The next day of her investigation was interrupted by her brother, Regulus. He was only a few days younger than her, born to another woman who’d died in childbirth. Though Claire had naturally never met the woman, and Lord Sieg wasn’t the type to allow such momentos as portraits, she thought Regulus’s mother must have been beautiful. He had dark, almost black, curly hair and icy blue eyes. Many students had crushes on him, and they begrudged Claire her existence because it meant they had to pay extra if they wanted to guarantee the offspring they bought time with was the right one. 

Of course, the same held true in the opposite direction. Claire might not be as attractive physically, but her skill was well-known enough to attract its own share of interest. 

“Claire,” Regulus said as she headed toward her first class. He stood leaning against the wall beside the door to her classroom. As always, his magic felt to her like creeping-crawling nausea, a pit in the stomach that made his presence hard to stand. As always, she reminded herself that she only felt like that about him because that was how he felt about her, so if he was talking to her anyway, it had to be important. 

Claire glanced around, catching sight of Stenford disappearing into the classroom, and followed her brother a ways away into a narrow space between two buildings. “What is it?” 

Her brother shoved a piece of paper into her hand, crossed his arms, and looked back down the pathway. “Father wants us to ‘connect’ with these people. Let me know if there are any you won’t be able to manage yourself.” 

In other words, Reg would do exactly as much as necessary and push off the rest onto her, like always. Like she didn’t have anything better to do with her time. Claire grimaced and examined the list, scanning the names and comparing them to her mental notes on each person. “Ella Bright. She hates me.”

“Because you fucked her fiance?” Regulus asked with a sneer. 

“Jealous?” Claire snarked, making her brother glare at her. Well, if absolutely necessary, it wasn’t like hate couldn’t be used to create a connection, but Claire would also prefer to avoid Bright if possible. That was an offer made without speaking with the child in question if she’d ever seen one. She finished the list and nodded, tapping the last name. “Fate Zephyr. He’s terrified of women. I’ll get nowhere with him.” 

Regulus nodded shortly. “Fine. I’ll handle those two.” He left without waiting for her to say anything more. It was a shame. Reg was perfectly lovely when he wanted to be. He just found her so disgusting that he could barely exist in the same space as her, so Claire rarely got a chance to see it. 

Oh well. She’d given up on experiencing anything like affection from any of the male members of her family long ago.

Claire examined the remaining six names, one of whom was Mike Stenford, and sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair. “Right,” she muttered. Had he known? There was no way he’d gotten permission that quickly, so it must already have been in the works.

Connecting. The polite society euphemism for arranged sex between members of different families. 

Once upon a time, there had been a terribly self-serving belief that men required regular sex or their magic would weaken and die out. At the same time, there was a somewhat substantiated belief that a woman carried a bit of every man she slept with forever after, meaning any future children could contain a portion of that man’s genes. 

Both had since been disproved. Men and women benefited magically from sex, but abstinence wouldn’t harm their magic in the slightest. Men and women both retained a small portion of their partners’ magic within them for some time after the fact, though the length of time ranged from a few weeks to years, and so the offspring of any person could possess magical properties from a number of different partners. As such, the practices that had originated with those outdated beliefs continued. Every family did their best to connect with other families, and though the only inheritance for future children would be a prior partner’s magic, families nonetheless focused on appearances just as much as magic. 

It was stupid, Claire thought, but it wasn’t her choice. What her father ordered, she had to obey. For now, at least.

Immediately after classes that day, she approached the first name on her list: Aaron Freit. He was still sitting, vibrating with anxious energy as he fiddled with his pen. He caught sight of her and turned a brilliant shade of red. “Oh, hey, uh, Claire - I mean Benefeld. Uh, so, you got my family’s request, huh?” 

Claire suppressed the urge to sigh and instead smiled as she slid neatly into the seat next to him. “Indeed. Do you have any preferences?” 

“Preferences?” Freit asked, voice cracking into a squeak. “N-no one said anything about… I mean, aren’t you just… we just need to connect, right?” 

Another suppressed sigh. Claire opened herself more fully to his magic, lowering her usual defenses to taste what her magic could tell her about him. She leaned closer and rested one hand on his thigh under the desk. “Technically, yes, all that was negotiated was that we connect, but there’s no reason it can’t be enjoyable.” 

Freit squeaked again. Claire tilted her head curiously. “Are you, by chance, a virgin?” she asked as though she didn’t know. 

Freit nodded, looking ashamed. “I-I’ve tried to a few times before, but I always… I haven’t been able to…” 

There had been plenty of rumors, girls and guys alike laughing to each other about Freit’s failed attempts at connecting. ‘Timid’ was the kindest of the words used to describe him. Claire moved her hand up, feeling him. Sure enough, he wasn’t the least bit excited. His shoulders curled in, and he tucked his chin in further and looked away. Claire knew he was keenly aware of the people whispering as they passed them. She smiled gently. Luckily for him, this was something she was well-equipped to handle. “Don’t worry. I’m a Sensor. The doctors have confirmed you’re capable, yes?” At his small nod, she rose to her feet and waited for him to join her in standing. “Then don’t worry. Our connection will work.” 

When at last, she managed to coax Freit into his room and out of his clothes, it was gratifying but unsurprising to be proven correct. He required specific circumstances to connect with another, but it certainly wasn’t impossible. Although his interests weren’t compatible with hers, Freit proved sweet enough that Claire gave him as thorough an analysis as her magic could provide. “So long as you find a partner who’s willing to do these things,” she told him, “you should be fine.” 

Freit peered up at her shyly and asked, “Would you mind terribly if I asked to be paired with you again?” 

It was a common request, and he was nicer about it than most of her partners. (Asking her opinion at all was nicer than most of her partners.) Claire smiled and petted his hair, watching his eyes flutter closed as he leaned into the touch with a sigh. “That’s fine, but make sure you explore others as well.”

A week and a half later, several days longer than she’d planned on taking, Claire could finally call an end to her investigation of Mike Stenford. As expected, although she’d gotten to experience firsthand his sexual ‘prowess,’ their connection left much to be desired. There were a few rumors about him pressuring girls into having sex with him, and she couldn’t say she was surprised, given his conduct during their session. 

Though Stenford seemed to think she’d be coming back for more as a matter of course, Claire very much hoped her father would never agree to another connection. No doubt Stenford thought the drug he’d added to her drink made up for his utter lack of anything resembling skill, but that just made him a moron. She marveled at the fact that anyone ever claimed those drugs ‘made them do it.’ What bullshit.

She wondered briefly if Regulus had been able to complete his task, then shook away the thought. It wasn’t any of her business, and since it involved her family, she had no interest in making it her business.

For now, she could finally focus on her real interest, and she wasn’t going to waste time thinking about her brother of all people.