Fletcher left the Unhumans behind, but he didn’t go back into the auditorium. He wanted to keep to the mostly deserted hallways in hopes of not running into anyone while he tried to figure out a way out of this mess. They couldn’t actually make him take the job. That wasn’t fair. He was a Human—mostly Human—after all, not one of them.

  But he was technically one of them now, at least according to Prime Minister Vi’le, and given that Shari had [Healed] him without reservation after that little speech, it must be true.

  Fletcher Anders, Unhuman citizen…

  “Fletcher? Jeez, what happened to you?”

  Ripped away from the internal whirlwind, he glanced up to stare into Heather’s concerned, blue eyes.

  “Uh. Well, um…” He couldn’t quite find the words for the past fifteen minutes, but he did realize that his shirt was still completely undone, leaving most of his torso exposed. Not to mention there was blood splattered across his clothes from the fight. “Things didn’t go well at the meeting.”

  “Apparently. What, did you fist fight Caston over making the program full-time or not?” she asked. Her eyes lingered at his bare chest, but he chose to accept it as a compliment given the amount of time he’d been spending at the gym lately thanks to Javier’s nagging.

  “No. Some guy was calling Sunlight ‘freak,’ and he wouldn’t shut up, so I stepped in,” Fletcher answered as he began buttoning his shirt again. “What are you doing? I thought you were handling the dunk tank.”

  “I was looking for you. Some of the kids said you promised them a cornhole match.”

  “Yeah. Don’t think I’ll have time. I need to check in with Gabby and then clean up before the closing ceremony.” Fletcher left his top two buttons undone and his tie hanging loosely around him. “Will you let them know?”

  Heather grabbed his arm as he tried to walk past. “Are you alright?”

  “Fine. If you’ll excuse me.” He shook her grip off, but she started walking right alongside him.

  “I’ll come with you. There’s a lot of blood, and you might have a concussion.”

  “I’m fine, Heather, really. And I don’t have a concussion, not anymore.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Fletcher bit his lip. He hadn’t meant to say that much.

  “I-uh-got [Healed] by one of the Unhumans. I’m just checking in with Gabby so she knows I’m alright,” he said after ensuring no one was nearby.

  “[Healed]?” Heather shook her head. “But, that’s illegal for Unhumans to do to a Human.”

  Fletcher stopped walking to face his friend and took a deep breath. “I think… I think I might actually technically be an Unhuman now. Politically speaking.”

  “Concussion. Definitely a concussion,” Heather said as she grabbed his arm and pushed him towards the nurse’s office again. “Gabby will sort this out.”

  Fletcher sighed. He’d trusted Heather this far, and talking about it with someone might help ease some of the burden or at least help him process it all. He pulled her to a stop and quietly recounted everything that happened, starting with Vi’le interrupting the fight and ending with the forced job.

  “I don’t believe it. They can’t just make you an Unhuman citizen,” Heather said in disbelief. “Surely you have to agree to that kind of thing. And just to force you to take a job in an Unhuman city. Fletcher, do you know how dangerous that is?”

  “I’m very aware. You know I was hesitant about taking a full-time position here. The last thing I want is to move that far, but I’m not sure I get the choice.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  Fletcher shrugged. “Make the best of it. It’s a chance to travel to a part of the world few, if any, Humans have ever seen. And it’s a huge step career-wise to go from teaching to running a full education program.”

  Heather shook her head and smiled. “It figures you would find a way to put a positive spin on it. It’s a good thing it was you. If they’d chosen me, I’d have argued with that [Goblin] until they arrested me, Prime Minister or not.”

  Laughing, Fletcher restarted their journey to visit Nurse Gabby, who had a plethora of other patients waiting from the brawl. Luckily, she chose to prioritize a faculty member and took Fletcher back almost as soon as he entered. The check up went fast, but as he stood to leave, she motioned for him to sit back down as she pulled out a needle.

  “I need to get your bloodwork anyway for the Hex test,” she explained. “If you can roll up your sleeve, it’ll only take another minute.”

  Fletcher complied and allowed her to take a sample. While he knew that his blood would test clean, just as it had all his life, part of him was always worried when the testing came. He was convinced that one day it would all change, and then his life would come crumbling down. The problem was, his life might already be headed in that direction, even without his secret being exposed.

  ***

  The next morning, Fletcher sat at the final faculty meeting of the term, only half paying attention to Rosa’s long list of complaints and things she wanted changed for next year. At least there would be a next year. Principal Caston announced that the motion for a full-time program failed, but that the board had elected to continue with the summer term, much to most of the teachers’ disappointment.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Damascus,” Caston said once she finished. “I’ll make sure this is passed on through the proper channels.” Bureaucratic code for, “I don’t care, and I’m going to do nothing about these issues.”

  The older man glanced around. “Is there anything else anyone wants to discuss before we end for the year?”

  Fletcher raised his hand. Since he wasn’t going to be here next year, now was his only time to make a case for upping the level of math taught.

  Principal Caston looked at him with cold eyes. “Mr. Anders?”

  A subtle groan escaped from several people near him, but Fletcher ignored them.

  “I think that we should offer calculus next year. The students are ready for more advanced math,” he stated.

  Caston grinned. “Why don’t we leave the decisions about the math classes up to our next head of the math department?”

  “Dipping out, Anders?” Dean asked from where he sat across the table.

  “Mr. Anders didn’t tell you all? Well, I believe congratulations are in order for a very happy career change.” Caston jumped in immediately, obviously eager to share news Fletcher would rather not tell. “He’s taking the position of Chief Administrator of the education program in Bren’it’p.”

  “Bren’it’p? That’s an Unhuman city.” Javier swiveled his chair to stare at Fletcher. While they didn’t see eye to eye on Unhuman issues, he was still Fletcher’s best friend. “Don’t you have to be an Unhuman for that?”

  Fletcher shrugged, not wanting to go into those details either. “It’s a long story, and one that’s probably better suited for something outside of our meeting.”

  “On the contrary, Mr. Anders. I think we owe it to our colleagues to share just how amazing of an opportunity you’ve been provided,” Caston corrected him. He looked around to the others with a fake smile. “You see, Fletcher Anders has been given the great honor of dual citizenship. He counts as both a Human and an Unhuman. I understand there are only a few dozen people alive who can claim such things. Truly, we should be commending him for such an accomplishment.”

  Principal Caston started clapping, and the others in the room half-heartedly joined him as Fletcher glared daggers into the man.

  The applause was interrupted by an angry voice.

  “Deities, you did this, didn’t you Caston? You’ve always hated Fletcher, and somehow you worked this out to get the one person who's actually trying to make a difference removed so you wouldn’t have any more roadblocks to ending the program for good. You’re disgusting!” Heather was on her feet, shouting.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Heather,” Fletcher said. She may be expressing thoughts he’d had himself, but accusing Caston now wasn’t going to do anything.

  “That is quite the accusation, Ms. Dawson, but no. I do not have that kind of political power. Of course, when I was approached about Mr. Anders qualifications, I couldn’t help but express just how fond he was of his Unhuman students,” Caston admitted.

  “Fletcher’s the one who took the job, Heather,” Javier pointed out.

  “He didn’t get a choice,” she said despite Fletcher waving her down. He really didn’t want to open up about the fact that this was being forced on him.

  All eyes turned to Fletcher for an explanation anyway.

  “Part of being an Unhuman citizen. You take whatever job they want you to have,” he replied.

  “What? Didn’t read that part when they offered you citizenship, Fletch?” Javier asked bitterly. Their nearly life-long friendship was the only reason he got away with using the childish nickname now.

  “I didn’t get a choice about that part either,” Fletcher said quietly.

  Javier’s face softened for a moment before growing even more angry. “Those freaks.”

  “Sounds like you’re getting what you deserve, freak-lover,” Dean muttered.

  “I will see you all on the bus.” Fletcher stood up, grabbed his laptop, and swung his backpack onto his back. He’d had enough of this discussion to last a lifetime, and he wanted the chance to walk the grounds one last time before he said farewell to the Academy for good.

  As he exited the room, he slipped his laptop back into his bag and replaced it on his shoulders. After a quick jaunt through the halls, he stepped into the late summer air with a sigh, and the heat convinced him to roll up his sleeves and unbutton his shirt a little. The students had all left that morning anyway, and he had a guaranteed job, so what did professionalism matter at the moment?

  Normally he’d wander through the courtyard, since that was the only outdoor area deemed “safe” for Humans, but that day he was willing to take his chances outside the square academy walls. A few trees dotted the immediate area, but most of the vicinity for a mile in any direction had been cleared of any kind of cover, a holdover from when the building had been a military stronghold during the last war. Two buses sat at the front entrance, already being loaded with the faculty’s luggage.

  Fletcher had only made it a step when something shot out from around the corner, aiming directly for his chest. He only just managed to dodge it, but the attacker didn’t let up. Ducking as the knife swung toward him, he got a look at his opponent and mentally cursed.

  Bigot. Again.

  The larger man held his weapon and a deadly smile. A fist fight was one thing, but Fletcher was no match for this guy unarmed. It hadn’t even been an equal fight when there weren’t weapons involved. He was also surprised that this guy was angry enough to resort to killing over what happened the day before.

  Bigot drove the knife towards Fletcher who jumped back, the knife slashing the air instead. Seeming to recognize Fletcher's better agility, Bigot went back to brute strength and tackled him to the ground. The man used his legs to pin Fletcher’s arms to his side, and despite his struggling, he remained firmly stuck as Bigot raised his knife for a killing blow.

  Closing his eyes and cursing himself for not pursuing martial arts more as a kid, Fletcher looked away, but the pain of being stabbed never came. He partially opened one eye to see that Bigot was frozen in place, shock etched on his face.

  “What the…” Fletcher pushed the man off, and he toppled over, as though frozen solid.

  “My deities, Fletcher. I thought you learned your lesson about picking fights yesterday,” a familiar voice said.

  Fletcher stood up and smiled at Sunlight who stood a few yards off, her hands straight out in use of whatever [Skill] she’d placed on Bigot. Behind her was an Unhuman guard, a new protection added after the day before.

  “I guess you didn’t see the whole thing. He started it this time.”

  Sunlight laughed and nodded to the accompanying guard who promptly arrested Bigot. Once the man was restrained, she released the [Skill] holding him, and he began shouting curses.

  “What are you going to do with him?” Fletcher asked.

  “He’ll come back to Unhuman territory with us. Since you’re an Unhuman citizen, we can execute our own justice against him,” Sunlight explained. She motioned towards the open grounds before them. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

  “Sure, Sunlight. What’s up?” Fletcher said as he fell in line with her steps.

  She sucked her bottom lip for a moment before responding, her golden skin glimmering in the daylight. “Principal Caston didn’t want me to attend the final faculty in person, but he set it up so I could listen in,” she said at last.

  He sighed. It seemed he was destined to spend the rest of his life discussing the same thing for hours on end.

  “Fletcher, no one is trying to make you take this job. Unhumans just work a little differently than Humans, so while that may be what it looks like, I promise that’s not the intention,” she continued.

  “Come on, Sunlight. I was already hesitant to take a position that put me only a few hours from my dad. Now I’m being told I have to take one that’s literally on the other side of the planet. Tell me you can understand some of my frustration, at least,” Fletcher replied.

  The [Jinn] nodded. “Of course. That’s why I want to offer you a way out.”

  “I can say no to the offer?”

  She frowned. “No. It’s a little less pleasant than that.” Sunlight stopped walking. “Call me a slur and hit me.”

  Fletcher also stopped and stared at her. “What?”

  “Call me a slur. Something nasty. And throw in some physical violence. I’ll tell Minister Vi’le that we got in a fight, and it’ll disqualify you from being a candidate and even cancel your Unhuman citizenship. But for something that big, I’ll have to swear to it under [Truth], so you have to act it out for this to work.”

  “But then everyone thinks I’m as bad as the guy you just arrested.”

  “You’ve done plenty to prove yourself as a friend to Unhumans. This will make sure you don’t end up with any Unhuman jobs, but it won’t affect you other than that,” Sunlight promised.

  Fletcher thought about what she was offering. It was an easy way out of a job he didn’t particularly want, and doing it would keep him safe from his secret ever being discovered. But at what cost?

  He frowned, thinking of the board meeting the day before and then his five summers at the Academy. All the students he’d ever taught would eventually get word that he was a secret bigot… a hypocrite. They all looked up to him and liked him, even as a Human. If they learned that he did something like this, would they ever be able to trust another Human again?

  Maybe he would be safer doing this, but to do it would take something from him that he could never get back—his integrity. And it could taint dozens of Unhumans’ views about Humans. He couldn’t do that, not for his own selfish wants.

  With a shake of his head, Fletcher patted Sunlight’s shoulder. It was hot to the touch. “Sunlight, I just got in two fights over someone else using that kind of language against you. Sure, right now I’m a little tense about the job, but honestly, I think I’m really going to like it. It’s a huge opportunity.”

  If there was one thing Fletcher was good at it, it was choosing the optimistic lens about life. He’d found that there was always going to be something to dislike, but it was a whole lot easier to choose to see the good and just be happy.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “Positive. I would never say that kind of thing to a friend, not even to ditch a job I don’t want,” Fletcher assured her. He glanced over his shoulder as voices drifted into his ears and discovered that some of the other staff members were exiting the building. Several of them were looking at him and Sunlight, a common occurrence whenever a Human dared to interact with an Unhuman in any kind of casual manner.

  Fletcher smiled and grabbed Sunlight’s hand in a firm handshake. “The only real loss with this job is that I’m not going to keep working with you. It has been an absolute pleasure, Madam Sunlight.”

  “Same to you, Mr. Anders. I have some business back in Unhuman territory, but I’ll be in Alcett in a few days to brief you on your new position.” She ducked her head, and he did the same before releasing the hold to walk to the buses.

  Everyone was staring, and he knew there would be whispers, but he didn’t really care. He stepped onto the first bus and took a window seat at the back where he could hopefully avoid most of the people.

  The others slowly shuffled in, and since they were conserving gas, there was no air conditioner to help with the stifling heat. Fletcher had developed a thin layer of sweat all over his body when Heather swung into the seat next to him.

  “What were you and Sunlight chatting about?” she asked without so much as a “hello.”

  “She was giving me a way out of the job if I wanted it.”

  “And you took it?” Heather said with a raised eyebrow.

  “No. I decided that I’m going to give this position a chance,” Fletcher confessed.

  “Unbelievable,” she replied sharply. “You do all this crap to drum up sympathy and then decide not to take your one chance of escape. I don’t understand you, Fletcher.”

  “It wasn’t that simple,” he said. “I had to hit her and call her ‘freak.’”

  “She offered it, Fletcher. It was your way out,” she insisted.

  “I couldn’t do it.” He recognized that even she couldn’t fully understand his reasoning in the situation.

  “Whatever.” Heather stood up and then sat back down in a huff. “And now all the other seats are taken. Great.”

  “Sorry,” Fletcher offered lightly.

  She didn’t respond as the bus finally rumbled to life. They didn’t speak as their long journey home began, Heather working on her laptop and Fletcher watching the scenery out the window while listening to music.

  About an hour into the trip, their bus came to a screeching halt. Several shouts drowned out the music in Fletcher’s earbuds, and he ripped them off as he stood to see what caused the commotion. Everyone else was standing as well, making it difficult to get a good view of what blocked their path, but Fletcher’s blood ran cold when he finally got his glimpse.

  It was a tall being, covered in stone and moss, a [Golem] at first glance.

  “That’s not Human,” Heather muttered.

  “But it’s not Unhuman either,” Fletcher pointed out. There was fleshy skin in some places on the body, and it was way too small to be a true [Golem]. But that could mean only one thing.

  Hexed Human terrorists.