Page 38 of Faerie Gift

“Miss Alderidge, back to your seat. Now.”

Bowing my head, I did as he asked and made my way back up the aisle toward Mike and Melia. But I heard the whispered warnings.

“Detention, four o’clock in the usual room,” Professor Reeds stated in a hush. “And you’d better not be late. If I see you picking on someone again, I’ll write you up, and you know the drill. Three write-ups and you’re gone. I know you’ve all been written up at least once, so you’d better toe the line. You are already down a few hundred points apiece. I’d hate to have to take more from you.”

Yes, exactly, I thought. Actions like theirs had to have consequences, and dire ones. Bullying couldn’t be tolerated in any instance, and sadly I’d seen enough of it in my life. It was the one thing I could not and would not tolerate.

Hopefully those four—Xander included—would think twice before bothering Chase or anyone else again.

13

Once the lottery passed, it was time for me to focus on finding the Augundae Imperium. Because Iknewif I didn’t move on that soon, then Barbara would show up here again demanding her prize…and I could not allow her to come back.

Who knew what kind of tricks she’d unleash. She might hurt someone I cared about as an incentive to get me to do her bidding.

I couldn’t risk it.

My stomach felt hollow as I trekked down the hallways, avoiding the windows and the glow of the full moon outside. It had become habit by this point, staying out of the direct moonlight, because if I stepped in the wrong spot my glamour would shatter. And I’d been so good at avoiding that this semester.

Melia followed behind me, with her hands at the ready to work the spell we’d agreed upon. Together she and I climbed the winding stairs toward the tallest tower of the castle.

She knew a tracking spell, one designed to lock on to larger than average power signatures, Melia assured me. It was a spell I wouldn’t learn until my third or fourth year depending on whether I chose an advanced curriculum or not. Which meant I must lean heavily on her assistance to perform the spell so we could follow its path to the artifact I needed.

Good thing we trusted each other without reservation.

It really made a difference, I decided, having someone on my side who knew my secret. Even though Melia wasn’t really on board with the whole “get the Augundae Imperium and give it to the witch” scenario, she loved me enough to know my position here was a life or death thing. And she damn certain wanted to make sure I crossed the border into Faerie with her.

My throat suddenly clogged and I took a second to clear it. I’d never had a best friend like her before. I hadn’t known what I was missing, honestly, until I met Melia. She filled a hole inside of me I’d never had the courage to admit existed—a lacking, a missing piece.

“Tell me when we get to a good place to stop,” I whispered.

“There’s a spot up ahead where no one goes. That will be a good place for us to set up.” Something glittered in her eyes. Anticipation, excitement, a desire to see what would happen.

As we turned the corner, a dark hallway stretched in front of us and I stared at the cold stones, at the absense of windows. Definitely not a place I would want to be alone. It looked like ghosts might pop out of the walls and sayboo. I’d read my fair share of haunted house fiction. This space definitely fit in with any of those novels. Some of the authors might even have used this area as inspiration.

“This is the spot,” Melia told me cheerfully. She swung the bag over her shoulder and set it carefully down on the floor. “No one comes up here because, as you can see, it’s totally creepy.”

“Good for privacy,” I agreed. Although I still wasn’t clear why we couldn’t have worked this magic in her room instead.

“Definitely good for privacy.” She pointed to a spot on the wall and I found myself grateful for my amazing eyesight. “You see the dark spots there?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I came up here in my second year to practice a few spells I was having trouble with. Turned out I needed more practice than I thought. Ended up nearly knocking out a wall, luckily only a few loose stones. Big explosion.” She stretched her arms in the air to indicate just how big. “You should have seen it. And good thing I was here alone because I definitely could have taken out a small army with my mistakes.”

“It’s hard for me to imagine you making a mistake,” I told her.

She huffed. “Oh, girl, I’ve made so many mistakes you could fill a boat with them. I don’t take my current perfection for granted.”

Melia motioned for me to move a few steps ahead of her and we set up a small altar in the middle of the hallway. Mortar and pestle, check. Herbs, spices, lighter, check. We had all of the necessary accoutrements to make this work and then some, if I’d remembered correctly.

Yeah, bigif.

Melia and I crouched low over the makeshift altar and I closed my eyes to follow her lead. A few words of magic, uttered low, and I felt power begin to rise around us. A breeze tickled the back of my neck and a tug at my center drew me forward.

“Is the wind normal?” I asked Melia.

My eyes were closed so I missed her physical response, though I heard her say, “Yeah, girl. It’s part of the package.”

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