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An unseen force was pushing into Fern’s back. The book in her hands was on fire.
I have to show this to Calum. Only Calum.
It was ringing in Fern’s head like a mantra.
“Fuck, I mean, shit. No. Oh god! Sorry!” Fern slammed into another lecturer—one of the human variety—as she tripped on the end of her own scarf. Fern tossed the offending scarf over her shoulder and picked up her pace as she crossed the lawn in front of the department building.
She maneuvered through the hallways like it was second nature, the pull towards Calum’s office increasing in her chest. Fern expertly maneuvered the stacks of books and papers, although she nearly avoided running into a green filing cabinet, and threw the door open to Calum’s office with a relieved sigh.
“Calum!” Fern nearly shouted his name before taking in the scene before her. Calum was sitting at his desk while Emmett sat across from him, both of them turning to look at her with concerned expressions.
Thank god it’s just Emmett.
“Ms. McEwan?” Calum gripped his cane and rose to his feet, his eyes scanning her as if searching for injuries.
“Fern?” Emmett asked.
“I’m f-fine.” Fern tried to catch her breath. She looked at Calum. “I need to speak to you.”
“Okay, if you’ll just give me a moment to—”
“Now.” Fern was shocked by the intensity in her voice. It sent a charge through the room, and she watched as Calum’s eyes zeroed in on her, flashing gold. His hand flexed around the stag head of his cane, and his other hand went to his throat to loosen his tie. A small flicker of power emanated off of him; it called out to her like a song, and she wanted to fall right into his lap and embrace it.
Stop, stop, stop. She tried to reign in her wild thoughts. This is not the time. Fern had done a rather abysmal job of keeping her crush on Calum at bay, but she thought she had at least kept it to herself.
“I’m…goin’ to go,” Emmett coughed awkwardly. He tossed a knowing glance over his shoulder at Calum as he turned to leave. Fern was too busy staring at the book in her hands to notice.
“Fern? Tell your brother to text me back about Saturday’s pickup match, yeah?”
“Hmm?” Fern forced herself to look at Emmett and nodded. “Oh, yes. I will! Saturday. Soccer. Got it.”
“It’s football,” Emmett and Calum corrected her at once, and Fern rolled her eyes.
“I’ll remind him. Thanks!” She all but pushed Emmett out the door and turned around to face Calum.
Calum’s heart stopped at the sight of a flushed Fern McEwan in his office. He had done his best to remain professional and keep out of her affairs over the past few months. It had nearly killed him, knowing his mate was so close and keeping himself at arm’s length.
His mind turned over all the ways he’d like to replicate that blush on Fern’s cheeks. He had played the memory of their kiss over in his head for days. He couldn’t regret it, but it made his torment that much stronger, knowing he’d held Fern in his arms but couldn’t have her. The strength of the memory was going to drive him mad.
“How can I help you?” Calum’s voice sounded strained. Keep it together, he warned himself. The few glimmers of power that he had left were ricocheting through his body like a live wire.
Fern sat down in the chair that Emmett had just vacated and dropped a book on his desk.
“One of my students had this.” She swallowed thickly. “It’s magic, isn’t it?” Calum sat back down and reached across his desk, picking it up. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“It is. Did they say how they found it?”
“A secondhand shop here in Edinburgh.”
“I’m grateful that you’ve returned it to me.” Calum kept his voice measured. “I’ll see that it’s properly preserved in the library.”
“That’s not the point.” Fern shook her head. “This is a first edition of that text. It had information in it on bean-nighe that I’ve only ever heard in stories before.”
“That’s not uncommon. We’ve dabbled in publishing over the years and kept the more sensitive information out of mythological texts like this.” Calum pulled his glasses out of his jacket pocket and put them on, perusing the book’s contents.
“You censored books?” Fern’s face twisted up in disgust.
“Oh, not how you’re thinking.” Calum looked up from the book’s pages. “We only removed information that would’ve been harmful to the magical inhabitants still in Scotland. Until the curse is broken, it’s imperative that we keep our secrets. Most of them were handled by some of the other fae.”
