We were starting to become obvious. The only big question was: what did they see?
Alys glared, telling me she’d already guessed.
But there wasn’t anything between Donovan and me. Yet. Who knew if there would be? After all, if I didn’t connect with a stone, I’d be firebird bait, snatched up, stripped of power, and dumped outside the entrance.
My belly flipped. I really needed to find some courage. Drag my feet to that tent and get my ass inside. Take this on as a challenge, not cower as if I’d been sent away already.
Curiosity, Fleur. If I didn’t go inside, I wouldn’t discover that potential Donovan had spoken of.
Walking forward, I stopped in front of Cloven.
He braced my shoulders and spoke softly, his words only for me. “I want to tell you not to be scared but, as I said, for each person this is different. I don’t know what you’ll see or do in there, only my own experience, which I cannot share. Just know that I have confidence in you, in what will come next. Fate wouldn’t have sent you to us only to snatch you away.” He squeezed tight before releasing me, his hands dropping down to his sides. “Go in there and find your destiny. When you come out, we’ll talk about your upcoming classes.” His eyes twinkled. “I’m looking forward to teaching you the wonders of your world.”
Your world. Not our world. His acceptance tasted wonderful.
My lips rose into a smile that might be shaky, but it held true as I strode to the tent. When I reached the entrance, my knees shook. Once inside, my future would be decided. More than anything, I wanted to hold onto a tomorrow that was full of promise.
Parting the flaps, I stepped inside.
I was greeted with a white canvas floor and walls and a ceiling consumed with colors as sunlight struggled to find its way through the thick fabric.
Emptiness echoed around me. There was no table or treasure chest or even a cavern where I could grab a pick and mine for a stone.
Hell. Did this mean it was over already?
My heart a solid mass in my throat, I turned to leave. Tears wet my lashes. Everyone waited outside to cheer. Or jeer, knowing Alys.
This couldn’t be the end. Please. I didn’t want to be kicked out. Stone-less. Without magic.
Rejected all over again.
“Not so fast!” a tiny voice called out behind me.
I spun and my eyes widened. “Alex?”
The golden dragonfly hovered in front of my nose, close enough I could trace the fine lines in his wings with my finger if I wanted.
His little face tilted. “Who else would share Stone Selection with you?”
“Are you supposed to be here?” Would he—or I—get in trouble? I thought I had to face this alone.
“I was told to be here.”
Which was sort of a relief. “By who?”
“Exactly! Let’s not waste time. The sands are falling through the hourglass while we hang around chatting.”
“I’ve only been inside the tent a few seconds.”
“Time has a way of twisting.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.”
“It does to me!” He zipped around my head, diving in close.
I ducked. “Cut it out!”
“Just making sure you’re awake. On your toes. Able to take on whatever comes next.”
I rolled my eyes. “Like I’d fall asleep at a time like this?”
“Chin up, kid.” Hitting reverse, he flew backward, all the way across the tent, where he hovered over three pedestals that had miraculously appeared. “I give you Stone Selection.”
I crept closer. Each pedestal had been draped with velvet in the school colors of green and blue plaid with hints of white. A small pillow lay on each flat surface, and on each pillow rested a stone.
Each was a moonstone exactly like the one the man had shown me years ago.
“Choose,” Alex intoned.
“Are you, like some kind of spirit guide sent to help me?” I asked in awe.
He buzzed across the top of the middle pedestal and halted in front of me, his wings aflutter. “Nope. Just thought it made me sound serious. In keeping with Selection. But you know me, I’m only a simple dragonfly.”
“You’re anything but a simple dragonfly.”
“Yes, I’m rare. Like you!”
I inched forward, my fingers twitching by my sides. “What should I do?”
“Not my Selection, Fleur. Only you can decide. I’m here for…support, I guess.”
Not a guide, then. But that would be too easy.
I crept closer to the pedestals. To the stones. “How am I supposed I choose?”
“Do select wisely.”
“They all look the same. They’re identical.”
“They’re anything but.”
“No, they’re all round, a few inches across and a pinky’s width thick.” Like the stone in the park. Each stone shot a rainbow of blinding fire.
Who was the man and why had he teased me with the moonstone back then?
“They’re completely different,” Alex said.
“Can I touch them?” Should I touch them?
“Only touch the one you select. The one that chooses you. Leave the others alone.”
“Which is my stone?”
“How should I know? It’s not my Stone Selection, it’s yours.” He flicked back and forth like he danced. “You’re spinning your wheels, kiddo. Wasting time. Pick!”
I placed my hand over the stone lying on the left pedestal…
…And I instantly stood in front of the Academy beside Mom’s car.
“Come on, honey! Don’t just stand there. Let’s get your things, set up your room, and then I can go to dinner with you. Boo-hoo! I’m going to sob all the way home.”
“Mom?” I gaped at the woman standing in front of me with a teary grin on her face.
“What? Pretty please don’t say you want me to leave now. I want to share every minute of this with you until I have to go.” She wiped her eyes and sniffed. “I know. I promised not to cling or embarrass you in front of your friends.” Her hug engulfed me in true warmth, something I hadn’t felt in years. I hadn’t realized until this moment how badly I’d missed her, how I’d kept hoping she’d appear at Ester’s, say it was all a mistake, then take me home where she’d tell me she loved me. “The eight weeks until you come home for November break are going to be torture.”
“Why are you here?” How could she be here? She’d left me.
“Where else would I be, except with my baby girl? I’m so proud of you! My daughter. Learning magic. I’ll miss you to pieces but I’ll call every night and we can talk.” She sniffed again and looked like she was about to bawl. “I can’t believe you’re seventeen and coming into your power.”
I blinked. “You don’t mind my power? But…Tristan.”
She frowned. “Who are you talking about?”
“Remember when I was ten? I used power to hurt another student?”
“Hmm.” Frowning, she tapped her chin. “All I remember was me discovering your wonderful power when you were ten, bringing you here where they put it on hold until you could return today. Honey.” Another hug. “You’ve never hurt anyone in your life.”
I was stunned. The incident with Tristan had never happened.
“I love every part of you, including your power,” Mom said softly.
Alex’s voice reached inside my dream. “If you choose this stone, this past would be yours.”
I wanted it badly.
“But what of your future?” Alex asked.
I sat in Justine’s office. “And that’s your skapti.”
“Wait.” I leaned forward. “Could you tell me that again?”
She chuckled. “You’re a healer, Fleur. Once you’ve done your training, you’ll join other healers either here at the Academy or at a clinic in the city. You have an illustrious medical career ahead of you.”
“One skapti? I don’t have any others?”
“It’s rare fo
r anyone to possess more than one, even a special outling like you.”
Alex’s wings brushed my cheek. “Which skapti will you no longer possess?”
Did I dare lose any of my undiscovered skapti?
I snapped my hand back and pressed it against my chest. I couldn’t decide.
“No?” Alex asked. “Interesting. No need to pick yet, however. There are others.”
“I don’t know.” Mom…
Alex fluttered sideways to hover over the middle moonstone. “What about this one?”
I thrust my hand out, over the center stone.
“You ready to talk to Mom?” Patty asked. We both sat on her bed, our bare feet thrust out on the blanket. My bright pink toenails matched hers. Grabbing a hank of my hair, I yanked it around in front of my face. Also, pink.
“What do you mean, talk with Mom?” I asked Patty.
“Well, Dad’s ready to talk to me which means Mom’s ready to ping you. Then our brothers and sisters are lining up for their turn.”
Our siblings?
“At least I don’t need to set aside time to talk to my twenty-eighth sib!” Patty said. Her arm draped around my shoulder. “Cuz you’re my roommate!”
“I’m…We’re…”
“Twins, Fleur. You get hit in the head?” She snickered.
And right then, I knew I was part of a wonderful, fun, everyone-cares-about-each-other family.
An Elite family.
No longer an outling.
Alys poked her head through the bathroom door. “Ready to go, Fleur?”
I pressed my back against the pillows. “Where?”
“Duh. To the mall to pick out gowns for the Ball.” She strode into the room, grinning. Not a hint of derision on her face.
As if she found me worthy.
“We’re going to pick out gowns?” I asked stupidly. “Us?”
“Who else, bestie?” With a tug, she pulled me up off the bed. “Tell your family you’ll get back to them later. We not only have to pick out gowns, we’ve got to check out the cute guys. Find one for you to dance with at the Ball.”
“What about Donovan?” I asked, stumbling beside her toward the door.
“Awesome idea. He might have a friend. I’ll ask him.”
Unease swirled inside me.
“Someone say my name?” Donovan walked into the room. His arms slid around Alys’s waist, and she spun to face him. They kissed.
“Ugh,” Patty said. “Can’t they do that someplace else?” She waved in their direction. “Get a freakin’ room!”
Donovan and Alys were together.
“Some future, huh?” Alex said by my ear. “But who needs this boy, right? Plenty of other fae in the woods.”
I pulled my hand away from the pedestal.
“Maybe not that one either?” Alex snickered.
Overhead, the wind slapped against the tent roof, making me jump. “I can’t decide.”
“And you shouldn’t. There’s still a third stone.” He fluttered over to the one on the right.
In seconds, my hand hovered over the last stone.
Mom dumped me at the Academy when I was ten.
Justine dumped me at Ester’s not long after that.
Ester essentially dumped me at the Academy a few days ago, just like before.
I yanked my hand back as if burned. “Nothing’s changed!”
“Are you sure?” Alex dipped forward and seemed to study the stone. “What about your future?”
“I didn’t see a future. There was…nothing.”
“Nothing other than what you face at this moment, I suppose,” Alex said solemnly.
Nothing? That wasn’t right.
My future was filled with a ton of possibilities.
Alex grew and grew until he was five times bigger than before, larger than a housecat. His lips peeled back, and he growled, “Choose, Fleur!”
I snatched up the last stone—the one lying on the right pedestal.
Chapter 18
Emerging from the tent, I collapsed forward, onto the ground. My hand lay stretched out in front of me, my fist closed tightly around my moonstone.
Cloven, Patty, and Donovan rushed over and stood above me while I rolled onto my back. Sitting up and with the biggest possible grin on my face, I held out my hand.
“Moonstone!” Patty squealed.
Alys, who’d been creeping closer, stopped and scowled. She pivoted and ran across the field, toward the Academy, with Moira racing after her.
“Guess I’m not getting kicked out, am I?” I shouted at her. She didn’t turn, but I didn’t need her validation. I’d found it all on my own.
I’d won.
“Whoa,” I said, looking around. The sun barely slanted through the trees, the horizon poised to snatch it up and hide it until morning. “How long was I in there?” Everyone else had left.
“I know, right?” Donovan stooped down onto his heels beside me. “It’s been hours.”
“I was worried,” Patty said. “But D kept saying there was nothing wrong. You were just taking your time.”
“Remember, Fleur,” Cloven said. “Keep what happened in the arena to yourself.”
Since each person’s experience was different, it wouldn’t matter if I shouted it to the world. But I nodded to show I’d keep my lips sealed.
“They magicked another arena for everyone else.” Patty waved toward a purple, blue, and pink tent standing beside the first. “The rest of our Coven has finished.” Her solemn gaze slipped away from mine. “Out of thirty-four students, only twenty-eight made it through Selection. Eighty total of the one-hundred we started with.”
Twenty of us gone?
“If you’re feeling well enough,” Cloven said from behind Patty. “You need to take your moonstone…” He shook his head. “Truly, I’m amazed. Two rare stones in one day and both gifted to Earth Coven.”
“I couldn’t believe it when Donovan came out with an obsidian,” Patty said. “It has been two hundred years since someone chose that stone. But moonstone? Over three hundred.”
I couldn’t fathom what that meant. “What stone did you get?” I asked her.
“Ruby.” She saluted me but giggled, softening the gesture. “Just call me your second in command. I think I got ruby ’cause we’re roomies. With Donovan’s obsidian, we’ve got three top stones in one Coven. We’re going to light the place on fire.”
“As I was saying,” Cloven said. “It’s time to select a setting for your stone, Fleur. The jeweler is ready.”
“I’ll wait for you if you want,” Donovan said, rising.
“Me, too!” Patty tumbled down beside me and delivered a big hug. “Hurry up. We are going to party!”
Getting up off the ground, I walked over to the table.
The tall, white-haired man bowed when I stopped in front of him. “Greetings. How do you wish your moonstone to be set?”
“How did you know what stone I picked?”
“A ring perhaps?”
This place thrived on evasiveness. “My stone’s too big to wear on my finger.”
“It will accommodate itself to any setting, large or small.”
More magic.
“A bracelet or necklace?” He waved to the table that was empty a moment ago but now gleamed with numerous settings. “We have custom-made chains in gold, silver, and platinum. Truly, whatever you imagine for your stone will be done.”
“How about a blade?”
His head tilted. “A sword?”
Too big. “Could we set it in the hilt of a dagger?” I had been thinking of getting a weapon.
The jeweler bowed again. “Wise choice.”
I started to hand my moonstone across the table but snatched my hand back, pressing my closed fist against my chest. “It won’t…” It would be wrong to suggest the Academy jeweler would lose my stone, but I hated relinquishing it to a stranger.
“This moonstone is yours forever. It will not function for another, as it has cho
sen you.”
Had it chosen me? Or had I done the choosing?
A velvet bag appeared in his hands. When he opened the top, I dropped my stone inside. With a pop, the bag disappeared.
“Nice trick,” I said.
He smiled—a real smile. “Thank you. But jewelry is my true skapti.”
After thanking him, I joined my friends in front of the tent.
“I’ll see you tomorrow in class,” Cloven said to me.
“Yup.” I couldn’t wait to learn more magic.
“I ordered pizza,” Patty said as we walked back to the Academy together.
“And I happen to have a few bottles of verdeen I’ve been saving for a special occasion,” Donovan said from my other side.
“Verdeen. Yum.” Patty hugged my arm. “We are going to get so tipsy!”
She already acted tipsy, but I wouldn’t change her for a minute.
Tonight, I wanted to get tipsy, too. I wanted to dance and celebrate life and all it might hold for me.
And I wanted to sit with Donovan and toast each other with verdeen.
* * *
Later, we three lounged in my room. Bryce and Moira joined us when the pizza arrived. Alys did not make an appearance.
“She wants to rest her ankle,” Moira said. A great cover for Alys but it didn’t take an empath to know her friend had other reasons for staying away.
As the verdeen disappeared, so did our inhibitions.
Giggling—no, make that tipsy—I toasted my glass against Donovan’s, then nudged it toward the bottle. “Top it off, would ’ya?”
He smiled, slow and smooth and silky, with a hint of something wild.
That expression. It made my head spin more than his verdeen.
“Tell me more about your obsidian,” I said as a distraction. My knowledge of boys might be limited but I knew giving in to my sudden urge to climb all over him would shock my friends. Donovan, too, most likely.
At my question, his gaze shot to the half glass of verdeen he held in his hand, where his attention remained.
Not more secrets.
“No one’s been chosen by obsidian for over two-hundred years,” I said as if I needed to prompt him. He knew what I was saying but not saying. Hints were heightening my curiosity, not lessening it.
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 16
