Page 39 of Faerie Gift

In a moment the breeze died down and we were left in the relatively creepy silence. Did I just hear a disembodied voice calling my name?

We sat for a moment longer with our arms outstretched and hands held palm to palm. The magic condensed around us. Melia said a few more words aloud, breaking the connection to mix another set of herbs in the bowl. A small pop sounded and the tug at my center intensified.

“What now?” I asked.

“Now you put this ring on and it will guide you where you need to go. It’s linked to whatever large-scale magical signatures are present in the castle,” she told me.

I opened my eyes to see Melia holding a small pewter ring between her index finger and thumb. “Where did it come from?”

“The magic takes the form of whatever would be easiest for the user to carry. In this case, a ring is the perfect accessory for you to use to track what you desire because it’s small and innocuous. No one is going to worry about you wearing it. And it’s not silver. Isn’t magic special?” She offered me a wide grin.

I shook my head and grimaced as she slid the ring onto my middle finger. “I’ll never take being normal for granted again.”

She scoffed. “Normalis highly overrated. Here, push this bad boy home and let’s get a move on.”

The moment the ring was in place, a heady magic pulsed through me, drawing me forward.

“I feel it,” I told her. “Something big. Really big.” Like the quiet before a hurricane where the air held the hint of a threat.

“It’s gotta be the Augundae Imperium. An artifact like that would throw off a huge signature. I’m sure the ring is picking up on it. The spell worked!” Melia clapped her hands and began to shove the pieces of our makeshift offer into her bag again.

“I never doubted you.” But my feet couldn’t stay in one place. I found myself walking away from her back in the direction we’d come.

Best case scenario, this spell would lead me right to the artifact and I’d manage to grab it with little effort. Worst case scenario, it would lead me on a wild goose chase through the castle and I’d be no closer to finding what I sought.

Melia hurried to join me, and in her smile there was a sense of genuine joy, in her eyes a flicker of anticipation. Now I understood. This woman who used to run from adventure now itched for one and wasn’t doing a very good job of hiding it. She’d told me about her past the same night I’d opened up about mine. Half human and half fae, her father actually stuck around to raise her until she was old enough to get into the academy before he returned to Faerie. He waited for her on the other side. Although he wasn’t with her mother anymore, he made special trips back to this side for her birthday and holidays.

Melia learned from him it was better to be cautious than courageous. But it seemed his warnings couldn’t suppress her natural spark of bravery.

I stopped on the stairs and looked at her. “Melia, you know I’m grateful for your help, and I don’t want you to be insulted, but I think you should stay here.” I continued to speak through her squeak of protest as my feet urged me back down the stairs toward the third floor. “I don’t want you involved if I end up finding the artifact and taking it. Because make no mistake, I’m going to have to steal it. I don’t think anyone will willingly hand it over to me. And the less you are involved, the better for you. I don’t want anything to complicate your getting into Faerie.”

I meant it, but still I glanced at her to see how she was taking it. Normally, my friend and mentor’s face wore a soft, easygoing expression that made random people in the school want to ask her opinion on things. One look at her tonight and they would want to offer her a hug instead. She reached out a hand to grab my arm and squeezed gently, halting my downward progress again.

She stared at me for the longest time before sighing, her shoulders deflating. “When you’re right, you’re right. I might not agree with this idea but I guess I got myself all excited over the finding part.”

I grabbed her arm and squeezed back in reassurance. “I’ll come to your room afterward and let you know everything,” I promised. The ring tugged at my attention and I found myself moving again, faster now as I descended, everything inside of me raring to go.

“Yeah, well, you’d better! Or there will be hell to pay!” she called out.

I listened to her laughter long after I’d turned and sprinted down the corridor at the bottom of the stairs.

I had to be the predator, pushing my fear aside as I stalked my prey. In this case, the Augundae Imperium. I’d spent my entire childhood doing the same thing, and if the next punch came when I wasn’t expecting it, I didn’t want Melia to take it by accident, to be caught in the crossfire. And in that her disappointment did not sway my decision.

I followed the tug of the spell through the school building. Down, down from where we’d worked the magic to the wing where I knew the exchange students were staying.

This area of the castle wasn’t one where first-years went on a daily basis, and I only remembered it from a tour in our initial days of arriving here. Most of the space was reserved for third- and fourth-years. Hopefully there were plenty of extra bunks for our guests to sleep on, since the entire space had been turned into extra spare rooms after the culling lotteries took place.

Or so I presumed. I highly doubted the academy would put the exchange students anywhere they didn’t consider top-notch.

Instead of stopping at the door leading into their quarters the way I’d expected, the magic tugged me forward again. Insistent. Demanding I continue. I had no choice but to go and I followed the pull, away from the door, down the hallway, and out the opposite end.

Okay, this is weird.

Maybe instead of keeping it near them they had hidden it somewhere inside the castle where they thought it wouldn’t be found? No clue.

I could only allow the magic to take me where it wanted me to go. But if I woke up tomorrow with two heads instead of one, I would not be more surprised than I was the moment I saw Mike standing at the end of the hall on his way toward the exchange students’ dorm.

The ring pulsed on my finger once, twice, and then the magic faded and left me empty. I took it as an indication. I’d found my target.

---