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Gabe echoes Darwin’s snort. “That explains how you handle Teddy so well.”
Darwin laughs. “No amount of training could have prepared me for the Teddyclysm.”
“Teddyclysm?” I huff in mock indignation. “I’m not a Teddyclysm.”
All three boys are pointedly silent.
“Hey!”
Darwin laughs first but Charlie and Gabe are less than a breath behind him.
Charlie pulls me away from Darwin and swings me around in a circle before pulling me up on his back. I cling on. He staggers down the path with me riding his back.
“Yippee-ki-aye, motherfucker!” I shout into the icy blue, winter sky, twirling the beanie I’ve stolen from Gabe like a cowboy hat.
I hear Darwin say to Gabe, as they follow us hand-in-hand, “Definitely a Teddyclysm.”
Chapter23
The Controlling Crow
Since I don’t want The Mr. Black to share the boys’completely misplacedbelief that I’m some kind of natural disaster, I’m quiet as I help Gabe bring tea and coffee for everyone to the dining table.
Even though we finished brunch less than three hours ago and tea’s in just a few hours, Charlie raids the fridge and dumps a pile of food in the middle of the table. He starts assembling a sandwich as Lords accepts a cup of coffee. I sit down next to Charlie and blow on my steaming mug.
“You’re subdued, Teddy,” Lords says. “How bad is it?”
Gabe, to my left, and Darwin beyond him, begin chuckling.
“I’m not subdued,” I protest. “I’m chill.”
“You have no chill,” Gabe says, draping his arm around my shoulders.
“She’s upset because we called her a Teddyclysm,” Darwin tells Lords.
Lords chuckles into his coffee. “You are a Teddyclysm. You’re still earthquaking all over my investigation, I see.”
“I’m notearthquaking. I just thought I’d ask O some questions that came up because of my time in the future. And, look, I found out something new.”
Lords puts down his cup, steeples his fingers over it, and gives me a stern look with those Captain America blues. “I appreciate the information, but I want to be very clear about this, Teddy. You willnotinvestigate Jade Kalveri’s death on your own.”
“I’m not.” At the disbelievinghumphsaround me, I backtrack. “Okay, I’m notmuch. Look, Gabe may be out of the woods, but Darwin isn’t. What if I find the thing that clears him?”
“What if you find the thing that unequivocally identifies Jade’s killer and they realize you know? Teddy, beyond my responsibility as head of campus security—and your alarming propensity for causing chaos wherever you go—I’m actually very fond of you. I donotwant to end up investigating your murder, too. These people are extremely dangerous. They murdered a pregnant, innocent girl. Do you think they’d hesitate to kill you? Why put yourself at risk for a girl you didn’t even know?”
I twist my mug around and around on the table. When I glance up, Gabe catches my eye and nods encouragingly, like he knows what I’m thinking.
“It’s not just about Jade,” I say. “I mean, I want justice for her and I want to clear Darwin, but it’s about more than that now. It’s about stopping Klotho. It’s about preserving the wild magic and protecting the mortals who are still in the fae courts.” I take a deep breath and admit, “It’s about the future I’ve been to. It’s about the men I had to leave behind. It’s about making sure their past isn’t our future.”
Lords is silent for a moment, watching me and stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Tall order, Teddy.”
“Let it never be said Teddy goes for low-hangin’ fruit,” Charlie interjects around bites of his sarnie.
I spread my hands. “Look, I know this isn’t going to be easy. But I’m not doing it all on my own, right? I have you lads—”
Lords lifts an eyebrow.
“I havemylads,” I amend.
