Chapter 13

13

KOVI

Watching most of the teaching faculty walk out of the dean’s office is an odd sight. Zombies, golems, and shifters of all species chat while they waltz out the door, paying me no mind. I have no clue what their staff meeting was about or what I’ve been summoned for, but tell that to my sweaty palms.

I look down: not a trace of wood in sight on my hands. So when a cute boy makes me nervous, I accidentally shift, but otherwise, I’m funky dory? Fucking wonderful.

With the faculty gone, I poke my head through the mahogany doorway and make two loud knocks. “Dean Yaga?”

Her head rises as she assembles a stack of papers. “Hm?”

“A zombie gave me your note. You wanted to see me?”

“Mr. Sampath, yes! Come in, come in. Shut the door.” She sounds bubbly and jovial as she beckons me forward.

I shut the door and make my way to the red-velvet-lined chair in front of her massive desk. Gazing around, I take in her office. I’ve never been here before—I’m an unassuming student after all—and I didn’t know what to expect. It’s lavish, with various tapestries of differing colors lining the floors and walls. I’m surprised there aren’t more taxidermized monsters or animals as décor; instead there’s one jackalope hanging above her sitting area. A translucent curtain is drawn over the one massive window, and the dean uses the light to jot notes down.

After a few seconds of taking in her office, I clear my throat. “Dean Yaga.”

“Oh, yes.” She puts down her pens and parchments and places her hands together. Her smile is as friendly as it was all those weeks ago when she came to my dorm. “Mr. Sampath, I needed to speak to you on an important manner.”

I gulp and nod. Did I do something wrong? More realistically, did Seth do something wrong?

“You’re not in trouble.” I laugh out of nervousness, and she continues, “I just need your help with another tree problem.”

My shoulders relax. “Oh, of course. Point me to the tree, and I’ll help diagnose it. I can work my magic, literally.”

She titters and looks down at her notes. “I appreciate your enthusiasm. But morally, I can’t keep asking you to do me these favors.”

I smile and wave my hand. “It’s not a problem at all. I’m a dryad, and that’s what we do.”

“But Kovi, there are so few dryads in North America. And our school needs constant forestry work. I cannot in good conscience continue to have you do odd jobs for me and pay you in Mummy Mocha gift cards.”

“But you don’t have to pay me—”

“Uh uh uh.” She wags her finger in a chastising gesture. “I won’t hear of it. Kovi, you have extraordinary skills. You’re young, you shift into human, and still manage a high grade point average.”

I nod, recalling that the dean can access my academic records. “Um, thank you?”

“I don’t want to keep hiring you…” She frowns and slides a paper across her desk. “Not without appropriate compensation.”

I look down and my eyebrows furrow. “What’s this?”

“This is your potential salary.”

“Huh?”

Dean Yaga nods. “We want to pay you to be a member of the faculty, the groundskeeper.”

My jaw drops—I didn’t see this coming. “But…I’m a student.”

“We’re prepared to hold the position until you graduate. You’d need a degree to work full-time, anyway.”

My eyes keep darting between the obscene amount written on the paper and the dean. She can’t be serious.

“Kovi, our school needs you. The forest needs you to support it. There are trees that simply won’t grow at the edge of campus this week, and we, the faculty would like you to check up on them. But I don’t want to move forward without properly compensating you. So going forward, we’ll have you sign up as a part-time employee while you’re still a student.”

My jaw hasn’t closed this whole time. “Was that what the faculty meeting was about?”

“What? Oh no.” She waves her hand. “That was preparations for the Halloween Ball. With the full blood moon on the rise, monster researchers around the world are expecting a spike in paranormal activity. I hope no property is damaged with all the spontaneous shifting over campus. I don’t want to have to call parents…”

I quirk an eyebrow. What’s this about the moon and shifting?

“Mr. Sampath, will you please take a look at these trees?” She slides another paper forward, this one detailing the locations of the trees she’d like me to assist with. “And please consider working here for as long as possible. I’d love to have you full-time once you graduate. It’s a big ask, but monster institutions around the Northeast would adore having a dryad on the grounds. For now, we have you, and we want to keep you. Because you, sir, are special.”

She sits back and smiles warmly. Meanwhile, my dark skin is probably blushing under all this praise. The dean thinks so highly of me, and is willing to pay me handsomely. A huge opportunity has landed on my lap, now it’s simply a matter of taking it.

“That’s awesome,” Niko says, leaning on the counter. “A job after graduation, what more could you want?” He grins at me, and I shrug.

“I don’t know. Won’t it be like being in college forever?” We’re standing in the pick-up section of Mummy Mocha during the post-classes, pre-dinner rush. Monsters and humans mull about, sipping drinks and chatting while we wait for our orders. I haven’t seen a certain red-headed server, and hopefully Niko and I can get our drinks and get out before that happens. Seth’s been kind enough to not ask me about Tanner, and I’ve distracted him with conversations about my new potential job.

“Maybe. But you’re smart. You’re not some dumb party jock,” Niko says.

I smirk—he’s got it bad for a human, but I’m not bringing that up.

“Imagine me going to college parties in my late twenties, early thirties.” I snicker and Niko snorts. “That would be awkward.”

“Try going in your three-thousands, early four-thousands.” Seth appears with a grin and plops our drinks down. I chuckle when I remember he’s literally an ancient being living a twenty- two-year-old’s life. “Two Sarcophacappucinos. Niko, you got the double espresso.”

“Thank you, Sethem. Always a pleasure.” Niko beams at my best friend while holding his specialty drink.

“Of course.” He turns to me. “You headed out to the forest, bro?”

“Yeah, I finally have time,” I reply, taking a sip. “A lot on my plate now.”

“Hey, the dean is paying you big bucks.” Seth points at me, and I nod.

“That is true. I’m an employed dryad.” I preen.

“Welcome to the workforce, Mr. Sampath,” Seth says with a faux sternness.

Niko laughs, and then glances at his phone. “Speaking of responsibilities, tutoring calls.”

“I got a hot date with a mostly dead tree, and you got a hot date with a—”

“Don’t!…Don’t even.” He raises his finger to me, and Seth and I crack up. Messing with Niko is so fun, he’s even more high-strung than me.

With drinks in hand, we each head our separate ways. I’m proud to say I only looked back twice to see if Tanner showed up. Not that I care. We’re just friends, and sometimes friends ignore each other, right?

An hour later, the sun is setting as I place the final tree down into the hole in the ground. In my dryad form, my branch arms easily pat it into place and refill it with soil. Dean Yaga paid me a pretty penny to remove three on the eastern perimeter; apparently some maples bloomed too soon, creating a mismatched color scheme. She specifically requested dogwood trees, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her that they’re not in season.

So, here I am, attempting to commune with these majestic beauties. Each of the twenty-five-foot-tall plants have green buds, but barely any flowers. I don’t think the dean wants to wait six whole months. All living trees are gorgeous to me, but I’m not keen on forcing them to flower out of season. It’s autumn, and most of the school is still surrounded by lush green.

Now how to make these dogwoods match? They’re barely responding to me as I commune with them. The closest translation is that they’re set in their ways and have no interest in blooming. If it didn’t take me so long to find them, I’d meander back into the forest to search for more appropriate plants.

I shift down, ready to be in my original form again. There was hardly a time when I was solely human, but I don’t like to stay in either form for too long. After I shift back down, I shake out my shoulders. I stare up at the dogwoods, as if I can scowl them into submitting and blossoming. Is this really what I want to do forever? Humans have such a tenuous understanding on how to treat flora. Maybe my talents are better suited elsewhere.

“What are they saying?”

My head whips around, and for a moment I think it’s an illusion. I blink my eyes, but no, he’s here. Tanner is approaching me, hands in his pockets. He’s wearing a white short-sleeved button-down, with a hearty amount of chest showing past his gray undershirt. He looks divine and sexy, and staying away from him has only made my attraction to him stronger.

“Huh?”

“The trees,” he replies. He points up and I turn around. “What are they telling you?”

To my left, Tanner is deep in thought, gazing up at the barren dogwoods. We’re standing side-by-side; he’s three feet to my left, both too close and a hundred acres away. I look back at the trees and sigh. The sky is a twilight-dark-purple with the sun almost gone, and the crickets chirp an ambient soundtrack around us.

“It’s not like that. They don’t say words.”

“It seemed like you were debating with them,” he says.

I snicker. “I guess I was. I need to get them to bloom. Dean Yaga wants the trees to all look uniform.”

“Hm. Congrats on your gig, by the way. The paycheck sounds sweet.” I turn and quirk an eyebrow at him. He looks sheepish when he says, “Seth told me.”

“Ah. Is that how you found me?”

“He may have mentioned where you were.”

I roll my eyes and nod, and the tension between us grows stronger. My hands ache to hold him. Despite my pulse pounding, my skin is still soft and not-wooden, so that’s a relief.

We stay like that for a few moments more, taking in fresh grassy air, staring up at the trees. Tanner makes me feel so off-center yet comfortable, all at once. I can’t explain the draw I have to him, and that hasn’t changed since we were nine.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” he states. His voice is soft but confident, and we’re both still not looking at each other.

“Yeah, I guess I have. I’m…sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.”

I turn to his gorgeous face, all sharp angles and red hair. “Why?”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you when we were kids. I should have asked for consent.”

I shrug. “We were little,” I retort. “I barely recall—”

“I still want you.”

My eyebrows jump and my breath is gone. What did he just say? “Tanner, I…”

“I had a crush on you then, and I have a crush on you now.” He turns his head slightly, and the heated desire in his eyes is undeniable. He yearns for me, but I’m at war with myself. Do I want to bury myself in his arms, or tell him to leave for his own good?

“Tanner…”

“I think you feel it too. And maybe, if you stop avoiding me, we could see where this goes. Because I want to be with you, Kovi. For the first time in years, I want something other than loneliness. Just like last week when I held your hand.” He gulps, and I can’t even blink. “Are you really going to tell me you don’t want me too?”

My throat goes coarse and my heart hammers inside my chest. The sparks of tension between us have lit an inferno, and whichever move I make could burn us both down.

“Tanner, I’m the one who hurt you,” I whisper. “I can’t—”

“Let’s make a few things clear,” he replies, crossing his arms. “I forgave you. That was years ago. And I don’t care that you’re a monster. And I don’t care if you shift uncontrollably sometimes. None of those are good reasons for us to not at least try to explore this chemistry between us. So what else you got?”

“Tanner…I might hurt you again,” I say in a strained voice.

“Kovi, staying away from you hurts me more.” We finally turn to face each other. His gravity is too strong.

He moves close and puts his hand on my neck, and I move close as well. I need to focus, keep my calm, and stay human. My breathing is shallow, and his fingers burn across my skin. Tanner’s body heat feels so right. “Tanner.”

“Please,” he says in a low pleading tone. “Please let yourself feel this. I know you don’t remember when we kissed as kids, but I want you now. And if you take this chance, then maybe we could build something. I want us to find out, and—”

“Tanner.” My voice rises, and he startles. I step even closer and caress his cheek. “I never forgot. And I never stopped wanting you.”

In the dark of the night, surrounded by trees, I pull his face toward mine and put my lips on his. The kiss is slow at first, but soft, exploring if this is right. He tastes sweeter than he did all those years ago. Oh yes— touching Tanner feels like the right thing to do.

I pull back and see him smile in the dark. The lamp lights on the school perimeter illuminate, and I’m able to see Tanner’s perfect face. His green eyes are filled with joy, and he continues to stroke my cheek. “Perfect timing,” I mutter.

“I think it took us long enough.” With those words, he’s pulled me back in. His mouth caresses mine, and when his tongue licks my lip, I happily oblige. He plunders my mouth with his tongue, and I gradually kiss him back. My hands explore his hair and down his muscly back, while his palms do the same. We alternate between slow gentle lips and heated exploring of the other person’s mouth. Tanner’s kissing technique is indescribable.

I’ve made out a few times before, but I’ve never felt wanted, needed, yearned for. Tanner kisses me like I’m the air he needs to survive.

When I pull off, something else tickles my face. We look up, and in the lamp light, there’s a spectacle to behold: the dogwood is blooming right before our eyes. Flower petals fall on us as the buds bloom, making way for green leaves. We’re whited out in a blizzard made of flora. The whites and pinks of dogwood petals frame Tanner in an angelic glow.

“That’s amazing,” he says breathlessly, gazing up. “You did that?”

When he looks back at me, I shake my head. “No. You did.” And it’s true; even in this form, I can feel the joy in the flowery branches above us. I guess kissing Tanner was so satisfying the entire forest felt it. This was a round of applause for us.

I lean in and kiss him again, then pull back. “Was that corny?” I ask.

“A little.” We both crack up, never breaking apart. His hands remain on my shoulders, and I lean in to kiss him more, nibbling on his lips, and tasting his tongue. “But it was perfect.”

“Worth the wait?”

“More like overdue, Kovi.”

He nuzzles my nose in the darkness and touches my forehead to his. We stay that close as petals and leaves rain down around us, and I never want to let this moment go.