Freedom, Humanity, and Other Delusions (Death's Handmaiden Book 3) by Niall Teasdale (best summer reads txt) 📕

later, as Nava turned her hand on Zackery, the split was gone and the swollen flesh around it was returning to normal. ‘And I’m sure your wife would prefer you undamaged, Zackery.’

‘Nava’s magic is quite amazing too,’ Michiko said to Melissa.

Melissa nodded. ‘Active Recovery to fix a few bruises is really overkill, but it certainly is effective.’

‘Nava doesn’t just hurt people. She can heal them as well.’

‘Mm, yes. I think she forgets that sometimes, but then, that’s one of the things that makes her Nava, and we wouldn’t want her to change, would we?’

‘No,’ Michiko said firmly. ‘We would not.’

Shinden Alliance School of Sorcery, 236/3/5.

Melissa was looking embarrassed again, but this time it was due to Courtney’s rather enthusiastic greeting of Kyle. If Courtney did not let her boyfriend up to breathe soon, they were going to need paramedics.

Melissa was not the only one looking a little uncomfortable as the couple came close to acts of public indecency in the lounge. Naomi was behind them, looking a little out of place, even if he also looked like the perfect soldier in his ASF uniform. It was, as yet, unclear what the ex-chairman of extracurricular activities was doing there. For one thing, there was no space for him to sleep in the house…

‘I’m just visiting for a couple of days,’ Naomi said when it did not look like there would be a break in the smooching to give him a more obvious opening. ‘Just to see how everyone is doing. The school arranged for me to stay in one of the postgrad apartments, but I thought I’d stop off here first since Kyle was coming straight here.’

‘I’ll make some drinks,’ Nava said. ‘Kyle will probably need the fluids after Courtney finishes sucking all the ones he currently has out through his mouth.’

That got through to Courtney. ‘I am not going to– You just said that to make me stop, didn’t you?’

‘Not entirely.’ Nava turned for the door to the kitchen. ‘You have been making noises about Kyle’s visit all week. I suppose we should be thankful he’s finally here. Should we just put food on trays outside your room for the next few days?’

‘No!’

‘It’s really difficult to tell if she’s being sarcastic,’ Naomi commented.

‘You just noticed?’ Mitsuko asked. ‘Don’t stand on ceremony, Naomi. Sit down. That bag looks heavy.’

Naomi glanced over his shoulder at the kit bag he was lugging around. It almost looked like he had forgotten he was carrying it. ‘I suppose it is.’ Placing the bag on the carpet beside the door, he walked over to one of the sofas and took a seat: the seat beside Melissa, who looked more than a little surprised by that turn of events. ‘I heard you were re-elected, President. Congratulations. How are things going on the council?’

‘Well, no changes in the team. Yet. Courtney is stepping down at the end of this term, but we’ll deal with that when it happens.’

‘You persuaded Marie to stay on?’

Mitsuko nodded a reply. ‘We cleared the admin early this week, since we’re sticking with the same council, so we’ve just got back from a couple of days at the mansion.’

‘I heard that a Firmin was running against you in the election.’

‘You heard right. In the end, she wasn’t much of a threat. I was more worried that the small amount of competition seemed to depress the voting numbers.’

‘Hm.’ The big man turned his head. ‘And you, Melissa? Are you still doing your usual impressive job as secretary?’

‘Oh! Me?’ Melissa was a little surprised at being addressed. Which she should not really have been. ‘Uh, it’s going fine. Same old, same old. I’m just glad I never had to use my resignation letter.’

‘The school would have lost a valuable asset.’

‘Th-thank you, Naomi.’ Melissa was not sure what to make of the compliments. It was not like she hated being complimented, or that Naomi was doing it. It was, however, a little unexpected…

Nava returned from the kitchen with a tray holding several mugs and pots of both coffee and tea. Naomi seemed to realise he was confounding Melissa and quickly looked around at Nava. ‘And have you been keeping busy, Nava?’

‘Of course, Naomi,’ Nava replied. ‘I have schoolwork. I keep an eye on the MagiTag and Flight Clubs. And I have a new friend whose imaginary friend turned out to be a real Harbinger. So, you know, normal stuff.’

‘I think I need to hear that story.’

‘Just so long as it doesn’t get reported up the chain of command. This Harbinger turned out to be a nice Harbinger.’

‘I definitely need to hear that story.’

236/3/9.

Dinner was getting crowded. Carina did not always eat with them, but it was far from an infrequent occurrence. Tonight, they had Kyle at the table too. Since Hoshi and Rochester were there rather than at Hoshi’s apartment, there were eight people and they had required two tables to fit everyone together. The conversation was flying about, making eating something take second place to chatter.

And Courtney had an announcement. ‘The administration informed me that Taryn Borchardt Firmin has applied for the position of SSF captain. They’re going to arrange an interview for her, so they’re taking it seriously.’

‘I see,’ Nava said. She figured that Courtney was mostly aiming the statement at her, though it was likely that Mitsuko and Melissa would be interested.

‘Courtney said she’d asked you to take on the job,’ Kyle said.

It was a statement which seemed to warrant an answer. ‘She did,’ Nava said.

‘Your power surpasses even mine,’ Carina said in an overly dramatic tone. ‘You would make an excellent leader of the school’s guardians.’

Courtney rolled her eyes, but Nava responded in her usual flat tone. ‘So I’m told.’

‘Probably better than this Taryn Borchardt Firmin,’ Kyle said. He took a forkful of pasta and began chewing it thoughtfully.

‘If there are no more applicants, Taryn’s likely to get it,’ Courtney said.

‘I may need that letter of resignation after all,’ Melissa said mournfully. Nava gave her a look.

‘The Firmins are good fighters,’ Kyle said.