"Okay, we stopped."

I couldn't move from where Damien held me despite his arms releasing me.

I let out a long breath to relieve the nausea that threatened to come up. I felt my stomach was inside out, wrung out like a towel and beaten against a wall.

"You have to warn me," I whispered against Damien's shoulder. My eyes were still tightly shut. I couldn't open them. "You always have to warn me."

He had spectered as soon as his hand closed around my wrist without hesitation.

He was used to it, could do it on a whim without any consequence.

I was human, never able to get used to the way magic would pull me apart and move me from place to place at Damien's will. Magic wasn't a part of me like it was part of Damien.

I felt more than heard his chuckle deep in his chest. "Didn't I do that?" He whispered.

I weakly slapped his shoulder. I could barely move without inducing another wave of nausea. "No, you didn't."

I felt him awkwardly pat my back in an attempt to sooth me, I imagined. "Come on, we don't have much time."

I nodded against his shoulder, breathing in the scent of the fine black shirt he wore.

Incense and smoke. Was that what his home smelled of? I always wondered how much technology his home had and if it included at least light bulbs. I always imagined a castle with candles and chandeliers everywhere to illuminate the halls and rooms at night.

I opened my eyes and peeled myself away from him. To his credit, he still had a strong grip on my hand while my other hand reached out to steady myself against to something sturdy nearby.

My hand gripped something metal. When my eyes focused again, I saw what it was that I held onto so tightly.

The backroom of the college bookstore where I worked part time was always deserted. The bookstore attendants would occasionally have to stock in the back but that happened less and less by the end of the week. Boxes of books and merchandise were on the metal shelves.

It was where Damien would specter to when he wanted to see me while I was working at the bookstore. I learned early on that in order for Damien to specter anywhere successfully, he had to have been there before. He needed to be able to picture it in his mind before using his magic to appear at that place seconds later.

He couldn't just specter to the registrar's office or anywhere else he didn't know.

I turned to him. "Ready?"

When he nodded, I knew it was safe to leave the backroom. The security camera would have an issue for a couple of seconds and then continue recording again once we were out of frame. It was how he could safely use magic on campus and not get caught.

Above anything else, Damien could not be caught or be suspected as a fae by humans. He was sometimes careless but it was always a calculated risk. Some people would give him a sideways glance once they noticed the ears but they never said much else.

Body mods were very popular on campus and we knew some people would dismiss it as that.

I kept my head low as I led us out of the bookstore, careful to avoid my coworkers. They'd be suspicious if they saw me in the bookstore outside of my shift.

I let out a long breath when we made it out to the open breezeway outside of the bookstore.

The day was sticky and warm. I knew it would be more than miserable if we stayed outside longer than needed.

Damien caught up to me, his long strides matching my shorter ones. He placed his hands in the pocket of his black slacks as we continued down the long hallway. "Well, where do we go now?"

I nodded towards the building across the open courtyard from where we stood. "The registrar's office." I didn't stop my stride. "There might be some people there. Do you think you can glamour them to get the record for you?"

He nodded. "Should be easy."

My hands began to sweat as we approached the building. I could feel my heart about to leap out of my chest.

My mind played all of the scenarios of the fall out if we were caught.

Nothing would happen to Damien but I'd be expelled, lose my scholarships, lose my seat in the orchestra, lose my degree...

If someone catches me, I'm so dead.

I followed Damien inside the registration building and stopped cold.

I smiled at the kindly older woman behind the desk. She was small and frail, with her glasses down at the tip of her nose.

I grabbed a fist-full of his sleeve as he passed, making him turn towards me. "Take it easy on her, will you?"

Damien shook me off, annoyed. "Yeah, yeah."

She crossed her hands when Damien approached and smiled. "Hello." Her small voice was pleasant. "How can I help you?"

I imagined Damien smiled at her as he continued to approach her.

He spoke to her quietly just so the two of them could hear but somehow, I could hear the magic in his voice.

I took a step back, carefully avoiding it.

I looked at my hand and covered it quickly. I used to wear an iron ring to protect myself when Damien used magic on others--and, for a while, against him when he made me lust after him for a couple of minutes.

Despite him not using his magic on me specifically, I was still vulnerable to it.

It had been years since I'd worn it since it meant it cut his visits short and I couldn't specter with him anywhere.

"Em?"

I snapped to attention at my name and almost sprinted to the large desk where Damien called me.

He looked at me proudly. "No one else is here." He gestured towards the older woman. "She's all yours."

I looked at the older woman who stared at the computer screen in front of her. Her right hand rested on the mouse while her left was over the keyboard ready to act on our words. Her eyes looked vacant, almost like there was no life in her at all. She barely blinked.

It was unnerving but I knew she was only following Damien's orders.

"Give us Leah Porter's current address. She's a student and lives on campus."

The woman shook her head, her mouth moved before she spoke. She enunciated her vowels for too long, drawing them out more than necessary. "I dooon't haaave aaaaccess. O-ooonly the Heeeaddd of the o-o-office ca-aan."

I looked at Damien, annoyed.

He shrugged. "You said to take it easy. I did. She's fighting it, it's why she's lagging."

I scoffed. "She's not wifi, Damien."

He shook his head at me before turning back at her. "How can we get Leah's records, Norma?"

The words were lightly tinged with magic. I shook my head to shake it.

She lifted her arm but It seemed strange. It was like she was a puppet on strings. Her arms contracted weirdly, and moved back too far. "Hiis office is baa-aack there. Theee passwoo-ooord is undeeeer the moooouse paad."

I blinked. "That's not very secure at all."

Damien nodded to where Norma pointed. "You go ahead and do that. You know what to look for. I have to use more magic. She's fighting me and she's going to remember everything."

I nodded and sprinted down the hall. I passed the bulletin boards and open doors.

God, we were so lucky it was on a day most administrators weren't there.

I moved as quickly as I could and almost threw myself into the office labeled "Head of Registration".

I flew into the Head's desk chair. I moved the mouse and the computer immediately came to life.

I peeked under the mousepad and found a sticky note with the username and password under it. I shook my head. "This is so going to get me kicked out." I set it down and looked around the office. The large windows all around the room had the blinds completely open but the windows pointed towards a part of the school that was nearly abandoned.

I worked as fast as I could, entering the password then navigating around the system until I found what I was looking for.

My heart was in my throat the entire time.

My hands were shaking.

But I made it out, with Leah's current address scratched across a post-it note.

I waved it towards Damien with a big smile as I ran out of the registration office letting him know we had been successful.

He caught up to me moments later with a large smile of his own.

He picked me up by my middle and spun me around effortlessly, laughing.

I couldn't help my laughter as he did. I had never broken a rule in my life, much less do something as dangerous as put my academic career on the line.

"You did it!" He planted a large kiss on my cheek when he set me down. "You actually did it!"

I handed him the post-it note but stopped right before he reached for it. I took it back. "You're sure I won't get caught?"

He nodded. "Yes. I'm sure. Nora won't suspect anything. None of the cameras were working in the office. The logs were erased. I was very thorough."

I let out a long breath. "Okay." I handed him the note. "Here you go."

He smiled as he looked it over. "Okay, now, take me here."

I groaned. "Are you serious?" I looked at my watch. "I'm going to be late for practice!"