Chapter Nine: Lockdown | Part 3
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you guys.” Seerla tucked a strand of escaped hair behind her ear. “Or show up here uninvited. I just… had a question for Thirtyx, and my friends made me mad, and—”
“Seerla.” Benn was fixing her with that same condescending look he’d given Rhea last night. “You’re always welcome at our table. I mean, with the unprecedented personal freedoms awarded us by the Grimmary regime, we couldn’t stop you from sitting here if we wanted to. But I think I speak for all of us when I say we don’t want to.”
A devilish sense of mischief bubbled up in Thirtyx’s gut. “See, this is why Grimmary only put you through a few months of public speaking classes while Rhea had to go for three years.”
The smack he endured and Rhea’s icy glare were well worth the delicious curiosity from Seerla, who giggled. “Do you hold onto all those juicy facts and drop them whenever you get too hungry, Thirtyx?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “Hungry. Bored. In need of feeling alive after this law textbook has sapped all vestiges of my soul. Take your pick.”
“Yeah, this book is sapping souls right and left, it seems.” Seerla set her copy roughly on the table and crossed her arms atop it before resting her chin on them. “One wrong detail about the legal structure in the Fozier regime, and I’ve been laughed out of my study group.”
Thirtyx sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Yeah, that’s a tricky one. I swear the vampires were loopy on drugged blood that whole reign. Nothing about their setup made sense—the laws included.”
“How do you keep it straight, though?” she groaned. “The Fozier legal system is so similar to the one from the Haeger regime 200 years later, but despite having only a few differences, Haeger’s system completely reshaped how we practice law even today.”
“Hmm, Haeger’s made a lot more sense, though. After killing off all the vampires, the Dragonfolk took their ideas and made them way better.”
Seerla gaped at him like he’d spoken a different language. “Where in the Twins’ name are you getting that idea from?”
“He’s right, actually,” Benn chimed in. “Fozier’s system had decent bones, but it was terribly executed—and at a time when vampires were quickly losing popularity. When the Dragonfolk shored it up with a few easy improvements and a more favorable platform, it had way more lasting power.”
Seerla groaned and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. “I feel like this is one of those situations where your history minors are being way more useful than my literature minor.”
Thirtyx scratched nervously at the back of his head. “Want me to walk you through it? This is a rare topic I feel like I have a good handle on, and that practice test we have Hecspane will be heavy on historical context.”
She dropped her hands with a huff. “Don’t you have enough going on?”
“Didn’t you when you wrote me like 20 note sets?”
They stared each other down. Thirtyx really didn’t want to be the one to crack first, but he knew if he didn’t, they’d miss their last two classes locked in a staring contest. “Are you free after class?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Thirtyx grinned. “I can settle for resigned acceptance. Benn has Sigraexil tonight—want to meet in our room? We have all the history books under the moons to help with cramming.”
Seerla shot an anxious glance over her shoulder. “Is it alright if we meet in the library instead? I think I’m liable to fall asleep if I’m anywhere near a bed.”
Judging by the faint but tangible flare of energy, Thirtyx was fairly certain that wasn’t the reason, but he didn’t press. “Yeah, sure. Say 40th bar? After dinner?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Thirtyx turned his attention back to his book, but he was immediately distracted by a familiar itch in his mind. Inviting Seerla to your room now, are we? Are you still sure you don’t have a crush on her?
Thirtyx rolled his eyes. You’re in our room all the time, Rhea, and I certainly don’t have a crush on you.
The mental equivalent of a gasp. I’m a catch, and you know it. I’ll make some guy the future king of Lamiakk someday while you’re busy pining after your bookish, bescaled lawyer. And for the record, you didn’t answer my question, you slippery little Verith.
Thirtyx wrestled the grin off of his face. No. I don’t have a crush on her. I’ve been in her room, too. Nothing happened. Instead of explaining, he fed them the memory of crashing in her bed the day after the attack on Grimmary.
Hmm, I don’t know, Benn smarmed. Being in a classmate’s bed doesn’t seem like nothing happened.Thirtyx thumbed the pages of his textbook, exercising every ounce of available willpower to keep his expression neutral. Don’t you two have a sigil to improve or something?
Calley Jones 