Page 9 of Evergreen

He nodded, and we got to work. The morning wore on, and the only sounds were the scrape of shovels against stone, the crunch of debris being moved, and occasionally my voice directing him toward the next section that needed clearing.

Cass didn’t complain out loud, which I appreciated. Though he did throw a few pieces of debris around in frustration. But he worked, methodically moving through the greenhouse, uncovering the damage and carefully extracting what could be saved. By the time the sun had cleared the trees, my stomach was growling and my muscles were sore, even with my dryad resilience.

“We should take a break,” I said, straightening up and wiping my brow. “Go get breakfast and get to your classes for the day. What time does your last class get out?”

“I don’t know,” Cass shrugged. “I don’t remember my schedule.”

I stared at him for a long moment. This kid really didn’t give a shit about college. It made me wonder why he’d even come to Widdershins Academy in the first place.

“Then I’ll meet you here at six tonight,” I said. “Whether you have class or not. Make sure you eat first. We’ll be working until ten.”

“Seriously?” he grumbled. “On the first day?”

I nodded, not budging an inch. “Yep. For the rest of the semester too.”

“Fuck me…” He turned away, heading for the door. My words must’ve struck him the wrong way. But they were just the truth, nothing more. “I fucking hate this shit.”

“See you at six,” I called after him.

Chapter 5

Linden

Ididn’t leave the conservatory after Cass headed to his classes for the day. There was really no reason to. My final semester at Widdershins Academy was all about my senior project. Before now, I had been cultivating a few rare species of plants and attempting to duplicate the heartwood from my own grove back home. But since all of that had been reduced to ash, my senior project was now rebuilding and rehabilitating the school conservatory.

It was an honorable project and one I was happy to do. But I couldn’t deny the disappointment I felt about the entire situation. Those heartwood cuttings were special to me and they had been showing promising signs of regrowth. But now they were gone thanks to a drunk student who wanted to show off.

I wanted to be furious with him and a small part of me was. But the truth was I knew exactly what it felt like to want to be special, to want to prove to everyone how powerful I was. I’d done it in my own little ways, like using my natural dryad magic to outpace all of my classmates in the Herbalism department. I made sure I was at the top of my class from the very beginning and I never let that title slip. So, in a way, I understood why Cass Reed did what he did. But that didn’t mean I was happy about it. I wasn’t going to be cruel to him, but I wasn’t going to make it easy for him either.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice a figure approaching the conservatory. In fact, it wasn’t until he cleared his throat that I finally looked up and saw him standing there. And, of course, I couldn’t help but smile.

“You look tan as hell, Nerion,” I grinned, pulling myself back to my full height. “I take it that the cottage in Greece is treating you and Teddy well?”

Nerion’s face broke into a grin, and I could see the faint freckles across his nose were even more pronounced than usual. He’d definitely been spending time in the sun over winter break.

“Linden,” he said, stepping into the greenhouse and looking around at the devastation with wide eyes. “What the hell happened here?”

“Lightning strike,” I said, gesturing vaguely at the charred remains. “A student got drunk and decided to impress his friends with weather magic. It didn’t go as planned.”

Nerion winced, his blue eyes taking in the scope of the damage. “That’s... a lot of damage.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered, moving back toward the section I’d been working on before he arrived. “My entire senior project was in here. Or at least, most of it was.”

“No,” Nerion said, and I could hear the genuine distress in his voice. “Linden, your heartwood cuttings⁠—”

“Gone,” I confirmed. “Along with the blue moonflowers, the silverleaf specimens, and about three months of work. And the heartwood cutting… that was three years of experiments up in flames.”

For a moment, Nerion just stood there, processing. I knew how much those plants had meant to me because I’d spent countless hours in his dorm room complaining about how finicky they were to cultivate. He’d listened patiently while I talked about soil pH levels and optimal light conditions, never once telling me to shut up even though I knew I probably bored him to death.

“Do you want me to kill him?” he offered. “Sing to him? Make him suffer?” His blue siren eyes were sparkling now. “You know how much I love to get revenge on assholes.”

I laughed despite myself, shaking my head at my best friend. “I appreciate the offer. Truly. But I don’t think singing him into a tormented state of mind is going to rebuild the greenhouse.”

“No, but it would make you feel better,” Nerion pointed out, stepping deeper into the wreckage. He picked his way carefully through the debris, his freckled face scrunched in concentration as he avoided the worst of the charred mess. “And that counts for something.”

“I guess,” I admitted. “But the Dean’s already got him working it off. Six in the morning till ten at night every day for the rest of the semester. He’s going to be miserable enough without your siren magic making it worse.”

Nerion turned to look at me, one eyebrow raised. “You’re being awfully forgiving about this.”