Page 42 of Malice in e minor

“Stop. Look, without the eye patch, you’re pretty, but with it, you look like a Bond girl. Own it. Get a black leather one and put some spikes on it. Start smoking clove cigarettes and carrying a flask, even if it just has water in it. Flirt with boys and destroy them because you can. Adopt a hairless cat or a corn snake and carry it with you in public. Embrace it because you can’t change it,” Orion said.

That was decent of him. I would have loved that pep talk, but I wasn’t sure if she would.

“He’s right. You’re still super hot. Own it.”

Meadow seemed to perk up more when I said it than when Orion did. Okay then. Her back straightened.

“Yeah, I’ll go to that party with you.”

“Did you want to get back to practicing or did you need to get to class?”

“I have a tonal harmonies class in fifteen minutes.”

“I’ll walk you. Harlowe, lock the practice room. Misha usually has a break right around now. I’ll send him to watch your back.”

“No need. I’m here,” Topher said.

“You stay away from her,” Orion snarled.

“No, it’s fine. He can stay.”

I didn’t miss Topher sticking in tongue out at Orion and wiping his eye with his middle finger.

“What dorm are you in? I’ll come get you and walk you over to Rue’s for the party.”

“Rue?” Meadow squeaked.

Did Meadow have a crush on Rue? Because Rue looked like she might be into JaToya. Were we about to have a love match? I was invested.

“Gerard hates tardiness, so we have to go. But leave her alone, Topher. Don’t fall for his bullshit, Harlowe. Whatever he promises you isn’t worth it.”

Interesting. I’d been planning on questioning Topher, but maybe I had new questions for him now.

Alone at last. I hauled Isobel out of there and then dumped her with Dante. I felt bad about it for five minutes because she was going to be a turd to him, but then I remembered he was cruel to Meadow to impress her.

I liked Meadow. She was funny, talented, and not attracted to me in the slightest. We talked about girls we found attractive and she was just about the only person here who knew I still had feelings for Orion, Azriel, and Misha. Meadow knew I’d been slipping their favorite foods into their bags and studios because I knew they’d get wrapped up and forget to eat.

She told me I should just tell them, but what was the point? They hated me and they’d just think it was creepy. I could be happy with knowing they were fed and not going to pass out or cramp up in class.

That left my current obsession. Why was I not sleeping with students again? Oh, yeah. Sometimes, I caught feelings and I couldn’t keep them. I could catch feelings for Harlowe. I might already have.

And she currently had a frowny face on. What was that about?

“Did you know Isobel is an eye stealing menace?”

Oh, that. I could see where not telling her she had a nemesis who was looking at her eyeballs with an ice cream scoop might piss her off. Except I was my own lawyer, and I was innocent of all charges.

“I knew she was bullying Meadow, and that she had some kind of record when she was younger. I thought it was a stupid kid thing like shoplifting. I ended up looking into it when Azriel overheard something. I found out about Meadow, who is a good friend of mine, and have been spending more time around her. I wasn’t in her practice room when Isobel showed up, but I was lurking because you were both in the same place.

“I only just found out a two days ago and told Orion, Azriel, and Misha. I was going to tell you, but I wanted to make sure Meadow knew I consider her one of my few friends here and I’d make sure she was safe. She was a little upset I found out because she didn’t want Isobel to retaliate if that got out. Isobel is going to act out when she finds out you’re working with Leif.”

I explained how Isobel got a spot in the orchestra. Any violin players who finished their thesis and left would be replaced with new students. Any one of them would take Isobel’s spot, but she would blame Harlowe because Harlowe was the one Leif chose for his ballet.

“Awesome. And if I fight back, her daddy is going to make sure I never get a job.”

“Which is why you aren’t going to be the one to do it. Her father can’t do a damned thing to me. I admire Meadow because I’ve always wanted to learn the cello, but I’ll never be able to. He can’t do anything to Immortal Nightmare either. If they get back together, they just have to announce a tour.

“She’s not going to do anything to us. I can make her career and she knows it. She wants to recreate Immortal Nightmare with Leif, but she’s not going to do anything to risk being invited to the OG Immortal Nightmare.