Page 17 of Faerie Gift

She had her own space, which could come in handy at times. I tried not to take advantage of her offer to stop by at any time, because knowing me, I would. I’d be there whenever possible because it was better than where I slept.

At the moment the only place I found any respite from Persephone and her friends was the library. My bunkmate wasn’t big on studying, although I’d seen her in there a few times. Unless I wanted to bring a lamp into the secret passages, Melia’s room was the best place for me to escape.

After lunch, the three of us slipped into her room and locked the door behind us. It was a small space, large enough for a bed, a dresser, and a desk, but full of light and decorated in shades like an autumn wood. Most of the rooms in the castle appeared to take inspiration from the seasons and nature itself. Just as I’d noticed most of the professors had names featuring natural elements.

“Stay out of sight,” Mike warned, holding one hand up and keeping his cell phone close with the other. “I don’t want to have to answer any strange questions and Mom is generally full of them. If she catches even a glimpse of one of you, she’ll never stop.”

“Strange questions like what?” Melia asked. She bounced on the bed and sent a pile of pillows scattering with the movement.

Mike didn’t answer as he dialed the number.

“Okay, maybe one strange question before we start.” I raised my hand like we were in class. “Are you seriously going to use aphoneto call across dimensions? Like, how does that work?”

At least he didn’t make fun of my ignorance. “Magic, probably,” he answered with a tiny hint of sarcasm.

Yeah, magic. Of course.

Melia and I stayed out of sight while Mike called his mom on video chat.

Thequeen, I reminded myself. High Queen Laina of Faerie. That wasn’t intimidating atall.

She picked up on the second ring and her voice filled the room as though she stood there with us. “Michael? What’s the matter? Are you all right? Why didn’t you call? Oh my, I knew we should have sent you with a new set of bodyguards this semester. Did you make it safely?”

Mike narrowly resisted rolling his eyes at the phone and I watched him plant a wide, fake smile on his face. “I’m fine, Mom. I got busy and forgot to call is all. Please don’t panic,” he told her.

“I always panic. It’s myjobto panic. You understand that, don’t you?” she continued. “You’re my baby boy.”

I hid a smile behind my hand. How nice it must be to have a mom to worry about you. I’m sure Mike didn’t see it in those terms, but because I’d grown up without mine, it was my first thought. I’d gladly take the babbling and the excess worry if it meant I had my mom back.

“I do understand, but try to calm down because I’m fine. Bodyguards aren’t going to help me fit in. Besides, if you remember, the ones I had last semester didn’t work out so great,” he said.

He was thinking about Roman again. And there came my guilt, burning me from throat to abdomen like I’d swallowed acid. Mike didn’t understand the full details of what had happened, only how Roman tried to attack me but the detective stopped him.

I heard the tears in Queen Laina’s voice when she spoke again. “I’m sorry about your friend, honeybun. I’m glad you’re all right. I just miss you already.”

“I miss you too, Mom,” Mike said softly. “I really do.”

“You started your classes this morning, didn’t you? Things are going well?”

He turned slightly and I saw him grinning at the screen. “Things are fine, Mom. I just wanted to talk to you about something. We, ah, we got a busload of new exchange students last night.”

A slight pause answered him. “Exchange students, Mikey?”

Melia and I shared a look and I snickered under my breath at the nickname.

“Yeah, from our sister school in Canada. Do you know anything about the other academy’s portal being broken? Apparently, they’re holing up with us until graduation so they can use ours.”

Another long pause. Then Queen Laina laughed. “Oh goodness, I’d almost forgotten. My heart is pounding a mile a minute. Yes, dear, it’s actually quite the scandal. I’m surprised I didn’t mention it to you when you were here.”

Mike held a finger outside the view of the screen and gestured for us to pay attention to her next words.

“Their headmaster found the portal in pieces a few days before the start of their winter break. It appeared to have been intentionally destroyed but there are no clues as to who did it or why. Your father was furious! The backup plan has always been for students to travel via the Fae Academy for Halflings in the event of a similar disaster. I suppose you should have been informed of the news but it surely slipped your father’s mind. He has so many things going on these days. Try not to let the oversight bother you.”

“But why are the students herenow? Wouldn’t they have to wait until the end of the spring semester to see who stays and who goes?” Mike questioned. “The academy here only has a single portal ceremony in June, not one each semester.”

“Different rules for different schools, my love,” Laina answered. “The Canadian Halfling Academy likes to do a smaller ceremony at the end of each semester.”

“Seriously?”

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