Page 251 of One Winter Knight
There were chalk marks on the stoop. Huh. Maybe the city was doing work–or there could be kids we hadn’t met yet. It was really weird not knowing the neighbors.
Pulling my coat tighter, I shivered, even though this was my new winter coat. While it did get cold where I lived, my Southern ass was not built forthis. Maybe I should’ve taken that into consideration before mating an East Coast pack.
The space between my shoulder blades prickled, like I was being watched.
My phone rang.
“Hi Grace, what's up?” I asked as I walked.
“I wanted to wish you luck this morning. It’s going to go great. Thanks for sending over all your notes and formulas. I just want to confirm that you never taught anyone to make it? Or used it for an assignment or anything?” she asked.
“I mean, I showed Mom and Dad. Mom even helped me fix things. But that was ages ago and I’ve since refined it,” I replied.
“Great. Also, I will need the key to the code your notes are in, because Creed can’t decipher it.”
“Whoops. Hazards of having the parents as parents. Research espionage training started young.” I laughed. “I’ll do that later.”
“Thank you. I still need that sample. As big as you can get me. Spencer’s going to Philadelphia the day after tomorrow. So, I can tag along and meet up with you and get it. I can’t get you paid until I have the key and the sample,” she told me.
“Yeah, I can do that.” Oh. Right. That would mean going to the Circle. We didn’t have anything going on tonight that I knew of. Yeah, today would be as good of a day as any.
While Carlos and I had run down the aisles at Swoop, and Fiona bought me things at Hardwicks that she wanted me to wear, I wanted my own stuff.
“Any word about the research grant? Not to seem ungrateful, just curious,” I asked.
“No. I’m sorry. We try to route everything officially, and the department handling it hasn’t gotten back to me,” she responded.
My heart sank. It wasn’t no, but it might as well be.
“It’s okay, Grace. I appreciate you trying. I actually sat down with my mates, and they are more than willing to help me cover everything this semester if I don’t get the grant,” I replied. At least I had that.
“You’ve got this. Oh, what’s going on with you and Nate? Tru mentioned it in our regular gossip session. Did he find out aboutyour pack and is giving you shit?” she asked as the subway pulled up and I got on. It was crowded, full of people going to work.
Grace never called himDad.It was either Nate orthe professor.Tru was one of my little sisters–she was very chatty, and good at math.
“I brought up some things that made him really, really uncomfortable. Oh, and I blocked Mumsy,” I replied.
“Mumsy is best blocked. What kind of uncomfortable? Is this about him abandoning you?” she asked.
“Yeah, and how Mumsy stole my education money.”
“She did what? Do you need a lawyer?” Grace asked.
“That's what Fiona says, that we should start by having a lawyer draft a strongly worded letter about paying back the money.” I could still use that money for my PhD.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Grace demanded.
“Because I figured my tuition out. But now it’s more like the principle of the matter,” I explained. “They claim taking it was a mistake, but they never paid it back. They took Mercy’s, too. Apparently, given she’s an athlete, she doesn’t need it.”
“Bullshit. Fiona is right. If you need help, ask me. Still looking into what you mentioned about Nate not being safe, thanks for the heads up. He denies everything. But I’m keeping an eye on it. Hey, I am so sorry, but I have to run. Good luck!” She ended the call.
I looked at all the cute pets people were offering me in the group chats. Oooh, what did everyone think about pet spiders?
Also, I booked my ticket to Research Circle.
Getting off the subway, I walked to Barwyn. It was an old and pretty campus with lots of trees–but very different from my university. Campus felt quiet, but they were on break, too.
Dusty gave good directions and I found where I needed to go easily. Taking a deep breath, I entered the science building.Here goes nothing.
