“Emma, we were so worried about you!” Kaitlyn added.
In fact, the whole Norm Dorm was up and buzzing—everyone in our coven was worried about me because Lachlan and Bran had woken them up when they felt something bad was happening to me.
“Oh, guys,” I said, talking mostly to Lachlan and Bran, who both had their arms around me, but also to everyone in the Common Room at large. “I…I did some magic by accident and I…I made such a mess of everything!”
Then I burst into tears.
53
“Okay, let’s go over this again,” Avery said, after I had finally calmed down. I had gotten out some of the awful story but it was pretty garbled because I was crying so hard when I told it.
He and Megan and Kaitlyn had made everyone hot chocolate and we were sitting on the couches and overstuffed chairs as we spoke. Though everyone was there—even Griffin and Ari who had come over when they felt the worry of Megan and Kaitlyn through their respective Blood Bonds—there were plenty of seats for everyone.
“So you went to pay your Mom’s landlord the double rent that he demanded which you didn’t tell us about,” Avery said, frowning at me. “And then what?”
I swiped at my eyes and sniffed. Bran and Lachlan were on either side of me, Bran with an arm around my shoulders and Lachlan with an arm around my waist. Having them there was very comforting, although I knew they were upset with me for the same reasons Avery was. I had been keeping secrets from everyone—all because of my pride.
“What exactly did he do to you, Emma?” Bran’s voice was low and angry. I thought I had never seen him so enraged before—he was usually so mild-mannered and kind but now he looked like a Fae warrior, ready to go out and cut off Mr. Groperson’s head if I asked him to.
“He…he dragged me into his apartment and tried to…to attack me,” I said in a low voice.
My coven-mates gasped and Griffin and Ari and Avery looked extremely angry. I was like a little sister to all of them and I knew they would avenge me if I asked. That was if Bran and Lachlan didn’t kill Groperson first.
“He didn’t succeed, did he?” Lachlan asked earnestly, looking at me in concern. “I mean, Bran and I would have felt it if he had, but please, little one—I need to hear it from your lips.”
“No, he didn’t,” I said, sniffing and wiping at my eyes again. “Because I…I did some magic. Only I don’t know how I did it or how to undo it either! And everything is such a mess!”
I wanted to cry but instead I took a sip of my steaming mug of hot cocoa instead, grateful for the hot mug that warmed my cold hands.
“Okay,” Avery said carefully. “And what magic did you do, Emmers? Tell us everything—word-for-word.”
“Avery is right—the words you spoke when your magic manifested are important,” Lachlan agreed. “That much is true for both Fae and Sister magic.”
I closed my eyes, trying to think.
“He…he was dragging me towards his…towards his bedroom…” I swallowed hard, hearing a dry click in my throat.
Bran’s arm tightened almost painfully around my shoulders and Lachlan scowled fiercely. Somehow, I went on.
“He was dragging me and I just started shouting at him,” I told them. “I shouted that he was old and gross and I didn’t want anything to do with him. And then I shouted…” I frowned, trying to remember. “I shouted something like—‘I wish everyone could see how ugly you are—I wish it was as plain as the nose on your face.’ Which I know is kind of weird but I was panicking.” I shrugged.
“That’s understandable,” Avery said evenly. “And then what happened?”
“Then he started groping around in his boxer shorts and shouting, ‘Where is it? Where is it?’” I told them. “And he pulled down his shorts and I saw his…” I cleared my throat. “I saw his nose between his legs.”
“Uh, you mean where his boy parts should have been?” Jalli asked, wide-eyed.
“Exactly.” I nodded.
“Well, then, to borrow Jalli’s term, where did his ‘boy parts’ end up?” Avery asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Where…where his nose used to be,” I told them.
“Oh my Goddess!” Avery’s eyes got wide and he stared at me in disbelief. “You mean to tell us you switched them?”
“I…I guess so.” I shrugged again. “Like I said, I don’t know how I did it but it’s done now and I don’t know how to undo it.”
“Why should you undo it?” Bran demanded fiercely. He got up and started pacing, running his hands through his dark blond hair. “He deserves what you did to him and worse, Emma!”
“I agree with you, completely,” Lachlan’s voice was low and measured but I could see the rage dancing far back in his emerald eyes. “But we have to consider how this is going to affect Emma’s mother’s living arrangement.”