Page 4 of Faerie Fate
I lifted a finger to my lips and pressed forward. Scanning the room for any kind of traps. So far I saw nothing, but that didn’t mean there weren’t spells ready to detonate with the slightest misstep. I threw my senses out and came up blank. Okay, then. Now or never.
I approached Professor Marsh and noticed she was protecting two students behind her. I shoved my key into the wall, twisting it until a sliver of light glowed from the way to Faerie.
If the magic read my intentions correctly, the doorway would take them into the woods near the train depot outside of Eahsea, the same place the portal we’d used was aligned to.
Go, hurry. I mouthed the words to her and Marsh hustled forward, barefoot and awkward without the stilettos she always wore. The two students with her followed, and once they were over the threshold I closed the door, breathing heavily.
Okay, so three down.
How many more hundreds to go?
Melia and Coral stood by to help them on the other side. There would be no way for Kendrick to follow, if we did this correctly. If he tried to use my key, it wouldn’t work. I could escort people through the portal once it opened but no one else could use my key.
It was one of King Tywin’s failsafes for keeping the unwanted out of his world. In this case…hell, he might have had the right idea.
This first mini success wasn’t enough to boost my confidence, though. My brain whirred in too many directions to count and the rest of me was too tight, too loose. I stumbled out of the classroom. My frantic gaze swept over the empty deserted hallway.
Where were the wolf shifters? Why wasn’t anyone rushing me, ready for a fight?
I searched three more dusty rooms before I found more students hiding in Tamerlain Hall, my old dormitory.
The bunks had been ripped from the walls and left for toothpicks. The devastation was complete, a crater where my old bunk used to be, or maybe it was my imagination. Maybe I only thought that was where I’d slept my first two years here.
I shook my head and checked the bathroom, pulling open the door to a chorus of startled gasps.
“You have to be kidding me.”
The acerbic tone came from a floating head at the back of the small group. One I recognized with a groan because Professor Hoarfrost was unmistakable. White hair, icy blue eyes, he’d had it out for me my first year.
Homeroom teachers weren’t supposed to play favorites, but he had.
And right now, practically hidden and trembling beneath one of his arms, was Nora Kwan. My old friend had let her black hair grow. Her narrow, suspicious eyes latched onto mine and her lips opened in an O of surprise.
“What the hell are you doing here, Tavi Alderidge?” Hoarfrost continued.
“I’m saving your ass,” I answered evenly.
As good as it was to find my Nora, to see her clinging to Hoarfrost left a terrible taste in my mouth. Like he was some kind of hero when he had never been one before.
“I’m getting you out.” I shoved my key into the tile wall and twisted it. “Go, now, before someone comes.”
There were five other students with them, a mix of ages and genders. Poor kids. They didn’t deserve this. None of them did, not even Hoarfrost. My personal dislike of the old teacher had nothing to do with my need to get them into Faerie and safe.
Hoarfrost took his time rising to his feet as I escorted the other students over the border. Most of them stared at the door like I’d introduced their personal boogeyman as my best friend.
Only Nora remained behind Hoarfrost, who watched me steadily from the mortal side of the threshold.
“You came for me,” she whispered. “You're really here. You’re okay. I worried so much about you.”
I let my hood drop fully back and grabbed her in a tight hug. “I could say the same thing.”
No time. The little voice in my head needed to shut up for a second and let me enjoy the reunion.
My heart pounded out a harsh and unsustainable rhythm. “We’ll talk later. Right now, you’ve got to go. Melia is waiting.”
I hoped the familiar name would strike a chord with Nora. Her eyes searched my face, her pupils completely taken over by black, and at last she nodded.
“I’ll hold you to that, Tavi.”
