Chapter 6

6

The aggressive shifter’s words stayed with me for the next few minutes while I paused to take stock. My insides shook. After Flora being super nice and helpful, it seemed like a terribly stark contrast to have someone threaten me like that.

My hands were still trembling as I knocked on the door to the office the angry guy just vacated. What was his deal, anyway? What had happened to him to make him so rude and hostile? The threat had been unnecessary.

I rubbed my hands over my cheeks and told myself to shake it off. The uneasiness, the frustration, everything. They had no place in my reality and certainly wouldn’t help me make a good first impression today.

“Come in!”

The tutor called me into her office and although my fingers trembled, I held on tight to the doorknob. Okay, time to get this over with and see exactly what I faced.

The inside of the office smelled of lemon balm and lavender. The heady combination went straight to my head. In contrast to the wintry outside world, here it looked and felt like an endless summer. The walls were painted a cheerful yellow to capture the light from the large bay windows, and a fire burned in the hearth though the room didn’t feel over-heated. There were no logs in sight to keep the flames going. Hanging baskets of flowers and herbs bobbed in front of the windows.

The air in here…even that was different. Thicker, friendlier, as if the breeze reached out to caress my exposed skin.

A large desk with a comfortable armchair took up most of the space. From behind the desk a Fae woman rose with a smile to match the feel of her office. “Miss Alderidge, I’m going to assume? You’re right on time. There’s nothing I like more than promptness. It’s refreshing.”

She held out a hand to shake. The mortal custom took me by surprise and for a second I stood there and stared at her before urging myself forward.

Take her hand, dummy!

Her palm was dry and a little rough—not what I’d expected. “Yes, um, hi. I’m Tavi.”

“Wicks told me all about you. I’m Professor Juno Ians. It’s a pleasure.”

“Pardon me, but you look—”

“Normal?” she interrupted. “I have more control over my external body than most others. My parents are air and sky people. My bones are made of wind and my atoms are clouds. But I also find it makes students uncomfortable to see my true form so I adopt these features. It helps with future interactions.” Juno indicated the sharp edge of her sunshine-yellow hair, the heart-shaped face, the brown eyes. A young Reese Witherspoon if I’d ever seen one. She even had the sweet voice.

“Air folk?” I asked her, taking a seat and allowing my heavy bag to drop with a thud.

“Aurae are nymphs of the sky. We control the element of air,” Juno said, then shook her head. “I much prefer to mentor. Tutor. Whatever you want to call it. I have always been drawn to teaching and helping to mold young minds. When your school reached out for help with a case—you, as it turned out—I volunteered.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of Juno Ians, honestly. She might look like America’s sweetheart but I wasn’t fooled. I’d come across too many strange people in my life. I knew looks could be deceiving.

Juno folded her hands together on her desk and treated me to a smile that did nothing to offset the stern severity of her eyes. “Look, Tavi,” she began, “we both know why you are here. And I want you to know I’m going to help you. It’s not going to be easy, and I’m sure you’ll hate me before our time is done.”

“I’m not going to hate you,” I objected.

My answer would not have bothered her either way, I knew instinctively. “Many before you have, and there will be many more once you leave this room. I’m used to it. I’m going to push you past the boundaries of your comfort. I want to see you succeed, and in order to do so you are going to have to work.”

“I’m no stranger to hard work.”

I didn’t understand then how right Juno was. Or how hard she’d push me. We dove into the first lesson within minutes of our introduction, moving into an adjacent workroom outfitted with fabric and wards on the walls and a plain wooden floor. The fabric, she explained, was fireproof to keep us safe, and the walls were soundproofed so no one else could listen to our conversations. More for my protection than anyone else’s and, I suspected, to protect me from embarrassing myself.

“All right.” She stood with her legs slightly splayed and her hands rubbing together. “Show me what you’ve got. Start with air and run through the rest. Conjure the elements for me.”

We went through the basics of the four elements first. I conjured air, fire, water, and earth out of nothing, shaping them into whatever form or fashion Juno wanted while struggling to keep up with her quicksilver demands.

“I read your file. Your potions master, Larch, stated you made a nearly perfect batch of Eius Repellere during your final exams. Are you good with potions?” Juno asked.

I wiped sweat off of my forehead before it could burn my eyes. “I guess so.” I was good at following recipes, at least.

“I’m not going to drag out a cauldron and ask you to replicate it. We don’t have time for that today. Tell me, why use the potion and how many times can you use it?”

“Um…I don’t—” This was why I needed notes. Except there were no notes. There was only me and Juno, circling each other. Two magic users looking to see who would come out on top. “You use it one time. F-for…I don’t remember.”

“Think, Tavi!” she demanded.

“It’s something about repelling. It, ah, it gets rid of your enemies.”

She snapped out her next question before I had time to draw a breath, accompanying it with a flash of magic igniting sparks at my feet for me to extinguish. “And if you do not have your potions handy? What else can you do to repel your enemies from you without causing harm to yourself?”

Shift into wolf form and rip their throats out before they could do the same to me.She’d hate that answer.

One of the sparks caught on my boots and I struggled to tamp it out before it burned me. “I’m sorry, I can’t think.”

Juno shook her head. “Not good enough. Give me one spell to defend yourself from your enemies.”

“Why is it always about enemies?” I asked pathetically.

“Because there may come a day in your long existence when your peace and safety is no longer guaranteed, and you will need your magic as a sword,” she said. “Magic is not only for convenience. It is not only to change your hair or eye color, to make your appearance as you wish it to be or to warm your skin on a cold day. Magic hurts and heals. It will serve you well to understand the light and dark sides of both.”

I wondered if she’d had the same chat with the half-shifter boy who’d run into me earlier, and if that was the source of his bad mood. I understood, because the harder she pushed me, the more frustrated I became.

“I know the light and dark sides of myself.”

“But do you know how to use them both in conjunction to protect yourself and those you love?” When I failed to answer, she switched tactics. “How would you deal with a Nyad if you’re the one in their territory?”

Once again, would it be wrong to say I’d shift into a wolf and kick some ass? I swallowed the answer. “Nyads are from Greek mythology.”

“I assure you they are as real as you and I. They preside over brooks, springs, and fountains. Now, what would you do?”

And when Juno had me entirely worn out physically and strained mentally, we retired to her office once again, where she pushed a cup of nettle tea into my hands. My limbs trembled and I almost dropped the cup.

Damn Fae smugness. She didn’t even look winded. Was this the difference between us halflings and the full-bloods? Normally I relied on my shifter strength to get me through, and it must have been my exhaustion that kept me low now.

“You’re not ready for the Trials,” Juno said. Instead of taking the seat across from me, she grabbed a ruby-red throw pillow and tossed it onto the floor near my feet. She folded her body down onto it as though she needed to be closer to the earth, to the ground.

“Yeah, I know,” I snapped, and then took a sip of the tea to curb my attitude before I said something I’d regret.

“I’m serious, Tavi. You are going to get yourself killed. And if you get killed then there’s no way I can help you improve your grades. You’re here to learn, and you were chosen to attend the Elite Academy because the king saw something in you. I’m going to be honest. I don’t know what he saw because your skills are mediocre at best.” She held up a hand to stop my rebuttal before it began. “They are mediocre compared to the power I see inside of you and the performance I heard about in your old school. You are a well of untapped potential. With the right direction, the right push, you would be a force to be reckoned with. My question is…what is it going to take to let it out?”

The warmth of the nettle tea soothed my insides but did nothing to keep me awake. Despite my anger, my eyes wanted to close, and I would have given anything to take a nap. “I’m not sure what you want me to say.”

“There’s nothing to say. I’m simply talking to you. Over the course of our time together, I’m going to help you bring your skills to the next level. It’s the only way you’ll make it through the Trials.”

I sighed and sank down in the chair. “Can you tell me more about them? Because at this point, all I know is that they are dangerous and people have died in the past. No one will discuss any details with me.”

Juno looked up, her expression grave. “The Trials are meant to expose whether the Fae student possesses the Seven High Values: Balance, Bravery, Cleverness, Creativity, Fairness, Justice, Respect.”

“And how do they test for those values, exactly?”

“Ah, yes. I happen to have a list of past Trials to look over. You and I are going to practice every single one over the course of the next three months. We can try one today, if you want. It’s a spell to test Bravery.” She pushed onto her knees and crawled toward her desk, reaching a hand up to grab a folder filled with papers.

I’d never heard of the Seven High Values before. Not one person had ever mentioned them to me. Was I surprised? No. It seemed the Fae loved to keep their secrets. I was no stranger to secrets, having kept one-half of my bloodline secret my entire life, though it would have been nice to know what I faced before being thrown into it.

“How does one test bravery?” I followed her to a standing position and set the cup of tea down on the desk, trying to hide my wince. Oh yeah, my muscles were screaming.

Juno’s expression was mischievous. “You’ll see.”

The next spell she had me try got me thinking once more about Kendrick Grimaldi. About how I might have, after all, been better off marrying him than putting myself through this bullshit.

I failed the spell miserably and left the office with my arms sore and my legs wooden. Shaken to the core. My time in Faerie was running out. I knew it in my bones. All that remained to be seen was how it came about. Whether I would be revealed as a half-shifter and booted back to the human realm…or killed in the Trials.