Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Camryn huffed and hurried down the path to the Mystery Shop. Sam had shot him a cryptic text demanding his presence. Now, Camryn hadn’t once questioned his current employer. Sam had snatched him up right after he’d conned Azul a couple hundred thaumarks, and Camryn wasn’t one to pass up such a convenient escape.

What shocked him was sticking around for as long as he had. He had planned on it just being a quick side-gig until Azul was off his back. (Of course, that had been before Azul was announced as the next housewarden, which admittedly complicated some things.) The real shocker was that he actually liked working for Sam. The shopkeeper gave him credit where credit was due, and he didn’t have any problem with Camryn profiting here and there on his commissions.

His fondness for the shopkeeper didn’t change the fact he was freezing his tail off in his trek across campus.

Camryn paused just outside the shop. He ruffled his bangs, dislodging a few snowflakes before they made his hair a matted mess, and checked his phone one last time. He frowned at the lack of new notifications and automatically adjusted for the time difference between Sage’s Island and the western part of the Shaftlands. With it being two hours behind his time, he still had about three hours until the scheduled call.

He stuffed his phone back into his pocket and threw open the door of the Mystery Shop with enough gusto to send the little bells into a frenzy of chimes. “All right, Sam. What’s the big deal with—?”

A bundle of flowers shoved into Camryn’s face stopped him short. The petals tickled his nose in just the right way to send him sneezing all the way to the counter. Sam had no mercy on him, throwing more bundles of flowers onto the counter along with spools of ribbon and crinkling paper. “Chop, chop, my lively protégé! We have bouquets to make and little time to spare.”

Camryn went off on another round of sneezes, his restless tail catching on a roll of gift wrap tucked into a cubby behind him. By the time he caught his breath, Sam was already slipping into the backroom with a merry hum. “What the heck, Sam! You gonna at least tell me what I’m doing here past curfew? Crowley might not give a flying raven’s tail feathers for students breaking the rules, but it’s a whole different story if I get caught by Trein being out this late.”

Sam peeked around the doorframe and gave him the trademark Wink-And-Grin combo. “No need to worry! I’ve got you covered, little imp. We’re open late for a grand occasion, and the sales are even grander! So get those bouquets tied while I give these suits a last-minute steam.”

Sam disappeared before Camryn could stop him again. Camryn sighed and sorted through the flowers and ribbons thrust upon him. He wetly sniffed and gave the white blooms a noticeable glower. The shadow creeping around the counter could report his disgruntlement back to Sam. Sam knew he had an allergy to pollen, and he was allowed to be annoyed handling the flowers.

Annoyance didn’t translate into full disobedience. Sighing, Camryn snatched up the first bundle and snipped a length of blue ribbon to tie around the stems. Despite his allergies, it was easy to fall into the groove of snip, snip, tie. Camryn’s first side-job had been at a florist. Granted he had only “worked” because his mom couldn’t afford a regular babysitter, but he had obediently snip snip-ed flowers right beside her. He had actually gotten pretty good at it before her boss found out because he wasn’t able to stifle a sneezing fit. His mom had to explain to him afterwards that he couldn’t bite people in public just because they were really mean and yelling at her.

Camryn cupped the petals of a flower in his hand. He had thought the petals were a milky white, but now that he took a closer look, they were actually a bit transparent, almost like looking through a frosted window. As if the flower realized he had noticed its odd appearance, it began glowing a translucent blue, casting a very faint light against his skin. Camryn quirked a brow and tossed the finished bouquet to the side. Its glow faded the moment it left his hands. “Guess those were on some special deal from his friends on the other side. Makes me wonder where Sam would be right now if he wasn’t peddling on a campus full of teenagers.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw the shadow lurking around him quiver. He easily ignored it and kept tying bouquets. The other students hardly noticed the odd flicker of light from the corner of their eyes or the slight delay in their own shadows’ movements. Camryn was one of the few who had immediately noticed the oddity. He had watched Sam that first month of visiting the Mystery Shop, trying to catch that small tell that would give the shop owner away. Sam had kept his cool, never once reacting when a shadow flitted across the rafters or slithered into his real shadow. His act was so good, Camryn had almost thought the shadows were just another mischief making entity on the campus like the ghosts who hovered around Ramshackle. Sam was in control of them though, and Camryn had finally found proof of that midway through the year when Sam had directed the shadows to work with a gesture that looked like a casual wave to a customer. Even now—having officially worked in the shop since the beginning of his sophomore year—Sam hadn’t said a word about the shadows. It was his secret, and Sam wasn’t obliged to tell anyone.

It made Camryn feel the odd sense of a kindred spirit with Sam.

Camryn tossed aside the final bouquet, taking a moment to watch the bright glow fade from it. He made a show of wiping his hands before sauntering to the back where Sam was still hidden away. The shadow flickered ahead of him, vanishing under the crack in the door leading to the backroom. Camryn gave it enough time to warn Sam before pushing open the door.

Organized rows of product greeted him. Camryn felt an almost calm fall over him as he weaved around the shelves. While he enjoyed the thrill of peddling odds and ends to the student body, there was a type of peace that fell over him when he was alone stocking and organizing in the back. It was about the only time he felt comfortable enough to slow down and just think. Every other time, his mind was trying to race two steps ahead of him: what would be the best product to sell next season? Would sending 10% more of his earnings back home to his mom stretch his budget too much? When was the next payment installment for the PI due?

Maybe he should book an appointment with Crewel to have a trauma dump session too. The thought alone made him emit a tired chuckle. Wouldn’t that just endear him to the crotchety potion master? Get him an extra head pat between classes.

Camryn eventually found Sam at the very back of the storage room. The shop owner had four suits hanging from a portable rack and was using a hand steamer to get the wrinkles out of a deep red suit. Camryn quirked a brow. “You organizing proms on the side now? I’d be impressed if you actually convinced the stuffy grandma at Mourning Dove to let her girls attend a social here like they do at RSA every other weekend.”

Sam shot him an amused smirk. “If there’s anything I hope you take away from your employment here, it’s to think bigger. Why settle for a prom when you can catch even bigger fish with the same services?”

Camryn’s other brow shot up to join the first. “You hosting underage weddings on campus?”

Sam’s laugh almost overshadowed the tinkling bells from the shop door. The headmage’s voice filtered through the storage room as if he was being broadcast through a speaker. “Sam? I am in need of your services again. The fate of the campus's reputation—I mean student’s welfare is at stake.”

A muted snort made Camryn’s ears twitch. “See? Even the headmage isn’t that concerned about Idia. We should just let the deranged ghost take him.”

A higher pitched voice responded. “We’re gonna save my big brother!”

“Indeed, we shall, Monsieur Marionette! Though the flames of passion guide the fair dame, we must not forget the Roi de sa Chambre is on limited time. We shall rescue him before the clock strikes twelve!”

“You’re starting to sound way too excited about this, Rook.”

“Oui, Monsieur Pommette! For not only do we ride to rescue the Roi de sa Chambre, we ride to the rescue of our fair queen!”

“That crazy bat can keep Vil for a bit longer. He’s been driving me to the brink of insanity with all this practice for the SDC, and we still have over two weeks before the competition!”

Camryn’s ears twitched at the boisterous conversation. Sam’s grin somehow widened, and he winked at Camryn when he handed over the hand steamer. “Finish up these suits and meet me out front. It’s showtime!”

Sam energetically skipped towards the front of the Mystery Shop. The shadows followed him except for the one that stuck around Camryn, per usual. Camryn flicked his tail to avoid brushing it against the shadow hiding underneath him. He pointed the hand steamer at the suit. “We planning to host a reception too? Because I’ve got some experience with catering.”

The shadow beneath him shuddered, but Camryn didn’t expect a response. They weren’t quite at that level of trust with him. Not that he was at that level either.

One ear twitched while he listened to Sam give his salesman spiel to the headmage, who seemed only concerned by the rising costs despite Sam’s “deals.” His arm moved on auto-pilot, giving the other suits cursory steams. He wondered if this had anything to do with Octo-Scum and the Leech Twins being missing from the Mostro Lounge earlier. He had heard the other students whispering about their odd tardiness. Camryn hadn’t paid much attention while he snatched a roll off a passing tray and beat tracks before Leech 1 could appear to chew off his ear or Leech 2 could intimidate him with mushrooms. He had other concerns at the moment anyway and pretending to spread some good ol’ “dorm spirit” wasn’t at the top of his To Do List.

Then Merri had decided to blow up his phone with messages. Like clockwork, Sam had given him a call too. Meanwhile, the one person Camryn actually needed to talk to had rescheduled their call four times now.

Both ears twitched as Sam’s boisterous voice grounded him in the present. “My assistant was just finishing up our preparations! I give you my personal guarantee these suits will make these already desirable bachelors even more irresistible.”

Camryn took that as his obvious cue and rolled out the rack. He smiled at the group huddled in front of the shop, but his eyes shrewdly passed over each of them. Trappola, Felmier, Little Shroud, Hunt, and Rosehearts—an odd little bunch, but not exactly a shocking gathering. Three out of the five were camping out in Ramshackle at the moment; Rosehearts was Ace’s housewarden; and Ortho mixed with the oddest of fellows around campus anyways.

And, of course, at the center of them stood Ramshackle’s prefect herself.

Camryn kept his expression pleasant, but he didn’t pay much attention to Sam pointing out the details of the suits to their four intended wearers. Instead, he watched the prefect. Grim rode on her shoulders with a practiced ease that only repetition could foster. Ortho hovered near her like an invisible string kept him from wandering too far. Even the headmage circled the prefect, returning to her to mutter under his breath and garner a one-worded sneer from her.

Camryn’s tail twitched. He didn’t really get all the hubbub around the prefect. Yeah, he was there when she busted into the opening ceremony, but Grim was the one who had really interrupted the whole thing. Yeah, she was magicless, from a different world, and a girl. She was pretty good at poking her nose into things, and she got decent enough grades not to be kicked off the campus.

She wasn’t altogether that special though. Personally, Camryn had seen more outrageous things in his life. A magicless girl with a princess/savior complex was hardly a concern of his.

But Merri had become insistent on obtaining an alliance with the prefect. Camryn had outright laughed the first time he saw the suggestion in the group chat, and he wasn’t the only one. Ivan had scoffed the next time he came to the Mystery Shop, and James had voiced his confusion between classes. Dawon had refused with a singular No in the chat. With an uncomfortable frown that had become more common in recent weeks, Caha hadn’t danced around the topic when they met in the Hall of Mirrors. “The prefect has nothing to do with Dawon regaining his position as housewarden. I have no interest in involving anyone outside the housewardens or vice housewardens either.”

Camryn had agreed—more so because it was a waste of time than anything else. It might have been amusing to watch the prefect run down the halls after Grim and the other freshmen, but she wasn’t a valuable pawn in the long run.

Then the overblots started.

Camryn had never seen James as shaken as he was right after Riddle’s overblot. Camryn wasn’t the most touchy-feely guy in the world, but James kept his more vulnerable emotions on an even tighter leash. When James had asked to meet him out behind the Botanical Gardens one afternoon at the beginning of the year, Camryn had assumed James just wanted to vent about Riddle collaring him again. It was a good thing Caha had been there too because Camryn had just stood off to the side in awkward silence while Caha had talked James down from a full-blown panic attack.

Merri had been almost rudely excited after Leona’s overblot had circulated around the campus. “Once is chance. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern.”

Sure enough, Azul had overblotted just after finals. Camryn wasn’t altogether sure about the others—though James and Caha were becoming noticeably a bit more withdrawn whenever the “plan” was mentioned—but Camryn wasn’t too keen about the so-called “pattern” Merri had predicted. The ram was entirely convinced it was the prefect’s presence that triggered the phenomenon. Which only made him double down on the whole “make friends with the prefect” strategy. If her presence was sending the housewardens into overblot mayhem, then she was a valuable asset to their plan to boot the current housewardens out and take their positions. Her seemingly becoming close friends with said housewardens was just an extra bit of potential leverage. Either she would make them more vulnerable or become one of their weaknesses herself.

Something about Merri’s cutthroat approach had given Camryn a bad case of indigestion.

Camryn’s eyes narrowed on the prefect now. Maybe she wasn’t as magicless as they all thought? Who was to say magic from her world was the same as theirs? She could have some innate ability that triggered an overblot epidemic with just her presence.

Grim wiggled on the back of her shoulders and smacked her forehead with a paw. Without any exchange of words, the prefect helped the monster slide off her shoulders and onto the floor. Grim pranced right up to Sam without regard for the boy being measured. “Hey, Sam! What about me? You got some cool threads I can wear too?”

Ace rolled his eyes but kept his arm outstretched for Sam. “You’re becoming really spoiled, Grim. It’s not like every time something like this happens, you get a new costume.”

“What? Feeling threatened by my good looks?” Grim gave Ace a crooked smirk. “I don’t blame you. You’re already at a disadvantage compared to me. If I was in a suit, that crazy ghost bride wouldn’t be able to resist me at all, myaha!”

“I thought you didn’t want anything to do with this, Grim,” Epel said. He pulled on the sleeve of the white suit jacket Sam pushed him towards, looking torn between stubborn determination and growing dread. “You’re not getting anything out of this.”

“That was before you all just wrote me off!” Grim yowled. He thumped his chest with his paw. “I’m the most handsomest monster on the campus. That ghost bride would forget all her stupid requirements the moment she saw me! Right, Yuu?”

The prefect gave a non-committal hum like she was only half listening. Camryn caught her eyes frequently darting in Riddle’s direction. Riddle pointedly looked everywhere except in the direction of the prefect. Camryn bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking. Some trouble in paradise? Riddle had been the first housewarden the prefect won over and seemed to completely ignore her frequent troublemaking around the campus. Whatever happened must have been pretty big.

“You know what? Give him a suit, Sam,” Ace snapped after Grim blew a raspberry at the patterned suit Sam offered him. “It’ll save us the trouble of going through all this.” Ace’s smirk returned. “And even if it didn’t work, it’ll be funny to watch Grim get slapped just like the others!”

Grim’s protesting cry was cut off by Riddle. “Ace, Grim. Enough fooling around. You two should take this more seriously. Our deadline to rescue the others steadily approaches.”

“I agree with Rosehearts,” Crowley chimed in. Camryn gave the headmage a brief once over. It was interesting how easily Crowley was able to meld into the background, given his usual loud personality. Camryn had nearly forgotten the headmage was huddled in the corner making quick calculations on the tips of his fingers. “We still have roughly four hours until the ceremony, but we each know how quickly time escapes us. Now, the four of you, go get changed.”

Grim huffed while the four boys disappeared into a back-room Sam offered them to change, which was really just an empty broom closet. Funny how Sam had just ordered Camryn to move the cleaning supplies to the storeroom yesterday. Very fortuitous, as the headmage might say. “I still don’t think it’s fair. You sure you don’t got anything for me, Sam?”

Sam chuckled and rolled the tape measurer around his finger to fit back into his pocket. “Sorry, little imp. I wasn’t joking when I said those suits were limited stock.” Sam rubbed his chin and made a show of thinking. Camryn was already one step ahead before Sam even turned to him. “But we might have an extra boutonniere that would work for you! What say you, Cam?”

“I’d say it’s worth a gander,” Camryn answered with a wide grin to match Sam’s. Camryn slung a friendly arm around the prefect’s shoulders and waved his other arm in the direction of the storeroom. He felt the prefect immediately tense under his arm. “Just follow me.”

The prefect squinted at him with a wariness he could respect. Dawon had flubbed up big time with that cursed lamp, and he was still walking around with his nose in the air about it. His flub had put Viper on the defensive, and since Azul and his mobsters had somehow been involved, they were breathing down Camryn’s neck even more than usual. Even if Camryn were to tell them the truth—that he honestly had no idea how Dawon and Caha got the lamp on campus (or if they were even the ones who really did it)—it wouldn’t change the fact that their little group was gaining more attention.

Case in point Ivan, the dumb idiot now cursed to vomit a frog if he tried to say anything negative about the prefect or Storm, and Merri, the even bigger idiot who thought he was cute when he talked in a voice pitched higher than he naturally spoke.

This was all getting a bit more complicated than Camryn had been promised.

“I’ll take a booty thing!” Grim said, ignorant of his human companion’s tension. “C’mon! Let’s go get it before Ace gets back. That way he’s all jealous.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Ortho agreed. He hovered around the prefect’s elbow. “The more people we have, the higher our chances of saving my big brother!”

The prefect remained tense under Camryn’s arm. Camryn gave her a little shake, his easygoing smirk widening a bit. “What d’ya say, prefect? You in the market for a booty thing too?”

The look on her face was a resounding No, but both Grim and Ortho had already wandered off towards the back of the store. The prefect shrugged Camryn’s arm off her shoulder. Camryn smirked and followed the three of them.

He easily sidled back up to her side. He flicked his tail in the direction of her ankles, and his smirk widened at the slight jump in her next step. Even though he didn’t personally care much for the prefect, he could admit teasing her was a bit fun. “So what’s the sitch? Sam’s got suits and ghost boutonnieres suddenly coming out the wazoo. I would almost reckon there’s a wedding happening on campus.”

It really was hilarious to watch the prefect give him heavy side-eyes. He would even go so far to say she trusted him even less now than she had at the beginning of the new year. Which he could probably thank Merri for. Damn Merri and his sudden urge to get rid of Murdoch. Camryn had told him using that signature spell so frequently would come back to bite him in the ass. He still couldn’t figure out if Merri’s plan had been to snatch up Howl or just get the prefect isolated from her friends. Knowing Merri, it was probably neither, and the actual plan was far too ingenious for Camryn to ever understand.

“Idia’s been kidnapped!” Ortho answered. The younger boy floated back to them and wedged himself between Camryn and the prefect. Camryn let him take the spot without a fight, falling back a step behind them. Ortho took the prefect’s hand and weaved their fingers together like it was second nature. “An evil ghost bride is trying to force him into marriage and drag him to the Spectral Realm for all eternity!”

“She’s just convinced she’s finally found her True Love,” the prefect argued. She immediately snorted. “Granted, she’s in for a rude awakening once the honeymoon phase is over, but considering all you boys are better looking than you really deserve, I suppose it was bound to happen at some point.”

“You don’t think you fall in the same boat, prefect?” Camryn teased. His toe lightly nudged the back of her heel. “I hear you’ve got quite the following on Magicam. I bet you could steal that bride’s heart in a snap. They call you Prince Yuu, after all.”

The brief moment of teasing quickly faded with another pointed side-eye. Camryn just grinned. He didn’t personally need to bait the prefect into admitting her secret. He had figured it out way back at the beginning of the school year and just confirmed it the first time they spoke before winter break. She was good at playing dress-up, but an A-list actor wasn’t praised for their costume alone.

Ortho dragged her attention back to him with a morose sigh. “I just hope we can get to Idia in time. I can’t let her take him!”

And just like that, the prefect fell into her mothering mode. Camryn watched her coo and pat the top of Ortho’s head. The one thing he’d learned from observing her over the semester was she was pretty quick to lend some kind of comfort. Even her friends got the treatment, from friendly pats on the back to extra pudding on lunch trays. It wasn’t really a feminine quality, per say—Camryn had been around plenty of other women who didn’t show a lick of compassion—but not many guys on campus would be caught dead doing the same thing.

Camryn’s ears twitched when Grim barged through the storeroom door. The corners of his grin finally twitched downward at the almost rude entrance especially when Grim started pillaging through the nearest bins. He wasn’t the kind of guy to get too possessive of any one thing but organizing the storeroom had been one of the first jobs Sam had given him. He’d been so impressed by the final results that he’d given Camryn full responsibility for keeping the room organized during the semester.

Seeing the monster cat fling the seasonal products into the same bins as the school supplies made his tail twitch. “Where’s my fancy booty? All I'm seeing is those cutesy stationary sets and pumpkin garlands from Halloween!”

Camryn slipped past Ortho and the prefect. He grabbed Grim’s attention with a broad wave before the monster could grab any more seasonal decorations. “Step right over here. We might not have a wide variety in stock, but we’ve got just the right boutonniere to satisfy you.”

Thankfully, Grim decided to follow Camryn. Camryn took quick stock of what needed to be reshelved before leading the three back to where the suits were previously stored. Camryn opened the top flap of a small box on a nearby shelf and found exactly what he had assumed would be there. “Here we go!”

Camryn cradled the small blossom in his palm, careful not to bend the two decorative leaves pinned to it. Like the bouquets he had handled earlier, the transparent petals gave off a faint glow when they touched his bare skin. Predictably, his three customers leaned forward with a glint of awe shining in their wide eyes. The prefect appeared the most enchanted. “It’s glowing!”

“According to my scans it’s a Rosa trisitia,” Ortho chimed. His yellow eyes brightened with a glow that reminded Camryn of a computer booting up. “Commonly known as the rose of sadness. It was once left on the graves of the recently deceased because the common superstition was the petals would absorb all the negative emotions haunting the dead and allow them to transition peacefully into the afterlife. Of course, modern science has debunked most of that, seeing as more research has been gathered concerning the Spectral Realm and it has been proven that not all ghosts are the product of negatively charged past regrets, but it is still a superstition that the greater part of the population partakes in.”

The prefect pulled back a step. She blinked, and she adopted a blank stare as if her brain had gone into information overload. “Wouldn’t that make it a poor choice for a wedding? Because I’m assuming you don’t make boutonnieres like this for funerals.”

“Actually,” Camryn smirked at the pout Ortho gave him for jumping in first, “they’re pretty common for weddings too. They suck up all the bad jujus that sneak into weddings, so the happy couple starts their new lives together with nothing but happiness and joy. It’s a pretty common request among brides to include at least one of the roses in their bouquets even though they cost a pretty penny. Once everything’s official, the bride’ll toss the bouquet to symbolize throwing out all those nasty emotions. Some traditions go even farther and have one of the bridesmaids catch it as a way of saying the couple’s got close friends who are there to help them through any hardships.”

The prefect’s furrowed brow and blank stare cleared. “That actually sounds really sweet. A little wrong for some reason, but I like it.” She gestured at the flower in his palm. “Does it glowing mean it’s soaking up negative things now?”

“Generally speaking, yeah.” Camryn demonstrated by dropping the boutonniere on top of a nearby box. The glow lasted for a moment longer before gradually fading. “The flowers usually only activate when there’s direct contact. If you gather enough ghosts in one room, their magic will probably trigger the flowers' effects because of the similarities. It’s pretty much just theory considering no one’s going around wielding bouquets and boutonnieres as weapons.”

The prefect’s gaze snapped to his before Camryn could fix his gaze on the top of her cheeks. The intense look in her eyes almost made him pause. “You know a lot about flowers.”

Camryn’s grin widened. “Just enough to be able to sell it.”

She lightly hummed, and her eyes darted down to the faintly glowing boutonniere when he offered it to her. She accepted it after a short pause, her eyes darting once between it and Camryn’s face. The glow of the petals slightly intensified when it hit the tips of her fingers, but it faded over time as she helped pin it to Grim’s ribbon. Camryn's grin widened while he watched the monster wiggle under her hands.

“Grim, hold still.”

“You’re trying to choke me with my own ribbon!”

“Do you want this thing to hang from your ear instead?”

Camryn coughed lightly into his fist to cover a chuckle. He opened the box next to the one he had grabbed the boutonniere from and wasn’t disappointed in the slightest when he found a small suit jacket on the very top. He caught a shift in the light from the very corner of his eye and made a show of ignoring the shadow silently giggling behind a nearby pillar.

He flicked the jacket once and turned to display it for the prefect. “If I may? Normally a boutonniere fits into the buttonhole of a jacket like this.”

The prefect straightened with the boutonniere still clasped in her hand. Her eyes widened with obvious glee. “That’s perfect! Grim, lift your arms up.”

Camryn stepped back and allowed the prefect and Ortho to fret over Grim. It took a bit of huffing and puffing from the monster, but the only show of his lack of cooperation was in the fact that the prefect was “dressing him up like a doll again.” The prefect anchored the boutonniere into the buttonhole on the lapel. Once the bud was no longer in contact with her skin, its glow completely faded.

Camryn tipped his head and watched the prefect more than the preening monster. What did she have to be so upset about? At the expense of sounding jealous, the girl had the perfect set up on campus. She was a magicless girl having an all-expense paid stay on the campus of one of the most prestigious arcane academies in all of Twisted Wonderland. Yeah, her dorm was a mess and she got some heat from time-to-time from a few jealous students, but she also had some of the most influential people on the campus eating from the palm of her hand. Hell, he'd even seen the great Malleus following her around like a little puppy in the shop.

Meanwhile, Camryn couldn’t take three steps anywhere in his own dorm without a lumberjack Leech sneering down at him.

“Yuu?” Camryn stepped aside as Riddle came barreling around one of the shelves. He looked a bit flustered, his cheeks a shade of scarlet and his bangs askew, but the panic Camryn caught in his expression was gone the instant he saw them. A short huff escaped him. “You’re still here...”

The prefect smiled, but Camryn was observant enough to catch the light tension behind it. “You don’t have to worry so much! Maddie said Alex was really sorry for the trouble he caused the other day.”

Instead of appearing placated, Riddle’s eyebrows drastically converged. He opened his mouth to speak, paused, and silently closed it again. He sucked in his cheeks like someone had just shoved a lemon in his mouth. It took his face a long moment to relax. Long enough for Camryn to know without a doubt he was upset with the prefect. Trouble in paradise, indeed.

“So it would seem.” Riddle’s tone held an icier bite than usual. Camryn’s eyes darted to the prefect. She chewed on her bottom lip. Riddle didn’t allow her a chance to respond before he spun on his heel. The coattails of his red suit whipped around him. “I should return to help Ace with his suit.”

Riddle left at an impressive speed, the heels of his shoes clopping loudly against the floor. Camryn’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. Anger was a common enough emotion to see from the housewarden, but what Camryn had seen wasn’t mere anger. Dare he say it, but Rosehearts was looking a bit jealous.

That little drama might be enough to get Merri off his back.

He slid a little closer to the prefect on the pretense of plucking a pinch of lint from the back of Grim’s jacket. “Sam only offered a boutonniere to Grim, but I can always check around back here for another suit. It might not be a Suiter’s Suit, but every prince needs an effective wingman.”

The prefect’s face went blank in that way it always did. Thankfully, Ortho wasn’t as hard to convince, and he leaned over the box to dig around the contents inside. “That’s a great idea! The others are leading the rescue, but it doesn’t hurt for us to have the right equipment too. It’s like a MMORPG!”

“I still can’t believe that crazy ghost lady chose Idia,” Grim said. He hopped up onto another box and peered into the one Ortho shuffled through. “Of all the people on the campus, he’s the last person I'd choose to marry.”

“Hey!” Ortho stopped shuffling around long enough to shoot a glare in Grim’s direction, the tips of his fiery hair flaring red. “My brother is a catch! He’s super smart and innovative.”

“He also has a deranged giggle and cringes from the sun.”

Ortho huffed but didn’t present a new argument as he aggressively dove back into the box. With the other two distracted, Camryn leaned closer to the prefect. He kept his tone light and friendly. “Gotta admit Grim’s gotta point. Idia’s the last guy I’d be pining after.”

The prefect grunted. She crossed her arms and kept her chin tipped away from him. “Everybody has a right to their own preferences. Just because you don’t think Idia is prince material doesn’t mean he can’t tick off all the boxes for someone else.”

Camryn chuckled. “What boxes is he ticking off? Tall, gaunt, and pale?”

The prefect emitted an offended huff. “Some girls like that!”

“What about you?” Camryn’s smirk widened. “I hear you’re more into the dark, average, anarchist type.” Camryn briefly paused. There was a hollow feeling in his gut when he added, “Or maybe it’s more short, pale, and hotheaded.”

That made her head whip back in his direction. She stepped away from him and put enough distance between them to appear rude. Her eyes narrowed again, and the drop in the tenor of her voice made his ears twitch. “You leave Riddle alone.”

Camryn shrugged like he had never intended any offense. He had his answer anyways. Whatever was going on between the two was definitely a sore topic. He could imagine Merri frothing at the mouth when he heard one of the prefect’s staunchest allies was on shaky ground with her. It was just the kind of “weakness” he had been hoping for. “I didn’t mean anything by it. You’re just a conundrum for most guys around here. I bet a few of them would bend over backwards to hear what you found attractive in a guy.”

The prefect took another noticeable step away from him. Her expression was pinched now, like she didn’t like the direction the conversation was going. Maybe he was being a bit too obvious? After all, she was still going around pretending no one knew she was a girl. She had never argued against Floyd’s apparent attraction to her in the context of being a boy, and that had practically become the Leech’s mantra overnight.

Time to change tactics. Camryn gave a casual shrug in an attempt to disarm the prefect again. “I mean, you’ve obviously gained a bit of popularity since the beginning of the year. Naturally that would attract a few guys. That’s just how friendships naturally happen.”

The mention of friendship got her to relax a bit. Camryn bit the tip of his tongue at the cliché. “Speaking of friends, I couldn’t help but notice you and Riddle...”

“Little imps!”

Grim and Ortho emitted startled cries at the sudden shout and jerked away from the box like they had been caught with their hands in a cookie jar. Sam grinned widely at them when he turned the corner of a shelf. Camryn’s ears flattened against his head, and he darted around the group to stand closer to the boxes of merchandise. He subtly searched for Sam’s shadow out of the corner of his eye.

The shadow no longer hovered in the corner of the room. Camryn bit the inside of his cheek. Something had made the shadow flit back to Sam’s side. Camryn felt his neck growing hot. In all the time he had worked with Sam, none of the shadows had snitched on him.

Now Camryn was feeling like the one who tried to filch a cookie from the cookie jar.

“I started to worry you became lost back here,” Sam said. His expression and tone made him appear cheerful, but Camryn still tucked his tail between his ankles. “Poor Rosehearts seemed concerned by your long disappearance too. Surely, it didn’t take you this long to find what you needed?”

Camryn’s eyes flitted away just in time to avoid Sam catching his eye. Now he felt like he wanted to vomit. Why did it matter to him so much to even imagine Sam disappointed in him? Sam wasn’t anything to him other than his boss. The type of person who came and went.

“We were just trying to find another boutonniere for Yuu!” Ortho answered. “We thought since Grim had one now that Yuu should be equipped with the same accessory.” Ortho sighed and shook his head sadly. “But it looks like there was only one in the box.”

“But it went to the best person in the room who can handle a ghost.” Grim jumped down from the boxes he used as a stepladder and strutted towards Sam, his chest extended at an exaggerated angle to show off the flower pinned to his tiny jacket. “Me! Myahaha!”

“And what a handsome little imp you make!” Sam agreed. Camryn stared down at the tips of his sneakers. He could practically see his toes curling inside the ratty shoes. “Unfortunately, that was the last boutonniere we had in stock.”

“It’s fine,” the prefect insisted. “I’m not a part of the rescue team anyways, so I didn’t expect anything.”

Sam hummed. It was a familiar enough hum to make Camryn glance up. As he had anticipated, Sam was solely focused on the prefect. He snapped his fingers once. “I might be out of boutonnieres, but I might just have one other accessory worth looking into. If you would just step back out to the front, little imps.”

The three of them filed obediently out the storeroom, Grim still bragging about his “one-of-a-kind booty thing.” Camryn took a step to follow them.

Sam stepped in front of him. Camryn focused his gaze on the mask-like pin pinned to the lapel of Sam’s coat. He tried to grin, but that hollow feeling in his belly just wouldn’t go away no matter how much he tried to ignore it. “Sorry about that, Sam. Guess we got a bit carried away back here.”

Sam hummed. He took longer to speak than Camryn anticipated, making Camryn unconsciously rock from one foot to the other. “You’re a good employee, Camryn. A natural salesman like myself.”

Camryn tried to sidestep Sam when he took a brief pause. “Thanks for the compliment, Sam. I’ll keep that in mind later when I’m handling a tough customer.”

The heavy weight of Sam’s hand on his shoulder made Camryn stiffen. Sam’s fingers squeezed lightly. “Don’t let anyone tell you who you should be. I would be in a very different place right now if I had done just that.”

For a moment, Camryn felt a genuine wave of panic. Had the shadows told Sam about the times Ivan would come into the store and run his mouth? Was Sam thinking about the packages Camryn had held for Caha (the ones he kept adamantly telling himself did not hold a cursed genie lamp)? Did someone accuse him of overpricing them to pocket a bit of spare change?

Sam didn’t bring up any accusations of theft or collusion. He merely gave Camryn another pat on the shoulder and walked off after the others. Camryn still stood frozen in place even after his ears twitched at Sam greeting the headmaster again. That hollowness had shifted into almost painful cramps. Camryn groaned and rubbed his knuckles deeply into his eyes. The groan morphed into a stiff laugh. “Why’d you have to go and be a good guy, Sam?”

Camryn ignored the shadow he caught flitting along the ground beside him and returned to the front of the store, plastering a grin in place and teasing the uncomfortable freshmen about their suits. He didn’t look in the prefect’s direction again.

Of course, the prefect and her little squad of bachelors saved the day. Camryn stood on the very fringes of the cafeteria, watching the large group celebrate their success with a good ol’ happy round of teasing and chuckling. Many of them made it their mission to make Idia as uncomfortable as possible—from playful shoves on the shoulders to a heavy dose of unhappy glowers. Camryn even caught Ortho shaking a stern finger at his brother.

Camryn’s tail lazily flicked behind him. The prefect had, unsurprisingly, gravitated towards the ghostly bride and her newly acknowledged True Love. The headpiece Sam had given her, which was basically another boutonniere made into a hairpin, let off a faint glow from the petals of the pale rose. He supposed the glow would signal the flowers effectiveness with sucking up all the negative emotions that supposedly made up a ghost’s entire being.

Except the only roses of sadness glowing at the moment was the one stuck in the prefect’s hair and the scorched few bundled in the bouquet Rosehearts still carried.

Camryn shook his head and sighed. If it was up to him, he’d be hunkering down in his dorm room for the night. Sam had pretty much dismissed him right after the headmaster and dashing heroes ran off to save the day. He’d actually been stripping out of the clothes he had hastily thrown on earlier when his phone started chirping like a starved chick frantically waiting for its mother to drop a worm into its gawping beak. He had dove across the room to grab it, panicking at the thought of missing the call that hadn’t come at the scheduled time. What he saw on the screen had instead made him sneer.

Damn Merri and his incessant messages.

“Oh? Well, if it isn’t Camryn. What a pleasant surprise!”

Camryn felt his insides flip, but his grin didn’t reflect the sudden urge to veto the little he had eaten in the past few hours. Jade’s emotionless smile matched his, his eyes curving in that creepy way they did. That smile always made him shudder. “What can I say? I found myself curious after selling the rescue party their stylish new armor.”

Jade's humming laugh joined Camryn’s chuckle, but it was anything but comforting. Jade’s eyes were still squinting with his smile. “How fortunate we are to have Sam on campus. He always has just the right products in a pinch.”

Camryn took a pointed step away from Jade. Jade matched his step, his smile never wavering. Camryn wondered if it was an actual fluke that people found Floyd more intimidating than his brother. He genuinely creeped Camryn out sometimes. “Yeah, well, you know Sam.”

Jade hummed again and took another step closer. Camryn didn’t hesitate matching the step. Okay, so the mer was purposefully making him uncomfortable. Duly noted. “Indeed. Why, I could only imagine the horror if we had been unable to save Idia from his fate. Azul would have been devastated to lose his fellow club mate.”

Devastated...right. The only “devastation” Azul would feel would be from the lighter weight in his pockets. After all, he couldn’t make a profit without customers.

Across the cafeteria, the Idia teasing had ramped up. Fake laughs filled the room as Idia was passed from one slapped boy to another for a dose of petty revenge—Cater snapping mandatory selfies with him, Leona’s wide fake smile not hiding the subtle threats his lips formed, Sebek loudly proclaiming his housewarden looking better in a suit. Idia had started shooting wide-eyed looks in the prefect’s direction, but she was too busy showing the bride and new groom one of the bouquets Sam had given the group. Camryn’s ear twitched at the faint glow the flowers gave off in her hands, matching the one pinned in her hair.

“Might I suggest a taste of the hors d’oeuvres?” Camryn’s eyes snapped back to Jade. He hadn’t heard or seen the Leech brother move, but he was suddenly offering a platter of little bite-sized refreshments. Which were a very odd shade of grey. “They have been graciously provided by our new ghostly companions.”

Yeah, Camryn was gonna have to pass on that. He wouldn’t be shocked to find out Jade was trying to give him food poisoning. The cafeteria ghosts were one thing, but why would other ghosts practice making edible food for the living? “I’m gonna have to pass on that, chum. You know what they say about eating so late.”

Jade thrust the platter into his face, making him sputter and lurch backwards. “I must insist! As you said before, if you hadn’t provided our rescue party the means to save us, we would still be in our frozen states now.”

Camryn’s tail bristled with an instinctive warning of DANGER. He sidestepped around Jade and hurried away as quickly as possible, throwing an “apologetic” wave over his shoulder. “Sorry, pal, I’m still gonna have to pass. I just get such bad indigestion around this time.”

Jade’s humming laugh was like a spike being shoved into his ear, but Camryn wasn’t about to stand there and let the Leech poison him. All of the food—with its unappetizing shade of grey—was piled on the nearby tables. If there was one thing Camryn had learned living on a campus full of guys, it was that free food vanished faster than you could blink. If the others weren’t touching it, then something was obviously off about it.

Camryn glanced over his shoulder just to be sure the Leech wasn’t pursuing him. Jade had wandered off to his brother's side, who was using him as a living prop now. Both of their heads snapped in his direction in perfect sync. Camryn spun away and quickened his pace to the prefect’s side. The same instinct screaming DANGER was also annoyingly convincing him the safest place in the cafeteria right now was right by her.

The ghostly bride now clung to the bouquet—which was definitely not glowing—and appeared earnest in whatever she said to the prefect. The prefect’s brow was furrowed, and the rose on her hairpin glowed brighter. The chubby ghost beside them had a look on his face that every guy universally shared in the presence of “girl talk.”

Camryn was just as eager to intrude. Other than feeling the heat of two unwavering stares on the back of his neck, the only thing propelling him forward was his damn phone buzzing in his back pocket every five seconds. For a so-called “weak little lamb,” Merri was anything but demure.

Camryn loosened his stiff posture when he reached the prefect’s side. He adopted a casual grin. “Well, howdy, prefect. Long time, no see.”

The ghost bride must have liked his tone because she started giggling. The prefect, on the other hand, snapped her head towards him in obvious surprise. Her wide brown eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

Camryn placed a hand over his heart and feigned distress. “What is that tone of voice? I thought we finally bonded in the backroom earlier.”

The ghost bride giggled even more while the prefect’s brown eyes were near invisible at this point. “I thought Sam sent you back to the dorm.”

He had, but even silencing his phone couldn’t drown out Merri’s persistent DMs. “I figured I’d do Sam a solid and try to make a few more sales before the night ended.” Camryn gave the ghost bride a little wink, and her giggling rose in pitch. Her chubby True Love shook off a bit of his awkwardness to give Camryn a small glare. “You in the market for a few more bouquets? Maybe a Just Married banner to wave behind you on your way back to the Spectral Realm?”

“As wonderful as that sounds,” the ghost bride said between her giggles, “I think we’re good with what we have. I’ve learned a lot tonight. As long as I have my Puffy, an extravagant wedding doesn’t mean anything to me now.”

She latched onto the arm of the ghost beside her, and the gesture made him puff up like his apparent namesake. The prefect made a little noise—like a strangled squeal—and Camryn made a show of disappointment. “Well, if that’s how you feel. I guess I’ll just have to tell Sam the huge flower arch is a no-go.”

A hum from the phantom bride was a clear indication of interest, but the prefect nudged her way between them. “They don’t need a cheap arch. Besides, they're planning on using the Sparkling Hall to celebrate when they return to the Spectral Realm. Eliza says Sawyer and Jacqueline have been taking really good care of it since our visit on Halloween. Now there’s all kinds of parties hosted there.”

Camryn hummed like he knew what she was talking about. A very vague picture of a large hall with a huge disco ball and dancing ghosts came to mind, but it was blurry like a dream. He’d have chalked it up to too much candy on Halloween night if Caha and James hadn’t mentioned having the same dream. Guess he really had been swept away to the Spectral Realm that night. Why did that sound like the least shocking thing to happen to him since enrolling in NRC?

Camryn just kept grinning. “So were you guys over here discussing the afterparty to all this?”

Eliza began giggling again, and her puffy prince had a more amused expression now. The prefect idly gestured towards Eliza. “Actually, I was asking Eliza for some pointers. I too strive to one day harness the power of the Paralyzing Slap.”

Camryn chuckled, but the deadpan expression on the prefect’s face said she was being utterly serious. Maybe the prefect fit in more on campus than he originally thought. “Well, that’s...an interesting topic. Anyway, I gotta admit I'm a little surprised your backup team managed to save the day. Tell me the truth though: did you write the speech I’ve been hearing about from Trappola?”

The prefect’s cheeks puffed out with anticipated offense. “I didn’t help with that at all! Everything Ace said was straight from the heart.”

“He was a little mean about it,” Eliza insisted. She looped her arm around Puffy’s elbow. “But it helped me realize my feelings of True Love, so I’ll forgive him.”

“I’m glad you’ve both found your happy ending.” The prefect’s smile wavered. Camryn caught her glance towards the group. She quickly turned away when Riddle turned in their direction. Camryn shook his head at the almost pouting expression on the housewarden’s face. “Five hundred years was a long time to wait for it though.”

“I don’t regret any of the time I've spent at my princess’s side!” Puffy cried. Camryn’s ears flicked at the ghost’s loud voice, and he took a small step back to put some distance between them. The prefect and Eliza looked equally surprised, which seemed to spur Puffy on. “In times of tragedy and hardship, I always found solace in caring for Eliza. Her smile, her laugh, her tender heart—it made me work all the harder to bring her joy. I never imagined my feelings would be reciprocated, but I was still content to care for her from afar. Love is truly the most powerful motivator for both the living and the departed.”

Camryn resisted the urge to blow a raspberry. Love? What about hunger? Fear? Pain? He could name another dozen “motivators” more powerful than love. Love was about as useful as a miracle spontaneously saving you from any hardship. At least the stab of hunger compelled you out of the cardboard box you called home to filch a few coins from a passerby’s pockets.

From the prefect’s furrowed brow, he could tell she wasn’t buying the whole speech either. “Still, if you had spoken up a little earlier, maybe it wouldn’t have taken five hundred years to be together.”

“I’m not sure I would have given Puffy a chance. He wasn’t exactly what I wanted.” Eliza’s curious hum was almost insulting. Camryn caught the prefect’s heavy side-eye. In that brief moment, he felt like they had reached some type of mutual agreement: this phantom bride was definitely a spoiled brat. “But I’ve learned that it’s not outward appearance that matters, but what’s on the inside! Puffy is loyal to a fault and as courageous as any fairy tale prince. We’ve known each other for so long too. It just took that shocking moment of thinking I would lose him forever to make me realize my true feelings.”

Camryn couldn’t hold back a small snort. He leaned a little closer to the prefect and whispered into her ear, “Am I the only one here thinking this will only last a year?”

The prefect jerked away from him. Her hot glare just made him smirk. “You don’t know that.”

Camryn shrugged. “I’m just saying. If it takes something so dramatic to make or break a relationship, then it really didn’t have any substance to stand on.”

Just as Camryn anticipated, the prefect’s gaze darted back in the direction of Rosehearts. “That’s not true. Some people just make mistakes.”

Camryn lazily scratched the back of his ear. He ignored that sickly feeling that had stayed in his gut since Sam confronted him in the shop. “I don’t know. Once all the adrenaline dies down, how are you supposed to sustain that interest? It’s like having a whole friendship built on a framework of a lie. Once the lie has been exposed, someone usually ends up leaving.”

The prefect didn’t attempt to hide the harsh flinch that made her whole body jerk away from him. Camryn kept his expression fixed in a thoughtful manner, like the question was just a rhetorical one he threw out there for the sake of debate. Internally, he was assessing every little minute muscle twitch the prefect exhibited. Camryn wasn’t like Merri—he hadn’t spent hours of his day just watching the prefect to figure out the best way to manipulate her. He knew she was a lot more sensitive than she put on though: that she really did care what others thought about her. That’s why she joked more around the freshmen and appeared more studious with the upperclassmen. He had watched her shift around her group of friends in the same kind of performative manner he did. Always adjusting to what was expected of him in the moment: salesman, grunt, thief.

No one on this campus had ever seen the real Camryn, just like he was betting no one knew the real Yuu.

“Oh, Yuu!” Eliza drifted forward to grab the prefect’s hand. “Now you’re looking upset! Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing...” the prefect trailed off. A disgruntled cry from Cater followed by a stern lecture from Riddle rose above the voices of the group. The prefect jerked around to stare in their direction. The severe frown she gave Eliza made the ghost emit a quizzical hum. “Actually, I’m going to be right back. Don’t leave just yet.”

With that, the prefect pulled her hands free and turned fully to the group. After taking a deep breath, she marched herself over to where Riddle insistently pointed Cater in the direction of the cafeteria’s exit. Trey, who stood next to Riddle trying to hide his grin, saw the prefect first. His hidden grin became a startled frown. Camryn imagined the stern expression on the prefect’s face probably made her look angry, especially when Trey took a pointed step away from Riddle and Cater. So much for dorm loyalty.

As if sensing Trey’s sudden terror, Riddle turned in her direction, much to Cater’s relief. His pale eyes widened upon realizing the direction of her path. Camryn tipped his head, intrigued by the sudden panic the housewarden couldn’t hide. The singed bouquet he held (Camryn was almost certain he had forgotten about it at this point) glowed brighter.

Cater made a small noise and retreated while he had the chance. Camryn barely heard him mumble, “Man, Riddle. What’d you do to make Yuuie so mad?”

“I didn’t...” Riddle straightened his shoulders like he was trying to appear taller than he actually was. The roses’ glow intensified with the sudden spark of anger in his widening eyes. “I have done nothing deserving of retribution.”

The prefect came to a jerking halt a few steps away from Riddle. Once the others caught onto the prefect’s approach, they fell silent. Even Grim stared in silent curiosity while hanging from Deuce’s shoulder where he had been harassing the boy over his earlier performance. Riddle tipped his chin higher when the silence lingered too long. “Is there something you wish to say?”

A beat of silence passed before the prefect suddenly rocked forward into a deep bow. Camryn’s tail twitched in surprise, and the other boys didn’t appear any less startled. Riddle’s entire face broke into an expression of shock. Her voice was a bit muffled thanks to her position. “Riddle, I am truly sorry for the lie I told you. I’m sorry that you had to learn the truth the way you did too. If I could go back and change anything, I would have told you everything sooner.” The prefect paused, her torso still parallel to the floor. A short sniff was quickly covered by an even shorter sigh. “I’m even sorrier for having upset you.”

“Upset?” Riddle slowly repeated. His cheeks reddened, and Camryn tensed in anticipation of an explosion. His bouquet still glowed, but that could be for any number of emotions. Riddle emitted a heavy sigh. “Right. Professor Crewel said denial was a self-destructive habit. In that vein, yes: you did upset me.”

The prefect’s shoulders noticeably deflated even in the bowing position she held. “I’m so sorry, Riddle. I really didn’t mean to upset you. Trey even warned me not to wait so long.”

Riddle’s grip on the scorched bouquet tightened, shaking loose a few of the glowing petals. His face noticeably darkened, and he jerkily turned towards his vice housewarden, who nervously chuckled and stepped backwards into Cater. “So Trey was one of the people privy to your...circumstances.” He redirected a haughty glare at Yuu. “Is there anyone else I should be aware of who knows? Since you clearly place more trust in everyone over me.”

“That’s not true!” The prefect jerked out of her bow. Camryn couldn’t see her face since she was facing away from him, but the glow of the rose on her hairpin matched the subtle cracks in her voice. “I trust you a lot! You and all the guys in Heartslabyul were the first real friends I made in Twisted Wonderland, and that makes you very important to me.” Riddle openly balked in the brief period the prefect took to catch her breath. “It’s just...it’s my own fear that was the problem. Every time I wanted to tell you, I kept thinking of every reason you wouldn’t want to be my friend anymore. And I know that’s a ridiculous fear, but it’s like my fear of birds and heights. I never actually told anyone my...predicament. They all just found out on their own.”

The faint clearing of a throat made the prefect pause. She continued after a brief sniffle. “Okay, so I told at least two people. But one was because I honestly thought he already knew, and the other was to get him out of a dress as quickly as possible.” Another cough sounded, this one very obvious. Camryn caught Jade grinning behind his fist next to Azul, who was sending a grinning Floyd a pointed glare. “And there were a few others, but we’re all legally bound by NDAs and can’t speak on the topic. The point I’m trying to make is that I wasn’t just choosing not to tell you while telling everyone else.”

Riddle’s eyebrows came together dramatically. The angry glare he was trying to portray was looking more and more like the pitiful look of a kicked puppy. “If that’s the case, then why have you been avoiding me?”

The prefect threw her arms into the air. “Because Firecracker wouldn’t go through all the hoops!”

Riddle blinked at her with nothing but pure confusion. A choked chuckle escaped Trey, but Cater’s surprised exclamation distracted from his amusement. “So that’s why you’ve been making us play croquet the past few days! I thought you were just getting way overstressed. Especially when you started arguing with your hedgehog. The both of you were getting pretty...fiery yesterday...”

“Croquet...” Riddle mumbled, his eyes still wide but unseeing. “You’ve been playing croquet...”

“I’ve been encouraging Firecracker to go through the hoops,” the prefect insisted. Her arms were making all kinds of motions now, from swinging back and forth in a wide arch to making some gesture with one arm going under the other. “But she’s too stubborn to listen!”

“Like someone else,” Ace commented. He rolled his eyes where he stood between Deuce and Epel. “I told you to just ignore that stupid Rule when you brought it up!”

“Rule?” Riddle repeated. Camryn wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the housewarden look so bewildered. “You were abiding by a Rule?”

“Yes.” The prefect paused her wild motions. “Rule 369: Formal apologies can only be given at the time of a formal gathering, such as a trial by the Queen, unless—”

“—a hedgehog rolls through all the hoops on the croquet course in one swing,” Riddle finished. All the negative emotions had fled to be replaced by a look of awe. The flip in attitude had taken the glow from the bouquet though the prefect’s hairpin still had a subtle glow to it. “You were avoiding me...so you wouldn’t break a Rule?”

The prefect vigorously nodded. “I’ve already used my free chance to break the rules because I didn't know them. I don’t have that excuse anymore, and I don’t expect to receive special treatment. You hold everyone else in Heartslabyul to such a high standard, and I want to live up to those same standards.”

Riddle made a small noise. Trey and Cater took two simultaneous steps back and stared at their housewarden as if they were expecting a big explosion. The frown on Riddle’s face shifted with the usual ease of his quick temper. Instead of an angered outburst though, a loud laugh burst from him. He wiped at the corner of his eye, his smile wider than Camryn had ever seen. “You didn’t want to break a Rule. That’s why you were avoiding me. Not because you were angry with me.”

“Of course, I’m not angry with you!” The prefect vigorously shook her head. “Why would I be angry with you? This was all my fault. That’s why I wanted to apologize as quickly as possible.” The prefect paused to huff. "Firecracker refused to understand my urgency. And then she was a bad influence on Dennis, and they both got all the flamingos and hedgehogs into a Congo line. Hence the many games of croquet we had to play.”

“Many, many, many games,” Cater emphasized. “We even had to drag Maddie and James into a few because apparently Rule 115 says—.”

“Croquet games must be played with five or more players between three and five,” the prefect and Heartslabyul housewarden answered together.

A loud snort came from the group of silent onlookers. Camryn was surprised the others hadn’t interrupted as much as they had, but it didn’t surprise him at all that Leona was the one to lead the hecklers. "Seriously? This is what you’ve been moping around campus about?”

Floyd’s cackle had Camryn automatically tensing. “Yeah, Shrimpy. You had Azul thinking one of the squishies was dead.” Floyd's cackle grew more hysterical. “And you haven’t been as fun to mess with, goldfishie.”

Riddle glared in Floyd’s direction. “I am not an object of entertainment for you!”

A shudder racked through Camryn when the phantom bride brushed past him in a rush to the prefect's side. Eliza grabbed the prefect's hand. “You made up! How wonderful!” Eliza gasped, and the little ghost fire following her danced at her shoulder. “We could do a quick double wedding!"

“Wait, what?”

“We’re not like that, Eliza!”

Their protests weren’t quick enough, and the others descended on them without hesitation. Camryn caught Riddle’s stunned expression, and the prefect being playfully shoved around by the freshmen. Sebek’s voice rose above the others. “I must protest this union! The prefect is potentially engaged to Lord Malleus!"

“Is that so?” Leona stalked around the fringes of the group. An amused smirk stretched across his face. “I wonder what your other fiancé would say about this.”

Camryn’s body jerked again in reaction to Floyd’s cackle. He should really look into that. It couldn’t be healthy to have such a visceral reaction to a single sound. “Sea Snake hasn't even been on a date with you, Shrimpy. He’s losing big time.”

Any protests were lost as the others began chiming in with their teasing. Even Idia giggled at the fringes of the group, no longer adverse to social interaction now that he wasn’t the center of everyone’s attention. Camryn clicked his tongue and shoved his hands into his pockets. That annoying sick feeling from earlier had returned in full force.

Camryn slipped out the cafeteria when the scorched bouquet flew into the air, energetically obnoxious whoops congratulating the “happy couple.”

Camryn cursed under his breath and stomped through a fresh layer of snow. The biting chill of the early morning nipped at his nose. He angrily yanked the gloves on his hands, glaring at the hole where the tip of his pinkie was left exposed.

The next time the cafeteria ghosts asked for recipe suggestions for the Culinary Crucible, Camryn was going to offer them lambchops. Specifically Merri lambchops. His head had just hit his pillow when the other beastman had reignited his quest to badger Camryn to the edge of his sanity. And maybe it was partially his fault; he had neglected to report back to Merri like he’d promised he would. Thems was the breaks for playing so faithfully to the role of Lackey #2.

He almost envied Ivan—Lackey #1—for becoming so annoying lately that Merri had kicked him out the group chat for a “probation period.” Maybe he could even be perma-banned like Hammie. He hadn’t heard a peep out of the rodent beastman since the first week of the semester.

But did anyone care if Camryn was caught wandering around after curfew? No. And he was pretty sure he saw Lucious sniffing around the Hall of Mirrors. He was gonna be feeding the cat tuna for a whole month now to keep his muzzle shut.

Camryn sighed in relief when the gate for Ramshackle Dorm finally came into view. He chafed his upper arms through his thin dorm jacket and glowered up at the building. A soft light was still on in one of the second-floor windows, but the rest of the dorm was nearly pitch black. Even with the lack of light, he could still make out the patchwork renovations Azul had ordered, mainly for the roof. They even had telescopes peeking out of the attic windows, a clear indication Azul had nearly completed his new project before the SDC invasion on the dorm. Camryn’s ear still twitched with the phantom curses Azul had muttered around the dorm the following week he had been informed the Mostro Lounge’s second location would have an even longer delay before its grand opening.

Camryn sighed and patted down his back pocket. He pulled out the seashell-shaped pocket mirror he’d grabbed on his way out the dorm and flicked it open. He immediately wanted to revolt at the face reflecting back at him, but he settled his nerves and smiled. His tongue clicked the back of his teeth, and he rubbed the tip of his chin. “Too much slime ball merchant of the sea. I need more...drinks are half-off when you buy three entrees.”

Camryn grinned again. The new expression looked a little constipated, but Camryn would take it. He tucked the mirror back into his pocket and adjusted his Octavinelle scarf before pushing open the gate. He cringed at the loud squeal of the rusted hinges. He was halfway up the path when the light in the front room on the first floor flicked on. He chuckled. Maybe the prefect kept her gate rusted to warn her of intruders. Smart.

Camryn whistled a short little diddy before he climbed the stairs. He stepped around the patchwork hole in the porch and gave the door a short knock. While he waited, he flattened the wrinkles down the front of his shirt. The glasses on his face slid down his nose a tad, and he jerked a hand up to save them from falling. It had taken him a whole month to find the exact frames Azul wore, and he wasn’t about to spend another month running around to find another pair.

The prefect swung the door open just as he was readjusting his glasses. She slowly blinked at him, but she didn’t look as if she was groggily fighting sleep. In fact, she still wore the rose hairpin from the wedding shenanigans earlier, the petals now a soft white with no glow to them. She crossed her arms, hiding her hands under her armpits, and stared at him.

He cleared his throat. Her eyes immediately narrowed, and she cut him off before he could get a word out. “You’re crazy if you think I’m letting you in.”

Camryn froze for a brief second. Had she already seen through his spell? But she continued, “And no, you can’t measure the curtains for the billionth time. Or tally the difference between the spoons and forks again. And I won’t let you disturb the children even if it were for a good reason. It’s too long past their bedtime.”

Camryn slowly chuckled. So she hadn’t seen through the guise. Good. A little weird that she was so casual with Azul, but Camryn would take it. “Don’t be ridiculous! I was merely passing through and thought it would be polite to stop by.”

It was weird to hear Azul’s voice when he spoke, but Camryn was used to the strangeness of his signature spell at this point. It had been a few years since he had developed An Actor’s Life For Me, but he was arguably a master with it now. Being able to take on the exact likeness of anyone he encountered was one of the greatest survival abilities he would ever need. All it took was a bit of observation—locking down those unique habits, paying attention to little vocal tics, gathering the right props—and he was golden.

It wasn’t an ability he casually told others about either. Merri—for all his apparent research into everyone’s background—had never mentioned it once like he had casually done with Caha’s or James’s. And Camryn was going to keep it that way too. He was only using it now to get Merri off his back. Merri wanted dirt on the prefect? Then Camryn would give him dirt so he could finally sleep.

The prefect emitted a disbelieving hum that matched her narrowed stare. “Yeah, okay. You’re lucky Vil had to stay the night in Pomefiore. He’d have you dusting the basement for the rest of the night just to keep you out of the Space Mostro Lounge.”

Yeah, if Camryn hadn’t overheard Floyd complaining about a “manta ray” sending them all back to their dorms, he wouldn’t be here at all. He had figured that applied to everyone since Azul had lamented missing the chance to check on his second location too. Any hint of another soul in Ramshackle, and he would have just suffered Merri’s annoyance.

“How fortunate for myself,” Camryn said, his voice oozing with enough of Azul’s natural sarcasm to avoid any suspicion. He paused for a bit of effect, like he was second-guessing himself. The prefect’s little frown signaled him to continue. “Truthfully, I was a bit...concerned over the aftermath of today.”

Camryn knew he had to step lightly. He didn’t think it was too farfetched for Azul to show some concern over the prefect, especially when her expression noticeably softened. He added for good measure, “In regard to our current contracts, of course.”

Her eye roll cinched his performance. Azul was far easier to read than he thought. The prefect shook her head. “Nothing that happened was a breach of any of our contracts. That was just an issue between me and Riddle. So thank you for checking on our contracts.”

Camryn sighed as if he was relieved. He lightly nudged his glasses up his nose. “Not that I mean to offend you in any way, but for the sake of the business I had to make sure. The entire ordeal was a tad dramatic.”

The prefect sighed. She leaned against the doorframe, arms still crossed. The rose started glowing. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that from just about everyone. Sebek was the only one who seemed impressed. He said he would even make a passing mention of my extreme exhibition of honesty and loyalty to Malleus.”

“Because you are potentially engaged to Draconia?” Camryn said, one eyebrow twitching upward.

“Because I’m potentially engaged to Malleus,” the prefect reiterated. Her deadpan tone suggested it was a topic that was fairly common. If circumstances had been a bit different, he would have been able to admit he was genuinely impressed by the networking this odd, magicless little human had done around campus. “Sebek came back from the break entirely convinced I was a very likely candidate to one day marry Malleus. What convinced him, I have no idea, but I have been bombarded with several stacks of books centered around the history and politics of Briar Valley."

Camryn hummed. The prefect was more careful with her words than he had anticipated. He thought it would have been an easy slip for her to use wordage like wife or bride in the context of that conversation. He supposed he should have known better if she had been telling the truth earlier. According to her, she had outright revealed her secret to very few people. “I suppose he had a thing or two to say about your date with Floyd then.”

The prefect made a small face. “He was more concerned about the implications for Malleus. Lilia showing up to tease me was the only thing that saved me.”

“I was a bit concerned myself when I first heard,” Camryn persisted. He paused to quickly check his next words wouldn’t sound odd coming from Azul. “The rumors about you are becoming more prominent lately. Before your date with Floyd, there were already people whispering about you being seen together with Scarabia’s vice housewarden.”

The prefect hummed again. Her eyelids drooped a bit, but the rose on her hairpin wasn’t glowing anymore. Camryn took that as a positive sign. “All these rumors are starting to get a bit out of hand, don’t you think? I’ve been alone with plenty of other guys.” She started ticking off a list with one hand. “I nap around campus with Leona; I have baking lessons with Trey in Heartslabyul; I hang out with Vil in Pomefiore every Saturday; Rook’s always chasing me around campus. Heck, I even go into town with Ruggie every other weekend. All alone. Wonder why no one started suggesting anything weird until after winter break.”

Because Merri didn’t start spreading rumors until then. Camryn bit his tongue. Truthfully, there had always been rumors about the prefect. How could there not be with her strange arrival and subsequent enrollment? But they had naturally died the more she networked around campus, becoming just the occasional grumble from a particularly disgruntled student. Leona squashed most of the stuff in his own dorm, which was where most of the beastmen students (and the ones who had picked up on something weird with the prefect early) resided. Pomefiore wouldn’t say anything out of the respect they held for Vil—ditto for Heartslabyul (though that was more of a weird combination of fear and pity according to James). Everyone in Scarabia was more concerned with their own grades or didn’t want to upset Kalim. Camryn wasn’t sure anyone in Ignihyde would be able to identify a girl without having a seizure, and who from Diasomnia was about to say anything about the little student Malleus followed around like an attention-starved puppy? Even Merle had abruptly stopped reporting anything to Ivan, much to the older boy’s indignation. Octavinelle...well, no one was about to say anything that would have Floyd looming over them with a not-so-subtle threat.

Ergo, Merri had to start something to get people talking about the prefect again. He just wasn’t anticipating others playing around with the act. That was the only amusing thing to come out of telling Merri how Floyd had avoided Camryn’s attempts to trick the truth out of him. Camryn hadn’t thought the plan would work period, but even he had been a bit shocked at how happily Floyd had thrown himself in the way of “protecting” the prefect. Floyd hadn’t shown any loyalty towards anyone other than his brother and Azul, and even that was questionable on certain days.

Camryn clicked his tongue and shook his head. “The lengths people will go to disrupt another’s reputation is truly disheartening.”

“I know, right?” the prefect chimed in before he could continue. She pushed her shoulder off from the doorframe and stood in the center of the door, arms crossed and legs slightly apart. “Like, I’ve heard all kinds of stuff in passing. Some guys are always going on about you. I’ve heard some of them say you starting the Mostro Lounge was what inspired Camryn to double charge for stuff in the Mystery Shop because he’s from the same dorm.”

Camryn froze. Indignation burned his chest. Double charging? Camryn didn’t double charge. He never went higher than a 25% markup because that’s what him and Sam agreed upon! And that was because he included a smaller item as part of a “deal.” It was all legitimate!

“That’s because he’s a fox,” he heard Azul say. “Foxes are known to be nothing but thieves and crooks.”

Camryn clamped his mouth shut and ground his molars together. The prefect’s brow furrowed. Her shoulders tensed. Her tone was quieter when she next spoke. “I know some people on campus don’t like Camryn, but there’s no reason to say that.”

Camryn scoffed. He knew for a fact what he had just said was exactly what Azul would have. He haughtily pressed his palm against his chest, feeling his heart rapidly thudding beneath it. “You wouldn’t understand. Fox beastmen are known to be involved in a high rate of criminality. Statistics even show they make up nearly 60% of convicted criminals amongst the beastmen population, which equates to 35.8% of the overall crimes committed in Twisted Wonderland.”

The statistic burned across his tongue even as he said it, but it was one that had been spat back at him so many times, he had it perfectly memorized. From his foster “parents.” From business owners. From random people on the street. Even his own mother had tiredly repeated it once, using it like some broken crutch to explain away all their hardships.

The prefect’s frown became more pronounced. Camryn vaguely noted the rose glowing again. “Statistics don’t predict an individual person’s future or personality.” Camryn scoffed, but she cut him off with a sudden glare. “But for the sake of argument, that means around 40% of fox beastmen are never convicted of anything, and roughly 65% of the crimes committed in Twisted Wonderland are done by other groups. That means I’m in the higher percentage of committing and being punished for a crime.”

The prefect blinked, softening the pronounced crease between her brows. “Personally, I don’t think Camryn’s ever overpriced me for anything. He’s just doing the same thing Sam does. He might be guilty of being shady about other stuff, but I’d hope his guilt would be proven with actual evidence instead of biased suspicion.”

Camryn bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted copper. Oh. Oh. The prefect was good. He understood now how she had been able to lure in half the campus. She offered something no one else on the campus had in stock: empathy. It was a commodity in high demand around here where boys were too prideful to admit to their own issues and defaulted to evasion and denial.

A sharp cramp in his abdomen saved him. He hissed through his teeth and lightly patted the suffering area. It was a clear sign he had pushed the use of his signature spell too far. Fifteen minutes was usually his limit—twenty if he really had to push it—so sustaining it any longer might have a negative effect on his magic. He was already getting a migraine from lack of sleep. Adding magic depletion to that? Yeah, he didn’t want to explain that to Dr. P and have the nurse blow cherry scented bubbles in his face for an hour.

Camryn pointedly coughed into his fist. “Be that as it may, it’s getting awfully late. Seeing as you appear stable after the night’s events, I will take my leave now.”

The prefect grunted. Camryn stepped down from the porch, trying not to look like he was in too much of a hurry. It was disappointing to leave empty handed, but the sharp pains were hitting him with dramatic consistency. Had he lost track of time and had his spell activated longer than he thought? He wished the broken wristwatch he wore wasn’t just a prop.

“By the way...” the prefect said behind him. Camryn stopped two steps down the path to the gate and turned. The prefect slowly uncrossed her arms. Camryn’s eyes widened at the baseball-sized sphere she held in one hand. He recognized the bright yellow label peeking between her fingers. The smoke bomb was supposed to be a prank item Sam sold out of the Mystery Shop, but he had stopped carrying them last year because the components used to produce the “smoke” had proven to have the same effects as being hit with a steady stream of pepper spray. Clearly, one of the upperclassmen had managed to snag one before Sam discontinued the sales. From the way the prefect held it, that same upperclassman had emphasized its use as a potential weapon.

“I don’t know exactly who you are,” the prefect started slowly, “or what you actually want but consider this your only warning. I’m telling Azul you’re walking around with his face and pretending to be him, which means he’ll increase the security around here. The other guys will be back here tomorrow too.”

Camryn stared at the prefect with wide eyes. The cramps were practically one continual pain now, but he couldn’t help asking, “How did you figure it out?”

The prefect’s eyes narrowed. “Your act is pretty good. I probably would have been fooled.” The prefect reached into her pocket with her empty hand. She casually waved her phone at him. The screen woke, showing a selfie of the prefect and Grim as her background. The time showed 3:51 (nearly twenty-five minutes since he had last checked the time). A notification bubble from Magicam was the only other thing on the screen. “Azul’s last message from ten minutes ago was berating me for indulging Idia with late night video games before going to bed. Not a mention of stopping by to check on me personally.”

Camryn kept staring. He knew he probably looked a fool with his jaw slack and not a thought on how to respond. She had known he was a fraud the moment she opened the door, yet she had still stood there and indulged him?

Did she know it was him? The thought struck him hard and left a bad aftertaste on his tongue. That would explain why she had gone out of her way to defend him. Why else would she when she’s clearly as suspicious of him as the others? The Dark Mirror had drawn her to Night Raven College—knowing how to manipulate people made her fit right in.

Camryn emitted a flat chuckle. “Right. Shoulda known. Not much gets past you, huh?” Camryn spun on his heel and made to leave. He stopped short and turned back to her. “You know, it’d do you good to have a healthy dose of skepticism around here. People you consider friends one day can just as easily be your enemy the next.”

His statement was so vague even he didn’t know who exactly he was insinuating betrayal from. The prefect’s freshmen buddies? Azul and his goons? Merri and his obnoxiously meek portrayal? In truth, the prefect was probably better off trusting only herself. At the end of the day, every person she had surrounded herself with had their own agenda.

Or maybe experience had just made Camryn a little too jaded.

From the way she lifted her chin and held her smoke bomb in a surer grip, she wasn’t exactly keen on taking his “advice.” “Don’t come back here trying to pretend to be one of my friends. Any of them.”

Camryn shrugged and made a show of pushing his glasses up his nose. “As you wish.”

Camryn didn’t need to turn back around to know Yuu watched him until he was completely out of her sight. He could feel the burn of her eyes on the back of his neck in the same way he always felt the Leech brothers watching him. He groaned and combed his hand through his hair, knocking off the obnoxious dorm hat. He didn’t bother picking it up after it landed on the ground behind him. It wasn’t his anyways. He stepped into the first patch of trees he found and sighed in relief when he finally dropped his signature spell.

He dropped to the ground at the trunk of one of the trees, ignoring the cold seeping through his pants. He ran a hand through his hair again and relaxed more when he felt the familiar fuzz of his ears twitching beneath his fingers. His signature spell never lasted long, but sometimes he felt an irrational fear the change he made could become irreversible.

Camryn’s ear twitched when the phone in his pocket chimed. He covered his face with his hands and groaned. He leaned back until he felt the rough bark press into his back. “Do you ever sleep, Merri?”

The answer came in the form of another chime—an obvious no if Camryn ever had to interpret one. Anger finally snapped in him. He yanked his phone from his pocket with the intention of typing out a very short—very concise—message to Merri. One which involved words not to be used around polite company but ones he had grown up hearing on the back end of every other sentence.

He froze at the caller ID flashing at him. Fingers feeling suddenly numb, he scrambled to swipe the green button on the screen. He sounded completely out of breath to his own ears. “Hello? Jude? Are you still there?”

The pause was long enough to send his heart hammering. The flap of paper on the other end broke the silence. “Oh, hi! I was thinking I’d just get your voicemail. I forgot about the time difference between Ecopolis and Sage’s Island, and I didn’t remember it until I just checked my clock.”

Camryn didn’t bother complaining Jude was still about three hours late. That was just the quality he had anticipated when he hired the young man. Camryn didn’t have the savings to afford a high-rated private investigator, so the fresh-faced academy graduate would have to do. “That’s fine. You have an update?”

Jude hummed. After the whole ordeal with the prefect and stretching his signature spell past its limits, Camryn felt the primal urge to reach through the phone and set all of Jude’s papers on fire just so he couldn’t obnoxiously shuffle them. “I wish I had something definitive to tell.”

Camryn’s entire body deflated against the tree. His eyes began to sting, but he played it off as an effect from the biting winter wind. “Yeah...”

“But I do have a small update!” Jude continued, his voice sounding upbeat and energetic. Camryn wondered if it was the rush of adrenaline from his line of work or the natural quirkiness of bunny beastmen. Bunnies were way too energetic. “That bakery you pointed me in the direction of? I finally found the previous owner!”

Whether it was Jude’s enthusiasm or that old harpy called hope, Camryn felt a bit of life return to his numbing limbs. “You did? I thought they said the old geezer retired to some island.”

“He did!” Jude didn’t sound at all like it was past midnight his time and he had been hopping around the large city all day. Camryn had the fleeting thought that maybe his energetic personality wasn’t quite so natural. “But I found him! Turns out the island was just some casino in the ocean eco-sphere here in Ecopolis. I found him running in the negative with the slots.”

The old geezer’s misfortune made Camryn grin. He was one of the meanest bastards on the block Camryn once ran. Back when Camryn had tried to make a little cash on the up-and-up, the bastard had him running all kinds of deliveries. And for what? A swift kick to the rear and a glob of spittle when he rightfully complained about his payment in the form of a crusty, stale loaf of bread. There was no lack of vindictiveness in the fact he and Silas started pilfering the geezer’s bread carts.

The memory of the younger boy—the past Camryn worked so hard to keep locked away in his day-to-day life—sobered him quickly. “Did you get anything from him?”

Camryn could tell from Jude’s sudden silence that the answer was no. His long exhale must have been louder than he thought because Jude immediately jumped to assure him. “It wasn’t a complete waste of time! He did tell me the kid you’re looking for was still running the block when he retired. That contradicts the flower lady’s account of the cops picking him up for indecent exposure!”

Camryn wanted to shove Jude’s optimism down his throat. At this rate, Silas had been arrested, taken to juvie, forced into servitude scrubbing the floors of a bar, clocked for running illegal substances around the city’s eco-spheres, adopted by the sudden arrival of biological grandparents, and found dead in a gutter. Camryn shuddered at the last one. At least Jude had proven that one, without a doubt, was false.

Still even Camryn had to admit it was near impossible to track an orphan kid that didn’t even exist. At least when Camryn was unwillingly taken from his mom and thrust into the system, he had an identity. A way that she could track him down with her own shoddy PI and take him back home.

Silas had been a scrawny little kitten when he found him huddled up in that cardboard box after running from his last foster home. Camryn had been ready to kick the younger boy out of the box for his own benefit. That was how deep Camryn had sunken into basic survival.

Except the boy had quietly waved a mallet at him and chased him around the alley until they were both too tired to fight over the soggy box.

It was the odd start to an odd partnership. Silas never spoke a word, but he had stuck to Camryn like glue. They had quickly worked out the best way to pickpocket strangers and filch a loaf of bread from the outdoor display of the bakery without being caught. Camryn had even awakened An Actor’s Life For Me to save Silas from being dragged away after he was caught stealing a fresh salmon filet, acting like he was the cat boy’s parent and dragging him off to be punished. They had both enjoyed the salmon, which Camryn had stolen himself, together.

The day that shoddy PI finally found him, was the same day Silas had run off. They’d had a stupid argument—so stupid, Camryn couldn't even remember what it was about nearly three years later. Silas had run off; the PI had arrived and dragged Camryn away, kicking and spitting. The only highlight of the day had been the tearful reunion with his mom, who he had been convinced had sent him away. Ecopolis had no shortage of lawyers salivating over the tantalizing case his mom took to court over the neglect Camryn had suffered while in the city’s custody—taken out of her custody on the basis of one anonymous phone call.

By the time he went back to look for Silas, leading his mother to the very cardboard box he had lived in for months, Silas was gone. Camryn had searched up and down the streets, but he hadn’t been able to find a trace of him. Even with the nearby shopkeepers complaining about seeing Silas only the day before, it was like the boy had just disappeared.

So while his mom found them a nice home in the country—away from Ecopolis and all its “conservational eco-spheres"—and sent him to Night Raven College with the funds from the settlement, Camryn had started saving enough money to hire a PI willing to help him find the little boy. A fresh rookie by the name of Jude Springs had been the only one even willing to respond back to his initial query. He hadn’t minded taking payments in scheduled lumps, and he had even extended a couple of deadlines when Camryn found himself coming up short. Working with Sam had definitely helped Camryn, but it was just barely enough. Sending spare thaumarks back home to his mom and keeping Jude hired to find Silas—Camryn’s own allowance was leaner than even Ruggie’s.

So naturally, Camryn had found interest in Azul’s money laundering scheme.

Excuse him—Azul's personal business. It was the craziest thing Camryn had ever heard, and he had been stunned the headmage and then Octavinelle housewarden even amused the up-and-coming freshman. It hadn’t taken him much digging to figure out exactly what was conspiring behind the scenes.

Camryn would have agreed too if he was raking  in 40% of the profit without lifting a finger.

It was smart for Azul to get the housewarden to recommend him as the next leader in Octavinelle after the junior had received confirmations for his internships, which Camryn had no doubt was the plan the whole time. As long as Azul was the housewarden, he didn’t have to worry about splitting any significant amount of the profits he made. Everyone who worked in the Mostro Lounge got a nice little wage, but it wasn’t anything near the actual numbers Azul earned. That was why Camryn didn’t have any issues with filching a few thaumarks here and there while he worked with Azul.

It was also why he was willing to team up with a shady guy like Merri to take Azul’s title as housewarden.

“Don’t worry, Cam!” Camryn jumped at Jude’s enthusiastic shout. He must have been more tired than he realized because he had completely zoned out and forgotten he held the phone up to his ear. “I’m not giving up on this case. We’ll find your little friend.”

Camryn sighed. The whole day was starting to hit him hard, and he was scheduled to work at the shop before classes. “Yeah, thanks, Springs. Keep me updated. I’ll get your next payment to you next week.”

Jude gave him an affirmative, and Camryn ended the call. With another tired sigh, Camryn leaned heavily against the tree trunk. His butt had gone numb to the cold, but he couldn’t be bothered to stand. His stomach still revolted from the aftermath of his signature spell, and Lucious was a little snitch anyways...

Camryn didn’t realize he had drifted off until his heavy eyelids fluttered open again. He emitted a startled yell and jerked his head back. His head hit the tree hard, and he didn’t try to stifle the curse that flew from him. “Dammit, Sam! Did Trein not teach you the meaning of personal space when you were a student?”

Sam hummed. He remained squatted in front of Camryn, his face barely a finger’s width from Camryn’s. Sam rubbed his chin. “I suppose you haven’t become an ice imp yet, but your hands are certainly looking like pawpsicles. Neh heh heh.”

The lopsided smirk the shopkeeper gave him automatically drained the tension from Camryn’s shoulders. “How many times have I told you this? I’m not putting your puns on my products.”

Sam burst into more genuine laughter. He stood and offered Camryn a hand to stand. While Camryn didn’t really feel the chill anymore, he certainly felt a difference when Sam’s gloved hand encompassed his. Now that he got a good look at Sam—bundled up with a beanie over his head, thicker gloves, and a longer purple jacket—Camryn felt the sudden plunge in the temperature around him. He tucked his tail closer to his legs in hopes the thicker fur would thaw his frozen rear.

Sam hummed, and Camryn didn’t miss the obvious once-over the shopkeeper gave him. From the corner of his eye, Camryn caught an odd shift in the shadow behind him. A bit of his tension returned. As much as he respected Sam, the shopkeeper was way too observant. Had his shadows caught Camryn coming back from Ramshackle Dorm?

Sam snapped his fingers, which didn’t actually make a snapping sound because of his thick gloves. “Here’s a thought. How ‘bout you take the cot in the shop tonight? That way you’re already there bright and early for your shift.”

Camryn sighed. He must’ve looked a huge mess for Sam to suggest crashing on the cot. He’d only done it two other times when Camryn just wasn’t able to get any sleep in Octavinelle. Something about the great expanse of water churning outside his window sometimes triggered a panic response. Camryn had even dreamed about a whale swallowing him whole once only to wake up and find Jade smiling down at him.

He never did figure out how Jade got into his room that time...

Sam threw an arm around his shoulder and guided him out of the trees back onto the path. His muscles felt surprisingly stiff as he moved, and he wondered if he had accidentally drifted off earlier. Maybe he had been closer to becoming an ice imp than Sam joked.

“I was thinking,” Sam said, his arm still hooked around Camryn’s shoulders, “why don’t we strategize for the upcoming holiday next month? Normally, I skip over it, but with the unexpected wedding tonight, I thought perhaps it’s not such a bad idea to give the boys some products to gift to a little sweetheart.”

“Kinda how we did with the holiday gift sets?” Camryn asked though he was already picturing how he could refit the few gift sets they hadn’t sold. “We could do a special offer for shipping. It wouldn’t cost much to have your supplier take a few packages back with him to the mainland when he drops off our inventory.”

Sam gave him a friendly jostle. “I like the way you think! Buy three little gifts, get free shipping! The fee to send those little gifts back to the mainland would be barely a fraction of one sale. This is why you’re my favorite full-time part-timer!”

Camryn chuckled at the oxymoron, but the humor felt almost stiff. Sam wouldn’t be saying the same things if the rumor of Camryn’s supposed involvement with the genie lamp got back to him. Sam definitely wouldn’t be too happy to hear how Camryn had just tried to trick the prefect.

Still, he could pretend he wasn’t involved with some outrageously over-the-top plot to oust the current housewardens from their positions when Sam gave his shoulders another friendly squeeze. At least years of pretending to be something else had its perks. Sometimes he couldn’t even figure out himself what role he was supposed to play.

“Hi-diddle-dee-dee,” Camryn hummed tiredly to himself, “an actor’s life for me.”