Page 50 of Faerie Gift

Luckily, I hadn’t needed to run very far. My gaze snagged on the plaster sculpture of a fairy on the wall. Melia had taught me well. I’d have to remember to buy her something to thank her for the bit of information. Information that as an underclassman I wasn’t supposed to know.

The fairy statues marked a network of secret passages running though the castle, accessed by a single word known only to a few. I wasn’t sure who else knew about them outside of Melia and me, but I banked on the secret, muttering the word under my breath and watching the stones melt away to reveal a passageway into what looked like the bowels of a cave.

It took another half breath for me to slide inside the dark, musty passageway and say the spell word again. The wall was back in place and, ears perked, I listened to the hasty rush of footsteps on the other side of the stone. They passed on by and soon nothing but silence greeted me.

Of course, my coughing fits subsided the moment I was alone. That’s how my luck was running.

But the silver lining, I thought as I made my way back to the hospital ward, was that the shifters I sensed hadn’t been Kendrick or anyone from the Grimaldi pack. More than likely those two second-year boys were pawns. Pieces being moved around the board in a bigger game, working for someone else who wanted something from them.

But exhaustion made it difficult for me to follow my train of thought for more than a minute.

Back in the hospital ward, I flopped down on the bed, covered in cobwebs and out of breath to the point where I could have sworn I had just run a marathon. I needed to talk to Detective Wilson. He should know what I’d seen, what I’d sensed. It might help him with the investigation.

Odds were good he already knew what I’d tell him, but still.

Fumbling on the nightstand for the cell phone I’d brought with me, I dialed the number and listened to the ringing. He had said to call him anytime, right? Hopefully he wouldn’t be too pissed. Midnight had come and gone hours ago.

“What?” Wilson barked out after four rings.

“I know it’s late,” I began at once, my throat sill sore but nothing like the acid burns it had felt like originally. “But I saw something strange and I need to tell you about it.”

“You sound terrible.”

“Because I feel terrible.”

Wilson sighed and there was a sound of papers being rustled in the background. Not asleep, then. “Miss Alderidge, I’m working, in the middle of another case. I know you probably have nothing else to do this late at night, because sleep is out of the question, obviously, so you thought you’d call your old pal Wilson for a chit-chat. I, however, have work to do. Important work involving saving lives.”

Someone was a little grumpy.

I pushed a hand through my hair, spider webs sticking to my skin. “I understand you’re busy,” I said. “Just listen. Tonight, my glamour spell failed and I sensed shifters in the school. Again.”

“Let me guess. You decided to follow them.” It wasn’t a question.

I might not know much about Detective Wilson as a person, but we’d spent enough time talking that I recognized the hint of amusement in his tone. The paper-shuffling in the background had stilled.

My lips lifted in a smile. Good. I had his attention. “You guessed right. I saw two second-year boys trying to break into the exchange students’ quarters a few minutes ago. Near where we found Professor Reeds’ body. They’re the shifters.”

“And what were they doing?” Wilson asked.

“They were attempting a B & E, if I had to guess. They had no other reason to be there and one of them was trying to get the door open. When they became aware of me, they chased me. Obviously I got away. But I’m telling you because I think it’s worth looking into.”

Wilson hadn’t told me of any leads in the case—I didn’t expect him to—and I liked to hope this would be a new avenue for him to explore. One that may result in a clue at least.

Another sigh let me know exactly what he thought of my late-night antics. “Are you scared they will find you? What I’m asking is, are you somewhere safe?”

I debated lying and telling him I was fine. Was this what it felt like to be normal? To be mortal?

“I’ve got the flu and I’m holed up in the school’s hospital ward. It’s not the safest place in the world and if they catch my scent, they may try to come for me here,” I told him. “Unless you think Nurse Julie will be enough to keep me out of harm’s way.”

“Okay, well, stay where you are,” Wilson said. The papers shuffled again, folders being tapped against a hard surface. “I’ll send help. I won’t be able to come myself but someone will be there soon to keep watch. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Stay where you are, Tavi, because if anything happens to you, I won’t be able to fucking forgive myself.”

Detective Wilson ended the call with a click, and I leaned back against the thin and uncomfortable hospital pillows, still wrapped in my now filthy blanket. I pushed it off of me and let it drop to the floor. Yup, muck and grime covered the fabric thanks to the walls of the passageway.

The life-saving passageway, I tried to remind myself.

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