Resurrection (9 page)

“That doesn’t explain the chuckle.” She chewed her lip, hoping she hadn’t started a relationship with a sociopath.

“We are working together. Never in the history of the world has a Fae King and a Centaur stood shoulder to shoulder for any reason. It’s just…I don’t know, it seems so odd. Like a cat and dog as best friends. It happens, but it’s still a bit ironic. Right?”

“Yeah, I have to tell you, if those two interrogated me, I’d probably tuck tail and run.” She smiled. “Okay, I can see the humor, especially since Dwarves aren’t known for backing down.”

They headed toward their own living spaces.

“I want to build them actual cars. Those little toys weren’t meant for constant transportation. They’re pretty flimsy.” He rubbed his neck. “But that will have to wait.”

When they reached her door, she half expected him to follow her inside. To her disappointment, he gave her a short, sweet kiss goodnight and left.

Wendy sat through a class led by Ms. Rutger. She instructed on creating a syllabus, grading, and exams. Diligent as always, she took notes, and paid close attention.

“Those of you teaching core subjects must stick to the guidelines for what freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors all need to pass by the end of year exams. This is important for us to maintain our status as an accredited university, albeit a private one. A four year degree program is serious and employers out there take it very seriously. Our job is to educate and prepare them for the big bad world.”

The Lycans in the room laughed.

“Why is that funny?” she asked.

Wendy stood, trying to hide her smile. “You just made a big bad wolf reference, sort of.”

Ms. Rutger nodded as if dismissing her. “Moving along, those of you teaching non-standard or elective classes have a bit more leeway, but in the packet I’ve handed you, you’ll see that you have guidelines to follow as well. Take some time this evening to get acquainted.” She continued with her instructions.

Three hours later, her mind was numb and she was filing out of class next to Zoltar. “Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. I can’t handle one more piece of information.”

He shrugged with half a smile. “It was a lot.”

Mary and two other Gnomes zipped by them in their new cars. He looked at her with a tender smile that made her feel warm inside. “Someone is having fun.”

“And they’ll beat us to lunch for the first time.”

She heard the ping of hammers hitting chisels and followed the sound, pleased to see the Dwarves carving hall numbers in stone. “It’s getting close.”

“Yes it is. Finishing touches today and tomorrow then construction will finally reach completion.” He grabbed her hand. “It’s about to begin…the adventure.”

She looked up at his bronze face which beamed with what looked like pride, maybe a little excitement. It was infectious.

The lunch hall was buzzing with activity when they arrived. The Pixies were back, though they didn’t have the same spring in their step as usual. She watched as they slowly ate, staring at their plates. She knew she couldn’t erase their loss, but there had to be something she could do.

Roman had mentioned comradery. The Pixies needed to feel as if they were a part of something. She finished her soup and swallowed the rest of her sandwich. She pulled her phone out of her bag and walked over to Xander who studied the dessert table.

“Hey Xander, I was wondering if you could help me?” She held her phone out to him. “I remember you saying something about this playing music.”

He smiled and took a step closer so he was next to her. “Press that button then search by genre.”

“Thank you.” She walked to the front of the hall and searched until she found some happy Irish music. Once the music started, she held out her hand to a Pixie male who stared in return. His ocean blue eyes widened as he flipped his jet black hair out of his face.

Please. Please let this work.

He slid his hand into hers and stood, stomping his feet. He let go and flung the crook of his elbow into hers and started dancing. She hadn’t danced this particular dance in a quarter of a century, and while she fumbled, she did notice others getting up to join. By the end of the song, all of the Pixies, the Gnomes, and most of the Centaurs and Lycans danced. There was a lot of laughter and a round of applause.

Grace beamed at her, clapping.
“Yes, my friend, you belong here.”

Her heart swelled with pride. With the approval of her Queen, she gave Grace an affirmative nod and grabbed her things to head off to her room. Class had been exhausting and she was relieved they were giving them a long lunch to recuperate.

Once in her room, she dropped her books on the coffee table and fell on the couch. She stared at the pile of material, feeling more overwhelmed than she could ever recall. To top it off, part of her duties were to arrange the schedules of every incoming student.

“Guess I’ll sleep on Tuesdays.” She leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling. She thought about Zoltar, about his reaction seeing the little Gnomes in their cars. It made him happy that they’d done something good, helped others the look on his face said as much.

Watching the spirits of the Pixies had given her such a feeling of accomplishment, it gave her a sense of purpose—a reason for being invited to take part in the new community. Gone were the worries that she wouldn’t fit in, the question now would be how she would handle any issues that arose from integrating so many species at once. Of course, she had to worry how the students would handle the new atmosphere as well.

Interrupting her train of thought, her phone was buzzing with an alarm indicating she had just enough time to get to her next session. Scooping up her laptop bag and phone, she headed off to her next class. She studied the schedule on the tiny screen. Barb, Grace’s friend, was teaching Ethics and Accounting. She was about to get a double dose of Grace’s friend.

She hurried off toward the East wing, nearly missing the beginning of class as she grabbed the only seat left. Through her peripheral, she saw Zoltar studying something in front of him.

“I’m Barbara Robertson.” She had her name written on the whiteboard. “Since you are my colleagues, you’ll be referring to me as Barb, but I won’t accept the same from my students. What I’ll be teaching them aside from collegiate accounting, is ethics. We shifters have a moral code that is centered around nature and pack. The human world is very different and you fine folks are about to get a serious awakening.”

Wendy pulled out her laptop and flipped it open.

“You won’t be needing that,” Barb said, pointing a laser pointer at Wendy. “Put it away. What I need is everyone’s focus right up here.”

Her face boiling with embarrassment, she quickly closed the laptop and stuffed it in her bag. Her only intention to take notes and record the session, it seemed overkill to call her out. Still, Wendy obeyed and as soon as her bag rested on the floor, her gaze rested firmly on the new professor.

“Most of you don’t know that the Lycan Queen and I went to the same human college. I know she has been adamant since her arrival with regards to the rights of females. I welcome you all to Equal Opportunity and Sexual Harassment laws. The humans had something called affirmative action years ago that afforded the same rights and privileges to men and women equally.” When gasps and murmurs filled the room, Barb only smiled. “Yes, yes, welcome to the twenty-first century. Now that we are an official university and a legal employer, you’ll find women hold the same station as men. No one is subservient to the other notwithstanding management roles, which we’ll talk about momentarily.”

She smiled as Barb laid it on thick for the males in the room. By the end of class, she could see why Grace was fond of this woman—not to mention why she was so insistent on fair treatment of the women. To her, it was normal and anything less was unconscionable. She liked the way the new world was taking shape. Words like lawsuit and jail time caused a bit of a small uproar in the class.

“All of my teaching sessions are recorded and emailed to my students daily. You will receive today’s session this evening if you care to review anything you might have missed. With that, I’m happy to release you for the remainder of the day.”

As Wendy headed through the door she heard Barb call her name. She flung her bag over her other shoulder and turned around.

“I’m sorry I was harsh on you. The way Grace talks about you, I know you are one hellova Lycan. Please don’t think I have anything but the utmost respect for you. I just refuse to let the males see me as weak.” She clutched the pen in her hand.

Wendy stared at her for a moment. Clutching the pen could be a sign of nerves. “No worries. I’m new to this technology and had no idea you could record your sessions let alone send them to my computer. I just wanted to be sure I took detailed notes. I’m a bit silly about it actually.”

Barb smiled, releasing the pen, letting it fall to the desk. “Nonsense. Thoroughness is never silly. Grace said you were type ‘A’.”

“Type ‘A’?” Clueless as to what Barb referred, she scrunched her brow.

Fanning her hand in the air, she said, “You’ll cover that in Sociology. Anyway, you’re organized. I respect that.” She looked at her phone. “Damn, I’m late. I’ll catch you later.”

She stood in awe as Barb ran in heels out of the room. She shook her head and started out of the classroom.

“Buy you a drink?”

The sudden voice caused her to jump and put her hand over her heart as if to keep it from jumping out of her chest. “Z! You scared me to death!”

He grinned and slid her bag off her shoulder, then flung it over his own. “C’mon, I have a great martini recipe I’d like to try.”

Intertwining her fingers in his, she leaned her head against his arm for a brief moment. “After today, a stiff drink is just what the doctor ordered.”

“You’re not kidding. Would you like some good news?” He looked at her from the corner of his eye with a hint of a smirk on his lips.

“Sure, lay it on me.”

“My men have finished all of the cars. There isn’t one Gnome without transportation.
And
, they’re finishing the ramps now.” He lifted his chin a little higher.

Her cheeks pinched at the sides, her smile was so wide. “That’s glorious news. I’m so happy we could do this for them. I can’t imagine how hard it’s been. I’m exhausted just from sitting in class and I don’t have tiny little legs to carry me there.”

She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. “I never thought anything would make me feel better than the pride I felt building this school. But converting a few toy cars…of that, I think I’m the most proud.”

“Really?” She pulled back from him a bit to measure his face. “Why?”

His large shoulders rose and fell. “The school is just a building. What the people do inside the building will be what really matters—what makes a difference for us all. But your idea with the cars…we solved the problem of a species that no one really appreciates.”

“What? That’s ludicrous. Didn’t you say they ran all of the wiring for the school? That’s a big task.” She shook her head. She could not imagine the Gnomes work went unappreciated.

“Yes,” he said with a sigh. “Haven’t you noticed how most people dismiss them? Grace has been the only one to really take a knee and speak with them. Then you come along. Not only do you treat them with kindness and respect, you invited Mary on a run—something no one else had even thought of. Topping that off was the fact you had the desire to help them, to improve their situation. That’s really special, Wendy.”

Admittedly, helping had given her warm feelings of elation.

“Here we are,” he pushed open the door to his living quarters. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll mix the drinks.”

She followed him into the kitchen. “So what did you think about our last class?”

Grinning he placed her bag on the counter. “You’re asking
me
?” He chuckled as he pulled liquor bottles from the cabinet.

“What do you mean,
me
? Of course
you
. Why is that so funny?” She put her hand on her hip annoyed at his laughter.

After filling a silver shaker with ice from the freezer, he started pouring liquor in. “Have you forgotten I’m a Centaur?”

“Of course not! That’s not an answer.” She folded her arms over her chest. “Are you being evasive? Just answer the question.”

Screwing the top on the liquor bottle and turning around to face her, he leaned his behind on the counter and crossed his legs at the ankle. “We have no women, Wendy. Not to be offensive, but I always thought Lycan men were so stupid. They treat you like second class citizens unless they’re bonded with you, then they grow territorial, but still don’t show the level of respect I’d want if I were a woman. I believe women were meant to be by our sides, not behind us.” He shrugged. “Or do you disagree?”

Her arms fell to her sides. The thought of being less had never crossed her mind, not once. She never felt like a second-class citizen, but now that more than one person had pointed it out, it made her feel angry if not a bit defensive.

“Well, not exactly. But I think you might be underestimating—”

“The first woman in power in ages, nearly gets her Alpha title stripped away because, well…she’s female. Your Lycan Queen often grew angry at her King before they were mated for constantly trying to keep her in check.”

“How would you know?”

“People talk, Wendy.” He shook his head. “To the point, however, it took a Lycan who was raised a human to start what most of the civilized world deems normal. We think ourselves superior to humans, but they’ve had this figured out for a while.” He took a step closer to her. “Women,” he said in a low voice as he took another step, “should be cherished.”

She took a step back and felt the wall against her back.

“Loved,” he said in nearly a whisper, “and respected.” His fingers were under her chin, though she didn’t recall seeing them coming. He tilted her face up and brushed his lips against hers. “Don’t you agree?”

The humming in her brain drowned out Z’s words as his breath tickled her face and his lips brushed against hers. When his fingers traced her jaw bone to the back of her neck, her knees began to feel like gelatinous. Finally, when the tips of his fingers curled into her hair and pulled her against him, she was lost in the passion of the kiss. Running her hands along the length of his arms she clutched onto him when she reached his broad shoulders.