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“Do they know about them?” Helene asked in a gentler voice. Holly shook her head this time, not trusting her voice not to betray her again.
Andy and Helene shared a look, and Holly wanted to sink under her chair. She wasn’t ashamed of her mates. She wasn’t, but her parents… well, Andy and Helene knew how they were. Her papa had never approved of them. He thought Andy was a great witch, for sure, but he would go on and on about how she was failing her “role” in producing more witches and how her relationship with Helene was an “abomination” and… Holly glanced quickly up at Synora. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to hold it together if he directed that vitriol at her mates.
“What is it?” Kallan asked, turning in his seat to stare directly at her, and Holly almost winced at his bluntness. Kieran must have felt the same way, as he ran a soothing hand up and down Holly’s back. With his comforting gesture, some of her tension melted away.
“My papa can be… difficult,” she said, choosing her words carefully.
Andy snorted. “The man’s a prick.”
“Andy,” Helene chided. “He’s still Holly’s father.”
“And she knows it too,” Andy argued back, and Holly felt guilty for causing this argument between the two.
“It’s fine,” Holly quickly broke in, trying to smooth things over. “Yes, he is difficult, and with everything else we have had to focus on, I haven’t had a chance to tell him—to tell them. We don’t… speak often as it is.”
“However he is, it can’t be worse than what we’ve already faced,” Kieran joked, trying to break the tension.
Holly forced a smile as the others laughed, but internally, she thought, we’ll see. Her papa was difficult at the best of times. Thankfully, Helene and Andy steered the conversation back to lighter topics about Holly’s childhood. Slowly, Holly’s muscles unclenched in the warmth of the hearth and the laughter that surrounded her.
* * *
Later that night,Andy and Helene ushered them out the door with a sack of pastries and dried fruit for breakfast in the morning. Andy promised to send word to the shifters of their visit, and Helene announced she had booked them an empty Triad suite on the floor below Desmond’s. Holly’s cheeks were going to be permanently flushed at this rate.
“I know we have a long day tomorrow, but I would love a quick tour of the grounds, if you don’t mind,” Synora said. Holly lifted her gaze from her feet to offer her a quick smile. Claire had told Holly before the battle about how the Elves and Fae had lost the opportunity to go to the Academy, and how some of them wished to go. She knew it was a priority for Claire to get the Academy back open to all races—a priority that was having to be put on hold for now—but she could indulge her mates in a quick tour.
“Of course,” she said, changing her direction from the dorms toward the class buildings. “These are the two main class buildings, although some classes were also held in the gardens or at the combat arena.”
She bumped knuckles with Kieran as he walked alongside her, and when she went to move away, he captured her hand in his. She looked up at him, and he gave her a soft smile that had her blushing. She couldn’t remember the last time someone held her hand. The warmth of his palm seemed to seep into her bones, chasing away a chill she hadn’t even realized was there.
“What classes did you take?” Synora asked from her other side.
“Well, I have an earth proficiency,” Holly explained, tearing her eyes away from her and Kieran’s hands, “so a lot of my classes focused on that. I took Herbology my first year here with Helene and Runes with Andy. Andy teaches an advanced earth magic class, so I took that last year, and we all are required to take some spell and potions and combat classes as well.”
“You took combat classes?” Kallan asked. His voice sounded almost disbelieving, and she tossed him a look over her shoulder.
Her eyebrows arched as she haughtily responded. “I did. And I was quite good at it, if you don’t remember from a week ago.”
Kieran laughed. “Careful, brother, or Holly will be tempted to show you.”
Kallan rolled his eyes but didn’t comment.
“Malcolm had taken over the combat classes,” Holly continued, “after the previous instructor retired. Desmond was doing his mastery classes, and Everett was helping with the Academy guard. It was a good way for them to discreetly look for their fourth and avoid our parents’ matchmaking schemes.” Holly couldn’t fault them. She was grateful they had helped her gain admission. The Academy had served as her escape as well.
“What did the Academy help you escape from?” Synora was too intuitive.
Holly didn’t want to get into all her family drama, so she waved her free hand in the air dismissively. “Oh, you know, what every young witch is trying to escape. Family expectations and learning to stand on your own feet, I guess.”
“I would say you’ve succeeded in that. Standing on your own feet, I mean.” Synora smiled warmly at her.
Holly’s cheeks heated, and she ducked her head. She wasn’t used to being the center of attention. Even in her friend group, she had focused on everyone around her. Having the attention of the three of them on her all the time was both nerve-racking and exciting.
Kieran used their joined hands to lift her chin and chuck it softly. She smiled at the gesture. Her papa used to do that to her when she was younger, before he got too busy with work.
They continued the walk around campus with Holly pointing out the different sights. The trees she, Bethany, and Claire liked to study under. The dorm buildings they shared. Finally, they arrived at the mastery students and Triad dorm buildings.
The twinges of nerves were back as they entered the building, and with each flight of stairs she climbed, her stomach fluttered harder and harder. This was the most alone time she’d had with her mates in the last week, and she didn’t know what to expect or what they expected from her.
She didn’t need to worry, it seemed. After they entered the suite, they found their belongings placed in the rooms. Kieran squeezed her hand and ducked his head to kiss her cheek. Synora stopped in front of her, green gaze intent, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear in a move that felt way more intimate than it was.
