In fact, she was enviably normal.
Born and raised in Mystic, Claudia came from a pride whose members mostly lived within the city limits. She was a tall, imposing figure who carried herself like some sort of modern Valkyrie. Her black and white hair was untouched by dyes or glamour spells, framing a beautiful face with sharp features in dramatic contrast. Combined with her easy confidence and cool sense of style, it made her nearly impossible to ignore. Despite her rather intimidating appearance, Claudia exuded a warmth that put people at ease.
She had grown up surrounded by siblings, noise, and constant activity. Her parents adored their children and had built a home filled with love, laughter, arguments, and chaos in equal measure. They lived on the other side of the city, but it was close enough that she could return home whenever she wanted.
Even though Lana and Claudia could not have been more different in personality, the two of them had become fast friends. While Lana could be spoiled, arrogant, and deceptively secretive, Claudia was refreshingly straightforward. She said what she meant and wore her emotions openly instead of hiding behind carefully crafted walls.
They had only known each other for a few months, but sometimes, that was all it took to form a true friendship. Claudia was the first one Lana had consulted when she considered writing her thesis about how she could utilize her ability during investigations.
The snow leopard shifter had noticed her aversion to being touched and had cut through the bullshit and directly asked her why. Rather than being surprised or scared of what she could do, Claudia had been curious about Lana’s ability. In fact, she had immediately offered to see what Lana could read off of her and wouldn’t stop nagging her until she reluctantly agreed.
She had breathed out a sigh of relief when the darkest secret she saw was when Claudia had injured a member of her prideduring a sparring match. While that alone wasn’t cause for any concern, the fact that she had wished she had done even more damage to the asshole made her feel guilty.
In Lana’s opinion, the wanker probably deserved it.
Weighing the pros and cons, she decided to move forward with her thesis about her ability for her independent studies course. After thoroughly vetting Professor Aurelia Towers, she figured she would be a good sounding board for her project. The professor had willingly allowed Lana to read her in order to test her ability. When she had accurately discovered her extreme dislike for her mother-in-law, the professor hadn’t been embarrassed or angry.
Actually, she’d been delighted that Lana read her accurately.
Of course, that was a secret she had promised to keep between them.
Professor Towers had been the one to encourage her to submit her proposal to the Supernatural Council along with a revised version of her thesis. While Lana had never truly considered the council would approve her proposal this early on, she and Claudia were now waiting on the shoreline for their official escort to pick them up and transport them to the prison in order to test her secret-extracting ability.
“The carriage ride through the forest was kind of cool, but waiting for a boat to take us to the island feels a little like we are entering purgatory,” Claudia pointed out.
“I was thinking the same thing. It’s a little creepy, but you have to admit, the view of the lake is quite lovely,” Lana said, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt. “Even though we can’t see the entire structure, it looks like a castle floating on an island made of pink clouds.”
“Yeah, it’s almost too pretty to be a prison. It’s strange. Normally, I would have the urge to stick my hands or feet intothe water to test the temperature, but I’m not even the least bit tempted. Maybe the water is cursed.”
Lana groaned softly. “Don’t say that. I’m already not too keen about having to sail across it.”
“I’m surprised the fairies who brought us here just left us by ourselves.”
“I’m sure someone is still watching us. Same goes for the guest cottage they have us staying in.”
“Right. I forgot pixies are the ultimate spies, in a good way.” Claudia stretched her arms over her head as she glanced around. “I’m kind of digging that we get to stay in an actual fairy cottage. I also love that you got me excused from classes for a full week. It’s like a mini vacation, and all I have to do is help you talk to a few prisoners. It was nice that the council allowed you to bring someone with you so you wouldn’t have to meet with the prisoners alone.”
“What they really want is for you to interview the prisoners before I speak to them, so they can compare what they tell you to what I am able to read from them. The wardens are selecting the individuals for us to interview. People who claim to be innocent.”
Claudia let out a derisive snort. “I bet the council told them to pick a few people they know are guilty just to see if they can trip you up.”
“Oh, I’m sure that angel did.”
She remembered the smug look on the Celestial Realm council member’s face when she had wished Lana good luck at the prison. Perhaps it hadn’t been wise to annoy Mirielle during the meeting, but her attitude had really rubbed her the wrong way. Besides, Lana had simply been defending herself.
Who knew that angels could be such catty bitches?
As if reading her thoughts, Claudia said, “I don’t know why so many of the celestials have to be such assholes.”
“It comes from them thinking they are superior to the rest of us.”
“Well, they can fuck off with all that noise.” Claudia huffed out an irritated breath, then she slowly smiled. “When we get back to school, you should use that Arcane Assist app to get some payback.”
Lana let out a soft laugh. She’d almost forgotten about the magical app that had appeared on her phone over a week ago. At the time, she hadn’t even spared it more than a cursory glance at it. Her thoughts had been consumed by far more pressing matters, namely preparing for the meeting with the council. Every spare moment had gone into rehearsing potential arguments, anticipating objections, and steadying her nerves.
On top of that, using the Arcane Assist app came with its own complications. Two of her friends had ended up meeting their mates almost immediately after the magical app had appeared on their phones. That alone was enough to make Lana wary. The idea of meeting her mate and establishing that kind of life-altering connection wasn’t exactly unappealing, though.
In fact, under different circumstances, she would be tempted.
