“It’s fine,” I tell him. “We’re good. She’s just teasing.”
His shoulders relax slightly, allowing her to continue past without more conflict. “You’ve interacted more while I was gone?”
I nod. I can’t tell him the full extent for obvious reasons. “She’s one of my regular babysitters.”
“My impression was that she tended to avoid social situations, even when…babysitting.” He says the final word like it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. It’s true that even when Manuela was around before she was fairly aloof. She’s not exactly the warm and fuzzy type and nearly everyone is afraid of her.
“Yeah, that’s true sometimes. Not always. I asked her for help with something, and she was—well, a challenge but willing to entertain me.”
Jarron’s lips twitch. “Am I allowed to ask what you needed help with?”
My chest tightens but I force a smile. “Oh! Yeah. Though, I don’t want you to feel guilty or obligated. You’ve got enough on your plate.”
He stops in the middle of the hall. “Candice, if you need something, there’s nothing I would prioritize over you.”
I look at my feel bashfully. “It’s not technically for me. It was for Thompson.” I rush the rest out. “He has some pack issues going on. We would have asked you to help, but you’ve been busy. Anyway, it didn’t particularly go well. Manuela isn’t a fan of Thompson, or wolf shifters in general. But she and I left things on a good note.”
“Hmm,” he says.
“What?” I ask sheepishly. He obviously has thoughts about this.
“Nothing. It’s just interesting. Is that why Thompson left the school? His pack issues?”
I nod.
“I can still put out word that I am aligned with the heir to the pack; it might help a little bit. Everyone in the supernatural community will know full well I’m not going to be very active in supporting the pack, right now, but the fear might slow the progression some.”
I nod.
“But Manuela is a hard person to befriend. She doesn’t take easily to anyone. I wonder if I should be threatened by her interest in you.” He eyes me subtly.
My cheeks are still flushed from earlier, so I doubt he notices if they get even more warm. “No, you don’t have to worry about that.” Manuela is… interesting, but I have zero intentions of anything more than friendship with anyone other than Jarron. “You have all my attention.”
He squeezes my hand a little tighter as we enter my first class—High Orizian.
Jarron is tense for the first ten minutes or so—like is he even blinking?— while Professor Zyair is as cool and calm as ever.
The rest of the day continues much the same.
My teachers are even more accommodating than they have been since I was bitten. They started giving me preferential treatment the moment those marks appeared on my neck without any bidding at all, and now it’s worse with the demon prince glued to my hip.
Only Professor Zyair seamed at ease having Jarron in class.
In potions, my teacher pulled me aside and asked me about my independent studies. I told her what I was working on, and she tried not to look shocked at the amount I’ve been brewing. I took the opportunity to ask if a permanent potion was possible.
“Oh, a permanent potion is indeed possible—depending on the type, of course—but quite difficult. And I don’t say that to undervalue your talent. It’s a very different thing to make a potion that will have a deep enough effect to change a being permanently. The most common form is something that alters DNA. A virus, perhaps, is possible but extremely dangerous to work on for obvious reasons.”
Jarron fidgets in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with this idea.
“That’s not something I’m ready to get into right now. I appreciate your input, though.” And I mean that. I’m not going to be working with live viruses any time soon. I can certainly look into DNA-altering magic, but I have a feeling it’s not something I’ll be able to achieve in three weeks’ time.
“However, elongating the usage of a potion is always possible. It will get more and more challenging the longer you extend the use, but I can give you some book suggestions to get you started. They can be found in the Elite Library. And given your passion and abilities, I am confident you’ll be able to teach yourself these high-level skills in no time.” She grins at me before her eyes flash to Jarron.
“Thank you,” I tell her. And then, for funsies, I complete one of the year’s potions projects perfectly in the hour before class ends. This earns me annoyed glares from the other students, but not one of them has ever truly tried to befriend me, so who cares if I’m showing off or not?
When we finally reach lunchtime Jarron nudges me as we walk down the hall. “Is it everything you hoped it would be? Being back in class?”
I snort. “I feel like I’ve missed nothing the last several weeks.”
