Page 124 of Mistaken Magic

Naturally,Jackwas more than happy to prove he could also say my name.Thatled us to talking about whatJackcould eat, andKeirsuggestedIask him.So, whenIwent to get my meal,Keircame with, carrying a plate we filled for my bird.Notthat he was my possession, but he did seem to have a fondness for me.

Idebated going back toKeir'stable for a moment, a little too awareI'dcompletely forgotten about him in the insanity of theHunt.He, however, turned for the court's table, leading the way withJack'sfood.Whenhe got there, he set the plate in the middle, clasped my arm, and said he'd see me tomorrow.Inother words, he wasn't upset.

AndJackwas thrilled.Evidently, he liked chicken, most berries, and he had a weakness for hard-boiled eggs.Thebird ate himself stupid, and with the court offering him things fromtheir plates, he was exceedingly happy.Sohappy he wanted to be carried - on hisback- whenIheaded up to my room that night.

WhenIgot upstairs,Ifound a small bag of puppy food sitting outside my door with a sticky note that said it was forJack.Therewere also two little bowls.Clearly, this was fromLiam.Unfortunately, it was allIhad for keeping a bird, andIhad a feeling it wasn't enough.

Jackdecided my headboard was a good enough place for him to sleep.IdecidedIwasn't quite over the fright from earlier.AspenandIwrapped ourselves in each other's arms, whispering that we didn't want to be alone, and beforeIknew it,Iwas asleep.TheHunthad scared me more thanIwanted to admit, and with the adrenaline gone,Isimply had nothing left.

Butsometime in the middle of the night,Iwoke to a soft nibble on my ear.Igiggled under my breath, moving away from it, but that wasn'tAspen.Suckingin a breath,Iopened my eyes to find her right in front of me.Moonlightthrough the window turned her into an icy dream.Withher eyes closed, she became something almost delicate.

Icouldn't help but reach out to stroke her face.Ihad a girlfriend.Abeautiful one.Herlips were parted as she breathed softly in sleep, andIwanted to kiss her awake.Ialso wanted to go back to sleep myself.Thenthe nibbling came again.Thatwas whenIrealized it wasJack.

"Goto sleep, bird,"Iwhispered.

Heticked his disapproval and flapped over to the door.Hoppingbefore it, he made another noise, this one sounding a little more urgent.Shit, he needed to go to the atrium.Ms.Rhodeshad told him he could only go out there, and he couldn't get downstairs without me.Damnit!

SoIslipped out ofAspen'sarms, grabbed a sweater to go over my pajamas, and slipped on a pair of shoes.Asquietly asIcould,Iopened the door, not bothering to lock it, and letJackfly ahead.Hewent straight for the elevator, landing on the ground before it, still hopping.Thatmade me walk a little faster

"Ok,"Ibreathed, pushing the button.

Thedoors opened immediately, andJackhopped in, not even bothering to fly.Hewas like the strangest mix of a puppy, a kitten, and a bird in some ways.NothinglikeIexpected a crow to be, and yet everything like one.Kindalike the fae,Isupposed.

Whenwe reached the first floor,Jackwas off again, and this timeIjogged to keep up with him.ThemomentIopened the atrium door, he was gone.Thepoor thing.Ihad no idea how often crows needed to have a potty break, butJackhad been running around with me all afternoon, andIhadn't even thought about it.

Iwas a bad bird-mom.I'dlearn, though, andIhad a feelingJackwould definitely teach me.But, while he flew and did his thing,Imoved over to the base of the weeping willow, and leaned back against it.Ihadn't brought my phone or tablet, soIhad nothing to keep me distracted.Instead,Ilet my eyes close.

Itcouldn't have been long beforeIheard the atrium door open again.Myeyes jerked open andIwas instantly awake, scanning for whoever had just come in.Onthe boy's side,Icould see the plants reacting.Someglowed, the effect more obvious in the darkness.Otherswhispered, sounding almost like their leaves were brushing together, butIhad a feeling that wasn't the cause of the sound.

ThenJackswooped down to greet the visitor with a soft caw.Theguy sucked in a breath, and then he chuckled. "Jack?" he asked. "Where'sRain?"Irecognized the voice asTorian's.

"Whatare you doing up?"Iasked, revealing myself by the sound.

Torianturned my way.Atfirst,Ionly heard him, then he came around a set of tall shrubs, andIsawAspen'sbrother dressed like he expected no one at all to see him.Hewore a pairof grey sweats and a shirt that was thin, soft, and a little too tight.Myeyes dropped to take in the lines of his perfect body, hoping he couldn't tell in the moonlight.

"Ihad to check the protections," he admitted. "Iknow they've been checked and checked again, but..."Hepaused before me to rumple his own hair. "Wedidn't know they were coming," he finally said.

"TheHunt?"

"Yeah."Heknelt down before me. "Whatare you doing?"

"Jackevidently poops,"Igrumbled.Hehuffed at that which made me smile. "ItseemsIopen doors forHisHighness."

Sohe held out a hand. "Come.TalkwhileIdo this?"

Iaccepted, letting him pull me up.Together, we wandered through the garden to the back.Thewall was glass, but it didn't matter much.Theplants had claimed this place, taking over almost everything.Onceinside, it was a very secluded spot - for the most part.Ihad a feeling the only reason it wasn't the preferred make-out place was due to the dorm windows, which made it possible to see everything.

Butwhen we reached the back,Torianmoved right to the large panes of glass.Pressinghis hand to one, he let his eyes close as he focused, and the glass changed.Iwanted to say it fogged over, but it wasn't that.Itwas more like the glass changed to something blue and milky, creating a very similar effect.Andthere, in the middle of it all were a jumble of shapes and patternsIcouldn't quite make out.

Toriansimply moved his finger to a smudged spot and concentrated again.Asoft green glow flared inside the glass, too dim to really count as a glow, but bright enoughIcould make it out.Almostlike an aftereffect of seeing a bright light.Itmatched the pattern that was already there, sharpened it, and then the glass cleared again.Toriansimply moved on to the next pane.

"Whatare you doing?"Iasked.

"Theglass is enchanted against the fae," he explained. "MeanstheHuntcan't break it.Theenchantment is still good, butI'mrefreshing it."

"Why?Don'tthe teachers, or staff, or adults do that?"

Hespun to face me. "Whatif they got in,Rain?Whatif they got toAspen?Iwould much rather do this than risk it.Iknow what would happen!"

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