30.

  Cole, Benny, and Gregor took their seats in Professor Malsauve’s classroom. Benny and Cole were shifting through their notes for the class, trying to get what they had written earlier embedded in their short-term memory for the next ninety minutes of short answer and essay questions.

  “Man, at least History’s exam was multiple choice,” Benny said.

  “Good thing Professor Jacobin doesn’t like to waste time grading, but Malsauve’s going to go at us hard,” Cole said, “Man, we learned so much in this class, these questions could be about anything,” he said.

  “I’m sure you’ll do fine, you are hunters, trust your instincts,” Gregor said.

  “Easy for you, you already know all the answers, you’re cheating,” Benny said.

  “Again, studying is not cheating, my friend,” Gregor said.

  “It’s honest cheating,” Benny said.

  Professor Malsauve entered the classroom carrying a thick stack of stapled papers, “Notes down and pencils up students,” she said as she handed the first batch from the stack to the bottom row, instructing them to pass the test packets down the row.

  “I’m very satisfied with the knowledge this class has shown this term, I promise that if you trust your brains, and your hunter’s instincts, you will be more than happy with the grades your receive,” She smiled, “And don’t let me catch any wandering eyes, every test is randomized, so don’t think this is going to be as easy as Jacobin’s class,” she laughed.

  “Well, there goes my Plan A,” Benny said, shrugging, “Guess I’m just going to have to believe in myself,” he took a deep breath, “I got this,” he said taking his test.

  One last student entered the class. Everyone turned and saw her. Tavalia Cosgrove, daughter of the Betrayer, scion of the Demoness Xisira, the girl born of darkness, Tav.

  She was wearing a denim short jacket, a black skirt, and no necklace. She had pale alabaster skin, and bright red eyes, her hair was an amazingly unique shade of violet and on the top of that hair, two horns curved over the back of her head, and following behind her was a thin tail moving back and forth that ended in a little heart-shaped tip.

  It felt odd, before today, Cole was the only one who saw her like this. Somehow knowing that everyone else could finally see just how beautiful Tav really was, made him smile.

  “Hello professor,” Tav said, walking down the stairs and looking for a seat.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Ah,” Professor Malsauve smiled, “Ms. Cosgrove, I trust you’ve studied hard for the exam today?” she said.

  “Yes,” Tav said, finding an empty chair, every eye on her as she took her seat and got comfortable. She pulled a pencil from her purse, “I’m ready for my test,” she smiled.

  The students made it through the exam. Passed their papers forward at the end of ninety minutes and threw their fates to the winds hoping they studied enough and studied the right material to get a passing grade.

  “I feel good, I feel really good actually, I know I knew at least enough of those answers for a C,” Benny said, “And I’m feeling pretty confident about enough to get me a B,” he nodded his head, “What about you Greg?” he asked.

  “There were some puzzlers in there, I give props to Professor Malsauve, there were a few curve balls, but I think I performed adequately,” he said, then smiled as he looked over Benny’s shoulder, seeing Willow, looking through her textbook to compare her answers to the accepted knowledge of the times, “If you excuse me, gentlemen, I wish to converse with a fellow student about our, performance,” he smiled.

  “Go get her man,” Cole said, looking around and trying to find his own special lady.

  “Eliza probably aced the test too, Maybe I should ask her about what she got for question four, that was a doozy,” Benny said.

  “Yeah, you do that,” Cole said, finding Tav, leaving the classroom, so many eyes on her. She stood tall though, proud of herself, not caring about the looks she was getting or the whispers she was causing.

  Cole found her, and he smiled as their eyes met. “So, how do you feel?” he asked, “About the test I mean?” he shrugged his shoulders.

  “I feel good about it, I feel really good,” Tav smiled, “About the test I mean,” she said.

  “So, terms almost over, you know the guys were thinking about taking one last trip to the market before we head home, little end-of-year celebration,” he said, “Has Angelica earned enough in the inventory to get you your new glamor, not that I think you need it,” Cole smiled.

  “Yeah, I got a glamor, we could go out. Just hope it doesn’t get interrupted by some crazy demon again,” Tav rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that, since that little encounter we had, the Order has been pumping up security in the area, we don’t have to worry about some demon,” Cole said.

  “So, what are you doing this summer?” Tav asked, wringing her hands and biting her lip.

  “This summer?” Cole asked, “I guess I’m just going to head back to the farm and get some training in, show my dad I can finally light my sword on fire, he’ll get a kick out of that,” Cole said.

  “Well, I was wondering, if you wanted to, maybe visit me over break, you know, meet my family,” She looked up at him, smiling.

  “Your family? You mean?” Cole felt a bit nervous at the idea. But he put those nerves aside. Tav had shown him that there were good demons in this world, and if what she said about her mother was true, maybe she was a good demon. If Tav was inviting him to meet her family, she must take his role as her Not-Boyfriend pretty seriously, “Yeah,” Cole said, “That sounds nice,” he smiled.

  “Okay, don’t worry, my mom is going to love you,” she reached up and put her hand on his arm, “She’s got a thing for hunters, apparently,” she smiled.

  “Sounds like a plan, but first we hit the market, celebrate the end of the year, then we take a little vacation and meet your family, I’m in,” Cole said.

  “All right, just be careful around my mom, she’s very…affectionate,” Tav said.

  “What do you mean?” Cole asked.

  “You’ll find out,” Tav tilted her head to the side and smiled.

  Cole reached up and brushed a violet lock of hair from her face, “Sounds great,” he said, leaning in to give her a quick peck on the lips.