Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Calculus was usually one of my favorite classes. The logic and flow if it was easy to follow, and Professor Shen was always darkly funny. He'd once substituted the classic "leaky bucket" problem, where we had to calculate how much work it would take to pull a bucket on a rope to the top of a cliff while it was leaking sand at a constant rate, with someone bleeding out at the bottom of a ravine, who needed to be saved before they reached critical blood loss. I'd appreciated his sense of humor and real world applications of theoretical concepts ever since.

… In hindsight, it was probably safe to assume that anyone coming up with casual murder scenarios wasn't human. I wondered if any of the faculty members were human.

I glanced at the front of the class, noticing the galaxy-like flecks of green in Professor Shen's otherwise pitch black eyes.

Yeah, probably not.

All of these thoughts were great distractions, as I held my skirt taut and low whenever I sat down, trying not to flash my whole vagina at the people seated around me. I made sure I was sitting on as much of my skirt as I could, and I kept my legs squeezed together. My inner thigh muscles were going to be getting quite the workout today.

I took a steadying breath. It was impossible not to think about it, but I needed to chill out. There were surely plenty of women who went commando on a regular basis. There were probably other girls in this class who didn't bother wearing underwear under their uniform skirts on a normal day. What a confidence power play that was.

Right. Powerful . That was how I should have felt.

I sat up straighter, puffing up my chest, while still clenching those thighs like I was gripping a rope and would fall to my death if I relaxed the pressure.

This was fine. I was letting my body breathe. It was healthy I bet. My shapewear was so thick and restrictive, it was probably suffocating my pussy. That sounded like real science for sure. I'd have to read up on that later.

"Lila, you're here early." Ceto said, tapping me on the shoulder as he walked to his seat four rows behind me. My whole face blazed at the unexpected contact. Which was ridiculous, because it was just Ceto.

Ordinarily, I would have rotated to face him so we could chat, but I'd just gotten situated in a good position, and I could think of no way to safely twist so my legs never ended up at a risky angle.

"Just excited for some math." I squeaked, turning my head and nothing else.

"Who wouldn't be." His smile was always cute on his nerdy face. Interestingly enough, I'd seen very few people who wore glasses at Graves. I didn't know if that was some side effect of being surrounded by magic creatures, but I was going to tell myself that his eyesight was probably bad enough that I didn't have to worry about him seeing too much.

For some reason, the idea that immortal beasts with unlimited power, who could heal flesh wounds in seconds, could also be nearsighted was almost comical.

But then, Ceto wasn't human. I guess I wasn't human either. Maybe I was just an anomaly for having never been comfortable with contacts and not getting laser eye surgery. Ceto's eyes were the most unusual of any I'd ever seen, to the point that he didn't look remotely human. I might have assumed he was wearing costume contacts if not for having seen his pupils shift. The turquois and gold of Adrian and Marcus, respectively, weren't normal either, but Adrian's could easily be passed off as a unique shade of green, and Marcus' could be confused for hazel .

Ceto's eyes were crystalline, and no human eye color looked like that. I wondered what regular people thought when they saw him?

"Are you busy today?" Ceto asked as he unpacked his book bag. "I know you have Astrology Club this evening, but I could use some help in the library later."

My face blanched at the invite, and I did my best to hide that fact. "S-sure." I stuttered because I was fucking awkward, and I didn't want to raise any alarm bells. "We can go over the lesson if you need to."

"I'd love that."

Our conversation was interrupted as Professor Shen started class. I kept my attention face forward and my posture rigid and unmoving, even as one of my legs started to fall asleep and my ass started to hurt.

Goddamn it, Marcus.

I met up with Ceto in the library midday, trying to think of nothing but math as I sat down next to him at the desk. Ordinarily I would sit across from him, but I preferred he had a side view of my skirt rather than a front view.

One could, of course, argue that it was entirely within my time constraints and ability to slip back into my dorm room and put on underwear, so I didn't have to be in this position anymore, but some naively obedient part of me wanted to do what I was told. We'll call it a side effect of being Mutable .

I was starting to like this ‘blame everything on astrology' lifestyle.

"So what did you want help with?" I said as I dug out my text book. I opened to the lesson, only to have Ceto casually shut the book right after.

"Nothing math related, actually." He placed a different book on the table. ‘ Demonology .' It said. "We didn't get to finish our little chat last time, and considering it's the Pink Moon tonight, I felt like you might want some extra studying on your situation. It was simply easier to pose the invite as you helping me versus me helping you , as you seem to respond better to being used than being helped."

I blinked several times.

"Interesting phrasing." I made every effort to laugh off the sentiment that… I think was intended as a joke. Admittedly, it was quite the statement.

"Apologies. I meant to say you're more likely to volunteer to be of assistance to others than to help yourself." Better phrasing. But still an interesting statement. "But today, I'd like to make sure you're more prepared for Purmina now that you're aware that you're a Beta. Though, if you'd like to spend tonight at the shop, we do have Lunar blocking glass, and I'd be happy to keep you company."

Marcus had said the same about his home. That was probably normal and expected from shifters—the hybrid or werewolf species at the very least. "I think I'll just be hold up in my dorm tonight, but I appreciate the offer."

Ceto nodded, not questioning my decision. "Understood. But I'd still like to help you use this opportunity to figure out what your species make up might be based on some of your feelings and characteristics. There's no time like tonight to do some science."