This sounded too easy. And what was up with the O and seven? I’d seen them.
“I assume the class is taught by Professor Grim?” Roark asked.
“He’s the best with the deadliest varieties of plant life.”
I bet he was.
“Nightlace can be vicious if provoked,” Roark said to Justine. “You’ll speak to Professor Grim? He’ll need to do some urgent pruning.”
“I already have. He’s horrified, actually. Went to the greenhouse with Searing Shears to take care of it immediately.”
“Yes, roast them alive,” Roark said, rubbing his hands together, a slick grin rising on his face, crimping his cheekbones.
Rather gruesome, wasn’t he?
“But I saw the marks,” I said.
“Did you? Because I didn’t see anything in your mind to support that supposition,” Roark said.
How was that possible? The image still blazed in my brain like it had been branded there. “Something followed me. Chased me.”
“The nightlace cluster.” Justine shuddered. “You’re fortunate it had been sated already.”
Sated? I winced, picturing how horrible Drea’s last moment must’ve been.
“Go, dear,” Justine said, flicking her fingers my way. “Get some sleep. You’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
There was nothing I could do except nod.
I’d seen the marks carved below Drea’s throat. I was sure of it. Nothing the Headmistress or Roark said would convince me otherwise.
Had someone left the mark for me to find? I pinched my shaking hands together on my lap. I couldn’t dismiss this as a simple nightlace attack. Someone—or something—was determined to hide the evidence. Why did the murderer let me see the markings but no one else? It wasn’t too far a stretch to think this could be a warning to outlings.
“Goodnight, dear,” Justine said with a brief smile as I rose from the chair. “Sleep well.”
As if I could?
“Night,” I said. My eyes skimmed to Roark, who studied me with a gaze so sharp, I felt its nails clawing down my back.
I shut the door behind me and leaned against the wall in the corridor.
Raking my hair off my face, I huffed.
“Go to your room,” I whispered. “Forget all about this. It was just a simple nightlace attack. Sure.”
My spine stiffened. While I should travel directly to my room, no one would ever call me obedient. My teeth crimped together, I flitted to the skywalk.
Chapter 3
In seconds, I stood on the landing at the top of the stairs, staring into the skywalk, the throat of a beast. The moon had fled the sky and night eclipsed everything except the strand of twinkle lights streaming along either side of the passage. At any other time, it would appear cute. Inviting.
Now, I shuddered. Something terrible had happened here, and I was determined to solve this mystery.
I glanced around the landing but nothing stood out as evidence. While a few bulbs flickered and hummed overhead, the corners and edges of the room were dark, dark, and extra dark—which was only exciting when it was chocolate.
Now I wished I’d asked Donovan if there was a flashlight elemental magic trick. Was elemental magic finite or could I make things up?
Wait…My fire skapti. Could I find a way to control my fire and use it like a mini-torch? Surely, I could contain my magic and avoid flinging flaming balls around. Because lighting the Academy aflame wouldn’t go over well.
Closing my eyes, I sought a few threads of power. There. I gently tugged them in and sent them to the moonstone I’d claimed during Stone Selection. The Academy jeweler had set the opalescent feldspar crystal into the hilt of a dagger. My stone stored power.
Once I’d topped off the energy supply, I went simple, calling elemental magic and thinking, tiny fire on my fingertip.
I opened my eyes to see my fingertip aglow. Cool. Blue flames licked across my nail, but they didn’t burn.
I’d turned my finger into a glow stick!
The light winked out.
Grumbling, I again pulled elemental magic. Only this time, I fed in a tiny bit of power from my moonstone. My finger glowed and remained alight. Too alight, actually. Brighter than a strobe light, it blinded me.
Shielding my face, I dropped my hand to waist level and, maintaining the light, I searched the corners of the landing at the top of the stairwell. I’d heard sounds coming from this area earlier. Slithering, creepy sounds. A nightlace cluster like the Headmistress suggested or something else?
Ah-ha. A few leaves had collected behind a post near the back, right corner, and I snatched them up and tucked them into my pocket.
More searching both here, in the skywalk, and on the other side revealed nothing.
Another flit, and I arrived in my room where I tiptoed around so as not to wake my roommate, Patty. I dragged a textbook out of my bag and pressed the leaves between the pages to make sure they’d dry flat.
As I crept across the room, Beatrice, our brownie who kept things neat and tidy, popped into view and grinned at me.
Patty snored softly in her bed. When my foot snagged on a rug and I grunted while barely avoiding falling, Patty mumbled and rolled over to face the wall. With the way I was trooping around all the time, it was a good thing she was a heavy sleeper.
Beatrice glared at the empty bowl. “Me thinky feelings of likey for you on edge.”
Brownies were paid by the Academy to keep our rooms clean but, if we wanted to keep them from turning into a boggart and playing tricks on us, we needed to keep them happy by leaving them treats. Patty must’ve forgotten. She’d been wrapped up in Bryce lately. Not that I blamed her. I kinda liked being wrapped up in Donovan, too.
A few weeks ago, Beatrice had told me she was thinky that I was her favorite student. Obviously, I’d be usurped by a more indulgent student if I didn’t act quickly.
“Sorry,” I whispered. I opened a bag of mini peanut butter cups and dumped a handful into the bowl.
Beatrice delicately lifted one—bigger than her head—and nibbled on the corner. Her eyes closed and she shimmied. “Oh, me likey you again.”
“Have at it.” Releasing a soft laugh, I went into our bathroom that connected our Coven dorm room with another. Moira and her bestie, Alys—mean girl extraordinaire—had the room adjoining mine and Patty’s. Moira, I liked well enough. Alys? Never happening.
Of course, who should I run into in the bathroom?
“Ugh!” Alys said. She wore a pale blue robe and a matching towel secured her hair on the top of her head. In her hand, she clutched a blue striped shower tote. “Maybe knock first?” With a growl, she stormed into her room, slamming the connecting door behind her.
“Nice seeing you, too,” I whispered, not as eager to disturb my roommate as Alys was.
When I returned to my room with clean teeth and dressed in my PJs, Beatrice was gone. The peanut butter cups were also gone. And the room was spotless.
I tumbled onto my bed and hauled up the quilt Ester had made for me. Big surprise, there. Who would’ve thought the strict half-troll who’d seen to my care for the past seven years had a squishy side? She’d gifted me with the blanket, a bunch of clothes, and a cointage—a round golden disk that worked like a debit card. Mine had no spending limit.
Yawning, I stared at the flecked white ceiling, but my thoughts remained on Drea and her murder.
I’d seen the O for outling on her neck. A seven, too. No one could tell me otherwise.
Justine and Roark might feel this investigation was over, but I wasn’t convinced.
No choice where my outling friends were concerned.
I’d have to look into this on my own.
Chapter 4
I found it incredibly sad that no one other than her roommate noticed Drea wasn’t on campus any longer.
In history class the next afternoon, Professor Kreat began her lecture with a casual announcement that Drea had left the Academy and would not be ret
urning. Like it was a blip on radar, no one commented. As if it was any other day at the start of class, kids around me opened their textbooks and scowled at the pages.
It made me wonder. If the nightlace cluster had stalked and killed me instead of Drea, would my disappearance receive the same lack of interest? Patty would notice, as would Donovan, but everyone else? Maybe Cloven and the Headmistress.
Alys would probably hold a party to celebrate.
The next two hours felt like seven as I tried to stay awake while our professor told us more dry details leading up to the fae split, including a string of unpronounceable names I’d be tested on next week.
After everyone else had left, I went up to Professor Kreat, who was snuffing out the tiny flame simmering beneath a pot of herbs on her desk. A sketar witch like Ester, Professor Kreat used sage and basil and catnip, rather than threads, to create magic. She was a full troll, but other than being petite like me and my roommate Patty, who was part pixie, you wouldn’t guess Professor Kreat’s lineage. In fairytales, trolls were supposed to be knobby and gruff and have big noses. Ester had perfected gruff and definitely had a big nose, but fortunately, Professor Kreat not only looked like she could compete in a beauty contest, she spent most of her time smiling and singing.
“Can I help you, Fleur?” she asked with a perky grin. Her long black hair swung across her low back as she danced in a circle and dumped the moist herbs into the trash bucket. They plopped in the bottom with a wet smack.
“I was wondering when we’d be getting to the sixth family.”
Humming a lilting tune, she wiped out the clay pot with a cloth and settled it back on the burner in preparation for her next class. “The sixth, eh?” Her well-plucked brows narrowed. “I save the best for last, you know.”
Last didn’t sound promising. “Will we get to them soon? I’m curious about what they could’ve done to make the other families banish them.”
She snorted. “Ah, well, I imagine all of you are curious, are you not? I’ll have to skirt around that detail, for sure.”
My shoulders sagged. “You won’t be able to tell us, then?”
“I’m not bespelled like everyone else, if that’s what you’re asking. But, as I said, that information will be delivered later in the year. I do like to build the suspense and get everyone salivating before I reveal the exciting details. And the sixth…” She leaned in close and lowered her voice. “I guess there’s no harm in sharing a few tiny secrets. They actually used magic to—”
To my right, a balding head poked through the doorway connecting this classroom and the one on the other side. “Isla, are you almost…?” His gaze flicked to me. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were still with a student.”
“No problem at all, Will.” Her teal eyes twinkled, and she whispered to me, “We’ve got a hot date tonight. That man can…” Coughing, her face colored. “Guess you don’t need to hear that secret.”
I couldn’t hold back my cringe. Ugh. Too much information.
She waved Will’s way. “Come on in. Fleur was just leaving.”
“But—”
“You almost had me there.” Her laughter pealed out, and she shook her slender finger in my face. “Sly girl. You’ll have to wait like everyone else to find out the juicy details about the sixth family.”
I barely suppressed my groan.
“I’ll see you in class?” she said. “Don’t forget. We have a test next week!”
“Yes, I remember,” I grumbled. Rolling my eyes and growling about stupid secrets, I snagged my bag as I passed my desk and strode out into the hall.
I flopped against the wall and pinged Donovan, who’d wisely chosen to take Magical Everyday Chores during this period instead. Even dusting with elemental magic sounded more entertaining than history, especially if Professor Kreat stuck to the dry, boring stuff.
Meet up? I mindspoke when he answered.
Sure. You want to learn more elemental magic?
Yes. Also…kissing would be nice. Although, I didn’t mindspeak that detail. I was finally learning to screen my thoughts. Sadly, I was less successful with my face.
The roof? he said.
Unless my next trick might make me fall.
I’ll hold you tight.
I was counting on it.
We met up a short time later, dropping down onto the wooden shingles covering the western campus tower.
“Tell me why you jump,” I said once we’d lain down on the roof side-by-side. The first day I met him, he’d limped. Pressed, he’d confessed he’d jumped off the roof, hurting his ankle. He wouldn’t tell me why he jumped other than he felt compelled.
Ahead, trees along the edge of the forest swayed in the stiff breeze. I’d found a dragon and bandaged his leg deep in the woods not long after arriving at the Academy. While I’d returned to the same location a few days ago, I hadn’t been able to locate him.
“Would you believe I jumped because I was trying to fly?” Donovan asked.
“Elites can’t fly. Only elves can.” I cricked my head to the side to watch his face, which remained neutral. “You part elf?”
He ran his fingertips across the perfectly oval upper curves of his ears. “Nope.”
“You sound certain about that. But you said the royal consort wasn’t your true father.” His mom had been queen, a throne now ruled by his older brother, Niles. Donovan was next in line, though he said he wasn’t interested in taking the job if something happened to his brother.
“My birth father wasn’t an elf.”
“Then what—who—was he?”
His shoulders fell. “I…I want to say, but I can’t. Not without betraying others.”
“Are you bespelled to keep you from telling?” From what I’d seen so far, bespellings were complicated things. Used correctly, they could keep someone safe. But what if a bespelling was used to cause harm?
“No bespelling, I just…can’t.”
“It’s okay. I won’t press you.”
“They need to be protected.”
They. I wanted to ask about the dragon but if Donovan didn’t know the creature existed, it wasn’t for me to share. Alex, my dragonfly friend, had asked me to keep the dragon secret.
“The forest is warded, which helps,” Donovan said. “No one can harm us. Only those deemed worthy are allowed to go more than a quarter mile inside.”
“I’ve been deep inside.”
He smiled. “That’s because you’re worthy.”
Not sure why. Yes, I seemed to have magical skills few others possessed, but unless I could harness even one of them for something useful, I might spend the rest of my life stuck in the rut of trying and never quite succeeding at anything. “Why do you want to fly, then?” Sitting up, I picked at a thread hanging from my school uniform skirt made up of Academy colors, green and blue plaid. When I held the strand up, the wind swept it away. “I mean, I get it. Sort of. Flying would be cool.” It was easy to picture myself soaring through the clouds, coasting over the forest.
Rising up as well, he tilted his head and laid it on my shoulder, staring toward the woods. “Flying is a family tradition.”
“On your mom or dad’s side?”
“It’s all dad.”
“He could fly? Did he have wings?”
“Yes, to both.”
“That would be awesome.”
I could almost taste the grin in his voice. “It is.”
“Then it’s working?” I dropped my head onto his, enjoying the warmth of his arm resting along my back. “No more twisted ankles?”
“Only every now and then. I’m still a work in progress.”
“Aren’t we all.” Leaning away from him, I slid my fingers down his spine and he shimmied and laughed. Ticklish, huh? A nice detail to tuck away for the future. “Don’t feel any wings here, buddy.”
His body stilled, and he turned back to the forest. “They’re hidden.”
“Do they emerge when you want to fly?”
“I guess I can understand that.” If I closed my eyes, I could see the ground rushing up to meet me. No wings equaled splat. “Sounds like a drastic way to learn how to fly, though.”
He smoothed the hair off my face that the breeze kept scattering. “Don’t you know it.”
Questions piled on top of each other in my mind, ready to burst past my lips. “So—”
“Let me teach you a little-known trick,” Donovan said, neatly changing the subject. I wasn’t sure I wanted to let this go, but I would, for now. “Content storage.”
“Sounds techie, to me.”
He frowned.
“No computers here?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“What’s a computer?”
Parallel fantasy world. Right. No need for anything like that at the Academy.
“So, content storage?” I said, playing along. “What is it?”
“Something that comes in handy when you’re studying for a test.”
I wondered. Would it help me ride an aldakor?
“Nope. That, you’ll have to learn all on your own.”
“Stop it!” I smacked his thigh.
He chuckled, and we dropped back down onto the shingles, our shoulders snug together.
A hazy day, the sun barely bit through the low gray clouds hovering overhead. Birds darted past us as if on missions. Donovan’s light cologne sank into my senses, making my head swim. There wasn’t much better in life than hanging out on the roof with my favorite guy, even if he did act elusive on occasion.
I rolled onto my side to face him. “Does content storage work like someone with a photographic memory, meaning once I see something, it’ll flash into my mind?”
“Photographic…?” he said.
I waved my hand to dismiss the word. “How do I store content?” I already had a list I’d love to commit to my mind. Elf names, to be exact. Another test I could not fail.
“You can’t close your eyes.”
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 25
