Page 50 of Faerie Marked

It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know. But as the cold feeling of my spell breaking washed me with shards of ice, I gritted my teeth. Three bottles wasted.Wasted. For no good reason. I kept my head ducked down to avoid people staring at me, hoping they would be too concerned with the smoke to look around.

“Do you think someone pulled the alarm on purpose, after they set the fire? Or do you think it was an accident?” Melia asked, staring around at the rest of the students gathering on the lawn.

She stood close enough to notice how I tensed. But she said nothing. The shifter in me rose immediately in response to the full moon overhead. My eyesight sharpened, the nightscape coming to life in startling clarity. Nostrils flaring, I drew in her scent, a combination of cinnamon and honeysuckle belonging uniquely to Melia.

Then my focus moved to the woods. What I wouldn’t give to let my wolf have her freedom, to feel the way my bones shifted and my muscles sang, running on all fours—

“Tavi? Are you listening to me?”

I tried to tune in and push the wave of feeling aside, still huddling under the blanket. “Who would be awake at this hour? Does this kind of thing happen often?”

Melia shook her head. “No, not really. The upperclassmen know better than to mess with those kinds of things. If they got caught, their points would be gonzo and it would mean automatic expulsion. No one is willing to risk it when they’re so close to graduation next semester. You know?”

Keep her talking, I told myself. Keep her distracted before she realized how my scent changed. How the small hairs on the back of my neck rose and my energy signature shifted into something other than human.

Would she be able to know if she looked at me?

It took another twenty minutes before the students were allowed to return to the building. A police car swung up the circular drive and parked in front of the Castle entrance. I didn’t pay it much mind, needing to get back inside. I kept the blanket over my head while I said goodnight to Melia, launching myself through the doors to my dorm and climbing the ladder like a spider monkey.

Another vial down, I thought with disgust. What was wrong with me? I needed to be more vigilant. I shouldn’t have put myself in this position.

I was smarter, wasn’t I?

Yeah,I’m not so sure.

My internal monologue sounded sassy and I didn’t appreciate the judgment.

“Oh my God, did you hear that the cops are here?”

The whispered statement echoed back to me and I shook my head, not wanting to eavesdrop.

“Wait a minute, someone called the cops?”

“It’s bad. I heard they found something.”

“What did they find?”

“Another body.”

18

Another student dead. Another first-year front runner taken out, with the fire as a cover-up.

It didn’t take long for the dead girl’s identity to make the rounds. Carmela Luzon, the first-year with the highest points. She’d stolen the number one spot with ease after the last round of testing.

Poor girl.

I hadn’t gotten to speak to her much but I remembered her being quiet and shy. She didn’t make friends easily, preferring to keep to herself and focus on classes. She certainly didn’t have anyenemies, either.

It would mean another visit from Detective Wilson, surely. Things had been going well for the longest time—

“Did you hear what they’re saying about Carmela?”

I glanced up from my oatmeal, chewing and considering Mike and Roman as they sat at our table with matching solemn expressions. Swallowing over the rock in my throat, I said, “I heard a little.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird how both the kids who died were top students?” Roman offered. He shook his head, pushing the macaroni and cheese around his plate. “This is more than a coincidence. I know it.”

“Keep your voice down,” Melia warned, jerking forward to place her finger over his lips.

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