Page 56 of Rebel Fae
Startled, I pulled back. I held my arm up and stared right through the spot where my hand should be. My heart thundered, thoughts flying through my mind. Had Crescent done something to me? I wiggled my fingers. They were still there, and they felt wet.
The others regarded me with deep frowns as if I’d gone mad.
“Your hand came and went with your wings,” Becca pointed out, helpfully.
Did it? I relaxed and made my wings reappeared, and as I did so, my hand popped back into place. “What is going on?” I asked no one in particular.
“I take it that was unexpected,” Bael said.
I nodded, then made my wings disappear once more. My hand, too. “I’ve… I’ve never been able to do that. It’s always been my wings, nothing else.” I did it a few more times. My wings and my hand flickered on and off.
“It would be so cool if you could do your whole body,” Ronnie said. “You would be like The Invisible Man, except it would beThe Invisible Fae.” He laughed as his own joke, though no one else seemed to get it, including me.
“Yeah,” I said under my breath. “It would definitely becool.”
Absentmindedly, I dried my hand on my shirt as my eyes drifted toward the fountain. “Maybe…” I let the words hang and slowly approached the glowing water.
“You think the water did it,” Bael said.
I nodded, walking around and stopping at the edge of the fountain, my eyes transfixed by the magical luminescence.
“I wonder ifIcan turn invisible since I touched the water,” Ronnie mused, staring intently at his hands as if he were trying to make them disappear. Nothing happened. He huffed. “I do feel stronger somehow, though.”
I wondered if that was true or just wishful thinking from this part.
“Oh, shit!” Becca exclaimed, “maybe it will fix more than my hair.” She quickly stepped over the rim and immersed herself into the water.
Regina and Antonio exchanged glances as if asking each other if they should also jump in. The same question was going through my mind. I didn’t trust this island. I had seen how something seemingly harmless could turn into a nightmare in the blink of an eye. I scrutinized Bael and Ronnie. They had both touched the water and were all right. Bael had submerged his entire body and looked great. His mangled wing was completely healed as well as his leg.
If I could glamour my entire body, then maybe…
With a deep inhale, I lifted a foot and slowly lowered it into the water. It didn’t feel any different from stepping into any quiet stream. The water was chilly, but it gave me no reason to panic. I put my other foot in.
Becca was splashing water on her face and running stiff fingers through her wet hair, breaking the tangles. She looked content, not like someone who was about to be swallowed down a giant whirlpool or suddenly eaten by a thousand magical piranhas.
I sat down and slowly submerged my entire body. Panic hit when the water soaked my wings, but the fountain was shallow and as soon as I had dunked every part of my body, I stood and jumped out.
Everyone watched me expectantly as I shook the excess water off my wings.
“Did it work?” Ronnie asked, wide-eyed.
I held my arms up and imagined my wings along with the rest of my body blending in with my surroundings.
My arms disappeared.
Becca gasped from the fountain.
“So freaking cool!” Ronnie punched the air. “I’ve always wanted to learn a cloaking spell, but I’ve had little luck.”
Bael frowned, his pink eyes darting back and forth. “Tally, come back. I don’t like this.”
I reappeared and smiled up at the group. “I can do something with this. I can definitely do something with this. That rescue plan we were talking about earlier, forget about it. I have a better one that doesn’t involve putting any of you at risk.”
* * *
“So not fair,”Becca complained as she stared at the ends of her hair, nearly going cross-eyed. “It did nothing for my hair. It was no better than my Pureology shampoo and keratin treatment. And I don’t feel any different either.” She shot Ronnie a dirty look.
“Maybe that’s because there isn’t much there to improve on,” Ronnie suggested.
