But Donovan… I’d sort of gotten to hang out with him—in his dragon form. It partly filled the emptiness inside me. I hugged my arms around my chest but they soon flopped down at my sides when I realized all I had to do ASAP.
A lifetime wouldn’t be enough time to unravel two bespellings, stop the Serum’s progression, and find a way to cozy up to Alys, assuming I could bear to do it. For some dumb reason, I wanted to try. Maybe because she was my sister. Family. Even if she had tried to kill me.
I couldn’t believe I was seriously considering treating her like a normal person. I’d be foolish to care about her. She’d burn me to a crisp if she sensed she could hurt me.
But we’d formed a shaky truce. That counted for something.
Was a temporary truce enough foundation for a relationship?
But enough of that. Time to practice.
Closing my eyes, I tried to find black threads. To hit Level Two, I needed to be able to consistently pull in only black threads.
There! I snapped my mental hand out, but the strand darted away. I swore I heard it snicker.
Damn things.
Another drifted in front of me. Teasing me with its rippling motion.
My hand snatched at it but it recoiled back and fled the room.
I tried again when a third strand came near.
A fourth.
Then a fifth. I kept at it until frustration cauterized my soul.
But I still couldn’t grab onto them consistently.
Which meant I remained a Level One.
Chapter 10
That evening, Patty, me, and Tria met up in my room to strategize.
Tria and I sat on my bed, leaning against the wall with our legs stretched out in front of us. Patty lounged on her own bed, nestled among a bunch of big pillows.
We’d barely passed around munchies and soda before someone barged in from the bathroom connecting our room to the one housing two girls on the other side.
“Hey, Fleur. I was thinking…” Alys came to an abrupt halt inside the room. The hint of a smile she’d lifted fell. “You’re not alone. I’ll catch you later? We can talk then.”
“Come on in,” I said, waving a salt and vinegar potato chip in her direction. “Patty, Tria, and I were about to talk about my plan.”
Tria scowled at Alys but said nothing.
Patty shot bolt upright. “What are you doing here?” she said, her gaze flicking between me and Alys. “Yeah, the Headmistress said she was bespelled, but she still tried to kill you. For all we know, she succeeded with Drea and Sarah. Any second now, she could turn back into nightlace and attack. And now you’re…” Her gaze pinned me in place. “Talking to her like she’s a normal person.”
Alys stiffened and took a step backward, slinking into the shadowy doorway.
I clenched my hands so tightly together, my fingernails dug into my palms. It was all I could do to hold myself back from defending Alys. I must be certifiable. They’d come to get me soon and lock me away.
“I invited her,” I said. “And she won’t turn into nightlace. She has a second bespelling that prevents that from happening.” Lifting my eyebrows, I dared Alys to leave.
That girl always had loved a challenge. Creeping fully into the room, she pulled the wooden chair out from my desk and swung it around to face us. She perched on the edge and scuffed her shoes on the carpet.
“So, what’s the plan?” she finally asked. “Other than your hand rotting or you cutting it off?”
“You’ve talked to her about this?” Patty spouted, bewilderment creasing her face. “I don’t understand. She’s…Alys.”
“We’re both bespelled, which, I guess, gives us something in common.” Sorta. “We agreed to work together to expose the Bespeller.” I shrugged. “After that, I imagine we’ll return to being sworn enemies.”
“Naturally,” Alys said with a grin. “I never thought this was permanent.”
For whatever reason, a heavy feeling settled in my chest. I shouldn’t be bothered by her confirmation. This was Alys, as Patty had pointed out. She’d been insulting from the moment I met her. She’d done all she could to steal Donovan away from me. And she’d been mean at any given opportunity.
I should hate her forever.
Why didn’t I?
Sister.
“As for my hand rotting off, as you so kindly pointed out,” I said. “I have a week before it’ll come to that.” A lot longer if the plan I was cooking up worked.
“You said you have ideas,” Alys insisted. “Let’s hear them.” She snickered. “Then we can rip them apart.”
“Are you sure you invited her?” Patty asked, picking at her lower lip. She turned distressed eyes my way.
I nodded.
Like my overprotective guard dog, Tria growled. She jabbed a finger toward Alys. “You. Either shut up and listen or offer constructive advice. Your choice. Step out of line, and I’ll grab you by the scruff of your neck and toss you out of here.”
Patty bounced on the bed and clapped. Her frayed blankie that she’d had since she was little fell on the floor. She scooped it up and tossed it up onto her pillow.
Alys’s lips twisted, and her feet stilled on the carpet. She stared down, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Duly noted.”
“Why aren’t you…viney?” Tria asked.
Alys winced. “I still am, inside. The Court Bespeller cast a counter-bespelling that prevents me from shifting.”
Tria snorted. “Lucky you.” My friend knew the Court Bespeller had cast the spell on Donovan.
“I’m going to ask Katya for a spell to halt the Serum’s progression,” I said, trying to steer the conversation to the problems at hand.
“No,” Patty whispered. “You can’t. Katya will ask for more than you can pay.”
“Maybe we should ask the Court Bespeller?” Alys asked. “He might be able to do something similar for you.”
Cloven and Justine would’ve offered this if it was an option. The fact that they hadn’t spoke volumes. Did the king hate me that much?
“Did the Court Bespeller give you a personality transplant while he was at it?” Tria asked, scowling at Alys. “You’re almost acting pleasant.”
“Don’t push it,” Alys said in a tight voice. “My patience is limited.”
“Nothing new there,” Tria said. “In fact—”
I laid a restraining hand on Tria’s arm. Yes, Alys was my sister, but that didn’t mean I’d gone blind to her numerous flaws. But I wanted to work with her to bring down the Bespeller. She’d have access to areas and people I wouldn’t.
“The king would rather see me dead than help me,” I told Alys. A stark statement but it was completely true and my friends knew it. “He’d never let his Bespeller help me.”
“But Katya?” Patty said. “There must be another way.”
“It’s all I can think of. Anyone have any other suggestions?” I asked the room in general.
“If we think about it,” Patty said. “We’ll come up with something.”
I held up my hand. “In time to save this?”
She shrugged and her eyes glistened.
“Who’s Katya, anyway?” Tria asked. She hitched her thumb toward Alys. “Far as I’m concerned, Katya can’t be any worse than this one.”
“I know it seems unbelievable,” I said. “But she is worse than Alys.” When my sister growled and started to rise, I grinned. “Or maybe not. Sit down. We’re not done, yet. Don’t you want to hang around for the good stuff?”
“I suppose.” She glared at Tria as her butt dropped back onto the chair.
“Katya is a sorceress,” Patty said. “And a Bespeller. As much as I hate to admit it, she probably is your only chance. Wards won’t work.”
“We’re going to the mall day after tomorrow,” I said. At least the trip wasn’t in three weeks.
“I assume you’ll ask Katya to bespell you to slow the progression,” Alys said. “A decent fix even if it’s only temporary.”
>
“It’ll buy me more time. And that’s the proposed solution to my first problem.” I mentally put a check mark next to it on my list. “On to the next.”
“Any idea who the Bespeller could be?” Patty asked.
“I thought for a while it might be…” So, okay, I shouldn’t say it, but I only spoke the truth. “Alys.”
She huffed. “Impossible.”
Tria sat forward. “Even if she was a Bespeller, which she’s not, a Bespeller can’t bespell themselves, so that proves it’s not her.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because magic has rules,” Alys said pertly. What she didn’t say but her tone implied was, duh, why are you so stupid?
At least she was consistent.
“I didn’t know that,” I said. “Can an Unraveler unravel bespellings on themselves?” It sounded complicated but I needed to know.
“Nope,” Tria said. “Same deal.”
I rubbed the back of my neck with twitchy fingers. “That’s a crappy rule. Sure, it was low on my to-do list, but I’d hoped to unravel the bespelling that’s keeping me from flitting.”
“Someone bespelled you so you can’t flit?” Alys asked, perking up as if the idea made her happy. Sister or not, I wanted to smack her. “Why would they do that?”
“Maybe so I’d be unable to escape a murderous cluster of nightlace?”
“Oh.” She deflated against the back of the chair. “Good point.”
“If magic has all these rules,” I asked. “Why are there three Bespellers and no Unravelers?”
“I’m sure there are, just untrained,” Tria said. “Like you.”
I leaned forward. “Maybe there’s an Unraveler with a higher Level than me who could do—”
Moira opened the bathroom door and peeked into our room. Best friends, she and Alys roomed together. “Can I come to the party?” Without waiting for a reply—though she was welcome without one—she crossed the room and dropped down onto the floor near Alys’s feet. “You three.” Her glance took in me, Patty, and Tria. “I’d expect to find hanging out together. But you?” Her elbow bumped Alys’s shin. “You’re a shocker. Why are you here?”
Alys stiffened. “I was invited.”
“Ha-ha,” Moira said in a singsong voice. “Not possible.”
“You’re always telling me I need to be nice.” The words ground out of Alys. “I’m trying to be nice, so don’t mock me.”
“We’re strategizing,” I said. Maybe I should keep my problems a secret, but what good had holding things back done me in the past? “We’ve already addressed one issue.” I glared at my offending limb. “I got Seeker’s Serum on my hand.”
“Chop it off,” Moira said.
“No,” I growled. “I’m going to buy a charm from Katya to slow the Serum’s progression.”
“What do you plan to do when it eventually reaches the point you have no choice?” Tria asked.
“Not thinking about that yet. Hopefully, her spell can halt it forever, but I’d be happy if I could just buy some more time.”
“I’m still worried about this,” Patty said. “She’s sly. You can’t pay her price.”
“I have unlimited money.” While Ester had acted as if she couldn’t stand me, she’d given me a bunch of things when I moved into the academy. New clothes, the concealer to change my hair color, and a cointage—a golden disk the size of the bottom of a drinking glass that functioned like a credit card and had no spending limit. Not that I’d go wild and buy out the mall, but it was nice knowing I could afford a pizza every now and then.
“You don’t understand,” Patty said. “She won’t necessarily want money.”
“I’ll see what she’s asking, then decide.”
Patty gnawed on her thumbnail but nodded.
“The next item we were discussing,” I said to Moira. “Is that I can no longer flit due to a rogue Bespeller.”
“The same one who turned Alys into nightlace?”
“We believe so,” Tria said. “The Court Bespeller returned to the palace. We doubt it was him.”
“We might not be dealing with three. What if it’s been Katya all along?” Patty asked. “She’s a Bespeller.”
“Why would she bother?” I said. “From what I saw when I met her,” When I’d commissioned her to bespell the concealer that changed Sirra’s nail polish color, “She’s busy. And while she’s creepy, she doesn’t really know me. Why would she want to kill me, let alone all the outlings on campus?”
“You’re probably right, which means it’s someone here at the Academy,” Patty said.
“You’re a jumble of emotions,” Moira said to me, breaking through the conversation.
“Save the analysis for class,” I said. Preferably a class where I wasn’t present. “We don’t have time for stuff like that.”
“I sense fear about your hand,” Moira continued, as if I hadn’t just tried to shut her down. “Which is completely understandable.”
I groaned, hoping she’d stop, but while she frowned my way, she wasn’t deterred.
“And you’re worried about Donovan.” She pinched her chin. “But that’s not all. You’re irritated, too. About the bespelling?” Her gaze flashed to Alys. “And, hmm. This one’s weird. Forgive me if I don’t get it right.”
I sat with my mouth a guppy on replay. How could she see all this? She was only a Level Two empath. She’d be deadly once she reached Level Three. “I don’t want you analyzing me at all!”
“By the fae,” Moira said, gaping between me and Alys.
No. She couldn’t read this from my emotions, could she?
“There’s one more feeling coming from you,” Moira said. “It’s affection for everyone in this room.” Her eyes widened further as they slid to her friend. “Including Alys.”
Alys blinked. Couldn’t blame her for feeling stunned. I felt the same.
I didn’t like her.
“There’s nothing wrong with me feeling—” I flicked my hand toward Alys, my voice rising in defense. “She’s been acting like a decent person.” Well, for the last hour or so. “For once.”
“Don’t lower your guards,” Alys said with a smirk. “Rest assured, this is transient. We share a single purpose, which means we’re temporary allies who’ll eliminate the Bespeller then pick up our weapons come dawn. And you—” She nudged Moira’s thigh with her foot. “Back up there. Why is Fleur worried about Donovan?”
“She’s not!” Patty and Tria shouted.
“She is,” Moira said. “I’m not wrong in this. And that’s another thing.” She turned her sabre-sharp gaze to Alys, who actually flinched. “You don’t like Donovan any longer. Just saw that emotion.”
Alys crossed her arms on her chest. “I like him.”
“Not the way you used to. More as…friends. Which is healthy, actually, because you know—”
“Please!” Alys rolled her eyes. She lowered her voice. “Stop. Please.” Her gaze flicked my way. “There’s nothing wrong with getting tired of chasing someone who’s taken.”
Would she pick up her chase again if she knew he was no longer taken? But he was. Sorta. Deep inside.
I barely held in my groan. What if he started liking someone else? Not necessarily Alys but someone. Could I let him go?
If it made him happy.
The stabbing sensation in the back of my throat made it a challenge to swallow. I wanted to ask Patty to hug me, because I sure needed one.
Donovan might never remember me. And if I wasn’t around any longer, he’d stop seeking me out. We’d barely gotten started and it was already over. Maybe forever.
“Now you’re sad, Fleur,” Moira said. “And I get it. But you shouldn’t give up.”
“Give up what?” Alys asked. The tip of her shoe poked Moira’s thigh, though gently. “What’s going on with Fleur and Donovan?”
“Do you sense anything from him?” I asked, desperate to hear something—anything—that could give me hope.
�
��He’s still there. But if feels like that part of him is lost in a maze.” Her somber gaze fell on me. “He can’t find his way out.”
“Really want to know what’s up with Donovan,” Alys ground out.
At my nod, Tria explained. “He’s bespelled.”
“Ah.” Alys frowned. “That third Bespeller gets around.”
Awkward silence followed her statement.
“What did I say?” When we all said nothing, Alys shook her head. “What’s he bespelled to do?”
“He’s forgotten he knows Fleur,” Patty whispered. I imagined she hated naming it to Alys, but if the other girl was going to be a part of this, she would need to know. It wasn’t like I could keep it a secret for long. Someone would tell her or she’d see it for herself.
“Oh, that’s rich,” she said. “Not the work of our third Bespeller after all. I assume this was done at the command of the king?”
“Yeah,” I said, slumping against the wall.
“Interesting,” Alys said. “I bet—”
“Let’s get back to the plan,” Tria said, thankfully redirecting the conversation. “Five issues. You’ll hit Katya up for a charm to slow or halt the Serum’s progress.”
“You do realize a sorceress won’t want your cointage,” Moira said. “That’s only for simple charms and concealers. For something strong enough to interfere with Seeker’s Serum, she’ll expect to be paid well.”
Tria glanced at my blade. “Your moonstone would do.”
“I won’t give it up for my hand.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to, but why take a chance? Unless you hope to buy time to…” Tria’s eyes widened. “I get it. You hope it’ll give you time to reach a Level Five and unravel Donovan’s bespelling.”
My single goal. It seemed unobtainable already.
“You have an Unraveler skapti?” Alys said in awe. “That means you would be able to…” Her gaze fell to her feet encased in her shoes.
“If I can learn,” I said, a promise coming through in my voice. “I’ll unravel everything I can.” It wasn’t much, since I hadn’t reached Level Two yet, but it was something I could offer. “You won’t have to worry about changing back into nightlace.” Or murdering me, assuming she was worried about that.
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