look.
"Sit down, Keir," he ordered.
I scoffed. "Oh, now the court's giving me orders?"
"No,Iam," Hawke insisted. "You look like you're about to make a few more laps of this room, accomplishing nothing but needing to move. I'm telling you to sit. Trust me, it's the better option."
"Fine." I headed to my bed and dropped my ass onto it. "Happy?"
The way the guy's eyes ran across me was like an inspection. "Sure," Hawke finally said. "Also makes it easier to tell you Fin's things will be cleared out this evening. Bracken wanted me to make sure you know to expect it."
Cold washed over me, causing my body to heave in place. "What?"
"He has no family," Hawke explained. "He was in foster care, aged out, and only really has this. That's why Ms. Rhodes never kicked him out."
"How do you know that?" I asked, because Hawke and Fin had not been friendly, let alone friends.
Hawke shrugged. "Bracken told me. He told Rain to make sure you're ok. He supposedly also told Liam to expect you in his office at some point this week. The way he said it made me think I should pass it on - and that it was not a suggestion."
"Yeah," I grumbled. "Sounds like Bracken. And if I don't, he won't let me keep working with Rain."
"Well, since she's not ready to be working, you have time."
That caught my attention. "Is she ok?"
Hawke rocked his head from side to side. "Aspen says she's blaming herself. Tor says she's too quiet. Bracken kept watching her as we talked about the attack, and he looked worried."
And now I was blaming myself for skipping my classes. "I thought he said everything was canceled, though."
"He did," Hawke assured me. "He also didn't take roll, but he was in the gym because a few of us wanted to burn off this..." He gestured up with both hands. "Feeling?"
