Chapter 15

15

Bronwen and I ventured out into the chilly March evening with ice cracking beneath our boots thanks to a late freeze. Although the trees had begun to bloom, ice encased most of the flowers, freezing them in beautiful perfection.

With the world quiet and the murderer MIA, this would be our last late-night rendezvous.

Good. Fine by me. I’d take the extra time every week to study and maybe I’d finally pass one of the past Trials Juno kept throwing at me. She’d be shocked, and seeing the look on her face would honestly make my day.

I told Bronwen as much, surprised when she laughed. Like my academic troubles had become a joke. Still, I couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. She didn’t mean any harm. In fact, besides Melia, Bronwen was one of the most supportive people I knew, who never failed to cheer me up when my mood plummeted.

With spring around the corner, I was looking forward to the lengthening days, the sun shining much longer than we were used to. But Faerie wasn’t like the mortal world. We had seasons here, but they could change on a dime. Whatever the land wanted to do, it did. With or without the permission of its inhabitants.

Except for that one time when I’d first arrived here, I thought with a shake of the head. We’d had terrible storms for days. From what Mike told me, those storms were not natural. Faerie had its fair share of rain and snow days, but nothing like the violent derechos initiated when I came. What can I say? I didn’t belong here—and the land itself objected to my presence.

“Are you going to talk to me or stay in your head the whole night?” Bronwen teased. “Come on, girl, you’ve got to give me a little conversation. I can’t be the one to carry the whole thing. That gets boring.”

I chuckled, the sound ending on a snort. “Sorry. I’ve had a long day of overthinking everything. I’m a little tired.”

“What’s new there?” she joked.

And I was ridiculously head over heels for Mike. No matter how I tried to fight it, it was no use. I positively glowed. Surprised when I looked down to see my skin normal instead of lit from the inside. My mind returned again and again to our kiss and I replayed it in my head until it felt more like a dream than a memory.

We’d made out in the grotto for what seemed like hours. The magic properties of the water meant we didn’t get prune-like skin no matter how long we spent in it, and with my book forgotten, I focused the whole of my attention on Mike. On his skin, on his taste, on the scent of him, all winding through me until I wasn’t sure where he left off and I began.

I could have easily lost myself with him if he hadn’t come to his senses first. I’m still not sure how he did it. The moment his lips left mine I felt like my mind had spiraled into the water, gone forever. He’d stopped us before we went too far, and by the time we finally gathered ourselves, we were joking and giggling like we’d both had too much ambrosia.

One thing was clear: I’d fought it for too long, the attraction between us. The desire. The pull like a tug through the midsection. I knew falling for him was a terrible idea and something I absolutely, positively should not do. I didn’t care.

My expression must have given me away.

“Uh oh. What did you do now?” Bronwen wanted to know. Her elbow dug into my side. “Come on. I want all the details.”

I debated telling her about my afternoon but I did not want to spoil it. Then found the words bubbling up anyway.

“I went to read down in the grotto beneath the castle but Mike was there. And we…” I trailed off on another giggle and let my head drop back. “We made up. We made up in the best way!”

“You made up?”

Oh. Yeah, I hadn’t told her about Coral’s party. I dropped my voice as we continued walking. “Well, he and I had gotten into a major fight at a classmate’s party neither one of us really wanted to go to. It took us a few very long weeks to get on speaking terms again but he spent the better part of three hours apologizing to me.”

The memory brought with it a rush of warmth and I hugged it close to me. Cradled it against my heart like something precious. Because it was precious. Even after everything we’d been through together, I wasn’t sure we’d come back from that last fight.

We had, and stronger. After the make-out session we’d talked about everything. Before long we’d missed dinner and had to scramble to sneak something from the kitchen before Raelynn saw us. The two of us laughed and chatted like no time had passed at all as we ate the rest of the food in the library where we knew we wouldn’t be interrupted.

I took Bronwen through my day, surprised when she stopped mid-stride and grabbed my hand. Her eyes widened. She didn’t look happy.

“Tavi, think about this,” she said slowly. “I know you like Mike and all—I mean, he’s the crown prince and he’s drop dead gorgeous, two things that definitely work in his favor—but you can’t be together.”

Onyx had said the same thing and I hated it as much now as I had when he’d brought it up. I didn’t care. “Whatever problems come up, we’ve already shown we can get over them,” I argued immediately, the smile still on my face no matter how the rest of me threatened to drop. “As long as we talk to each other. Because communication, you know, is key.”

But Bronwen didn’t appreciate my attempt to deflect her concern and continued to stare at me with her moon-round face and huge brown eyes. Begging me to listen to her, to listen to reason. “I know you don’t want to hear me say this, and I’m sure I’m not saying anything you haven’t thought of before, but this is a really bad idea. He’s the heir to the throne of Faerie. He can’t be with a half-shifter. No way. Even if you somehow did manage to stay together as a couple, you could never be your real self around him.” She threw up her hands. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

Yup, it was Onyx all over again.

“And I’m telling you I can handle it.” Wasn’t I already adept at keeping my true nature a secret? Hell, I’d been doing it all of my life, practically since birth.

She should know. She’d been part of the same wolf pack, hiding half of her own heritage from our brothers and sisters in fur.

“Girl! There’s no way you can justify this.”

Too bad for her. I’d already justified it. It didn’t matter what she said, or how terrible it made me feel. “He knows me.”

“He knows what you’ve shown him. How do you think he’d react if he knew the girl he was kissing turned furry under the full moon?”

He’d feel betrayed.

Bronwen started walking again, shaking her head. “Also, what about the king?”

“What about the king?” I asked dryly.

“Well, he’s already suspicious of you. He thinks you killed Madam Muerte and he’s keeping you at the castle so he can watch your every move. What is he going to think when you come out in public as dating his only son and heir to the throne? His baby boy? I’m sure he already suspects something is going on between the two of you. You told me that Mike walks you to the portal every day for school. Or at least he did before your fight, I’m guessing.”

I deflated, not so much that Bronwen could see it, but the spark of happiness I’d carried all afternoon began to dim. Little by little, the more she spoke, it dimmed. And I found myself doubtful yet again that it would work out between me and Mike. No matter how confident I’d felt before, she did bring up good points.

Especially concerning the king…

Hadn’t Tywin mentioned earlier how he’d expected more from me? He’d even brought up the dead gypsy from the carnival. So he hadn’t let it go and he wanted me to know he still considered me a person of interest. He’d have nothing but bad things to say if I began to officially date his son.

Still, I didn’t want to give up on Mike. Or the hope that one day we would be together for real, the way I wanted us to be. Connections like we had were rare. You don’t throw something so special away. Not without the fight of your life.

“You make valid points,” I told her at last.

She knocked against me. “Of course I do. I’m your friend. And I know you’ve thought of all of this already.”

“True.”

“What if you find someone else? Someone to talk to who can get your attention away from Mike?” she offered. “You told me once your half-shifter mentor is hot.”

I thought back to what Onyx had said to me months ago about his feelings for me and I winced. “No. It wouldn’t work out,” I said.

“And things with the Prince will?”

I didn’t answer. I followed Bronwen down the street, raising my gaze to the clear sky and the nearly full moon overhead.

It was nice to be able to walk in the moonlight without worrying about it cancelling out the effects of my potion. In the human world, the disgusting concoction I took would break if I stepped through any kind of moonlight. Now, I used my own magic to keep my shifter side hidden. Although what I wouldn’t give to be able to change shape and run on all fours again without fear of discovery.

“Look at us,” Bronwen said to break the silence. “Two friends out for a stroll together. Girl talk, camaraderie…”

There hadn’t been any more murders for so long we weren’t even paying attention to the patrol. It really just gave us a chance to catch up and chit chat.

“I’m not sure if Selene said anything to you, but the council leaders for the Claw & Fang are thinking about disbanding the patrols. I mean, nothing has happened in a few months now.”

“Two,” I corrected Bronwen. “Two months.” Then let my shoulders sag. “It’s a good thing.”

“A very good thing. Although we won’t see as much of each other.”

I opened my mouth to answer and quickly snapped it shut. If things went poorly, Bronwen might not see me at all. The Trials began next week and I hadn’t made enough of an improvement, according to Juno, to save my ass.

Not to mention classes would be getting harder from this point. I had a packed schedule with advanced potions, earth magic, charms, Faerie history…

A pit yawned wide inside of me and I did my best to pay attention to Bronwen afterwards, when all I really wanted to do was bolt off.

“I mean, we did what we could with the patrols. We kept our eyes open. I’m not sure exactly what happened to make the murderer stop doing his or her thing, but I’m grateful,” she was saying.

“I am too.” Our footsteps fell into rhythm. “Not that I don’t enjoy spending time with you. I just have a lot of other things going on and I could use the extra time to practice my incantations.” I’d told Bronwen about the Trials and about my piss-poor attempts to work my way through past examples.

She patted me on the head. A stretch for her, considering how short she was. “You’ll make it through the semester. I have faith. And you know I’m always here if you need to talk.”

We walked closer to the Fae Academy for Halflings sister school, the campus empty and the old stones illuminated by the moon. I thought about how it would feel to take my classes there instead of at Elite. Surely the courses would be easier than the ones I took and not the advanced levels of proficiency expected at Elite. They were training little Fae magic masters at Elite.

It also would have been much nicer to be surrounded by different people. Like Flora, the half-elf I’d met when I didn’t know my way around. She’d been super nice. Might have been a good friend if I’d gotten lucky enough to be enrolled with her.

A stupid dream.

Plus, then I’d have to deal with Persephone on a daily basis. Nope. Although if given the choice between Persephone and Coral, well, it was a tough call. Both of them were after my man and thought I was lower than something disgusting found under a rock.

I’d gone to school with my fair share of jerks but at least I’d gotten rid of one of them. “Thanks for the vote of confidence. I wish I felt the same way you did about the whole thing.”

“It’s kind of crazy how the king feels the need to test students at one particular school for the Seven High Values but not the other. I mean, I get wanting to have a graduating class with integrity, but these Trials kill people. What kind of monarch promotes violence among kids? And clearly shows preferential treatment for one class over the other?”

“You consider the Trials preferential treatment?” I asked her.

Bronwen shrugged, her coat moving with her. “No, I mean, if he’s going with the whole violence among kids thing, shouldn’t he at least make it equal? Halflings have just as much right to compete as anyone else. Although I think the whole thing is stupid.”

We weren’t exactly kids anymore; most of us at Elite were between 18 and 22 years of age. But I didn’t correct Bronwen. “I take it you don’t care much for the Trials themselves.”

She shrugged again, obviously hesitant to voice her true opinion. “‘I’ve been here long enough to see a few years of them,” she said at last. “And I’ve heard Selene talking about them. I think it’s distasteful and dangerous. It’s obscene. Putting kids in danger doesn’t show you how valuable they are to society. It’s just a ridiculous tradition.”

“Some might compare it to our coming of age rank determinations in the pack,” I offered. “You might not remember the alpha games we played in the woods.”

“Kinda. Sorta. Not really. It seems like the Elder Council in Faerie takes personal delight in making the Trials nearly impossible for normal people to pass. And of course all the school officials are on board.” Bronwen held up a fist. “Yeah, great, kill our kids for sport! The ones who make it through will be productive members of society,” she said in an affected tone.

“I didn’t realize the Council was in charge of putting together the list of Trials.” Although it made sense. They’d struck me as the sadistic sort, the kind who might get perverse pleasure out of torturing others.

“I think so, anyway. They have the most knowledge of magic in this world. It makes sense.”

It did.

We continued our walk in silence, neither one of us willing to break it to speak again, both of us lost in our own minds. Too bad fate had other ideas.

A bloodcurdling scream ricocheted off the walls surrounding the academy courtyard. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

I didn’t need to look at Bronwen to see her body tense. Her nose lifted into the air. My wolf stirred for the first time tonight and I bared my teeth. The two of us bolted into action. I was a step behind Bronwen, pumping my arms to move faster, climbing the stairs toward the courtyard with the snow muffling our footsteps.

A second scream ripped through the air.

Oh God,please don’t let us be too late.

I wasn’t sure what the two of us could do or what we’d face. I only knew we were close enough to do something. Walking away would go against everything I believed in. The screeches grew louder the closer we got to the school and when I rounded the corner, I stopped dead.

Big.

The half-shifter was in wolf form and bigger than any I’d seen before. The warrior form between human and wolf was naturally strong; it was the shape most often used for fighting because of its sheer brutality. Black hair stood out at all ends, covering yards of muscle. Between the melding of human and wolf, I couldn’t tell who it was. I’d never shifted into half form before and I couldn’t help the stark admiration for it.

Until I saw just who was being attacked.

Juno Ians was cornered, flashing in and out of corporeal form in an attempt to get away from the shifter, but it was too fast for her. No matter what magic she threw at it, the power bounced off the creature, disintegrating into nothing.

It rounded on her, jaw dropped and teeth glistening when it roared.

The sound did something to me. It unraveled a piece of me I’d hidden behind a steel cage, and when I moved again, I did so on sheer instinct.

I didn’t think. I dove right in, transforming as I went, my human form melting away in a flash of black fur. No matter the consequences.