Page 13 of Crashing Tides

I shake my head.

“Half-fae university, because Halea will let anyone in.” Her nose wrinkles. “Or so the snobs say.”

“Oh,” I say, suddenly embarrassed and hopeful. “Does that mean most of the students are half-fae?”

“Or less,” she says, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Like me.”

I relax immediately. “Me, too.”

“Really?” She looks me up and down. I let her, knowing full well she’s going to be disappointed when she finds out I almost exclusively date men. “Your eyes are so vivid, though.”

I’ve heard that before. My eyes are a bright bluish-green. People always comment on them. “I think that’s pretty much the only thing about me that counts as fae.”

She shrugs. “There’s probably more. Are your parents fae?”

“My mom is,” I admit. “But she never told me. I had no idea.”

Shock colors her face, but she recovers quickly. “I’m sure she had her reasons.”

I’ve had a couple of sips from the flask in my pocket, and am feeling bold enough to say, “And I’m going to find out what they are.”

Again, she manages to smooth over her surprise. “Hey, that’s a solid goal.” She smiles, reaches her hand across the table. “My name’s Jane.”

I shake her hand. “Dominic.”

“Where you from?”

She grins, self-conscious. “Cow town. You?”

We talk for nearly an hour. By the time I leave, I have not only her phone number but also her dorm room number and Instagram handle.

That night, I pass out as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Chapter

Six

Aleo arrives a week later, accompanied by three massive suitcases and a weeping entourage. I am lying on my bed, a book on magical theory resting open on my face, eyes squeezed shut as I struggle to comprehend what I just read. The door bursts open with a bang and I flail upright, just in time to make eye contact with Aleo and his entire family.

They’re all tall, blond, and fae, although I notice one of his younger siblings has rounded ears and a shorter stature.

I stare at them. They stare at me.

I am wearing boxers and a t-shirt with a hole in the armpit, mismatched socks on my feet. This does nothing to deter his mother from gawking at me, her mouth open, blue eyes wide.

Have you heard of knocking? I want to demand, relieved that I wasn’t doing anything else, that I don’t have my dick out in front of my new roommate’s entire family. Instead, I plaster a fake smile on my face and say, “Um, hi.”

His mother’s cheeks go pink.

“Oh, hey,” says Aleo.

With an expression caught between horror and something I’d rather not think about, his mom says, “Whoops! Guess you didn’t know we were coming. We’ll give you some privacy.”

They scramble back outside. I root around in my laundry basket for the first pair of pants I can find, which happen to be a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee. Once I’ve hopped into my sneakers, I open the door.

It’s move-in week. I’m not surprised to see Aleo, but I kind of wish I’d had a heads-up. My side of the room is more than a little bit chaotic. Worse, my roommate’s entire family witnessed me in my natural habitat, half-dressed and failing to comprehend a simple passage about initiating foresight in the ungifted (I can only imagine the puns Jeremy would make if I read him that sentence).

If I hadn’t been banned from practicing magic in the dorms, maybe I would’ve given it a try. Foresight seems like a gift worth having. But Elarion’s warning echoes in my mind. I’ve seen what he looks like when he was frustrated. I don’t want to know what he’s like when he’s actually angry.