Chapter 26

26

The day of the third Trial came before I could blink, and I stood with Mike, keeping a discreet eye on Coral. Mike didn’t understand my sudden fascination with her. I did my best not to make it obvious, but he always knew when something fishy was going on. Today was no exception.

“I’d rather you look at me like that,” he leaned close to whisper.

I shook my head. “I look at you enough.”

He seemed surprised. “You do?”

“Seriously?” I grinned and reached out to pinch him lightly. He looked adorable today, in a green tunic to match his eyes and a pair of tight jeans. I wasn’t sure why he wanted to wear jeans instead of the workout gear the rest of us had chosen…but I appreciated the view. “I look at you all the time. And I’m not the only one. You’d be surprised how many people find it hard to keep their eyes off of you.”

His eyes twinkled with mischief. “I don’t care about them, though. I only care about you.”

And that admission made everything inside of me go warm.

Not the time. Focus!

From the corner of my eye I saw Coral’s attention shift in our direction. But when I glanced over at her, she resumed her warm-up routine of pointedly ignoring me while stretching out her arms and legs in exaggerated yoga moves. She had her face painted for the balcony—full complement of foundation, eye shadow, eye liner, mascara, blush, and lipstick, all applied with an obviously heavy hand—and her outfit probably cost more than my entire wardrobe back at Uncle Will’s combined. And I didn’t exactly come from nothing.

Honestly, who wore diamonds to a magic tournament?

“She’s taking things a little far, don’t you think? I’m not sure the workout routine is really necessary,” I said, trying to divert his focus off of my focus so he wouldn’t be suspicious. Because Mike needed to keep his distance during this Trial. Otherwise my cover would be blown. I also didn’t want to risk him getting hurt if the half-shifter showed up for Coral.

“You know how Coral is, though. She doesn’t do anything halfway.” Mike’s expression soured and he narrowed his eyes, partly against the glare of the spring sun and partly because…well, Coral. “She’s always over the top.”

I smirked. “Over the top is putting it nicely.”

Although I was nervous for the start of the Trial, I was more nervous for what I’d be facing. Through the last few months of classes, Mike seemed to have really come around with his behavior toward the other students. He no longer adopted that cold persona when it came to people like Lane or Coral. In fact, whenever Coral was around, Mike took great care to keep the conversation short and leave the room as soon as possible.

While I was happy enough to take credit for Mike’s turnaround, I didn’t have time to gloat.

Coral continued stretching those long, long legs, her red hair in an intricate series of braids at the top of her head. Mine hung in two low ponytails, looking like I hadn’t showered this morning. She was the golden girl, the perfect one, put together even on her worst days.

The rest of the students participating in today’s Trial gathered close to Coral. Moths to a fake flame who didn’t know enough to question it. No matter how awful I found her, no matter how much of a bitch she’d been to me, she still didn’t deserve to die.

And I was going to make sure of it. I hardened my resolve.

“You have everything you need?” Mike gestured to my backpack. “You didn’t have to bring the kitchen sink with you. The whole point of the first sprint today was to find the mineral we need to fashion a weapon.”

I shrugged against the weight of the bag, filled to the brim with spell supplies I might need or whatever. “It’s better to be prepared for anything,” I replied. “We can’t all be the prince with his amazing magical stamina.”

We looked at each other for a long moment, both smiling, because I knew. And Mike knew. He had the Augundae Totalis helping him with his powers.

“You’re teasing me.” He tweaked my nose. “We’ll see what kind of mood you’re in when this ends today.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I thought maybe you and I could have our own celebration party. Maybe we could hang out and watch a movie.”

My cheeks heated and my grin widened. “You’re on.”

I suddenly snapped to attention when I realized I didn’t see Coral anymore. I jerked around, sweeping the crowd until I spotted her sidling up to Arlyss and flirting as if she wasn’t facing a dangerous task.

Arlyss lapped up the attention, with Lane standing at his side looking like a third wheel. An embarrassed third wheel.

“Students! Students, please quiet down.” Headmaster Cyrus and the rest of the school officials judging this trial called for our attention with a clap and a boom of magic.

At once the crowd hushed. Mike and I moved closer to hear what he had to say. To prepare ourselves for what we would face today. My focus narrowed on Coral. I adjusted the weight of my backpack again.

“Your first step today will be an easy one, for those of you proficient in conjuring. Simply remember what Professor Ninea told you during charms class. Keep your focus strong, your heart light, and your intentions pure. Then the work begins.”

I barely heard the rest of his speech or the starting buzzer, and might have stayed in place watching Coral until my eyes blurred if Mike hadn’t pushed me into action. “Go on,” he called as he jogged in the opposite direction. “I’ll meet up with you at the end of the day. Try not to die.”

Was that going to be our new goodbye slogan? Try not to die? I wasn’t sure I liked it.

We were not supposed to work together for this one. The handful of students participating today headed off in different directions, searching for an element only found in Faerie, knowing once we found it, the true test part of the Trial would begin in earnest.

We were tasked with fashioning a weapon of choice, and once we did, it was on to the tournament. Headmaster Cyrus had given no details about the tasks ahead outside of saying we’d be forced to use every bit of knowledge we’d acquired at school. His words were no help. I felt less and less prepared with each announcement.

I trailed behind Coral at a respectable distance. Her attention was so focused on the goal, I had a feeling she wouldn’t have acknowledged me even if I rode her piggyback-style.

The moment I was relatively sure there was no one around to see it, I transformed. There were no judges here to put a magnifying glass over me, no camera orbs overhead, at least for the moment. I transfigured into something small and unnoticeable but fast.

A fox.

There were plenty of foxes in the forest. I’d seen them from my bedroom window in the castle. I could use the stealth, the eyesight, the senses of the fox body.

The black vixen knew her way around the underbrush. Although Coral was speedy, running faster than the average Fae, I was able to keep up with her. I was the spectator here, not the competition. I was the one waiting and watching and wondering.

The vixen would definitely be able to sense the shifter before he came into view. Although my nerves were on edge, I knew what I had to do, and I kept it in mind.

Save Coral.

She got into plenty of scrapes along the way, I was pleased to note. At one point, she ran too fast and tripped over an exposed tree root, flying forward and landing on her hands and knees. She tripped, she fell, she cursed. I’d say she was just like a regular person but she’d made too much of a point of being pure-blood for the comment to mean anything.

It took her a long time to find the element we’d been tasked with retrieving. Most of the spells she used to locate the material didn’t work, and more often than not Coral was fuming and pulling at her braids as though she wanted to rip out her hair.

Inside the body of the fox, my subconscious gloated. A little. It made me feel a little better seeing her struggle. Not everything came easily to her. Almost everything, but not all.

The more I watched, the stronger my conviction became. Bitch or not, Coral was skilled, totally adept at magic. She wielded it easily and naturally and with a confidence I wasn’t sure I would ever match. To her it was as easy as breathing. She didn’t worry whether or not she’d pass the Trial. She knew.

My gloating subsided.

The element Cyrus and the judges wanted us to find turned out to be a gemstone with a metallic glint on its surface. Coral finally used the right spell and after several hours of searching I watched the small stone jettison out of the earth’s surface and into her open palm.

Oh, wow.

She clutched the stone to her chest, raising her face to the sky with a slight whoop of excitement. Then, she looked much younger than her years. There was a lightheartedness to her I’d never seen before.

It was hard not to admire her right then. I hated admitting it, especially when her smile turned smug as she stared at the stone, but Coral had the skills to back up her claims of being the best. Despite falling on her face and nearly breaking her arm at one point, she’d done it, and quickly. A few hours seemed like nothing now that she’d found the stone.

She tucked it into the pocket of her leggings, and then took a moment to stretch her arms overhead and do a little celebratory dance, her excitement clear. I glanced down at the moss-covered area where she’d called up the mineral. Did I have time to try a spell and grab a piece for myself, too?

I’d better, or else I’d have no hope of making it through today.

I lost sight of Coral for two minutes. Two minutes after she left the clearing while I transformed and called up my magic. Another minute trying to get the spell to work and faltering when it didn’t produce immediate results.

Yeah, this was why everyone else made fun of me. As a halfling, they already thought me less-than, and when I began to fail my classes, it only cemented their view of me.

I struggled to block out those negative thoughts, closing my eyes and centering myself as I tried the spell again.

No time to waste.

The spell worked the second time around. A second stone flew out of the ground and smacked me on the cheek.

“Ouch!”

I blinked against the sting. It was much smaller than the stone Coral managed to gather. With luck, I’d be able to fashion a small dagger at best. What kind of damage could I hope to do with a little needle?

Hopefully it would be enough.

I bagged the stone, tucking it into my backpack before shifting into fox form again. The magical toll it took was much smaller than the first few times I’d tried to transform. Living, breathing organisms were much easier to hold and maintain than wood or stone or steel. Then again, I’d been trying to become one with the walls of a castle. Turns out I should have died.

At least, according to Onyx I should have died.

It made becoming the fox a small win for me. I trotted off after Coral with a yip, ignoring everything else in my surroundings to focus on her.

That’s when I sensed something off in the air.

That’s when she began to scream.