Flipping it open, I slammed my shoulders against the cushions and my eyes widened as I stared down. By the fae… No longer blank.
Scrambling through the pages, I quickly checked out the banners, stopping to run my fingertip along the sixth family’s banner with a dragonfly. My hand strayed to my pendant, which made me jump when it moved.
“Watcha got there?” Alex asked, popping into view. He hovered about an inch from my nose, his wings a blue and green blur.
“It’s a book about the original six,” I said softly, hoping no one would hear. Alys had already tried to steal it from me the day I’d found it. If I wasn’t careful, someone else would snatch it from my hands and hide it away forever. Because that was my luck lately.
A quick glance around told me we were alone in this part of the library.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be reading it,” Alex said.
Couldn’t help it. My fingers lifted off the book for a second before I scowled. The naiad living in the moat wasn’t the only one who was tricksy around here. “Why not?”
“And maybe you should.”
As much as I adored my little buggy friend, sometimes, I wanted to wring his skinny, dragonfly neck. “Which is it? I should read or I shouldn’t?”
He zipped around in a backflip then flew in so close to my face I could see each slender ridge on his snout. “Which is what?”
I groaned. “Should I read the book or not?”
“Some things are better left unknown.”
“What’s the big secret about the sixth family? Everyone’s bespelled to keep them from talking about it. Professor Kreat said she’ll be able to tell us but only at the end of the semester and, if I know how this place works, she’ll only share boring details I could discover on my own.”
Alex’s little lips curled down and his eyes—I could swear teensie-tiny tears appeared on his sort of dragonfly lashes. “Maybe there’s a reason no one should know.”
“I don’t understand,” I said softly. Alex’s sadness was rubbing off on me, making my mood drop along with my shoulders. “They did something wrong. They were banished. Why does that have to be a big secret?”
“Once known, you can never unknow.”
I sat up straighter. “I can live with the knowledge.”
“Can you?” he said and, for a moment, I felt like I was back in Stone Selection, trying to decide if I wanted to change my past, my present, or live with my unknown future. “Are you sure?”
There was no reason for the chills wracking my body. Heat poured through the room. My Academy jacket was buttoned. “Yes,” I said, but the word came out as if I stood on the edge of the cliff, unsure if I dared jump off.
I did want to know everything, didn’t I?
“Yes?”
After a long pause, I nodded.
“Then so be it.” Zinging in close to my neck, he morphed back into the pendant. It made me jolt every time he’d done that. He said he stayed in pendant form so I could call him if I needed him, but while I loved talking with him, he was too fond of secrets.
Talk about anticlimactic. I huffed out a breath. Another weird conversation. Nothing new about that, as far as Alex was concerned.
Was he a companion like the original six used to enhance their power before they switched to stones? Donovan told me the sixth family had used a dragonfly as their companion. Is that why Alex hung out on my neck like a pendant?
I wasn’t Elite, so the thought didn’t make sense.
Yet all of this seemed awfully darned coincidental to me.
From what I’d learned already, after being banished, the sole member of the sixth family had disappeared. No one knew if that person had children or if any of the family still survived.
Was I wasting my time researching the sixth family?
Yes, I wanted to belong somewhere. But I did. I was a part of my class, a student at the Academy. This was enough, wasn’t it?
I turned the page, leaving the still-mysterious dragonfly banner behind.
The first few chapters contained history I’d learned in my class, details leading up to the time when the fae split and half left the fae world and came to this parallel universe in northwestern Maine.
More elf names followed in the book. Too many damned elf names.
After, I found a section that talked of a new feud. Excited, I sat forward, clunking my feet on the floor and shifting the book onto my lap. Nothing would keep me from reading now.
Finally, something new.
The new feud took place among the original six families after they’d come here. The heads of the families had argued, that is.
By this time—two generations ago—the families had grown. They’d been in this area for over a thousand years. More Academies had opened, some in upper New York state, others in Canada. Over time, the fae who left the underworld and called themselves the Sídhe spread, migrating to California and Europe. I hadn’t heard that detail yet. There were more schools like Crystal Wing? It made sense since my incoming class was so small. While not everyone could use magic and were then sent to live among the outlings, everyone else went to an academy to learn how to control their power.
The patriarch of the Dunneh Claydreeia family had accused the consort of Minerva, the matriarch of the sixth family, of bespelling outside the Council’s jurisdiction.
What kind of spell had her consort cast?
Initially, the sixth family had used their mean magic on outlings which, sadly, hadn’t bothered the Council. But then they’d turned to family members of the Dunneh Claydreeia clan, the third family, per the book. Outlings were one thing, but bespelling the Sídhe took things too far. The patriarch of the Dunneh Claydreeia family had accused Minerva’s consort of using bespellings for a potential power grab. Evidently, each family had held equal in power, without a king like today. This maintained a healthy balance among the Sídhe.
The Council intervened and, to everyone’s horror, found that the consort was indeed using her bespelling skapti illegally. They suspected Minerva’s involvement. A magical battle ensued and many Sídhe in both families died, including the consort. The majority of the deaths were in the sixth family. Devastated by the loss of her consort and family, Minerva continued the battle. Realizing the feud would go on forever, Minerva was captured, stripped of her power, and banished. No one knows where she went after that.
But rumors surfaced that she’d been pregnant.
I stared forward blankly. Had her child survived?
The Council, in an attempt to solidify the remaining five families, appointed a king—from the fifth family—and bespelled everyone, making them forget the full details of what happened. But a sketar witch wrote them down in this book. How in the world had it ended up here, in the Crystal Wing Academy library?
To think all this only happened about eighty years ago, in my grandparent’s generation.
As for the Bespeller skapti, that skill had almost died out except for—
“Hey, sorry to interrupt. But it’s time to close up for the night,” Will called out. His head crested the top of the stairs as he labored up them, in this direction.
Hide the book.
Where had I left my bag? I scrambled to locate it but it had gone missing.
Turning, I shoved the book down between the sofa and the wall, then quickly lifted my notebook with the endless elf names onto my lap and pretended I was studying.
“Ill—” I said.
“It’s midnight, dear,” Will said, striding over to stand at the end of the coffee table where I’d casually propped my heels. He grinned. “I do love how diligent some students are with their studies. It’s a rare thing to find. If you’d like, we’re open again promptly at seven. Come on back then?”
“Okay, I will.” After covering my mouth as if I was yawning, I stood and gathered up my things, finding my bag on the floor on one end of the sofa. Too late to hide the book about the original six, however. It should be safe where I’d tucked it until morning
.
“Do you need anyone to walk you to your dorm?” He glanced around, his face lined with concern. “Safety is important and I wouldn’t want you running into anything dangerous without protection.”
“No worries. I can flit.”
His expression relaxed. “Lovely, then. Nice magic to have, is it not?”
“Yes. Thanks for the offer, though.”
“Of course.” He nodded as I strode past him and took the stairs to the entrance. No problem. I could come back and retrieve the book.
I went to my room, did my teeth, and puttered around a few minutes to give him enough time to close up, then flitted to the third floor of the library. Tiptoeing through the dark, across the creaky hardwood floor, my heart pulsed like thunder. Too bad there wasn’t an invisibility spell.
Something or someone shifted on the first floor, and I froze with one foot lifted, the other locked to the ground. Worried even a tiny slip of air would give me away, I held my breath until my lungs screamed. Spit collected in my mouth, but I didn’t dare swallow.
Who was it? Trespassing, I couldn’t exactly ask.
Endless silence ticked along with the clock on the wall, each second lasting an hour. I began to doubt I’d heard anything at all.
Risking discovery, I crept forward. The urge to bolt raged through me. Everything inside me told me to bolt to the sofa, grab the book, and flit back to my room. But if someone was down below, they’d hear me and flit up here in seconds. I’d be caught and hauled to the Headmistress’s office. Didn’t need that at any point in my life.
Three more steps. The sofa loomed in the darkness like a crouched beast poised to strike. If it moved, I was fleeing faster than the last aldakor I’d tried to ride.
Two more steps.
One.
I eased down onto the sofa and, clutching the back, peered down the back.
Couldn’t see a damn thing. Did I dare create a light? The vast space around me sucked away all sounds. If someone was down there, I would’ve heard them, right?
Get it and go!
Slipping off the couch, I eased around the side and crouched down, sliding my hand into the space between it and the wall. Praying nothing would bite.
My hand met air and grit on the floor.
Taking a chance, I created a tiny light.
The book was gone.
Chapter 6
“I’d like to add another class to my schedule,” I told my advisor, Cloven. We sat in his office. Although I learned as much about elemental magic from Donovan as Cloven, Cloven and I worked together a few times a week. Cloven seemed eager to teach me boring tasks like dusting and home repair, as if I’d someday want to put a new hinge on a door with magic rather than hire someone to do it.
Donovan taught me skills that made elemental magic exciting. Donovan was exciting.
Piles of books teetered on Cloven’s desk, reaching almost to the ceiling, and colorful light filtered through the solitary round window behind him that displayed—ironically or not—a dragonfly.
“I believe that can be arranged,” he said cheerfully. “Your schedule isn’t overloaded. What class do you have in mind?”
“How about horticulture?” While the Headmistress had told me to let this go. Professor Grim had an opening after Drea’s death. This was my “subtle” way of furthering my investigation.
Cloven’s gaze narrowed on my face, which I carefully kept neutral. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t as subtle as I thought, because his grunt came out a bit too…understanding. During Orientation, I’d overheard he, Justine, and Professor Mealor talking in the auditorium about a power-sucking slake hunting on campus. Justine commented that Cloven was good at reading “signs”. Did he have empath abilities or a divination skill, like Patty? I may never know.
“There’s only one class with an opening,” he finally said. “Do you actually have an interest in deadly plant life? I have to admit, I’m…surprised.”
So, was I. “I’m having a hard time figuring out a major.” Not a lie. “Plants are interesting.” Sort of a lie. But how else would I learn more about nightlace? “Working with deadly plants could be…fun.” Sure. Deadly plants. What was I getting myself into?
“There’s a decent career demand for those who enjoy working with plants, especially the more treacherous ones. Helping them grow, extracting their poisons, and pruning species that might…go wild.”
Been there. Seen it already.
“You’re sure that’s something you’d like to study?” he asked again.
“At first, I thought I might want to major in something to do with magical creatures, but I’m worried I’m going to flunk out of my first class. Dumb aldakors are kicking my butt.” Or I was kicking my own butt, every time I fell on it.
“Ah, riding.” Leaning back in his chair, he clasped his hands on his chest and smiled nostalgically. “Having a bit of trouble with the beasties, are you?”
While he was taking too much pleasure in my humiliation, the teasing gleam in his eyes took some of the sting out of his words.
“I leap off the platform with everyone else. Latch onto the mane the same way they do. Practically scream ride with my elemental magic. But when I try to hitch my leg over the back, I fall off. Or get knocked off. I swear, the aldakor have a pact with each other to make sure I don’t pass.”
“I had the worst time with them, myself,” he said, shaking his head ruefully.
Imagine. “I thought you could do everything.”
He chuckled. “Not quite. I barely squeaked by in that class. Didn’t ride an aldakor to the upper pasture until my very last chance. I’ll tell you, it was too close for my taste.” Another grin.
“I only have a few more chances to ride.” While I hated the idea of failing a portion of a class, the realization there might be magical tasks I couldn’t master stung the most. Conceited of me, but there it was.
“I’m sure you’ll succeed, like I did. I have complete faith in you.”
Good thing he did, because I wasn’t so sure, myself. “Anyway, I decided to try a plant class. At least they won’t buck me off.” Or scrape against a tree to dislodge me. Or dart conveniently to the right after I’d jumped off the platform.
“Let me see, then.” His frown suggested he was scrolling through a magical file of classes in his mind. “The only class with an open spot this fall is Professor Grim’s Magical Horticulture of the Night: Adding the D to Deadly.”
Again, I kept my expression neutral. “Sounds awesome.”
The lines on his face deepened. “I don’t know, Fleur.”
Unable to meet his gaze, I watched my shoe as I tapped it on the front of his desk. “What’s the problem?”
“You seem to be a person of light, more than dark.”
“What does that even mean?”
Slouching in his chair and hitching his heels up onto his desk, he clasped his hands together on his chest. “Few people are truly evil. I’m sure you know that. But I’ve never seen you as someone who’d toy with the notion of turning against the light.”
“Is that what could happen if someone works with deadly plant life?”
“Not often but sometimes. It’s something students specializing in this sort of thing guard against. The plants…Let’s just say they can influence the caretaker as much as the caretaker influences them. It’s not just about pruning or manipulating, but of twisting what the plants can do. For some wizards, that means bending the plant’s intent in a good, wholesome direction. For a random few wizards… They might take things in a decidedly lethal direction.”
Was there more to our conversation than a class? I leaned forward, eager to hear his every word.
“Once or twice in our past, someone has taken a plant’s potential in the wrong—no a fatal—direction.”
Oh, interesting. “Who?”
“No one you need to know about.”
Naturally. “Have to admit, I’m getting more than tired of secrets.”
His booming l
aughter rang out. “Aren’t we all?”
I couldn’t hold back my growl. I wanted to ask him about nightlace and Drea’s death and what the fae he thought this could all mean, but Cloven was Justine’s assistant. She must’ve shared the true details of Drea’s death with him even if she’d held them back from me.
“Some tasks you’ll be expected to complete in Grim’s class could give you inconclusive results. It will be up to you to decide how you wish to take it. Into the light or into the dark.”
“I could decide to ride the line.”
“Some do.” His gaze pinned me in place. “I believe you’re a student who could do that.”
“Why do you think that about me?”
“Because of your background.”
“I’m an outling. Right?”
His gaze did not meet mine. What was he hiding? “What else could you be?”
“I don’t know…Maybe an outling that might actually have Elite blood?”
He quickly turned by words back on me. “What makes you think that?”
I sighed, wanting to spout off about Alex and the sixth family, but I didn’t dare. I trusted Cloven completely, but this was a theory on my part. I had no actual proof. “I don’t know. Maybe just wishful thinking.”
Dropping his feet onto the floor, he leaned forward and only sympathy came through in his voice. “You’re special, Fleur. Never forget that. Please?”
Why was it so important that I see myself as someone unique and different, let alone that I protect myself from the dark? “I don’t mind being an outling. We are special.”
“That’s the spirit.” A paper appeared in the air and he grabbed it and slid across the desk. “Sign here if you’re still sure you want to take Professor Grim’s class. It’s basically a release from whatever might come from working with deadly plants, but also a consent form. I’ve already told you what’s at risk.”
Light or dark. What if I couldn’t decide? “I can’t imagine Professor Grim would let us do horrible things in class.”
“We’re talking about the Grim Reaper, the former harbinger of death.”
“Who left that job. He’s a teacher now.”
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 27
