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Zulu’s guard had made me thirty minutes late. I glared at the Fairy as he marched behind me. His hot red suit contrasted with his tan complexion and short height. Standing only five feet tall, he came to my chest. I could see the ceiling’s light shining on his bald head.
    Zulu and I had agreed the guard would not follow me into my classes. The problem was, when Zulu hired him, the contract said, “Stay with Lanore, guard her, and keep her safe.” This Fairy was a Spriggan, which meant all contracts were taken literally. Disregarding anything I said, the guard remained by my side, only leaving me alone for bathroom breaks.
    Thankfully.
    “Miss Vesta.” Professor Rodriguez pointed to a chair in front of her. “Due to your tardiness, you’ll be sitting in the front row. And you’ve brought a guest without requesting my permission. How considerate of you.”
    Professor Rodriguez looked down at the Spriggan, shaking her head. She chanted a spell. Paragraphs appeared in front of the class. Each word was black, a foot long, and floated in the air. I scanned the air for the page number. It hovered above the professor’s desk. The class’s discussion had completed the pages I’d read.
    Out-freaking-standing.
    “You’re one of a few Mixbreeds at this university.” Professor Rodriguez glared at me. “If you graduate in the spring, you’ll be the first Mixbreed to do it. You should try to be a positive example instead of a confirmation of Mixbreeds’ failures.”
    I pulled out my copy of American Supernatural History while the people behind me snickered.
    “Miss Vesta. Stand up and discuss the Black Panther Party and its significance in our history.” She walked through the words and sat down in her seat.
    I stood up. “The Black Panther party was a group of Africans who—”
    “African Americans, Miss Vesta. With your skin color, I’d assume you’d know what that means.” She waved her hands. A black and white photograph of the Black Panther party members appeared next to her magicked text. I cleared my throat.
    “They were African American Shapeshifters. Most of the members were black fur-coated Were-leopards and Were-jaguars. The government monitored them for suspicion of terrorist activities.” I twisted the bottom of my shirt around my finger. “One night, the Humans saw the members shifting after a meeting in the woods—”
    “The Humans?” Professor Rodriguez shook her head. “This isn’t one of your remedial Mixbreed classes. You’ll need to say the government agency here.”
    A few students raised their hands. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead. Professor Rodriguez pointed to a female Supe with green hair.
    “The FBI ,” said the green-haired female.
    “Thank you, Gloria.” The professor stared back at me. “Continue.”
    I tapped my right foot. “The Human president ordered a national state of emergency.”
    “Is that what your textbook says?”
    “I didn’t get to finish reading that section.”
    “That’s clear. You’re also wasting my time and your peers’. Please leave.” She pointed to the door. “I expect a paper on Chapter Five by Friday.”
    Of course you do. I avoided her eyes and walked out of class. Ray followed. Motherpounder. I’d fought to get into her class.
    Professor Rodriguez was from the old school of thought, believing Mixbreeds were abominations and should be euthanized. When she denied my registration for her class, she wrote me a letter, explaining that most interspecies’ offspring had serious mental illnesses and the rest were only fit to be criminals or janitors.
    I found her statistics to be Were-bullshit and wrote letters to the university board, threatening to contact PETA and other Human organizations that supported Mixbreed rights. Not wanting negative news, the university had forced the professor to let me enroll.
    “You were wrong,” Ray, the Spriggan, said, wiping sweat off the wing brand on his forehead. “You forgot to mention the Supe