Temps nodded.“Okay.Well, my family goes back to witches and shamans from the earliest days of America.It looks like the line has been dormant until me.No one from my family has gone to school here since another woman named Temperance, of all things, and that was in the 15th century, when Europe was just starting to colonize.”
“Her name was Temperance?”I looked down at the page, seeing the asterisk near her name.“Wow.What’s with the asterisk, though?”
“Usually, that means there’s more information.She is probably referenced in a different text.”Caleb tilted his head at us when we looked up at him.
“Goody, more homework.”I moaned, rolling my eyes to the sound of dual chuckles.
Temps elbowed me.“But look, it found her mother, too.A woman named Bethany Ashdown.That’s where it begins, I guess.So cool.And weird, but cool.”
“Bethany Ashdown?”Caleb leaned forward, his brows up to his hairline.“That’s not—Holy shit, indeed.That woman was responsible for the idea of a magic school.That’s essentially our founder.Her most famous quote is, ‘I do this not for me, but for Temperance.To be as tempered as steel, in her mother’s name.’”
“Wait, so shewasn’tTemperance’s mother?”Temps shook her head, trying to process as I fell back in my chair.
Talk about information overload.
“She raised her yes, but the ‘legend’, as it were—the rumor, myth, what have you that Bethany herself circulated—was that her birth mother was a witch from a realm of Eternal Winter.Someone called ‘Wren,’ according to Bethany.There’s not much about her, though.Unfortunately, there are just a few clippings from Bethany’s diary and an old news report of sorts from that same era, which stated, ‘Merchant Trumaine found dead.Slave, Wren, likely to blame.’”
“Gods, the fuck was going on back then?”I furrowed my brow as I slumped in my chair, the physical drain of running on all cylinders all day catching up with me.
“You’re welcome to research more about your ancestors,” Caleb said, standing up from his seat at the table as he closed the book in front of him and began to clean off his glasses.“I need to return to my apartment, though.I will continue to look over the things I can from there.”
“Well, here take mine,” I slid the book I’d been reading across the table toward his stack, “cuz it didn’t make much sense to me anyway.”
“Unfortunately, books are not permitted to leave the library.You’ll have to come back.”
“Everyone is really making this homework shit drag on, huh?”I shrugged, looking over at Temps, who’d started to pack up.“Alright.”
It didn’t take us long to gather stuff up and put it back on the claims desk to be filed away later.Caleb and Temps could hardly look at each other, or me, and I stared between them, waiting for someone to just grow a spine already.
“I will see you both in class tomorrow.”Caleb nodded, his posture stiff as a damn board.“And we say leave all talk about what occurred in the past.It’s better for all of us to move on.”
“Speak for yourself, teach.”
I was going for the tease, but Caleb was obviously worked up, so after that, I just let the guy wander off.He’d be back.Yeah, we’d see him in class tomorrow, but Iknewwe weren’t done.And when I looked at Temps, watching her follow him with her eyes, I had a feeling she knew it, too.
Fourteen- Falsities Follow Those Who Blindly Tread, Where Truth Grants Freedom, No Matter How Forbidding
Temps
Afterwesplitwayswith Caleb, I could tell that Lizzie had a lot to say about what happened.She’d never been one to beat around the bush or sugarcoat her words.Lizzie was blunt and forward.Honestly, it was what I loved so much about her, because I could never seem to find that strength myself.
Gods, we all had sex.In Caleb’s office.
I was still reeling from that one, but I didn’t necessarily feel the same way Caleb clearly did.I knew it was wild and extremely against the rules, but I’d enjoyed myself in ways I never dreamed possible.Alone and untouched was how I assumed I’d be spending the rest of my day.Having experienced it now, it was impossible to deny that I liked it on this side of the fence a lot more.
Grass really is greener over here.
Lizzie hung back at the door this time, locking things up now that we were back in the dorm room.It was warm and cozy inside, an enormous difference from the chilly, damp air that swirled in constant torrents of wind outside.I went to turn on the overhead light, but then stopped, not wanting to force the space into such bright light right now.
Instead, I turned on the small lamp by my bed, the Edison bulb glowing softly.Lizzie took the hint, flicking her fingers to get the candles we’d placed strategically through the room to light.It stayed dim and so very warm in the room, and I slung off my bag, setting it by the foot of my bed as I kicked off my shoes.
I went to my closet, reaching in for a new shirt since I was still wearing Lizzie’s.Immediately, I was aware of how I was going commando, realizing how ridiculous we both must look.Turning over my shoulder to look, I saw Lizzie pulling off her second boot, the jacket Caleb gave her tossed to the side.She stood there in her cut-off skirt and bra, planting a heel on each sock to pull it off.
She’s so beautiful.
Working open the buttons on the shirt, I watched her as she reached around to the zipper of her skirt, pulling it down and letting the fabric drop to the floor.She was still wearing panties, but they were thin, white lace, and even in the dim light, I could see the silky warmth of her brown skin beneath the fabric.
“I can feel you watching me, Temps.”
