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  Nimbus followed them. She got the impression Cirrus wanted to talk to her, so she suggested Nimbus go to Rowen’s with him and Rozlynd to assure Jaden got all his stuff out. “We’ll meet you there in a few, okay?” She could tell he was not okay with her request.

  Nimbus glanced over her shoulder. Iris assumed it was at Cirrus. Something must have passed between the two brothers.

  “All right. I’ll see you in a few.” He gave her a quick kiss and stepped back.

  The four of them piled into the 4Runner a few moments later. “Where are your classes?” she asked Gavin and Thorin.

  “Kemper,” Thorin said.

  “I’m in Physics,” Gavin added.

  “Cool. At least you’re close-ish to each other.”

  “Iris—”

  “I’d rather not talk about it,” she cut Cirrus off as she signaled and merged with traffic.

  “Iris—”

  “Still a no,” she told Thorin.

  “Not sure you’re going to win this one,” Gavin said.

  Iris sighed. She clenched the steering wheel. Curled her toes in her shoes and squeezed them tight. Cirrus reached a hand toward her from where he sat in the passenger seat. He rubbed the back of her right shoulder. She released the breath she held and nodded.

  “You have to let it go.”

  “Let what go?” she asked Thorin and glanced at him in her rearview mirror.

  “The fact that it’s not your fault,” Gavin supplied.

  “But it is.”

  “No. It’s not.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “No, it’s not,” Thorin’s voice rose in volume.

  “Yes—”

  “As interesting as I’m sure this conversation will be, it’s not very productive,” Gavin told the car.

  “Agreed,” Cirrus said. “Iris,” he turned to face her.

  His movement drew her eyes to him in quick glances. A brief thought of this probably not being the best way to have this conversation crossed her mind. Then she realized Cirrus came with her so she couldn’t avoid the conversation—something she would have assuredly done.

  “It is not your fault that Jaden switched sides. Don’t even think about saying it,” he added quickly as she opened her mouth. “You did not drive him away or alienate him or anything of the sort. Yes, you decided not to use magic. Yes, you said Brett was a non-issue. You genuinely thought not doing magic was the safe solution, and you genuinely thought Brett would not attack any of us. You cannot control the actions and reactions of others.”

  Iris nodded. She knew Cirrus was right. It didn’t stop her mind from dwelling on the what ifs though.

  “I take it by your silence you still don’t believe me.”

  She shook her head. Cirrus sighed. He half-turned toward the back seat.

  “Woman! If you don’t snap out of this funk and stupid line of thoughts, I’ll have to beat them out of you.”

  Anger surged through Iris in only the way Thorin could make it. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but he talked over her.

  “Now that we know you’re capable of feeling other things besides self-loathing and doubt, try not to backslide into them. And thanks for the ride,” he grinned at her as she pulled over as close to Kemper Hall as she could get in a car.

  “Yeah, thanks for the ride. And it’s not your fault. Jaden was predisposed to be an ass. If you don’t believe me, talk to Rowen,” Gavin told her. “See you guys later.” He flashed them a smile, waved, and hopped out of the 4Runner.

  Iris watched her two friends as they hurried toward campus. She glanced at the clock. They had three minutes to make it to their classes. She was about to send half her consciousness to the Gallery of Doors to tell them as much when they both broke into light jogs and headed in opposite directions.

  “Ready?” Cirrus pulled Iris’s attention back to the present.

  She pushed the clutch to the floor with her left foot and shifted into first. They sat in silence as she maneuvered her box-of-a-car back onto LaRue. “I’d appreciate your discretion about my mental state. Especially when Nimbus is around.”

  “Iris. Everyone knows you’re going to have some issues after everything you went through. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but we’ve all noticed—including Nimbus. Don’t worry. We get it. We’re here for you. We always will be. You can’t get rid of us now,” he smiled at her and punched her lightly in the shoulder.

  “I sure hope not,” Iris half smiled.

  Chapter 14

  They remained quiet the rest of the way back to Iris’s place. Her thoughts turned inward as she once more ran through all the different things she did to push Jaden away. She let them go as she walked in her front door. Her apartment was empty. Iris checked Davis for Jaden but he wasn’t around. Either he was hiding his aura from her or he was elsewhere. Cirrus formed his doorway to his place, and they joined Rowen, Rozlynd, and Nimbus in the living room.

  “Everyone else go home?” Iris asked.

  “Yup,” Roz said.

  “When do you have class?” she asked Nimbus.

  “I’m on the semester system, so not for a few weeks.”

  “What about work?”

  “I should probably get back to that. I already emailed my professor to tell her I won’t be in until this afternoon. I said my flight was delayed. She’s fine with it.”

  Iris nodded. She wasn’t sure what to say. For some reason, having Nimbus in Davis felt odd to her. She turned to Rowen. He answered her question before she even asked.

  “His room is empty. Must have cleaned it out while we were at your place. We’re not sure what to do with the empty room, but my vote is to toss a spare bed in there so anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable being at their place can crash here.”

  “That’s a great idea. We have a nice air mattress at our place. We can put that in there for now. You guys okay to cover his part of the rent?”

  “What are you talking about? His name is on the lease. He still has to pay his fair share.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “You got me,” Rowen chuckled. “We should be fine.”

  “If you’ll have me, I’d love to stay occasionally,” Nimbus said. “I can help cover rent.”

  “What about your place?” Cirrus asked.

  “I’ll still keep it. It’s a one bedroom, so I don’t have to worry about roommates seeing me come and go all the time. Besides, if Davis is the only neutral zone, it may be safer for me to stay here more often than not.”

  “Fair point. Well, you know I’d never object,” Cirrus told him.

  “Me neither,” Rowen added. “We’ll have to check with Thorin too but I bet he’ll be all for having you stay here as often as you want,” Rowen added.

  Nimbus nodded. He glanced at Iris. Heat filled her cheeks. She wasn’t positive, but she thought jealousy flashed across his face at the mention of Thorin. She probably needed to explain her relationship with him sooner rather than later, but it would have to wait.

  “We should get you back to your place. If you form a doorway at the same time I do, my power should keep yours hidden. It’s worth a shot at least,” Iris amended with a shrug.

  “Okay,” Nimbus agreed.

  Iris drew upon the power flowing all around her. She pulled in enough to show anyone tracking her she’d expanded her abilities but not so much that she was full to bursting. Nimbus pulled in considerably less. She formed a doorway to her room. Nimbus formed one to his place as soon as hers solidified into existence.

  “See you tonight?”

  “No. I’m following you. Just want to make sure no one else does. I can sense where your door will open.”

  Nimbus grinned at her. “Even better.” He brushed a stray hair behind her ear and opened his door.

  Iris waited until his residual magic dissipated before opening her door. Instead of stepping through, she closed it and released all the flows she held. Iris counted to thirty before waving to Roz and Rowen
, transforming into her faerie form, and requesting a faerie-sized door appear before her. She used so little magic no one would be able to track her movements. Even so, she took a moment to assure there were no other magic users around before transforming back into her human self.

  “That’s a neat little trick,” Nimbus said once he realized she stood in his living room.

  “And a safe way for me to travel back and forth between your place and mine.”

  “As long as it doesn’t interfere with your classes or work.”

  “I was more thinking about traveling in the evenings.”

  “Does that mean you plan on spending the night occasionally?”

  “Only if you have the room.”

  “Of that, I have plenty,” Nimbus scooped Iris up into a hug and kissed her deeply.

  She responded with several more of her own before gently disengaging from his arms.

  “When do you have to be back for your first class?”

  “It’s at ten so I can’t stay. I need to find all my supplies and get my backpack ready.”

  “Why don’t we head to your place now? Then you’re not alone and I get to spend a little more time with you.”

  “Sure. But first I want to make sure you can form your doorway when you’re in your faerie-sized elf form.”

  “My what?”

  “Your true form as an elf, but the size you have to be when you enter Faerie Glenn.”

  “Ah, I get it now. I’ve never tried making a doorway in that size.”

  Nimbus shimmered into an elf, then shrank to the six-inch version of his true form. He pulled flows into his being.

  Iris closed her eyes and concentrated on his magic. “You don’t need that much,” she advised.

  Nimbus released half of the power he held.

  “That should do it,” Iris said.

  He formed his request and funneled power into it. A tiny door manifested in front of Nimbus. Iris changed into her true form.

  “I barely sensed anything. Someone would have to be in the same room with you to feel you form your door.”

  “Great. After you,” Nimbus said as he held the door open for her.

  Iris stepped through into her still empty living room, Nimbus a step behind her. They both transformed back into their human sizes. Iris took Nimbus’s hand and led him down the hall to her room. She shivered at the lingering traces of magic swirling around her. Jaden, Brett, Zarina, Morrigan, and a half-dozen other auras vied for her attention in the small space.

  “What’s wrong?” Nimbus asked.

  “Nothing,” Iris tried to deflect the question with a smile. Her eyes twinged. They gave her away.

  “Please, Iris. What’s wrong? Did I—”

  “No. I can sense Jaden has been here recently. I knew he would have been. It threw me for a second. That’s all,” she finished with a quiet smile.

  “You sure?”

  “Positive,” she nodded. Her voice sounded stronger to her ears this time. Nimbus’s concern took a few seconds to fade away, but it did. “Take a seat,” she gestured at her bed.

  Nimbus did. His eyes roved her room. Iris turned away from him and retrieved her backpack from the corner she’d tossed it in at the end of fall quarter. Her mind wandered as she moved about the room. She glanced at her digital clock. Registered the date. She paused for a moment. It was weird to think she’d lived ten more days than most people on Earth.

  Iris shook herself and moved to her desk. She grabbed a few textbooks from her bookshelf and slipped them into her backpack along with her laptop and a new notebook. She kept her back to Nimbus. Fiddled with items on her desk as the residual magic floating through her room reminded her of Jaden’s constant connection to her in the castle. She shivered.

  “Iris?”

  She startled at the noise. Nimbus pulled her attention back to him. Iris hadn’t realized how much her mind had wandered. She sat next to him on her bed.

  “You’re different from when we were on Gemina Terra. Tenser,” he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist to rest on her opposite hip. He scooted closer to her.

  Iris rested her head in the crook of his shoulder and chest. He was right. There was more at stake now. She didn’t know how to tell him how or what she felt. Nimbus allowed her time to process everything. Time to respond. He wrapped his other arm around her front and clasped both hands on her hip. Iris sighed into his chest.

  “Are you scared?”

  She nodded.

  “Of Jaden?”

  She shook her head. Then shrugged her shoulders to indicate she might be.

  “Of losing your friends?”

  She nodded again.

  Nimbus lowered his voice. “Of being captured?”

  Iris closed her eyes for a moment. Nodded once more. In four simple questions Nimbus discovered the root of all the emotions flooding through her body. Recognizing them was one thing. Knowing how to deal with them was a completely different beast she wasn’t sure she could manage, but she’d have to try.

  “Cirrus told you you’re not to blame, right?”

  “Yes.” She tried to keep the tears at bay.

  “But you don’t believe him, do you?”

  “No,” she whispered.

  “I can’t tell you how to think but I can tell you he’s right. What else did he say when we were all in your living room earlier?”

  “That I’m safe and surrounded by friends who won’t abandon me.”

  “And Thorin?” There was a tightness to his voice.

  “He didn’t say anything to me in the living room.”

  “Then what about in your car?”

  “He told me that if I don’t snap out of my funk, he’ll beat it out of me.”

  Nimbus stiffened.

  “He knows harsh words are the most effective coming from him,” Iris rushed to explain. “They force me to analyze what I’ve been thinking and feeling and examine my actions. Don’t worry,” Iris added as she pulled away from Nimbus’s grip so she could look at him. “My feelings for Thorin are just those of a friend’s.”

  “And his for you?”

  “The same. We tried dating when I was a freshman. It was a disaster. I got pissed off at every little thing he did. The tone of his voice. Even some of his quirks. I think it was my subconscious telling me he wasn’t right for me.”

  “But you have a different relationship with him than the other guys.”

  “That’s true. Except for Cirrus, Thorin gets me the most. Maybe even more than some of my high school friends. I’m not sure why, but he has an uncanny ability to make me happy and piss me off within seconds of each other.” She looked up at Nimbus’s face. “Don’t worry,” she added with a half-smile. “You have nothing to be jealous of.”

  “I know I don’t. I trust you.” His left hand caressed her right cheek before he bent down to give her a kiss.

  Iris returned the kiss with several of her own. He ran his hands through her hair. Tightened the grip he maintained on her right hip. Nimbus guided Iris’s torso back until they were both lying on her bed. She turned onto her side and he showered her with more kisses. Placed his forehead against hers.

  “You need to head to class, don’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Iris admitted.

  “How about I give you a ride?”

  “That depends entirely on you,” she tried to hide her smile but failed.

  “What?” he grinned back at her.

  “Can you drive stick?”

  Nimbus laughed. He kissed her again before sitting up. “Surprisingly well, actually.”

  “I should have guessed as much since Cirrus can.”

  “Our dad insisted we learn. He has a few classic cars he wanted to make sure someone else could drive. It’s come in handy on European vacations.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Iris admitted.

  “You’ve never traveled?”

  “Not out of North America. Unless you count where my doorways can take me. I mean, a tropica
l island and a different planet are kind of cool, I must admit.”

  “I’ll give you that one. Come on. Let’s get you to class. If you went to all that trouble to make sure you could keep getting an education, I refuse to be the reason you don’t pass your classes this quarter.”

  Nimbus gave her a soft smile. Iris returned it as warming sensation ran through her body. It coincided with a wonderful sense of calm.

  Chapter 15

  Neither Iris nor Nimbus spoke as he drove her to campus. When he wasn’t shifting, Nimbus held Iris’s hand. She looked out the window. Felt awkward for some reason, and a little scared at her feelings for him. They’d become so strong so fast—it didn’t seem right. Or normal. Iris tried to push the thoughts away as they made the final right toward campus.

  Nimbus pulled into a loading zone close to the Memorial Union entrance to campus. Iris gave him a quick kiss, hopped out of the too-tall for her car, and turned to wave at him. His focus wasn’t on her. It was on a spot behind her and off to the left. Before Iris turned to see what he looked at, a rush of air shot past her like a javelin.

  The surge of air exploded like a large, bursting balloon as it hit the barrier Nimbus placed around the 4Runner.

  Fire replaced the ice in the pit of Iris’s stomach. She filled with power before stopping to think about what she did.

  “Be my guest,” Jaden smirked at her.

  Iris froze. If she released anything, their contract would be void. She sent all the flows she held back into the Earth in a torrent and closed her mind off from accepting any more.

  “Pity. I thought that would have been enough to coerce you into using magic against me. Perhaps you need more motivation?”

  Before Iris could blink, another blast of air shot past her. It exploded on the barrier Nimbus still maintained. Iris sent half her mind into the Gallery. Pulled Nimbus’s doors wide and called to him.

  “I’m just fine. Don’t worry,” his voice called back through the darkness.

  “But how will you get home?”

  “Like this.”

  Iris left the Gallery. She watched, more than a little surprised, as Nimbus waved and drove off. The protective dome remained around the 4Runner. Jaden shot a few more blasts of air after him, but they couldn’t breach Nimbus’s barrier. Jaden let out a snort of disgust. It pulled Iris’s attention back onto him.