Chapter 13

13

Once the lottery passed, it was time for me to focus on finding the Augundae Imperium. Because I knew if I didn’t move on that soon, then Barbara would show up here again demanding her prize…and I could not allow her to come back.

Who knew what kind of tricks she’d unleash. She might hurt someone I cared about as an incentive to get me to do her bidding.

I couldn’t risk it.

My stomach felt hollow as I trekked down the hallways, avoiding the windows and the glow of the full moon outside. It had become habit by this point, staying out of the direct moonlight, because if I stepped in the wrong spot my glamour would shatter. And I’d been so good at avoiding that this semester.

Melia followed behind me, with her hands at the ready to work the spell we’d agreed upon. Together she and I climbed the winding stairs toward the tallest tower of the castle.

She knew a tracking spell, one designed to lock on to larger than average power signatures, Melia assured me. It was a spell I wouldn’t learn until my third or fourth year depending on whether I chose an advanced curriculum or not. Which meant I must lean heavily on her assistance to perform the spell so we could follow its path to the artifact I needed.

Good thing we trusted each other without reservation.

It really made a difference, I decided, having someone on my side who knew my secret. Even though Melia wasn’t really on board with the whole “get the Augundae Imperium and give it to the witch” scenario, she loved me enough to know my position here was a life or death thing. And she damn certain wanted to make sure I crossed the border into Faerie with her.

My throat suddenly clogged and I took a second to clear it. I’d never had a best friend like her before. I hadn’t known what I was missing, honestly, until I met Melia. She filled a hole inside of me I’d never had the courage to admit existed—a lacking, a missing piece.

“Tell me when we get to a good place to stop,” I whispered.

“There’s a spot up ahead where no one goes. That will be a good place for us to set up.” Something glittered in her eyes. Anticipation, excitement, a desire to see what would happen.

As we turned the corner, a dark hallway stretched in front of us and I stared at the cold stones, at the absense of windows. Definitely not a place I would want to be alone. It looked like ghosts might pop out of the walls and say boo. I’d read my fair share of haunted house fiction. This space definitely fit in with any of those novels. Some of the authors might even have used this area as inspiration.

“This is the spot,” Melia told me cheerfully. She swung the bag over her shoulder and set it carefully down on the floor. “No one comes up here because, as you can see, it’s totally creepy.”

“Good for privacy,” I agreed. Although I still wasn’t clear why we couldn’t have worked this magic in her room instead.

“Definitely good for privacy.” She pointed to a spot on the wall and I found myself grateful for my amazing eyesight. “You see the dark spots there?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I came up here in my second year to practice a few spells I was having trouble with. Turned out I needed more practice than I thought. Ended up nearly knocking out a wall, luckily only a few loose stones. Big explosion.” She stretched her arms in the air to indicate just how big. “You should have seen it. And good thing I was here alone because I definitely could have taken out a small army with my mistakes.”

“It’s hard for me to imagine you making a mistake,” I told her.

She huffed. “Oh, girl, I’ve made so many mistakes you could fill a boat with them. I don’t take my current perfection for granted.”

Melia motioned for me to move a few steps ahead of her and we set up a small altar in the middle of the hallway. Mortar and pestle, check. Herbs, spices, lighter, check. We had all of the necessary accoutrements to make this work and then some, if I’d remembered correctly.

Yeah, big if.

Melia and I crouched low over the makeshift altar and I closed my eyes to follow her lead. A few words of magic, uttered low, and I felt power begin to rise around us. A breeze tickled the back of my neck and a tug at my center drew me forward.

“Is the wind normal?” I asked Melia.

My eyes were closed so I missed her physical response, though I heard her say, “Yeah, girl. It’s part of the package.”

In a moment the breeze died down and we were left in the relatively creepy silence. Did I just hear a disembodied voice calling my name?

We sat for a moment longer with our arms outstretched and hands held palm to palm. The magic condensed around us. Melia said a few more words aloud, breaking the connection to mix another set of herbs in the bowl. A small pop sounded and the tug at my center intensified.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now you put this ring on and it will guide you where you need to go. It’s linked to whatever large-scale magical signatures are present in the castle,” she told me.

I opened my eyes to see Melia holding a small pewter ring between her index finger and thumb. “Where did it come from?”

“The magic takes the form of whatever would be easiest for the user to carry. In this case, a ring is the perfect accessory for you to use to track what you desire because it’s small and innocuous. No one is going to worry about you wearing it. And it’s not silver. Isn’t magic special?” She offered me a wide grin.

I shook my head and grimaced as she slid the ring onto my middle finger. “I’ll never take being normal for granted again.”

She scoffed. “Normal is highly overrated. Here, push this bad boy home and let’s get a move on.”

The moment the ring was in place, a heady magic pulsed through me, drawing me forward.

“I feel it,” I told her. “Something big. Really big.” Like the quiet before a hurricane where the air held the hint of a threat.

“It’s gotta be the Augundae Imperium. An artifact like that would throw off a huge signature. I’m sure the ring is picking up on it. The spell worked!” Melia clapped her hands and began to shove the pieces of our makeshift offer into her bag again.

“I never doubted you.” But my feet couldn’t stay in one place. I found myself walking away from her back in the direction we’d come.

Best case scenario, this spell would lead me right to the artifact and I’d manage to grab it with little effort. Worst case scenario, it would lead me on a wild goose chase through the castle and I’d be no closer to finding what I sought.

Melia hurried to join me, and in her smile there was a sense of genuine joy, in her eyes a flicker of anticipation. Now I understood. This woman who used to run from adventure now itched for one and wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it. She’d told me about her past the same night I’d opened up about mine. Half human and half fae, her father actually stuck around to raise her until she was old enough to get into the academy before he returned to Faerie. He waited for her on the other side. Although he wasn’t with her mother anymore, he made special trips back to this side for her birthday and holidays.

Melia learned from him it was better to be cautious than courageous. But it seemed his warnings couldn’t suppress her natural spark of bravery.

I stopped on the stairs and looked at her. “Melia, you know I’m grateful for your help, and I don’t want you to be insulted, but I think you should stay here.” I continued to speak through her squeak of protest as my feet urged me back down the stairs toward the third floor. “I don’t want you involved if I end up finding the artifact and taking it. Because make no mistake, I’m going to have to steal it. I don’t think anyone will willingly hand it over to me. And the less you are involved, the better for you. I don’t want anything to complicate your getting into Faerie.”

I meant it, but still I glanced at her to see how she was taking it. Normally, my friend and mentor’s face wore a soft, easygoing expression that made random people in the school want to ask her opinion on things. One look at her tonight and they would want to offer her a hug instead. She reached out a hand to grab my arm and squeezed gently, halting my downward progress again.

She stared at me for the longest time before sighing, her shoulders deflating. “When you’re right, you’re right. I might not agree with this idea but I guess I got myself all excited over the finding part.”

I grabbed her arm and squeezed back in reassurance. “I’ll come to your room afterward and let you know everything,” I promised. The ring tugged at my attention and I found myself moving again, faster now as I descended, everything inside of me raring to go.

“Yeah, well, you’d better! Or there will be hell to pay!” she called out.

I listened to her laughter long after I’d turned and sprinted down the corridor at the bottom of the stairs.

I had to be the predator, pushing my fear aside as I stalked my prey. In this case, the Augundae Imperium. I’d spent my entire childhood doing the same thing, and if the next punch came when I wasn’t expecting it, I didn’t want Melia to take it by accident, to be caught in the crossfire. And in that her disappointment did not sway my decision.

I followed the tug of the spell through the school building. Down, down from where we’d worked the magic to the wing where I knew the exchange students were staying.

This area of the castle wasn’t one where first-years went on a daily basis, and I only remembered it from a tour in our initial days of arriving here. Most of the space was reserved for third- and fourth-years. Hopefully there were plenty of extra bunks for our guests to sleep on, since the entire space had been turned into extra spare rooms after the culling lotteries took place.

Or so I presumed. I highly doubted the academy would put the exchange students anywhere they didn’t consider top-notch.

Instead of stopping at the door leading into their quarters the way I’d expected, the magic tugged me forward again. Insistent. Demanding I continue. I had no choice but to go and I followed the pull, away from the door, down the hallway, and out the opposite end.

Okay, this is weird.

Maybe instead of keeping it near them they had hidden it somewhere inside the castle where they thought it wouldn’t be found? No clue.

I could only allow the magic to take me where it wanted me to go. But if I woke up tomorrow with two heads instead of one, I would not be more surprised than I was the moment I saw Mike standing at the end of the hall on his way toward the exchange students’ dorm.

The ring pulsed on my finger once, twice, and then the magic faded and left me empty. I took it as an indication. I’d found my target.

“Tavi,” Mike said the moment his gaze fell on me. “What are you doing here?”

I took in his cagey expression. The hard set of his shoulders and the way he glanced over his shoulder. Over my shoulder. Behind again.

“I’m…just out for a walk,” I hastily supplied, then inwardly cringed. Oh yeah, what a brilliant response. No doubt it would seal the deal for us and Mike would kneel at my feet in awe of my brilliance. I threw his own question back at him. “What are you doing here?”

Why would the tracking spell send me to him?

He glanced away as though he was unable to look at me. Or unwilling to look at me. “Yeah, same. Walk. It was too cold outside. I decided to stroll around the castle.”

“Sure.” I pointed over my shoulder. “I’m, ah, going to go now. I’ve got some bookwork to finish.”

“Sure,” he said, mimicking my tone. We strode past each other without another word and I shook my head.

Bloody hell. I closed my eyes. Was Mike harboring some sort of magic artifact on him? My gut churned and acid burned my throat. Oh jeez, he couldn’t have stolen the Augundae Imperium, right?

I couldn’t let it go. Damning my big mouth, I turned around to stare at his retreating back. “Although this is a strange part of the castle for us both to find ourselves on a walk. Don’t you agree?” I asked with a forced laugh.

He froze, jaw muscle twitching as he glanced over his shoulder. “Great minds, right? Maybe we just had the same thought at the same time.”

It was a classic deflection and one I’d expected. One I’d anticipated. My brows drew together. I needed an answer and wondered if slapping him upside the head would make him spill the beans in one go. Was it worth a shot?

“Possible, but unlikely.”

Mike turned around to face me then, his eyes wide. His mouth opened to speak but a sudden scream interrupted whatever he was about to say.

My expression must have mirrored his: equal parts confusion and fear. His took on an icy edge as we both bolted toward the sound before pulling up short at what we found around the corner.

A circle of students stood staring at something on the floor. Our footsteps slowed as we approached, craning our heads to see past the students. The air smelled of death, a wet and revolting scent of torn organs laced with a hint of magic.

Another body. I’d bet my life on it. We managed to shoulder our way into the center of the group and I felt a freezing shock to my system. The acid in my throat seemed to burn a hole straight through me. It was someone I knew, someone I recognized.

Professor Reeds. The same professor who had given those bullying boys detention during assembly the other day. He was dead…and half-eaten.