Page 55 of Mistaken Magic

"Iwill," he said gently. "Aspenwill like that.WilderandHawkewill probably be amused.Havea good afternoon,Rain."

Sadly,Icouldn't let him walk off that easily. "Hey, what's the deal with the thanks thing?"

Heturned, but kept walking backwards to the door. "'Thankyou' is the easiest way for people to wipe away a nice gesture.Thosewords mean they did their part and can forget about it.Whybother putting forth the effort if the recipient doesn't even care?"

"Itdoesn't always mean that, you know.Sometimes, it's the only way to express the warm feeling in your chest."

Hecocked his head to the side. "Proveit.Actionsalways speak louder than empty words, meat."

Thenhe stepped through the door and was gone.Theclass around me was completely empty, butIwas not in a hurry today.Ihad no one to eat lunch with.Ihad nothing but misery waiting for me in the dining hall.Ihad an entire pack of jesters waiting to make my life a living hell, and now this.

Ivaguely remembered some story about the fae hating being thanked.Theywanted to be paid in resources or a trade of services.Athing for a thing.Consideringhow people reacted whenIsaid the word "deal" around them, it was all starting to make sense.Granted, it wasn't exactly something they included in the student handbook.Therewas no flyer on how to survive living with a bunch of fae.

Butif the court only understood actions as a sign of appreciation, thenIcould work with it.Ididn't know how, and no ideas were springing to mind, butIwould definitely figure it out.Mostly, it was because of somethingAspenhad said outside on that bench.Sheknew what it was like to be all alone while surrounded by people.

Ihad a funny feeling she wasn't the only one.Iwas pretty sure all four of them felt the exact same way.IknewIdid.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Thatafternoon,Iended up working with a practice sword on some pole with sticks jutting out from it.Thething was called a training dummy, but it wasn't quite whatI'dexpected.BrackensaidIwas almost ready to start practicing with the other students, so he'd set me to hitting this thing in a set pattern.Iwas trying hard to do it right, because the whole point was to train my arm and build new muscles.

Itwas more difficult thanIexpected too - but in a good way.Theoverhand shots made my bicep burn.Then, whenIfinished five repetitions on one arm,Iswitched to the other.Left-handed,Iwas a complete mess, but whatever.Injust one week,I'dlearned the rules of the gym, the names of the equipment, and the warmups for all the combat and defensive styles.Iwas calling this a win.

Bythe third time through on my left arm,Iwas getting tired.Eachpass took about ten hits on this weird stick-figure-post thing.Ithad three clusters of spokes meant to represent limbs, and all were pointing different angles.Iwas supposed to hit between each one from the top, the front, and from below.

JustasImoved to reach a gap at the side, a guy gasped, "Easythere!"

Iturned to see a guy from the class grinning at me with his hands up.Clearly,I'dalmost smacked him on the backswing.Evenworse,I'dbeen so focused,Ihadn't even known he was there, and this guy was... wow.Myeyes dropped down his body on their own, and my cheeks immediately felt warmer whenIrealized it.

Tall, blonde, and golden-skinned, he was also broad-shouldered, and that black-and-green sleeveless shirt lookedamazingon him.Ittook only a split second for me to realize he was very, very fae.Maybeeven pure-blooded.Addin the lopsided smile he'd turned on me, and my stomach did a backflip in approval.Sheepishly,Itucked the practice sword - which was basically a wooden stick with a hilt - under my arm and moved over so he could pass by me safely.

"Sorry,"Imumbled.

"Newgirl, right?" he asked, coming closer instead of walking past.Thenhe offered his hand. "I'mKeir."

"Rain,"Isaid, clasping his hand.

ButKeirdidn't shake.Heleaned over and kissed the back of my knuckles, his lips barely brushing my skin. "APstudent, right?"

"ThatIam,"Iagreed. "You?"

"Junior.Thecollege kind, since we have both types here."Thenhe propped his elbow on one of those spokes and leaned against my training dummy. "ThewholeInstitute'stalking about you, you know."

Ipushed out my breath with a groan. "WhatdidIdo this time?"

Keirbegan listing all of it, lifting a finger on his free hand as he did. "Liam'sniece, no fae blood, no magic, picked a fight with the jesters, made friends with the court..."Thatsmile made a reappearance. "Whichisn't a small thing around here, so you know."

"Aspen'smy suitemate,"Iexplained.

"Rumorssay she doesn't hate you.That'spretty big.Thosefour hate everyone."Helifted a brow, all but daring me to deny it.

Instead,Iflicked a finger at him. "Whyaren't you on the court?Kindagetting the impression you're pure-blood number five."

Keirjust reached up to stroke his chin. "Becauseof my dashing good looks, huh?"Thenhe laughed. "Iam pure fae.Iwas also born onEarth, notFaerie.Dadwas a gate guardian.Momwas a huntress.Soonas the war started brewing, they escaped for a quieter life - to here.Thatwas the front end of theExodus.Aboutforty years later, along came me."

"Thewhole age thing still breaks my brain,"Iadmitted. "Howold are your parents, if they waited forty years to have kids?Like, sixty?"

"Two, three hundred," he corrected. "Mom'stwo thirty-seven.Dad'sthree nineteen."Hissmile was getting bigger. "Yes,I'mnineteen.Weage the same until about twenty-five."

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