Page 48 of Darkness Defined

His face crinkled, and I assumed he was smiling. Always difficult to tell with Jotunn. Even with an amulet to make the Ice Demon appear more human, it didn’t quite meet the mark. “I had nice help,” he said with a thick Swedish accent.

“Help, maybe, but you put in the work to make it happen.” I turned to his polar opposite, sitting on my other side. “Same for you, Fiadh. I’m really impressed with how much both of you have progressed.”

The Merrow smiled, revealing sharp teeth and illustrating that she was as deadly as she was beautiful. “You are very generous.” She brushed long strands of moss green hair back from her face with an iridescent blue arm, freckled with darker spots of navy.

“Just giving credit where it’s due.”

Fiadh made a pleased humming sound deep in her throat that instantly captured Jotunn’s attention. She flashed him a coy smile that she then switched to me. It was easy to understand how Merrows had developed a reputation for luring men to watery deaths. Though her charms didn’t have quite the same effect on me.

I pushed back from the table to signal the end of our session. “Thank you both again for coming. I’ll see you next week and we can review the course’s weekend homework.”

“Sounds lovely, Alexi.” Fiadh slipped her paper between books and rose abruptly, as if she was used to having more resistance than air.

Ed scrambled to his feet. “Yes. Good things.” He reached for Fiadh’s books. “Help?”

She gave him another toothy smile that might as well have been made of honey for the way Ed beamed. “That would be nice. Thank you, Edzard.”

I buried my smile and focused on packing my things while Ed followed Fiadh like a happy puppy. As much as I worried Fiadh would ultimately break the poor guy’s heart, I envied her as well. At least she had options. Meanwhile, my one-sided pining was getting worse by the day.

“You’ve got quite a way with them.” Rubio pushed off from the wall he’d been leaning against and moved to help me with the last of my books. “I gotta hand it to you. When you suggested group tutoring sessions, I was dubious, but it seems to be working out just fine.”

“As long as you don’t count the fact that I’m not sure whether Fiadh plans to eat Ed in a good way or in a bad way later, yeah, I guess I’m doing pretty good.”

Laughter erupted out of Rubio. He shifted the books to one arm so he could wipe away tears with the side of his hand.

“Oh no, the new guy has gone and broken our fearless leader.” Mariah clucked her tongue while the other tutors chuckled.

I walked up to her and rolled my eyes. “How was your session with Jahzara?”

She let out a heavy sigh and placed a hand on an ample hip. “I swear, she tries my patience more every time. I don’t care if she is some kind of heiress or whatever, she’s still flunking rudimentary spells.”

I bumped her shoulder. “You’ll figure it out. You’re the best.”

“From your lips to Jahzara’s ears. If she tells me one more time about her social position, I’m gonna kill her.”

“No, you won’t,” Rubio said as he stepped between us. He looked around at the gathered group that had quickly all become good friends. “Great job everyone. See you later. Oh, and a friendly reminder not to kill our paying customers.”

Mariah grumbled under her breath, but followed suit with everyone in leaving the study space Rubio had acquired for general meetings and now my group tutoring sessions. I might only have two in the group now, but Rubio had confidence that would change as word about me got out, and he liked to plan ahead.

I shielded my eyes as we stepped outside. Our little cluster of study rooms was off the west side of the main library, and the evening sun was brutal. A few blinks put me back to rights. I waved goodbye as the others broke away, leaving me and Rubio alone on the sidewalk.

Suddenly, Rubio let out a low whistle and shoulder checked me. “Would you get a load of that beauty? Mmm… the things I’d like to do to him.”

I searched the area he was not so subtly hinting at until my gaze fell on who he was undoubtedly talking about. “Oh, that’s my roommate. Matt.” I was tempted to add that I was right there with him, but Matt was already walking our way with that radiant smile that kept my heart in a constant state of upheaval.

Rubio’s head snapped around to give me an incredulous look. “That’s your roommate?” he hissed almost quietly.

I let out a sigh. “Yep.”

“And you’re not hitting that. Why?”

I tore my gaze away from the stunning masterpiece that was Matt’s pouty face and divine eyes to scowl at Rubio. “One guess.”

“Fuck.” He nodded with knowing commiseration. “The straight ones, am I right?”

“You have no idea.”

Rubio gave me a sidelong look before returning his attention to the ever-approaching Matt. “He know you’re gay?”