Page 47 of Faerie Gift

Ididn’t speak to Mike for the rest of spring break, and it broke my heart.

A little piece of me cried out for him, missing him, wanting to go to him and demand a real explanation for what happened instead of the lies he tried to feed me. Had Ireallyseen him kissing Persephone? Or had Melia and I both made a big mistake?

Then I remembered.I’d seen him kissing Persephone. He couldn’t bear to kiss me even though we’d come close several times. No, he’d been content with teasing me, with leaning in close and giving me looks hot enough to have me melting. All a tease, all a game. Persephone was the one he’d chosen instead of me.

It was enough to keep me in my bed or avoiding the places I knew Mike would be.

Hell, it was enough to make me sick.

But as the days progressed and I didn’t feel better, I knew the truth. I wasliterallysick, and I never get sick. My head ached and I couldn’t swallow.

The day before classes were due to start up again, I woke up feeling pukey, achy, and with a sore throat like I’d chugged a vat of acid. And it still wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time I’d taken the potion from Barbara, but close enough I stayed in bed to rest, hoping it would go away.

Nora peeked over the edge of my bunk. Afraid to get any closer in case I spewed germs her way. “I’ll tell our teachers you won’t be able to make it in today but you are going to have to get a note. You need to go to the nurse.”

I dragged my blanket tighter around me. My arm muscles were sore and the blanket did nothing to fight off the chill. “No can do,” I insisted. Trying not to cough and each word dragged out of me by force. “I’ve got a big day ahead.”

She glanced at the door, then back at me, then the door again. “Want me to get you anything? Some chicken noodle soup? Some orange juice?”

Yes and yes. I’d love chicken noodle soup. “Just the juice,” I said.

Too much garlic in the soup.

“Okay, you got it. Stay here.” Nora hustled off to grab the juice and I took the opportunity to catch a quick cat nap.

A couple more hours of sleep would kick this thing, I thought to myself, shivering.

The sick didn’t go away; if anything, my day of rest made things worse. Every time I swallowed it felt like there were burning rocks blocking my throat, and when I raised a hand to my forehead, my palm warmed beyond normal temperatures.

But I knew for a fact Hoarfrost was going to give us a quiz so Ihadto go to class the next day. Skipping because I felt like the walking dead wasn’t an option.

“What’s the matter, Tavi?” Persephone’s voice cut through my dizziness. Must have been the shrillness of her voice. “You look like something my dog threw up. Not feeling well?”

I waved her away, unwilling to open my eyes to look at her. Or move. Or offer a comeback. She could go take a flying jump off of a short pier into a drained lake.

“Maybe it’s finally sinking in. You’ve lost. You just feel sorry for yourself, don’t you?” Persephone continued. “Such a sore loser you can’t get out of bed. It’s pitiful.”

From the way her identical group of girlfriends snickered, I knew they had heard about our tussle during spring break. Normally I would wonder what Persephone had to say about the encounter and try to find a covert way to get her to spill. Which would have resulted in a massive argument where I lost.

At the moment, I didn’t care. It took way too much effort to push back the covers and drag myself out of my bunk.

That’s why it took me so long to see: my spell had broken. Staring down at my hands, I realized my wolf wasn’t just prowling beneath the surface anymore. She was there, my shifter senses on high alert despite the cold feeling in my limbs, the leaden weight of them and the goose bumps rising on my skin.

Despite the jabs from Persephone, even my wolf was too tired to retaliate.

Okay,weird.

I gladly flopped down, rooting around beneath the pillow for a new vial. With Persephone and her friends busy getting ready for classes, I downed the vial, the potion tasting disgusting but still better than the sewage Barbara made me the first time around. Then I waited for it to take effect.

Normally the potion worked immediately. Though my vision blurred, I could tell my skin wasn’t crawling the way I was used to when I drank the stuff. Weird that it didn’t seem to be working.

Weird, yeah. Weird and inconvenient and potentially dangerous.

I didn’t wait any longer, reaching for a second bottle and downing it, too. If anyone saw me, I’d tell them it was vitamins. No one saw and no one asked.

It still didn’t work.

Maybe I’d screwed up the recipe this time around? I’d just made this batch and I’d already drank a few of the vials. They’d worked before. What changed? Besides the obvious nasty happenstance resulting in a loss of my friendship with Mike.

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