“I’m studying for a test about the Ulfern War,” I said.
He leaned against the table, his posture relaxed. “Index cards. Why not use content storage?”
“I’m having a hard time with that form of elemental magic.”
“Interesting. It’s simple, actually.”
For everyone else, maybe, but not me.
“Tell you what,” he said. “Find me when you have a free moment or two, and I’ll show you a trick. You’ll be storing notes in no time.”
My shoulders eased. He mustn’t have seen the book. Or, if he had, he didn’t care if I looked at it. It was shelved in the library. “That would be awesome. If you have time.”
“I always have time for students.”
“Thanks.”
He bumped off the table. “You’re welcome.” After doling out another smile, he walked to his desk, stopping at a few tables along the way to speak to other students. His bald head gleamed in the overhead lights, and his bushy eyebrows wiggled when he spoke.
Nice guy. But then, other than the power-sucking slake, Professor Mealor, everyone working at the Academy was kind.
I’d started to slide my index cards off the book about the sixth family, intending to study the note again, when the door to the hall opened and Eben strolled inside.
He glanced around and his lips twisted when his eyes fell on me. At least he didn’t decide to come over and pester me. Instead, he strolled over to the librarian’s desk and, his back to me, spoke with Will. Will’s bushy eyebrows lifted and, when Eben’s voice grew louder and he said something about crystal and acing Professor Grim’s class, Will held up his hand. He nudged his head to the office behind the desk. Eben’s hands flexed at his sides, making me wonder why he was so peeved with our librarian, but he released them and followed Will into the office.
The door only partly closed. Enough to cut the rest of us off from their conversation but not enough I couldn’t hear distant murmurs. Maybe it was just as well. I needed to get back to the Ulfern War, not snoop on what was probably a boring conversation between Eben and the librarian.
I was curious, however. How did Eben think Will could help him do better in Grim’s class? Was there another elemental magic trick like content storage Will could teach Eben that would give him, and maybe me, an edge?
No harm in finding out.
Standing, I stuffed everything into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I wandered casually over to the main desk then, after looking around to make sure no one appeared to be watching, I scurried over to the ladderback chair sitting outside Will’s office and casually sat. That was me, a student politely waiting my turn to speak to the librarian.
“I can’t do that for you, Eben,” Will said in a reasonable tone.
Do what?
“You said you would.” Desperation came through in Eben’s voice. “You promised. We had a deal.”
“And I’ve done all I could to help. You know that. As I would anyone.”
How had Will helped Eben? Was this about giving Eben the edge he needed to be declared the best outling on campus, or something else?
“If you remain patient, it will happen,” Will said. “Exactly as I said it would. Just keep playing your part.”
Eben grumbled then released a heavy sigh. “Don’t think I won’t tell—”
“What are you doing here?” someone said.
I jolted upright, realizing I’d been leaning close to the opening, trying not to miss a single word.
“Hi, Alys,” I said, standing. My fingers twitched where they clutched my backpack strap, and I nearly dropped it.
While I was glad to see my sister—sorta—she could’ve picked a better time.
“I’m…um…waiting to see the librarian.” I gnashed my teeth. Talk about inconvenient. The conversation inside the office had started to get interesting. What would Eben tell?
“You don’t mind if I go ahead of you, do you?” Alys said, pleasant enough. “I won’t take long.”
“Not at all!” She’d save me from using content storage as an excuse for why I was sitting here. Yes, I wanted to learn the elemental magic skill, but not right now. “In fact, I’m not sure I really need him any longer. I can look up my information…” Couldn’t say online since computers didn’t exist in the Elite world. Who needed them when you could ping someone and get your answer from the source? “I’ll look it up in one of my books.”
She huffed, telling me she’d rebuilt the steel fence between us. Her momentary weakness in her room had passed, and she probably hoped I’d forgotten all about it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. While we won’t go into Katya’s with you, we can flit you there and make sure you get back here safely.” The wince she released indicated someone must’ve told her what happened to me and Jenny when we tried to flit back to the Academy after our first trip to the mall. We’d been diverted to a cave system full of nightlace that attacked. If Tria hadn’t used her Seeker skills to find us, we’d both be dead.
“Just you remember,” Eben said inside the office. “You owe me more than I owe you.”
By the fae, this was getting good. Could I make Alys go away so I could sit and listen some more?
Alys frowned. “Who’s inside?”
“Eben is with Will—the librarian, that is.”
Tiny lines crinkled around Alys’s eyes when she smiled. “I know who Will is.”
It would be weird if she didn’t, I supposed. She’d been at the Academy as long as I had.
“Of course you do!” Why was I shouting?
Nerves. They hit us all.
The door swung open, and Eben stepped out. He frowned when he saw me standing outside the office. “What do you want?”
“Not you,” I said. When I first met him at Outling Club, I’d thought we might end up friends. After all, we were united in surviving when every Elite would be happy to see us flunk out.
Or, for a few, to see us die.
Yes, Eben was anal and controlling, but I could live with it. I had no interest in running for president of our small club.
But then he’d allied with Ashton. Totally hadn’t seen that one coming. Why would Ashton, who hated outlings, become best friends with Eben? I could understand Eben kissing up to Ashton. Determined to be crowned the best outling on campus, he’d stand a better chance if he was supported by a Coven prefect in Ashton.
Eben shoved past us and strode from the library, banging the entrance door closed behind him.
Will appeared in the doorway to his office. Shadows haunted his usually twinkling eyes, but they drifted away when his gaze fell on me and then slid to Alys.
Like a mask had been pulled over his face, it smoothed, becoming neutral.
“Alys,” he said sternly.
She jolted as if he’d scolded her.
Okay, so what was going on between them?
It was clear to me that the smile lifting Alys lips was fake. Her back tightened and her lower lip trembled. As if she took on a task she dreaded, she walked over to Will and gave him a brief hug.
A kiss on his cheek.
“I have something I need to tell you.” Although her voice came out pleasant enough on the surface, it contained an edge of…fear? “Do you have a moment to talk, Dad?”
Chapter 18
The Academy could burn around me, and I wouldn’t notice.
Dad?
Alys had called him her father. She’d kissed him on his cheek.
A newborn, Alys had inadvertently drained too much power from her mother, who’d died. Moira told me Alys’s father had blamed Alys for her mother’s death ever since.
I’d half despised the man on Alys’s behalf, even when she’d been in peak mean girl mode and she’d drive me out of my mind.
But this meant that…Mr. Zoriate—Will—was my father.
My legs unable to support me, I collapsed onto the chair. Planets and stars floated around me, blackening the world on the edges. I dropped my head down to my knees,
praying I wouldn’t keel over, onto the floor.
“Are you okay, Fleur?” Alys asked. When I said nothing, my lips and tongue frozen from shock, she actually came over to stand with me, as if she cared.
But she couldn’t care. She wouldn’t care. We’d only declared a temporary truce. It would end as soon as we’d caught the Bespeller.
Why, then, was she placing her hand on my shoulder and stooping down beside me? “Do you want me to call for a healer?”
Who’d be eager to chop off my hand. “No!” When she jumped, I lowered my voice. “No. Thanks. I’m okay. Just a little dizzy. I…didn’t eat breakfast.”
Alys straightened. Behind her, Will—by the fae, my father—stared at me with equal concern.
“Would you like some water? A snack?” He gestured toward his office, his face coloring. Was he used to dealing with lightheaded teenagers? “I keep crackers and a few granola bars in my desk. I can fetch you one in a flash.” As if he hoped to escape before I threw up or asked for a tampon, he edged into the doorway.
“I don’t need anything. Thanks.” I rose to my feet and, when the world rushed into my head, scrambling it, I nearly keeled over. But the room righted itself, and I turned to face Alys and Will.
Faced my family.
“I, um…” Frozen with shock, my tongue refused to function. “I’ll just run to the cafeteria. I’ll ask a chef to make me…something good.”
“Sounds like an excellent idea,” Will—Dad—said. “Eat something solid. No need to feel faint with Level Five chefs on campus.”
“Nope,” I said.
How was I supposed to deal with this? Panic rushed through me, telling me to run, but I was afraid if I bolted from the Academy, I wouldn’t stop until I’d reached Donovan’s aunt and uncle’s place miles from here.
“You sure you’re okay?” Alys asked, scrutinizing my face. What did she see? Hopefully only what I wished to share, which wasn’t much.
I shouldn’t read anything into the concern in her eyes. In his eyes.
My family.
And I could never tell them.
“I’ll see you two later?” Without waiting for a reply, I snatched my bag off the floor and fled from the library. I ran down the hall, through the mini-mall area, up the stairs, across the skywalk, and down the hall to my room, shouting, “Sexy!” before I arrived.
Thorn greeted me and started to say something else, but I pushed my way inside and locked the door behind me without stopping to chat. I didn’t have it in me at the moment.
I staggered across the room and collapsed on my bed, my face awash with tears.
Chapter 19
I’d barely pulled myself together when Cloven pinged me. Are you still coming for dinner?
That’s right. I’d told him I would. Had that really just been this morning? It felt like three lifetimes ago.
My belly rumbled, telling me it was past due for sustenance. Assuming I could shove something down my throat.
Will was my father. I couldn’t believe it!
He was…nice. Friendly and kind. I liked him.
It was anyone’s guess what he’d think if he ever learned he was my father. He might despise my background. But he couldn’t hate outlings if he’d been with my mom, could he?
What if… I shouldn’t be letting myself dream like this. It was silly to think he’d welcome me as his daughter.
My hands trembled, and my heart grabbed onto the idea and bolted with it.
I’d have a dad. Someone I could claim as family. If he accepted me, we could talk, maybe have fun together.
My heart pinched. I shouldn’t do this to myself. Nothing could come of it.
But what if I told him?
Cloven spoke, reminding me we were in the middle of a mindspeak conversation. Good thing he could only hear the thoughts I chose to send.
I’ve asked the head chef to prepare a regular smorgasbord for us, he said with laughter in his voice. Even nachos. I’ve heard they’re your favorite, right?
They are. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and raked my fingers through my hair. I’ll be there in a few minutes.
Looking forward to it.
I rushed to the bathroom and splashed cold water onto my face. Then stared into the glass handing above, seeing nothing.
Will was my father.
It didn’t seem possible!
Returning to my room, I sank down on the chair in front of my desk and put on my sneakers.
When I closed my eyes, a black thread zipped past me. Before it slid through the wall, it paused. Turned.
Come closer, little one, I thought.
The thread flicked back and forth as if flirting.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Like that. You want to be friends?”
It came closer, so near I could reach out and stroke it with the back of my hand.
Leaning into my touch, it seemed to sigh. Were the black threads happy there was now someone who could work magic with them?
It twined itself around my finger then glided down my arm to my shoulder.
My moonstone hummed, and the black strand paused.
“Don’t go,” I said.
I coaxed the thread closer to my blade, and it didn’t resist.
My eyes opened as the thread reached my stone and was absorbed. Dark fire flickered across the gleaming surface before it died away.
I’d done it. Not quite a full Level Three because I hadn’t braided a number of threads together and I doubted I’d succeed again without multiple failures, but I’d stored one black strand inside my stone.
I couldn’t wait to tell Minerva.
Rising, I left my room in a daze. Like always, my spine tingled and my brain shot into alert mode as I crossed the skywalk. I hated being here alone and after dark. If I’d had more time, I could’ve exited my Coven and crossed through the paths outside, but darkness had smothered the daylight. And I didn’t want to run into Medusa yet. Wasn’t quite ready for that cut.
My only other option would be to ping Tria or Patty and ask for a flit, but I hated to bug them all the time. Patty was meeting up with Bryce for dinner, and Tria had a class.
No reason I couldn’t take this route. We’d vanquished the nightlace, and Alys had sworn to wear her charm. It was only a short walk.
All valid excuses that did nothing to keep goosebumps from rippling down my spine.
The glass walkway encased me like a clear cocoon. Or a tomb.
Better not to think that way.
Outside, stars peppered the sky. The moon shone brightly, lighting up the ground below me as I scurried across the smooth glass surface.
I reached the opposite side and pulled open the steel door.
Just the stairs and a short skip to Cloven’s office. I’d be there in seconds.
Bolting down the first flight of stairs, I skidded around the landing and took the second set. From above me, a shuffling sound rang out, reaching down the stairwell like a beast’s claws. The sound grabbed hold of my heart, and it fluttered.
Not stopping to ask who’s there. Been there, doing this too often already.
I picked up my pace, taking the stairs two at a time. I’d be there soon.
Soon couldn’t come fast enough.
Whirling around the next landing, I continued down the stairs. One flight left after this and I’d be in the mini mall area. People would be around.
I’d be safe.
“Hey!” someone called out from above.
Not pausing to chat, either.
I rushed down the next flight of stairs.
Something slammed into my back, pushing me forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a creature about the size of my forearm scurrying down the steps. It flew around the landing and kept going.
So did my body.
Grappling for anything I could hold onto, my arms flailed out. My bandaged hand slipped along the rail but was unable to find purchase.
My feet twisted. Damn things. My toe caught on th
e lip of a stair and my foot skidded down to the one below. Gravity yanked me forward.
Lungs afire and my heart beating double-time, I slammed against the rail, jarring my shoulder.
My fingers scrambled on the metal as I tried to slow my fall.
No use. My body had its own plan. No, the beatleycarne had its own plan.
Crying out, I tumbled downward.
The stairs rose up to meet me.
Chapter 20
“Gotcha,” someone said, snagging the back of my shirt and bringing me to an abrupt halt.
I dangled a second before he tugged me back and up onto the step beside him. His arms held me close.
I knew that voice. Too many times, I’d ached to hear him say my name with recognition. I was doomed to live with disappointment.
Clutching Donovan’s forearms, I stared up at him.
“You okay?” he asked, his voice filled with concern. He glanced around. “Did you trip?”
“Something pushed me.” Damn beatleycarne. I peered over my shoulder, hoping I’d find it waiting so I could stomp on it, but it had fled the scene of the crime.
It was out to get me.
I needed to ping Tria ASAP. It was past time to set those traps.
“Someone pushed you?” His eyes widened, and his hands tightened on my arms. “You don’t think I—”
“Not at all!” Great. Wasn’t it just like me to offend him when I’d rather talk or stand beside him? Not that he’d remember two seconds from now, but still. “It was…” He’d think I was out of my mind if I told him a prankster had locked onto me. “I missed a step.” Easier answer.
“I’m Donovan by the way,” he said.
“Fleur.” One would think it would get old introducing myself to him over and over again, but it never did. The fact that he sought me out whenever he saw me bathed my wounded soul.
I liked that he still held onto me. It gave me a chance to pretend that—
Above us, someone opened the door to the skywalk. It banged shut, and footsteps thumped toward us.
Donovan leaned over and squinted in that direction before returning his attention to me. “So, Fleur, do you want to, like, get an ice cream? I know we just met, but—”
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 62
