Page 53 of Faerie Trials

Tears burned at my eyes. The king wanted a scapegoat. He wanted someone to blame for problems he couldn’t seem to control. And there I was, a bright beacon for trouble, perfect for him to focus his ire on.

There was no escape. There was no getting away from the man who ruled these lands. If he knew what Mike and I had done the other day…what would he say then? There would be no investigation there. He’d kill me himself, no matter what I said or what I had going on.

And trust me, I had a lot going on. Too much. Too many things stacked against me. I needed to keep my head down and stay out of trouble or else the king would squash me like a bug.

The next morning felt brutal and cold despite the sun shining. I dressed early, downed a giant cup of coffee, and walked to the royal library. Mike was already there, sitting at a table near the window. I joined him, keeping my head down.

He wanted to know where I’d gone the day before, and why I’d ditched him. I made up whatever excuse I thought he would believe with a promise not to disappear on him again. At least not until we did our fair share of research today.

“I’m here now,” I insisted. Determined to focus. “I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Well, time for you to wake up. We have a big day ahead of us.” Mike pulled a stack of books out of his backpack. “I spoke to Lane last night. He and Arlyss are working together to find their own spell. He didn’t want to tell me much and risk giving away what they found, but from what I understand, they feel like they have the first Trial in the bag.”

“They’re working together?”

My brain was too fuzzy to hold onto a single thought. I needed a little boost if I had any hope of making it through those books. I needed my brain boost powder.

Mike was talking and although I saw his mouth moving, I couldn’t follow the words he said. I held up a finger to interrupt him with another excuse about forgetting something in my room. He didn’t seem offended. And I didn’t want him to see me taking the powder like some kind of addict.

I wasn’t addicted, I said to myself, racing back down the hall the way I’d come. The door to my room closed behind me. Moving to the desk, I reached into the top drawer to grab the bag and portion some of the powder into my water. If I had any chance of getting through this—both the Trials and the whole deal with the dead gypsy and the shifter attacks—then I needed to keep a clear head.

Except the bag was empty.

“What…?” I turned the bag upside down but nothing came out, not even a pinch of brain boost. I checked the drawer but didn’t see any loose powder at the bottom. I whirled around in a panic, wondering if someone had come into my room and stolen it. But no, nothing else was out of place.

And I realized this was the second time this had happened, the second time my supply was less than expected. My hands curled into fists.

What was going on?

Thinking back to when I last took a dose, yesterday morning…I couldn’t recall mixing it. The space was a big blank, just as it was the day before, and the day before that. The memories around the brain boost became fuzzy inside my head. How…how did I not realize my days were filled with holes? There were blanks spots where there should be memories. Together they added up to trouble.

I leaned against the desktop, taking a deep breath. I’d gone too far. Raelynn had been right when she warned me to be careful. If I’d actually already used up the whole bag—and I had a bad feeling that was exactly what happened—then it was the first step down a very dark path, one I didn’t want to be on. My heart flipped.

Shoving the empty bag back into the drawer, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, focusing on my breathing. I pushed aside my nerves and the tingle of anxiety. There had to be some kind of reasonable explanation why I didn’t remember anything about taking the brain boost in the last couple of weeks. There was something tickling at the edge of my mind just out of reach.

I shook my head. Why couldn’t I remember anything?

“It’s fine,” I told myself. Voice barely above a whisper. “It’s absolutely fine. If I stop taking the powder, then things will go back to normal. I just need to find alternate ways to hone my focus.”

Yet another problem heaped on the mountain of problems plaguing me.

Mike glanced up at me when I returned to the library, his smile like a ray of sunshine. “Took you long enough. I thought you said you forgot something.”

He has no idea.“I was only gone for a little bit,” I hedged.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Um, no. I mean yeah. I’m sorry. You know how I am. When I get stressed, I forget everything.” Sure, maybe that excuse would work. He’d known me long enough, after all.

He clucked his tongue in admonishment. “I’ll forgive you this time, Tavi. But you are going to have to make it up to me if you pull another disappearing act.”

I liked the way his eyes warmed when he said it. “I will gladly make it up to you.” I set my backpack on the empty seat between us. “As long as we make some headway on a detachment spell today.”

“I’m already ten steps ahead of you. Talking to Lane gave me an idea, an avenue to pursue, if you will.” Mike held up a finger to get my attention then pointed down at the open book in front of him. “Listen up and let me school you.”

* * *

I spent too much energy that afternoon cataloguing my missing time and found it added up to much more than I was comfortable with. I had to know the side effects of the potion, considering I’d taken too much. That night in the kitchen, with Raelynn working steadily beside me and singing a song I didn’t know, I asked her.

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