Page 39 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
But there was that voice in the back of her head, telling her that saying yes would be as good as dooming her future at the Leap. At least with the scholarship review, she’d have a chance to defend herself—but if she got caught trying to steal from OneiroLabs, she’d be out on her ass without question. Not only that, but it felt a littlelike going against her own principles. Hadn’t she worked her whole life to break free from people who wanted to use her ability to their own ends? True, her parents never compensated her financially, but wasn’t the intention the same?
Dani wasn’t sure. She didn’t think Silva was trying to exploit her; the professor really seemed to care about what was going on at OneiroLabs, and about helping Oliver and anyone else who was suffering the side effects. But that didn’t change the fact that if things went awry, Dani could wind up back where she’d been three months ago: couch-surfing to stay off the streets, with little hope for her future.
She didn’t know what to do, but she had to move. She went back to the room, dressed quickly, snatched up her bag, and left before McKenna could wake up. The day greeted her with a gusting wind and a shock of blue sky visible now and again between the clouds racing overhead.
She let the wind carry her where it wanted, ending up on the greenway that ran along the edge of the forest bordering the north and west sides of campus. The forest was owned by the university and tended by the students of various departments, including fairy studies, arcanobotany, and animal magic. Dani had ventured under its canopy just a few times, and only with McKenna, who went in regularly to collect ingredients for her various glamours, an activity that often involved a tussle with a dryad or pixie of some kind.
Dani strode the length of the greenway, letting everything swirl around inside her—the unfairness of the scholarship review and the position she was in, Silva’s unreasonable request, Oliver’s awful predicament, her fuckup with Kass last night. She’d never been in such a state of confusion in her entire life. She had always known what she wanted—to get away from her parents, to come to Fox’s Leap, but most of all, to take control over her own life. Now it felt like what little control she’d managed to claim was slipping through her fingers.
The walk didn’t fix that feeling, but it did burn off some of the frenetic energy she’d started the morning with.
Dani had almost reached the end of the greenway for the second time when she realized how high the sun was in the sky. She pulled out her quartzpad to check the time; she was supposed to meet McKenna and Oliver in thirty minutes. Retracing her steps, she made it to Oliver’s dorm at the exact same moment as McKenna. Her best friend was in a coat with a peacock feather pattern, and had her hair wrapped in a teal scarf against the wind.
“Where’d you go?” McKenna asked. “When I woke up, you were—oh, Dani, are you okay?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Dani said, surprising both of them with how bitterly it came out. She softened her tone. “Please. Can we just hang out with Oliver and not talk about it right now?”
McKenna nodded slowly, though the look of concern didn’t leave her face. “Of course, babe,” she said, hooking an arm around Dani’s shoulders. She launched into a description of her newest design idea for a Gingerbread-inspired gown as the two of them entered Oliver’s dorm and trooped up three flights of stairs to the top floor, then to their door. Neither of them had been to Oliver’s room before, and in the depths of her despair Dani felt a twinge of jealousy at their ability to live on campus, even if the building was nothing to write home about. From her perspective, just being in the dorm lent them an extra heft of belonging. Even the little name tags on the door with cartoon animals chosen by the RA made her envious.
McKenna was still talking about what materials she’d use to imitate Gingerbread’s turquoise feather as she knocked on Oliver’s door. Oliver didn’t answer right away, so they stood there for a minute before McKenna knocked again.
“They could be out grabbing something to eat,” she said.
“Or maybe they forgot about our plans?” Dani said.
“That doesn’t seem like Oliver.”
No, it didn’t. Dani started to get nervous after five more minutes and several rounds of knocking. “Let me see if they messaged,” she said. She was pulling her quartzpad out of her bag when the door swung open.
“There you are,” McKenna said. “We were just on the precipice of worry—Oliver?”
Dani looked up from her bag and the breath left her body all at once. Oliver stood in front of them, sure enough, but something was clearly wrong: the way they loomed stock-still in the doorway, the slight tilt of their head, the unseeingness of their gaze. Dani squinted at their face and realized with a stroke of horror that their pupils were way too big in their irises—just like the woman at OneiroLabs.
“Kenz,” she said, “run and get help. I—”
“It’s you,” Oliver said suddenly, their voice trembling as their eyes homed in on Dani. “I’ve been waiting for you. You have to tell them—you have to tell them to stop!”
Before Dani could say anything, Oliver launched themself at her.
McKenna let out a startled yelp; Dani stepped back, crushing her bag in her arms, and Oliver stumbled and fell onto their knees at her feet. They reached up and grabbed her by the jacket, pulling her down toward them, desperation twisting their face.
“Please,” they choked out, like the word was glass in their throat. “Please, they’re going to hurt Emi. You’re the one who—you have to tell them—”
Dani was dimly aware that other things were happening around them. McKenna was saying Oliver’s name again and again; doors were opening in the hall, emitting curious students from their rooms; one of them was telling someone else to call the emergency line. But the only thing she could bring sharply into focus was Oliver—Oliver, kneeling before her with terror seeping from every pore in their skin,their dilated pupils seeing her but not really seeing her, a trickle of blood rolling slowly out of one nostril. Begging her for help.
“Please,” they said, a whimper.
Before she could answer, two students took Oliver by the arms and loosened their grip on Dani’s jacket.
“Tell them!” Oliver cried. Their gaze was still locked on Dani’s, but they didn’t resist as the students guided them as gently as they could down the hall into the lounge. “Please, you have to tell them!”
Then they were gone, the door closing behind them and muffling Oliver’s pleas. McKenna was at Dani’s side then, wrapping her arms around her, smoothing her hair back from her face. “Dani, oh my gods, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Dani said, but tears were tumbling down her cheeks. “We should go with them, we should—”
“An ambulance is on the way,” McKenna said. She was clearly trying to keep her composure, but her eyes were wide with concern. “They’re just going to calm Oliver down and keep an eye on them until it gets here. I don’t think you should go in there—they think you’re someone you’re not, something they’re dreaming.”
“We need to help them,” Dani sobbed. “We have to do something, Kenz.”
