Page 30 of Facade

“What happened?” Clarke asked. She looked tired, and kept shifting on her feet.

“Heath had spelled alerts for activity in the caster basement on nights and weekends,” Jace explained.

“He knows people were down there Saturday and Sunday,” Clarke realized.

“Yeah, and it was unexpected. I hope I didn’t give anything away. He asked me to check the caster basement, since Heath knows that Ray wouldn’t care,” Jace said. He told Clarke about the rest of the conversation, and that he’d volunteered her to help with the feral cats, as well as keeping an eye out for any casters and elementals wandering where they shouldn’t.

“Professor Halston has no reason to suspect you of hiding anything, and it makes sense that you would be surprised by what he wanted to talk about,” Clarke said. “I don’t think we should worry about that unless he starts asking uncomfortable questions.”

“True, and I can’t change how I reacted,” Jace agreed.

“You know I don’t mind helping with the cats and students,” Clarke said. “I’m looking forward to that part. The timing sucks, though. I fell in the bathroom this morning, and banged my knee against the toilet. So, no running for me, for at least a couple of days.”

Jace was instantly suspicious. Anyone could slip on wet tile, but something about her expression told him it was more involved than that. “What happened?”

“The bath mat slid out from under my feet,” Clarke answered. It was clear that she wouldn’t elaborate further.

“How bad is it? Let me see,” Jace said, and bent to kneel in the grass.

“Don’t you dare,” Clark said in a low, mean tone. “Pretend to tie your shoe, then stand up. We are in full view of at least a dozen students, and a few groundskeepers. I adore how protective and thoughtful you are, but lifting my pantleg to check my boo-boo will draw attention. No one seeing that would think ‘friendly coworker’.”

“You’re right,” Jace grumbled as he tightened his shoelaces.

His concern for Clarke had obliterated logic. He could have blown their cover. At least Clarke was using her brain, since his seemed to be on the fritz, or taking a back seat to his primitive instincts that insisted on caring for his injured mate.

“I hate the thought of you being hurt, and want to reassure myself that you’re ok.”

“My knee aches, but it isn’t serious,” Clarke said. “I’m going to relax for the rest of the afternoon. We can meet in the basement tomorrow night. If Halston says anything to you, tell him we were patrolling for delinquent students, and deciding on the best locations for cat habitats.”

“Nope, not gonna happen,” Jace said with a frown. “You should not be marching down those stairs until your leg is better, no matter how badly I want to spend time with you.”

The stairs were solid, with metal handrails, but a fall would be dangerous. A weak knee could cause her to lose her balance.

“I’ll see how I’m feeling tomorrow, and promise not to push it,” Clarke said.

“Thank you, that makes me feel better. Get off that leg, and rest,” Jace said. “I’ll see you at the staff meeting tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. Do you know what that’s about? I was surprised when I read the notification,” Clarke said.

“No clue, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

Jace watched her limp to the powered dorm, worried, and trying to hide it. He wished he could help, but too many people were around at this hour.

Everything in him rebelled at being unable to monitor her recovery personally. Forcing himself to turn away, Jace walked to the shifter dorm.

Clarke texted that she had some mild swelling in the knee, and was icing it with her leg elevated. The junior and senior prefects had noticed her limping, and volunteered to check on the younger students, so she could rest her leg. That alleviated some of Jace’s concerns.

He still felt there was more to the story of Clarke falling in the bathroom. Mitch had already targeted her, and might be taking this further than verbal insults. Knowing that he couldn’t fix this for her without confronting the elemental monitor, it made sense that Clarke would keep her mouth shut.

That was logical, but Jace didn’t have to like it. He called his prefects to his office, asking them to watch for abnormal activity around the elemental dorm. If Mitch was attacking Clarke, having a witness would be the best way to stop it.

“We’ll be happy to, sir,” the junior prefect, a beaver shifter, said. “I spend a lot of time in the pond, and will stay close to the elemental dorm.”

“Some of us can exercise close by, and run laps on the paths behind the dorms,” the senior prefect volunteered.

“Thank you,” Jace said sincerely.

None of them asked for his reasons, or seemed bothered by the request. He appreciated their trust and unquestioning loyalty. Having eyes on the elementals helped ease his mind.