Chapter 11

11

If the reader registered anything besides human, I could kiss my place here goodbye. You’re a liar. You’re a fraud.

I waited precious moments for the results to come in, my blood pressure rising with each second, almost hearing the clock in my head.

Tick.

Tock.

Liar.

Fraud.

Darkness crowded the edges of my vision as the machine beeped, clicking, analyzing the drop of blood I’d provided.

My teeth bit down on my lip hard enough to leave a bruise.

“Tavi, try to breathe. It’s not so bad.”

Mike stood behind me grinning. He thought this an irrational phobia, like people who couldn’t stand to see a mouse, or didn’t want to walk beneath a ladder because of bad luck.

He didn’t know this meant the difference between a future of freedom or a matrimonial prison.

The machine squealed out its results.

“Half human, half Fae,” the teacher said with a shake of her head. She didn’t sound impressed. “Next.”

I stood there for a moment in shock. The potion from Barbara…had worked? It was impossible.

“Next!”

The teacher repeated the demand and the few people behind me surged forward for their turns. I drew my finger from the machine, my smile secretive and wide. Nothing but half Fae and half sniveling, cowering human. Barbara’s disgusting concoction had done its job and hidden my true self.

Thank goodness.

Maybe the old witch knew what she was doing after all.

“See? It wasn’t so bad,” Mike continued with a chuckle as we walked toward the next closest table. “You got yourself worked up for no reason. There’s nothing to worry about.”

For him, sure. I hadn’t paid attention to his results. I cradled my hand to my chest and watched the pinprick heal seconds later. “Not bad, you were right. I’m not even sure why I worried.”

“I told you, you wouldn’t see the needle.”

“I’ll never doubt you again,” I cooed, which drew another laugh from Mike.

“Oh, I’m sure eventually I’ll do something stupid to have you doubting me. Never say never, Tavi.”

The rest of check-in went by in a blur, whatever other students were there before first light getting their papers and sleeping assignments before the masses. All first-year students were obliged to sleep in separate dormitories with other members of their specific breed and gender.

I’d been allocated a bed number and sent on my way with directions to my new home.

Everyone stayed in different wings of the castle, I saw now. How big was this place, really?

“Hey, wait for me,” Mike said from over my shoulder, trotting to catch up.

I was immensely glad for his presence. It made the process a little less lonely to have a friendly face close. “I’m not sure what I’m doing.” I shook my head. “It’s all happening too quickly. Do you have any idea where I’m supposed to go?”

“Let’s see where you’re staying.” Mike craned his head to glance at the papers I’d been given. Wow, he smelled good. Better than any boy I’d ever met, a combination of sandalwood and sea salt. “Ah. You’re in Tamerlain Hall. I think I know where to go. I can walk you there if you still want the company.”

Feeling much better, the weight lifted off my shoulders, I knocked against him playfully. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been here before. You know where to go. Are you sure you’re a first-year student?”

He held two fingers straight up in front of him as we walked. “My honor as a Scout, although I’ve never been in the Scouts. I did study the school’s website before I came.”

“Ha! Me too. It doesn’t seem to be helping much.”

I tried to shuffle through my armful of orientation papers and dropped several in the process. On our way we passed by several students, species I’d never seen before, some tall and more human-like than fairy, while others were very clearly pixie or elf or other. I tried to avoid staring at them. Good practice for later, because I didn’t need the attention either.

“The area is laid out pretty well. We have a map. And it’s not like we can get lost. The castle might be huge but at least there’s no reason to go outside.”

Better for me. Better to avoid the moonlight since I’d taken my first potion vial. It wasn’t a full moon yet but I’d need to be cautious and find alternate routes for future moon cycles.

“I must be on your map too,” I joked with Mike, giving him a long look. “Because you keep finding me no matter where I wander.”

“You do tend to stand out. Not many people with this shade of hair. Makes you easy to spot.” Mike reached out and tugged on a corner of my braid. I almost sizzled at his nearness. “I’ll have to find you tomorrow to get your stuff out of my car.”

“What am I going to do until then?”

“Get a little sleep? I plan to pass out immediately. We don’t have anything on our schedule until luncheon, plenty of time for a few hours of shut eye. Then orientation in the afternoon.” He winked. “Here you are. Tamerlain.”

I stopped in front of a giant gray stone arch with a green-painted placard displaying the name of the dormitory in flowing script. “Already?” I’d been enjoying the walk and the company.

“Already. Have a good night, Tavi. I’ll see you soon. Try to get some sleep.” He inclined his head in goodbye.

“Thanks, Mike.”

I watched him leave for his own dormitory on the next floor, if I had to guess. I still didn’t know what kind of half-breed he was—why hadn’t I paid attention to his test results? —and he didn’t seem to be forthcoming with the information. I set my lips in a line. One of these days, I’d get to the bottom of it.

But I had a friend. I hugged the knowledge close to me, warmth spreading through my chest. I could use a friend in this place.

A gust of wind shook the eaves of the castle and echoed down the drafty hallways. Shivering, I pushed through into the dorm. Sleep, yes. Definitely next on the list of priorities.

The doors to Tamerlain Hall opened into a small common room with couches and a large fireplace housing roaring flames filling the space with warmth. Easing open a second door to the left, I walked into a square room bedecked in hues of red and orange and gold, lined with oak shelves like a library. Similar to being surrounded by an autumn wood. There was no hint of the dreary castle here. A low ceiling made the space cozy and intimate.

Each shelf, I now saw, was an alcove of bunk beds, giving the illusion of each girl having their own private space.

A long table sat beneath a window to the right of the long room, covered in books and writing utensils.

I squinted down at the paper in my hand and noted my assigned bunk number. So many, there were so many girls here. All half Fae and half human. My bed was the top bunk above a sleeping blond. Trying to be quiet, I crawled up the ladder and flopped down on soft sheets with my purse and papers and duffel next to me. The moment I went horizontal, the full weight of my exhaustion hit me. I yawned.

At least I had a change of clothes with me. Good enough to get me through a few hours of sleep without feeling like the living dead. And looking like it, too.

I tucked the bag near my head to keep my personal possessions close. I’d have to figure out where to store my things once the sun rose. When the room wasn’t dark.

Crawling beneath the covers, I drew them up to my chin wearing everything except my shoes. I was here. I’d made it. My heart seemed to calm at last.

And at once I realized how incredibly alone I truly was. I still had my phone in my pocket, and when I glanced at the lit screen, I saw I had full bars for service. But who would I text? I had not only walked away from Uncle William, I’d walked away from every aspect of pack life, including my friends. Everything and everyone I’d ever known.

Flash back to any normal day at home with Uncle Will and I’d be asleep now with the alarm set to wake me for my internship at the law firm. If I were home, I’d have a hot breakfast waiting for me, a smiling Cook telling me how she’d made my favorite waffles. I’d savor the pre-dawn moments listening to the chatter of birds outside my window.

Instead, this bedroom was far from silent, the beds filled to capacity, and a part of me missed the quiet hush.

I slept fitfully for the few hours before the rest of the girls woke with the sun. Soon the sounds of movement and whispered conversation were too great to ignore and I peeled my eyes open against a layer of grit and sleep.

Someone had thrown the curtains open and let the morning light filter inside. Someone I instantly wanted to strangle before I thought better of it.

I didn’t want to climb down. Not yet. I didn’t want to leave the solitude of my bed, and had to mentally slap myself to move. The girls were talking, laughing, as though they had already made friends and divided into groups.

How was it possible?

I sucked up any lingering fears and doubts, rising and stretching my arms above my head.

“About time you got up. What, do you think you can just sleep in while the rest of us are getting ready? There are places to be.”

Excuse me?

I frowned, craning my neck over the side of the bed to see the same blond girl from the bottom bunk. She stood in our alcove, with three other girls beside her that looked more like clones than separate beings. They were all tall, thin, with curves in the right places and near-identical heart-shaped faces. Even if I didn’t know anything about Fae, I would suspect something otherworldly about the three of them.

Despite their similarities, it was easy to pick out my bunkmate from the rest of the pack, the obvious leader. Stronger, more charismatic. The others fell in behind her as she stepped forward to address me with a sneer.

“You think you can sneak in during the night and sleep the day away, newbie? Are you too good to meet with the rest of us?”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, shifting to take hold of the ladder, forcing my fingers to wake before the rest of me. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I thought I was quiet.”

“If you think a rampaging bull is quiet,” the girl retorted.

“I didn’t think anyone would hear me coming in so early—”

She looked me over from head to toe and found me lacking. If the look on her face wasn’t obvious to this fact, she opened her mouth and said with a scoff, “This is how you plan to impress the professors?” she asked with a titter. “Seriously?”

I glanced down at my rumpled jeans and black t-shirt, glanced over to the worn sneakers I’d kicked aside before getting into bed. I hadn’t had time to shower and had simply left my hair in the braids from the day before.

In contrast, my bunkmate had styled her blond locks to perfection, not a hair out of place. When did she have the time? Here was the ethereal beauty the Fae were known for, evident in the uptilt of her sky-blue eyes and perfect pink lips. She wore a dress the color of spring crocuses designed to hug her eye-popping curves.

“Do you really think you belong here?” she asked.

I might have kept apologizing were it not for the snort of derisive laughter she gave me. Oh no. She’d taken things too far. I crossed my arms. “I belong here as well as anyone else.”

Who are you to say any different?

The girl seemed poised to spit on me, her sharp eyes narrowing. “You’ll never be one of us, new girl. No matter how hard you try.”

If she wanted me to have a new nickname, she might have at least come up with something a little more original.

“Why would I want to?” I said, trying to calm my racing heart. I navigated the ladder and finally stood facing her. Noting I had several inches of height on her. “Why would anyonewant to be part of your little group of meanions?”

The four of them shared a long look, my bunkmate barking out another laugh. “You don’t have what it takes to hack it at the academy.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t need to know you. I’ve seen your kind before.”

My blood went cold. “My kind?”

“Yes. Your kind,” she stated, pushing her hair over her shoulder, “where your human outweighs your Fae. You might as well give up now.”

I refused to let her get under my skin. I refused to give in to the taunts designed to knock me off my game. But as the four of them continued to scrutinize me, I shrank a little beneath their gazes and wondered. If the students here were like these girls, then I had a long road ahead of me.

And I wasn’t sure I could handle the pressure without shattering.