Chapter 34

The Alarm went off.

I opened my eyes and looked around. It was dark. There was less moonlight than when Katrina and I went to bed. I reached for her, but she wasn’t there.

I slipped out of bed, worried about where she was and what was happening. I remembered the low light spell and used it. The room lit up. No one was there.

Panic surged in my chest. I rolled across the bed, ever aware of the door leading to the living room, and looked down at the floor. She wasn’t there either.

Something else grabbed my attention: the lights weren’t flickering. And now that I thought about it, the alarm wasn’t the omni-directional klaxons I imagined when I cast the spell.

I looked at the clock beside my bed. It was five-thirty. I shut the clock alarm off, let the low light spell fade, and sat on the side of the bed feeling like an idiot.

Katrina came out of the bathroom with her hair in a towel and nothing else. “You okay?”

I nodded but didn’t say anything. I went to the bathroom, still too embarrassed by my stupidity to be able to meet her eyes, much less admire her the way I usually did.

I answered nature’s call, took a quick shower, brushed my teeth, and generally got ready for the day. It was routine enough that I could almost pretend yesterday hadn’t happened.

I went back to the bedroom to get dressed. Katrina sat at the foot of the bed. The towel was gone. She hadn’t even gotten dressed while I was in the bathroom. I knew why. She wanted me to pick out her clothes for the day. It wasn’t a problem, but I always believed there was more to it.

I went to the closet and went through her clothes. Normally I would pick something that looked really good on her and brought out her figure. Today, though, I was worried about what could happen should I run into Neil or the Syndicate, so I chose a sweater that swallowed her up and the loosest pair of pants she owned. The sweater would fall to her thighs and cover her butt. I wanted her to be as unnoticed as possible today.

Katrina blinked at the clothes I chose. It was the closest she ever came to questioning me.

I went over to the dresser and pulled out the sexiest underwear I could find. Just because I didn’t want anyone to notice her today didn’t mean I didn’t think she was sexy. She was very sexy. She oozed sex appeal with her every move. I just wanted to mute it externally today.

I checked the time. It was already a quarter past six. We didn’t have time for the rest of our normal morning routine. I handed her lingerie to her. “We have to hurry or we’ll be late.”

She nodded, but I could tell she was disappointed.

I pulled out clothes for myself, and worked on getting dressed.

“Master, may I ask a question?” Katrina said.

I looked up. She was watching me with a shade of concern and apprehension. “Of course.”

“You seem worried,” she said, pulling on her panties. “After all the practice you got in last night, shouldn’t you feel more confident about any confrontations you have?”

I thought about it and said, “Even the best trained soldiers are nervous before entering combat for the first time.”

She glanced at the spot where I hid when the alarm went off. “You seem prepared to me.”

I studied her for a moment. “You saw?”

She nodded, but didn’t say anything.

I shook my head. “Just because I’m safe doesn’t mean you are. If THE alarm goes off, you have to find a place to hide, fast. Okay?”

She nodded. “If that’s what you want.”

“I want you to be safe,” I said.

“May I suggest something?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“Don’t wait for Neil to come to you,” she said. “Find him. Settle this on your terms.”

I waved at the room. “That’s what this was supposed to be about: forcing him to come to me, to face me on my terms.”

She shook her head. “You faced Heisler for me. Now you’re facing Neil for Leanne. You can’t wait for him to come to you, because it’s tearing you up.”

“So, I go to him, not his trap, but him?”

She nodded. “Just don’t let him kill you.”

“Well, as long as I wear the vest Dalton left me, he’ll only knock me down.”

“You know what I mean,” she said. “Don’t give him the chance to do that.”

I blinked and studied her. “Where was this advice last night?”

She looked away. “Everyone was intent on you casting spells to take care of the problem, yet there’s no proof that Neil will come to the complex at all.”

I opened my mouth to reply but couldn’t. She was right. I couldn’t remember what exactly made me believe Neil would come after me. So far, other than delivering the note, he hadn’t sought me out at all. Now that I really thought about that, I didn’t know whether he delivered the note. Anyone could have left it on Sammi’s SUV.

Remembering the vest, I grabbed a t-Shirt, and layered up. The sweater bulged oddly once I had everything on. Surprisingly, the vest felt lighter than when I carried it, but that could have been a magical effect.

After getting dressed, I went out to the living room. Nothing was out of place except for the addition of the map on the wall.

I turned on the TV to the local news. The reporters talked about the usual topics in the morning: traffic, weather, today’s birthdays, and a few other things thrown in to fill the time. The only real news was about the five deaths from the day before. The police had no leads, which I knew was wrong. Dalton had given them a solid lead. More than likely, Detective Woodruff had made the unilateral decision to ignore it.

Katrina came out dressed for work too. She gave me a quick kiss and fixed us cups of coffee. I had tried to convince her that she didn’t have to do things like this for me, but that argument was short lived. Doing little things like this made her almost as happy as when she made me squirt.

When it was time, I turned everything off and we went out to my car. I grew tense. What if the Detection spell didn’t work? What if Neil decided to shoot me from long range?

I unlocked the car and my anxiety increased. What if Neil put a bomb in my car?

I stopped walking and grabbed Katrina by the elbow. “I’m feeling paranoid,” I said softly and looked around. Everyone close enough to see us couldn’t hear us. I didn’t believe I would violate any laws just doing this, so I did it.

I closed my eyes and thought about my car. I wasn’t sure how to proceed, so I simply thought, is there anything on or in the car that doesn’t belong? I didn’t get an answer, not like I was even sure I would.

I opened my eyes and let Katrina go. “Stay here,” I said.

She blinked at me, a mix of concern and curiosity on her face.

I shook my head. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

All at once, she tripped me, snatched my keys from my hand, and ran to the car.

By the time I got to my feet again, she was already in it and turning the engine over.

The car started, but nothing unexpected happened.

Katrina left the car running and climbed out. She stood next to the driver side door with absolute resolve on her face. She was ready to accept whatever punishment I would hand down.

I stared at her, a mix of anger that she did that, and relief that she was okay fought through me. I walked up to her, so I wouldn’t yell. “Why did you do that?”

She blinked at me. “You are too important to let die in a senseless explosion.”

“Too important to what?”

“Not what,” she said, glanced around, and then stepped closer. “To me, to the Magus Community, and to your other Fonti.”

My anger subsided quickly, but not because of what she said. I simply couldn’t stay mad at her. I reached out and stroked her cheek. “You’re important too. So, please, don’t ever do something like that again.”

She nodded. “Yes, Master.”

After that, I tried not to worry about what Neil was doing or where he might try something. During the drive to campus, it wasn’t so difficult, but once I parked and the two of us headed toward University Hall on foot, my anxiety built up again.

My new Psych class started at seven with Professor Waldrop. I was in the nine a.m. class with Professor Dumont. Katrina worked as Dumont’s teacher’s assistant. However, after using my fetish to make Cassandra Dumont one of my Fonti, we agreed that I needed to change classes. Katrina also had a few classes, but none of them started this early.

Once inside University Hall, I felt a little better, but that changed when I walked into class. I wasn’t late, but Professor Waldrop was coming out of his office at the same time. I grabbed a seat at the back.

Several of my classmates had looked back to see who came in so late, and my heart rate jumped when I thought I saw Neil looking at me. It took a few minutes of watching the look-alike until he answered one of the Professors questions and was acknowledged as Mr. Newberry. Neil’s last name was Roarke.

For the rest of class, I was a nervous wreck. Loud noises either made me jump half-way across a class room or duck down under my desk. My classmates took great pleasure at my expense, but Professor Waldrop was not amused.

Being at the back of the classroom had one advantage: I was the first one out of class. Unfortunately, that also meant I would be immediately visible to anyone watching for me. I did my best to ignore the idea that I was being watched and made my way to Woolf Hall for Political Science.

Erica met me at the door to class. One look and she knew something was wrong. I let her go in first and she went to our usual seats. I, however, stayed at the back of the classroom. Letting anyone sit behind me felt wrong. Besides, I hopefully wouldn’t embarrass her if we weren’t sitting together.

Things went a little better during Political Science and I actually got in some notes, but I was even more nervous when class ended. It was one thing for me to leave the class alone, but having Erica with me made my anxiety climb to new heights. What if someone tried to do something to me and Erica got hurt in the process?

I had to repack my bag three times before I was able to pick it up without anything falling out. Erica waited for me patiently. Normally, I would walk her part-way to her next class before running off to meet Leanne for English. Today, I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Erica felt differently. “If anyone tries anything, I’ll tase ‘em. Besides, Leanne asked me to walk you to class today.”

My anxiety broke at that point. I didn’t want any of my girls hurt, so how much worse would I feel if that happened while they were trying to protect me? Letting Erica walk me to class wasn’t such a big deal, not compared to Katrina starting my car for me when I thought someone might have tampered with it.

Leanne met us at the entrance of Preston Hall. The walk over from Woolf was short, but Erica had to cross Cooper to get to her next class. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and took off at a sprint.

Leanne walked with me up to the second floor. She pulled me to the side while other students went in. “Katrina texted me about this morning. Are you alright?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer. There was only one thing I knew. “I will be when this mess with Neil and the Syndicate is over with.”

I ducked into the classroom, pulling Leanne after me. We shared class with Neil and it would be reckless of us to still be standing out in the hall, where he and I had our last confrontation, should he show up.

Oddly, with Leanne sitting next to me, I was remarkably calm during English. Nothing happened. Neil didn’t show up. I didn’t jump at every little noise nor try to duck under the desk when one of our classmates showed up late.

When class ended, I took my time getting ready to leave. Leanne appeared to have picked up the anxiety that I had lost. She stood with her bags ready and her foot tapping.