Felt Right

Chapter Sixteen: Burden of Proof | Part 1

The Law Comp was in three days, and Thirtyx was sure he’d absorbed as much information as was Verithly possible.

He’d reached the tipping point where he wasn’t sleeping enough to retain what he was cramming, and he worried that he’d lose even more information if he didn’t get more rest. Besides, he still had homework from his history classes.

Oh, and their insane plot to steal a Selkie pelt.

So Thirtyx spent the last few days taking better care of his body—including a particularly long, relaxing shower, after which he swung by Rhea’s room to check on her and Seerla.

Rhea answered the door practically squealing with delight. She darted straight for where Seerla sat at the desk and began shaking her shoulders. “It worked! It worked! It worked!”

“I can see that.” Seerla shoved Rhea off and turned to face Thirtyx, a single eyebrow raised. “Have a nice shower?”

Thirtyx ran his fingers through his wet hair but otherwise ignored her comment. “Sorry, what worked, exactly?”

Despite Rhea’s beaming, Thirtyx found the mischievous glint in her eyes unsettling. “Which stall did you use?”

“What?”

“In the showers! Which stall?”

“What in the twin hells do you know about the boys’ shower stalls?”

“Just tell me!” she pressed.

He looked to Seerla for help, but all he found was a sympathetic, almost apologetic smile. Then, it hit him.

Thirtyx folded his arms tightly across his chest. “I used the third stall. I usually use the second stall, but the third one just…” he gritted his teeth for effect. “Felt right today.”

Rhea’s giddy giggling ascended to a full-blown cackle, to which Seerla rolled her eyes. “She’s considering this a dress rehearsal for tomorrow. She wanted to have Benn waiting in a specific stall to entrance Farish, but she wasn’t sure she could make her mental nudge specific enough.”

“But I can!” Rhea cried. “All hail Rhea Grimmary, controller of minds and designer of epic heists!”

“This would be a little less unnerving if you weren’t in line to rule the planet,” Thirtyx grumbled.

“Oh, please. I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. The nudge doesn’t hold up to much resistance, which is why we need to make sure Farish’s path is clear tomorrow.”

“Apparently, that’s my job.” Seerla picked at the end of her braid. “I get to intercept anyone who gets near him, which likely means chatting with people I really don’t want to see right now. Lucky me.”

Rhea placed a hand on Seerla’s shoulder. “I know it’s not ideal. But if this works, they might get expelled, and you’d never have to see them again!”

Seerla wasn’t having Rhea’s cheerfulness. She dropped her face into her hands while Rhea rubbed her back in soothing circles, her eyes now sparkling with both magic and revelry. “I’m not sure I’d have it in me to do this for anyone else,” Seerla mumbled. “I just care about Thirtyx too much to—”

She looked up, eyes wide with horror, but Rhea dropped the spell before she noticed. “You know what I mean,” Seerla said with a dismissive head shake. “Sorry, I’m just exhausted by all this and Comps and… everything.”

“Of course you are,” Rhea said sweetly, but not without an animated wink at Thirtyx. Though their conversation quickly moved on to other matters, her haughty demeanor signified that she knew she’d gotten in his head. She couldn’t have made Seerla say that if it wasn’t true—if it wasn’t something part of Seerla wanted to say.