Chapter 19

19

Despite my secrets, I knew I would rather lose a piece of myself than give up on my budding feelings for Mike, no matter how crazy it sounded.

Persephone only desired what I had, and would do whatever she could to get it. She definitely wanted Mike all to herself, I told myself the next morning as I brushed my hair without the aid of a mirror. She would do her best to drive a wedge between our friendship, then she could swoop in and steal him.

Persephone wanted it all. She wanted power; she wanted the prestige of royalty. It fit her nature and would be the next crowning achievement in her already blessed life. For some reason, she thought I stood in her way and she could clear me out with a few well-placed threats.

I stopped brushing with a sigh, dropping my head against the wall behind me and letting the stone cool my overheated skin. There was no way Icould have anything with Mike, if I were being realistic.

Who was I trying to fool? I was half werewolf, hated by the Fae. It didn’t matter we went to school together, that we were friends and studied and laughed together. That we’d almost kissed this afternoon. Almost.

Oh, those lips.

And look how badly I’d bungled things since I’d been here. I’d have to spend the rest of my life hiding no matter how things turned out.

I couldn’t tell Mike the whole truth about me because I’d be kicked out in an instant and thrown right back into Kendrick’s slimy grasp, and I would never allow it to happen. Not when I’d come this far already.

My schoolgirl crush on Mike would have to remain a pipe dream. A fantasy I entertained at night and told no one about. Let Persephone have him. I didn’t care.

Okay, I did care. I cared a lot.

Although she did bring up some good points…

I rapped the side of my head with the brush to clear it of those thoughts. No, she didn’t bring up good points. She was a jealous rival and nothing else. Whatever was going on in Faerie with the king, I’d worry about it later. After I earned my spot there and found myself under his rule.

Walking into the divination lab the following day, I saw Mike at our usual table. He raised his hand with a warm wave and beckoned me over into my usual seat. As though nothing had happened between us.

Sure, if he wanted to play things this way, I was game. I could pretend nothing happened as well.

“Hey you,” he said right off the bat once I slid behind the desk. “What are you doing tonight?”

“The schedule is clear, my friend,” I told him with a rushed smile, dropping my bag and reaching inside for the tarot deck.

“Do you want to try studying with me again?”

Hmm, curious. “I thought you had a test and needed to get your beauty sleep?” I joked.

Roman cut in with a snicker, pushing dark hair out of his face. “If this one doesn’t get his normal ten hours of sleep then you’ll see his real face. Which is not pretty. So yes, he needs his beauty sleep, take it from me.”

Mike shut him up with a well-placed elbow to the ribs. “I do need to get my rest, and I do have a test, but neither of those things mean I don’t want to study for this class. I’m still interested in learning the back-door shortcuts to being a great tarot reader. What do you say?”

My inner pep talk from earlier didn’t seem to matter. One look at his smile and I melted like butter in an Arizona heat wave. “Sure!” I replied with way too much enthusiasm. Dial it back a notch, woman. “I’d love to.”

“Let’s say our usual table in the library?” Mike clarified. “Seven o’clock? We can study in sprints and see if we can annoy the librarian during our breaks.”

“I like the way you think.”

Professor Marsh approached the class with a swish of fabric, her pencil skirt emphasizing her slender lower body, and fixed us all with a stare that silenced conversation within seconds. “Everyone!” she called out, her cat-like eyes flashing. “I’m sure you have noticed the covers on your stations today.”

In fact, I hadn’t. I’d been too busy mooning over Mike. I looked down now and noticed the plush pile of purple velvet and the hard lump beneath it.

“Today we are going to be working with crystal balls. A crystal ball is another tool for the practice of divination,” Marsh continued. She lifted her own velvet cover to reveal a clear orb of quartz crystal on a solid gold stand. “Most who stare into the depths of the crystal are able to conjure visions of the future. Now, the key lies in interpreting these visions. Interpretation is where the masters break away from the amateurs, the dabblers. Everyone, raise your cloth and see what the crystal has to show you.”

A sliver of apprehension shot through me as I recalled Barbara’s warnings. Garlic, moonlight, and…quartz crystal. Well, as long as I didn’t actually touch it…

I watched Mike for a moment, the cover cloth set aside and his large palms cradling the small softball-sized clear sphere in front of him.

“Have you ever done anything like this before?” I asked him as my nerves began to sing.

“No. But I’m sure there’s nothing to it,” he said.

“Clear your mind and focus on the future,” Marsh instructed, raising her voice over the low murmur of chatter. “Imagine a blank space. Stare into the crystal and picture the blank space expanding. Larger and larger. I said to clear yourmind, Roman!”

I wasn’t sure what the professor had picked up from my friend’s head and surely I didn’t want to know since it brought a chuckle from him.

Mike bit his lip, the picture of concentration. I snickered at both of them. “I’m curious to see what you conjure,” I whispered.

“Ah, so I’m going to be the guinea pig today. You want to follow my lead?”

“Seems like it.”

He had all of his focus on the ball, his hands caressing the surface, lines of tension fanning out from his mouth. As I watched, a blurry image began to form inside the crystal ball.

Fascinated, I shifted closer to him. “What is that?”

“It’s…it’s Faerie. It’s my home.”

The image solidified into stone spires and flags, a massive forest stretching out beyond the castle enclosure. I saw the turrets and the parapets where Fae would march in neat lines. I saw stained glass windows and smoke curling from chimneys.

Smoke curling from everywhere, it seemed.

“Mike,” I urged, shifting to get a better view, “is the castle on fire?”

We moved closer in unison, the image now blurry to the point where we were unable to make out the finer details. But I clearly saw the lick of flame and the burning of embers in multiple places.

Mike broke the connection with the ball and pulled away, his cheeks white and sweat beading along his hairline. The crystal ball turned blank and clear at once.

“Fire?” he repeated. There was so much innocence—and terror—in the single word.

“You know, I’m sure it’s nothing,” I tried to tell him with a soothing stroke of my hand on his knee. “You told me you were worried last night. I think those worries are front and center in your mind and this is what’s coming up. I’m sure it’s something easily explained.” I felt his muscles bunch.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.” His smile was shaky. “You’re right, of course.”

“Okay, dabblers, move aside. Whatever weak image you conjured from your own nightmares, bro, prepare to be astounded.” Roman rubbed his hands together and moved toward his own crystal ball. “Watch the master at work.”

The crystal swam with murky images even before his fingertips touched the sphere. A vast evergreen wood sprang into life within the depths, trees gently swaying in a breeze beneath a pulsing full moon. Utterly different from the brief glimpse of Faerie I’d gotten from Mike’s divination ball.

My eyes widened at the clarity of the image. Roman’s vision was strong. Much stronger than any of our classmates around us. Before anything else could form, he broke the connection, shaking his hands out at his sides like he’d been burned.

I blinked and something inside of me shifted. “What’s the matter?”

Roman shook his head. “I’m not sure.” He sounded confused. “Something felt wrong.”

“What do you think you saw?” Mike pressed.

“It’s where I grew up in Faerie. I saw my home, too.”

Wait. That…didn’t seem right to me. But then again, I’d never been there myself.

“I’m afraid to see what comes next,” Roman admitted as he rubbed his chin.

Mike chuckled but the sound was anything but amused. “Any reason why, bud?”

“Because it’s dangerous for people to know their futures.” He grabbed the velvet cloth and tossed it over the crystal ball. “I might be the master but even I know that. I’m going to have to use my talents elsewhere.”

Yeah, I couldn’t disagree with him there. A strange sense of foreboding settled on my skin along with the weight of both their gazes when the boys turned to me.

“Your turn, Tavi.”

“Maybe you’ll do better than the both of us,” Mike supplied with a forced grin. “This could be your thing. You never know.”

“Somehow I doubt it,” I grumbled, turning to face my own ball.

Focusing on the clear depths, I held my hands on either side of the sphere, close but not touching, and tried to concentrate. Tried to blank my mind of anything blocking my vision of the future.

Show me.

But I was afraid. What if it showed me visions of Kendrick? Then everyone would know what I needed to hide.

My fated mate.

As Roman had said, it was dangerous for people to know their futures. I continued to stare at the ball for the next few minutes with nothing changing, nothing showing. Okay, maybe it wasn’t my thing.

I shouldn’t have been so happy about it.

“How is it going over here?”

Professor Marsh made it to our table as I continued to squint at the ball. I blinked, glancing up at her and struggling to bring her into focus. “Nothing is happening,” I stated. I wasn’t surprised.

She cracked a smile. “Don’t worry, Miss Alderidge. There are several students in the class who are slow to start with crystal ball gazing. It takes some people years of practice. Continue to keep your mind clear and stop trying so hard. Open the connection by cupping the ball with your hands as you look inside.”

She grabbed my hands, moving to place them gently on the ball. I jerked and ripped my hands from her grasp.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I’m allergic to quartz crystal.” It was why I hadn’t tried to cup the sphere in the first place.

She stared me down. “Sweetheart, there’s no such thing as an allergy to quartz crystal. What’s the real reason for your hesitation?”

I was out of excuses.

“I’m sorry.” I deflated, sinking down into my seat. “I can’t do this. Please don’t make me do this.” If I touched the ball, it would break my spell and reveal me to everyone and I was getting low on vials.

I cast a pleading glance toward Mike. He just looked confused.

“You’ve barely begun,” Marsh stated. And in her tone, I heard a mixture of incredulity and impatience. “Try again.”

“I can’t,” I insisted.

“This is going to affect your grade, Miss Alderidge.” Marsh’s voice hardened further and I had a hard time meeting those piercing cat eyes. They made me squirm. “You do understand. Don’t you?”

“I do. But I can’t do this,” I replied miserably.

“Fine. If you continue to insist you can’t do this, then replace the velvet cover and sit the rest of the lesson out. Without speaking.”

She wasn’t happy with me, not in the least. My skin broke out in goose bumps as she walked away. I did as she ordered and tossed the velvet cloth back over the crystal ball.

When I turned back to my friends, Mike still wore a semi-quizzical look but Roman stared at me, his eyes narrowed. He blew out a breath and turned away, like he knew the real reason I hadn’t continued.

There was no way he could know that I couldn’t touch quartz. Was there?

But a strange sense of his suspicion toward me remained. One I couldn’t shake.