Page 66 of Faerie Gift

I played with tossing a popcorn kernel. “Did you…tell anyone what you heard?”

“Oh yes, I put out a bulletin. Duh. Of course I didn’t. No one else knows how this works and I intend to keep it that way.”

Leave it to Melia to dig up what I wanted to keep hidden. And it wasn’t like I could lie to her, anyway. The blood had rushed from my cheeks leaving them, surely, a shade paler than normal. She saw it. She saw everything. “I know, I shouldn’t even ask. I’m sorry.”

Melia rubbed her face and groaned. “Just promise me the next time you go waltzing around at midnight looking for theyou know what, you’ll let me know. I can look out for you.”

“You’re not coming with me,” I said, shaking my head.

“Oh. Okay. I understand.” Though her face soured and I knew she had plenty more to say on the subject, she turned to face the television without another word.

You’re my best friend and the only one I have. Please don’t hate me for wanting to keep you safe.

“Let’s get to the movie, okay, Tavi? Your secrets are safe,” she assured me. “But sooner or later your fan club will find you and I’d rather not practice reading lips tonight.”

I snuggled into the pillows on the couch, remembering to breathe. “Good idea. I could use a break.”

Now I understood how Mike felt dealing with all those girls. Being the center of attention wasn’t fun and games by any means. No matter where I went in the hallways, people came up to me, wanting to shake my hand, wanting to hear about how I’d found the killer and how he’d been captured.

Privacy? Out the window. Gone entirely.

After the first few days of being my knight protector, Mike and I had found it easier to keep a little distance between us. Our fan clubs were like oil and water. They didn’t mix, and having so many people around at one time…too much to bear. Melia braved the crowds, for the most part, until it got to her too and she decided to whisk me away from it all with her mother hen tendencies.

In other words, it was all absolutely ridiculous. Just another element to distract me from my classes.

“Girl, I get it. It’s a lot. You really could use a break. Breathing room is out the window for sure. I may have also placed a tiny spell on the door to this room to dissuade people from coming in.” Melia held a hand to her lips. “Shh, don’t tell.”

I placed my hand over my heart. “Your doing something so devious for me means a lot. Truly.”

“You needed it,” Melia said with a shrug. She held the bowl of popcorn out to me. “Tomorrow is going to be a big day for you. What with your award dinner and everything.”

I groaned and flopped back on the couch. Not sliding right down to the floor required a gigantic effort of will. “Please don’t remind me.”

A dinner in honor of my heroic efforts in capturing a murderer. Mysecondcapture. Maybe I should make a living out of this and start keeping tallies of my victories. Or maybe get tattoos.

I could be Tavi Alderidge, Bounty Hunter for the Supernatural.

“You’re going to be fine. But you deserved some time tonight to relax instead of staving off the spotlight-hungry masses day in and day out.”

Melia patted my leg as she spoke and I winced at the hint of an ache in the area. It had taken a long time for the claw marks to heal completely and it still hurt sometimes. At least I no longer had any areas actively bleeding.

“Trust me. This is going to be good for you.”

“You always know what’s best,” I conceded.

I enjoyed whatever time she and I had together, although tomorrow loomed large. Melia had almost become my happy place, a familiar homey presence in my life.

I wasn’t looking forward to the dinner. Especially not when the moment the big night arrived and I stepped down the last stair riser into the cafeteria, I saw the space transformed. School staff had bedecked the tables with sumptuous gold-trimmed tablecloths, the wooden benches polished to a sheen to show off the live edges. Garlands of fresh evergreens hung over every arched doorway, and magicked candelabras floated in the air over the tables. White fairy lights twinkled among the moss and wildflowers at the corners of the room.

A large banner hung over the traditional buffet-style serving line, held in place with glittering blue butterflies. Fae magic.Congratulations, Tavi!

I found Mike immediately among the crowd. He must have recognized the look of disgust on my face. My heart clenched. The whole thing reminded me horribly of my eighteenth birthday party. The night my life changed.

I didn’t know what the chef decided to prepare in terms of food, but instead of my normal plastic-wrapped sandwich of death, it surprised me to see slices of turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy. None of which had garlic.

Chef had cooked a turkey just forme. And he’d left out the garlic just forme. My mouth watered at the smell and it was almost enough to make me forget this dinner was a celebration of what I’d done.

Almost.

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