Page 28 of Faerie Fate
“Your mother is the one who got me out, along with the rest of my charges,” Julie said. She squeezed me then pulled back, her jaw firm. “Livvy, she said? That’s her name?”
As far as Julie knew, my parents were both dead.
“She was supposed to be dead. I had no idea she was in hiding until Coral and I…” The story went farther back, deeper than I’d anticipated. “Coral’s mom is my aunt. We found Livvy in hiding.”
Livvy wasn’t her real name, either. It was one of those new identity deals she’d had to take to protect herself—and me.
I explained the whole thing to Julie in as many broken pieces as I remembered, my brain and attention scattered. Julie kept her arms around me the entire time, to anchor me. And with Noren sidled up behind me and leaning, he became my pillar of strength keeping me upright. There was no way I’d collapse again.
When I finished the story, I turned to Mike to gauge his reaction. Mike’s face was deceptively calm, and his lips opened slightly, no doubt ready to lie and tell me it would be all right.
Someone had to get the students out of here, though. They needed healing. More than Julie could provide alone.
“We need to go back in time and then cross over and get my mother,” I told him. “We can’t leave her over there.”
He stared at me, his eyes shuttered. He gave nothing away and despite our closeness, I couldn’t read him now. Ducking his head, a lock of blond hair fell over his features, and his hand clenched at his side. It was the slightest bit of movement and the only indication of nerves in his flawless facade.
“I’ll do my best,” he hedged. “I think I should be able to circumvent the closing of the barrier if I do it right, but I’ve neverattempted anything so intricate before. I have to think about the best way to handle it.”
“We’ll give you the privacy you need,” Melia said decisively. “Professor Marsh? Do you want to help me get the kids upstairs? We’ll get them fed and settled. Juno Ians is already aware of the situation and ready to help with medical attention.”
Coral lurched into action. “I know these halls better than anyone. Come on. Chop chop, guys, we’re wasting moonlight.”
My cousin always had to be the center of attention, but between her and Melia, I knew they had it covered. Melia had the qualities necessary to multitask with the best of them, and Coral could micromanage everything else.
Bronwen smiled over at me, the gesture ghostly on her moon-pale face. “Tavi? Come on. Let’s get you somewhere where you can rest. You’re ready to drop.”
“I want to take a closer look at your wound, too,” Julie added.
“I’m going with Mike,” I insisted, inching closer to him. “I’m not going to just leave Livvy in the mortal world alone. She needs me.”
Julie pressed her hand to my forehead and her eyes narrowed. “Weak and feverish the way you are? I don’t think so. You need attention. You’re not going anywhere.”
I shook her off, distantly aware of the rudeness of the gesture, especially when she was so kind and concerned. “This is my mom we’re talking about. I finally found her after so long and I’m not going to give her up now. No matter how bad I feel. I’m sorry.”For everything.I held my arms slightly out to the side to steady myself. “I’m going.”
Looking at Mike hurt but I forced myself to do it, seeing him through a wave of dizziness pressing inward from the edges of my vision. His gaze dipped repeatedly to my scar and he shivered.
Disgust.
My stomach lurched when he glanced away and refused to make eye contact. Between Julie and Noren I managed to stand on my own. On wobbly legs, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going down.
Not yet.
Unease and alarm mingled in me and drove daggers into my skull from the inside. This was worse than cramps—worse than the worst flu I’d survived.
Maybe it was the shock of being taken through time, or maybe I really had used up way too much power fighting against Kendrick. It hadn’t felt like too much at the time. It felt like the barest minimum, of survival at any cost.
But there was no denying how sick I felt.
Mike held out his hand for me, looking like he’d much rather hold a palmful of slugs than touch me. But his grip stayed strong when he linked our fingers together. He tamped down a groan and found something more interesting to look at near his foot.
Julie clucked her tongue. Whether she was disappointed in me or in Mike, I didn’t know. “Be careful,” she said. “Don’t do anything stupid, and try to come back in one piece, if you can.”
Mike dropped his head back on his shoulders for a beat before he scoured the empty basement. “I’ll send us back, and then see if we can go through,” he told me in an undertone. “There’s no guarantee it will work. But hopefully we can circumvent whatever barrier is in place.”
“I trust you,” I murmured.
I meant it. Hopefully Mike knew that.
