Page 70 of Ashes and Lilies
“Oh, awesome.” The blonde grinned. There was a purity in his expression that seemed to radiate from his smile, and I felt silly for my distrust. “I’m Shane, and these two are Preston and Brian.” He nodded to the dirty-blond and black-haired boy in turn. “We’re sophomores, and we wanted to introduce ourselves. I didn’t notice you at the secondary school, so you must have been at the other location.”
I took a step back and pulled at my skirt. What was he talking about?
“How are you in my class if you’re not a freshman?” And even more importantly, how did Bryce not notice a gaggle of his students missing? Was he stupid or just plain negligent?
“Science isn’t our strong point.” Shane shrugged. “We’re liberal arts majors, and mostly prefer the humanities and history. But I’m in the psychology program.”
That explained a lot.
“Brian studies history and anthropology, and he had something he’s been wanting to ask you,” Shane said, gesturing toward his bespectacled friend, who stepped forward. “It’s been bugging him since the first day of class.”
“Yes?” I asked. Brian looked away and ran his fingers across his hair. Why did he seem nervous? It wasn’t like I was scary.
“You’re—you’re fae,” he said. I lifted my eyebrow. I hadn’t thought it wasthatobvious. “And a girl,” he continued. I frowned. I would have thought that’d be more obvious. “Where…” He glanced at Shane, and my nervousness abated somewhat.
He was almost as shy as me.
“Where’s your chaperone?” he asked.
What the heck?
A muscle under my eye twitched. “Why would I need a chaperone?” I asked.
Brian perked as the telltale sign of intellectual curiosity took over his expression. There was a familiar, mad gleam of excitement in his eyes as he said, “Because it’s rare to see a fae female in the human realm, and I know my family would never leave any of ours unprotected. Yet here you are.”
His family? I studied him. Was he a fae too?
“I—” I pulled at my sleeve as I answered, “I’ve never had a chaperone.” Or had I?
He frowned at me. “You’re a Brosnan, right?” he asked. “I don’t recall the name.”
“Is the name really that important?” I retorted. Why was I feeling defensive over Kieran? It wasn’t like he’d been insulted. Regardless, Brosnan wasn’t the name I was born with—even I didn’t know what it was—but he didn’t need to know that.
“It can be.” he nodded. “I originally thought that you were from one of the noble families. At least, it felt like that.”
“Noble family?” I touched my lips.
The fae had noble families? This was all new information.
He glanced at his friends before leaning forward and cupping his hand to his mouth. “You know, the noble families. Like Dubois, Stephens, Doyle, Maguire, Nam…” When I didn’t reply, because I refused to show shock that apparently Bryce was someone special, he continued. “Are you Unseelie? Have you heard of Renouf, Bryne, or Uttar? I mean, there’s more in both courts, but surely you recognize some of them?”
“Skipping class, I see.” Bryce, in his consistently less-than-perfect timing, stepped between us. For some reason, the tension that’d been weighing against me disappeared in his presence. My fingertips were still pressed against my lips as I glanced up at him, and he frowned down at me.
“Break’s over.” He looked to the others. “Get back to work.”
My thoughts reeled as Bryce glowered after them as they disappeared into the classroom. Why hadn’t anyone told me this before? Or maybe this was information that only a fae might know.
“Hey—” I grabbed his arm and waited until his eyes met mine. “Do you think I’m Seelie or Unseelie?” I asked him. He was supposed to be some sort of noble princelike figure, plus my Er Bashou. If someone like Brian could tell, then he should certainly know.
“What?” he asked.
“I—” I looked away from him, and my skin flushed. “I was curious.” I could always ask Dr. Stephens. Apparently, he was just as important.
“Why does it matter?” Bryce asked. “Neither is inferior to the other.”
I tightened my grip on his sleeve to stop myself from shaking. “That’s not what I mean,” I said. Why was he taking this the wrong way? “I just thought…”
Bryce was frowning at me. “You thought what?”
