Page 24 of Rebel Fae
“Wait,” I said. “That’s it? That’s all you’re giving us? Find the key and open the treasure chest?”
“Yes, dear. What else do you need?” Dr. Watts’s expression was puzzled.
“Are you for real?!” Becca exclaimed. “Where in the hell, on this big-ass island, are we going to find a single key?”
“That is for you to figure out,” he said. “That’s what the quest is all about. The requisites are the same as explained in your intake papers. You must work together, communicate, and find ways to become better people.”
“This is utter bull crap,” Regina spat. “It’s like you want us to fail. Starting with the fact that you’re not feeding me or the other vampire.” She frowned and glanced around. “Where the hell is he, anyway?”
“You just noticed he’s not here?” Becca donned an incredulous expression.
But the fact was that Regina had been out of it most of the night, and before that, she’d been blind with hunger, so it wasn’t hard to imagine she’d blocked out Antonio’s absence. Now, however, with a little blood in her and a few minutes to digest it, she seemed more in control of her mental capacities.
“What did you do with him?!” Regina demanded.
“I’m afraid he’s dead,” I said as gently as I could, though I didn’t mention the fact that I was the one who killed him. I could only hope Vaughn didn’t mention it either, and gratefully, the others didn’t know the details.
“Dead?” She took a step back, her eyes flashing toward Dr. Watts and Crescent. Then she murmured, “It’s always us. Always at the bottom. Always shunned.”
Becca and Ronnie lowered their heads, appearing as if they wanted to make themselves invisible. Many witches and warlocks called anyone who didn’t belong to their kind “Lessers.” They looked down on all of us—vampires, werewolves, fae, anyone who couldn’t perform magic. But the one thing Regina didn’t know was that on this island, we were all treated the same. Like trash.
“I sense there is a lot of resentment in your heart,” Dr. Watts said. “I suggest that you all work on that. It might help you think more clearly and figure out where the key might be. Your very freedom depends on this. Goodbye.” He wiggled his fingers as he and Crescent turned and walked back the way they’d come, leaving us with an impossible task.
“Hey, you have to leave us a clue, a compass, coordinates, something,” Ronnie called, but they ignored him.
“This is ridiculous,” Becca complained while Bael walked over to the treasure chest and picked it up. Brow furrowed, he started turning the box around and pulling on the lock until his face went purple again.
I approached Vaughn and spoke under my breath. “Do you know what we’re supposed to do?”
He shook his head. “They didn’t tell me anything.”
“Any ideas?”
“Eat breakfast?” he offered with a shrug.
I gave him a frustrated glare, but I didn’t have any ideas, either, and we did need to keep our energy up, especially if we had to go tramping around the island with no set direction. I turned to face the others. Bael had the chest on the ground, his enormous foot holding it down as he pulled on the lock.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I fought the urge to leave the group to find the dome and demand that they let me see Arryn. I couldn’t get her terrified little face out of my mind. Whatever Crescent had forced into my mind, it gave me no reassurance about her safety. Were they mistreating her because of Antonio’s death? Was my hope that our deal still stood in vain? Anger twisted in my stomach because, as usual, I realized I didn’t have another choice but to keep my course. I was at the Habermanns’ mercy.
I sighed. “Maybe we should eat breakfast and discuss possibilities of where we can find this key,” I suggested.
Becca followed my suggestion, reached into her backpack, and pulled out something wrapped in crinkly, silver-colored paper. One food item they had given us when we set out.
“Pop-tarts. Breakfast of champions.” She rolled her eyes, sat on a patch of grass, opened her packet, and began to eat.
Ronnie and I joined her and chewed thoughtfully on our pastries. They were sweet and doughy. I’d had them before at the Supernatural Academy, and I much preferred fruit. Bael let out a growl and smashed the chest against a boulder. It bounced off,thunkedhim in the head, and rolled away, unharmed.
“Ow.” He rubbed his forehead.
“Come and eat something, Bael,” I said, suppressing a smile. “I don’t think you’ll be able to open that no matter how hard you try.”
At last, he joined us, resigned. “I hate magic,” he grumbled and devoured one of his Pop-tarts in one bite.
“Impressive,” Ronnie said, nodding in appreciation.
I glanced over my shoulder to where Regina stood under the shadow of a large tree. “Regina, why don’t you join us and help us think of where to search for the key?”
She gave me a dirty glare with her bloodshot eyes. “I don’t care about the stupid quest. They can’t expect me to stumble around this island when they don’t feed me properly. I need to look out for myself, find food.” She walked away, but Vaughn stepped in her path.
