“Donovan,” Alys said, all pleasant and sweet. The niceness hid a conniving witch. It was nice having her on my side. “You were just telling me the other day that you wanted to meet Fleur.”
“I was?” he asked, glancing around. “Who’s Fleur?” His gaze fell fully on me and he blinked. The half-smile that always turned me to mush rose on his face. “Oh. Yeah. You’re right. I must’ve told you that.” His eyes met mine. “Hi, Fleur. I'm Donovan.”
Alys lifted my hand and placed it in his. “This is the girl you should be holding hands with.”
My turn to gape, now.
“You're going to the mall?” Donovan asked. “Well, sure you are. You’re here at the mall flit circle.” His cheeks darkened. “Talk about being obvious, huh?”
“It's okay,” I said, stunned by what was happening. I cheered up fast, however. “And yeah, I am.”
My hand remained secure in his. For a second, I could pretend…
“Oh, Donovan,” Cara called out, smirking at me.
I groaned, because she knew what she was doing. Witch. To think I'd believed she was nice.
He glanced Cara’s way, and I waited for it… Turning back to me again, his smile widened. “Maybe we could get some ice cream together at the mall?”
Wait just a second. He’d turned away but still remembered me after? What was going on here?
It reminded me of when the beatleycarne had pushed me in the stairwell…
Patty and Tria exchanged raised eyebrow glances.
“He…” Patty said.
I tapped my lips with my index finger and shook my head. Donovan glanced at them then back to me. His smile held true…
“Tell you what, Donovan,” I said. “I'd love to get ice cream with you if the offer’s still open.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Because you shouldn’t remember offering!
Couldn’t say that. “Ice cream, but on one condition.”
“What?”
“Don’t let go of my hand.” No hiding the excitement rushing through me. If my newly made up theory proved true, he’d remember me—or this version of meeting me—as long as we maintained contact.
This couldn’t be happening. It broke all the rules.
Beat that, Cara!
“Test it again,” I said to Tria, who wore a grin that touched both ears.
“Donovan,” she said sharply, and he looked her way. “Oh, nothing. Sorry.” She giggled when he turned back to me with his half-smile holding true. “I can’t believe it. Totally cool.”
Despite the knife twisting in my chest, I laughed.
Donovan leaned close to me. “I’ll hold hands with you all day long if you want.”
How about for the rest of my life?
It wouldn’t last but I planned to enjoy the moment.
“All right students,” Professor Trarion said. Her red-rimmed eyes told me she’d been crying, and my sunny mood fled.
How could I be happy about Donovan when someone had just died? I hadn’t liked Eben but he’d been a fellow outling. Part of the team.
Patty slid over to make room in the circle for Donovan, and he shifted around, maintaining our contact.
“Are we ready to flit?” Professor Trarion called. “Before we leave, I ask you all to please remain at the mall once we arrive. Don’t go off alone, and…” Her sigh drained every scrap of air from her chest. She blinked fast as tears trickled down her cheeks. “Please take care of each other. I’d hate to see anyone get hurt.” We all nodded. Who wouldn’t after what happened to Eben? “Time to flit then. On three, two, and one.”
The world dropped away then reappeared a flash later.
We stood in the mall.
Holiday tunes jingled through the air, chirpy voices singing about being merry and bright. Red, green, and white wilty-spark puffers bobbed around the ceiling, running into wyleens—snake-like creatures with wings skimming a few feet below the high ceiling. Wyleens carried people’s packages to the transport station, where they were teleported to our Coven rooms.
A centaur dressed as an elf—complete with ribbons strung with tiny bells encircling his ankles and a perky green and red hat on his head—trotted past a line of kids snaking through a fake, snow covered winter landscape. At the end of the path, Santa sat in a golden throne, greeting the kids waiting to see him. With satin dresses swirling around their ankles, a trio of vrilla toddlers skipped to the back of the line. Their tinkling laughter rang like tiny bells through the air.
“Where to?” Alys asked. Her gaze slid to me. “Other than your project.”
“Wand store,” Patty said. When I frowned, she explained. “They don’t make magic but they’re fun. I want to get my little sister one.”
Everyone trailed behind Donovan and me as we walked toward the wand store. Cara hovered like a hyena over a wounded antelope until Tria shooed her away, hissing something about Seekers and Serum. The shock and horror blooming on Cara’s face made everything almost worthwhile.
Patty pinged me. We girls talked and came to a consensus, she said. We’ll peel away from you two to give you time alone together.
The chaperone thing had felt weird.
Thanks, I said.
We’ll meet up in, say, forty-five minutes, outside the entrance to Katya’s?
Sounds good. And thanks again.
If being with D makes you happy, I’m ready to hug him. He better not hurt you. A growl came through in her voice.
Hurting me was a forgone conclusion. The moment we pulled apart, he’d revert back to his bespelling. I can handle this.
We’re here for you. We’ll handle it together.
My heart had gone all warm and fuzzy. If I wasn’t clinging to Donovan, I would’ve whirled around and hugged my roomie. Definitely.
See you in a bit, then.
We ended the conversation.
Donovan and I turned down the corridor that led to the ice cream shop. Tria nodded and gave me a quick pat on my shoulder before the four girls entered a store called Bubbling Bods. I had no idea what the store sold, but I couldn’t wait to find out later.
We strolled past shops, stopping to look inside windows at displays, slowly making our way toward the ice cream shop. It almost felt like a real date and while I was having fun hanging out with Donovan, it hurt because this was just a thin slice of time stolen from our usual reality.
Soon, he’d forget it had ever happened while I’d go on, storing this memory like I had all the others, a piece of us that was no longer shared.
“Did you ever find the right frog for the vrilla maidens to kiss?” I asked Donovan, hoping to drag myself out of the pit of sadness I’d fallen into. One time, he’d shared with me that the vrillas asked him to bring them frogs to kiss, to see if they could turn them into princes.
He tugged me to a stop and urged me around to face him. “How did you know about that? I could swear…” He shook his head.
I shrugged. “Someone must’ve mentioned it.”
“Huh. I can’t imagine who.” His expression cleared. “Guess it doesn’t matter. And, to answer your question, yes. I did find a frog who was interested in experimenting with vrilla kisses.” When Donovan’s gaze drifted to my lips, I leaned closer. Yeah, okay, I’d be more than up for that. Would it count as a first kiss if he didn’t remember all the others?
I shouldn’t let him even if he wanted to. It almost felt like stealing. But my heart had a mind of its own. It shoved me forward as if someone had pushed me from behind. I stumbled into Donovan, and his free arm wrapped around my waist to steady me.
Ashton’s snicker raked down my spine like barbed wire. “Watch your step there, kiddos.”
I scowled at him as he sauntered past us and continued toward an academy clothing store with plaid pants and skirts and blazers on display in the windows.
Our cute moment had fled. Donovan frowned as if he wanted to follow and chew out Ashton, and a family of gargoyles had paused to stare. Or frozen into hu
nched poses while they stared.
I stepped back and Donovan’s arm fell to his side. He did keep holding my hand, however, so bonus there.
“Ice cream next?” he asked, and I nodded.
“I think we should get waffle cones,” I said. “I used to get them all the time with this guy I once knew.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Actually, you do. You’re almost like best friends.”
“Tell me about him.”
How could I share the boy I’d half fallen for the first time I’d met him? “He’s special. He likes me, and I like him.”
“Yet here you are.” With a soft smile, he lifted our linked hands. “Hanging out with me.”
“You’re special, too.”
He chuckled. “Does my competition have a name?” For some guys, the question would shout jerk territory. But Donovan’s eyes shouted laughter. Despite us talking about someone he might see as competition, he was having fun with this. Did he know I was already his or was he just teasing?
His teasing had always sent my pulse into overdrive.
“His name…” I learned in close and whispered. “Is Dark Princeling.”
“That’s…”
“It’s the meaning of your name,” I finished for him. “Quite a coincidence, isn't it?”
Leaning back, his gaze narrowed on my face as if he hoped to read it. “Are you fooling around with me?”
“Me, tease? Ha.”
“Then what did you mean?”
As he sounded suddenly serious, I decided to put this aside. It would get us nowhere, and I didn’t want to waste even a second talking about another guy even if the guy was actually Donovan. “I think my belly needs ice cream.”
Pulling open the door to the shop, he waved. “After you.”
Still holding hands, we went inside together where we both got peppermint ice cream stuffed into waffle cones and covered in chocolate sprinkles. We took our cones outside and found a seat on a park bench, where we stretched out our legs and people-watched.
Creature-watched too, since the ratio was about sixty percent what I used to call mythical creatures, and forty percent people. Wizards, that is. All of them.
I’d met more magical creatures at the Academy than I could count on all my fingers and toes, but my school’s residents only scratched the surface of the magical world. Many walked among us here at the mall.
Beings with necks longer than giraffes leggily sauntered past, their little ones skipping under their bellies and squealing at the bright lights and sparkly items on display.
We ate our cones in companionable silence, and I wanted to stretch this moment forever. Because being together wasn’t always about talking. Or kissing, for that matter, though that was a lot of fun. It was about knowing the other person was happy because they were with you.
I’d stolen a short time with my boyfriend and the king wouldn’t be pleased if he found out. I wanted to savor this; but I’d come here on a mission.
“What happened to your hand?” he asked, nudging his chin to the one not holding his.
“Oh…” I held it up, showing off the newly-regenerated, pristine bandage. “I cut it.”
“It must hurt. Are you going to ask the healers to take care of it?”
They’d take care of it, for sure, the second I walked into the clinic.
“I may have to but I’m hoping it’ll soon feel better all on my own.” After I’d talked with Katya.
“You tryin’ old fashioned healing?”
“The best kind.”
“Like an outling does.” The skin around his eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Outlings are cool.”
I’d never thought he was faking, but hearing him say this now proved he meant it. He really did think outlings were cool.
What would Donovan think if I told him I was actually part Elite?
“If you want someone to go with you to the healer.” He held up our still-linked fingers. “Just let me know. I’ll be happy to hold your hand while they take care of it.”
It might almost be worth losing it if it meant I could hold onto Donovan longer. But our time together was almost over. Could I fill myself up with the memory of today?
“If I decide to go, I’ll ping you,” I said.
“I’ll pick up on the first ping.”
Would he? Or, by then, would he wonder who the fae was calling him?
Leaving the bench, we wandered through the stores, and I picked up a few gifts for my friends. Even something fun for Alys.
Too soon, Patty, Tria, Moira, and Alys joined us, their faces solemn as if they also felt the emptiness I’d lived with for months. Donovan and I had only a short time left before I had to go to Katya's.
I hadn’t put it off. More, I’d put off saying goodbye to Donovan. After this brief taste, I wasn’t ready yet to let him go.
I may never be ready for that. But I couldn’t take him to Katya’s. One glance, and she’d know he was my biggest weakness. She’d use him against me.
But I hated to say goodbye.
Turning to him, I took both his hands and squeezed. “I had fun with you today.”
“It doesn’t need to end yet, does it?” he said. “I’ll ping you. We can…oh, I don’t know, meet up on the roof?”
My eyes stung but I blinked fast to hold in my tears. “I’d love to meet up with you on the roof.”
“You would?” He sounded so incredibly goofy. Cute. And it ripped through me completely, leaving pieces of me to drop on the tile floor. “Not many girls are willing to go to the Academy’s roof in the winter.”
“What’s a little snow?”
He smiled that half-smile I could stare at forever.
“I'm sorry,” I said. “But you can’t go with me where I’m going next.”
He frowned. “Back to the Academy? I’m in Earth Coven. What’s your Coven and room number? If it’s okay to ask.”
“I’m right down the hall from you,” I said. “Look me up sometime?” A silly wish on my part, but I couldn’t ask for anything else.
“I will.”
“Hey, D,” Patty said, tugging his attention away from me.
Reaching up with my bandaged hand, I stroked my fingertips down his face one last time. In seconds, he wouldn’t welcome my touch.
His quick glance my way held the start of something new. Something wonderful. A thing that would fall apart within seconds.
I tugged my hands from his and stepped backward.
I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t watch him turn and ask my name. Introduce himself. It would kill me.
Slipping away, I spun and aimed for the door to Katya’s Kuriosities.
Patty had already shared the password but Katya would let me in without it. She seemed to know everything, and she’d know I was needy.
I didn’t look back until I reached the steel door.
No Admittance Without Prior Approval.
That was me. Prior approval.
Spinning, I leaned against the door, supporting my now-limp legs.
Donovan was gone. He’d probably drifted away the moment I freed him.
My friends stared toward me with a mix of emotions on their faces.
Fear on Patty’s.
Fierce determination on Tria’s.
Moira cried. Like my heart cried. Damn empath.
Alys nodded and mouthed, good luck.
Chapter 24
Creeping down the dark, gloomy tunnel, I followed the stairs to the bottom.
My heel skidded off a slimy step and I latched onto the rail to keep from falling, only to release the support with a soft cry when something moved beneath my fingers. I created a light that revealed silvery bugs scurrying along the walls and rail. Their wings scratched together. As if they were desperate to escape, they raced for the opening in the steel door above that slowly creaking closed behind me.
Shutting me inside.
If I was wise, I’d take off after them. Run from this place and never return.
But my hand ached. Rot must be sinking through my tendons by now. If I left, I’d have no choice but to beg the healers to cut it off.
Or I could keep going and ask Katya’s price for a bespelling. Patty could be wrong. Katya might accept money. She’d taken my cointage to pay for the concealer I’d bought for Sirra. If Katya said she wanted something else, however, I could offer her power, something I seemed capable of tapping at will.
Katya’s Kuriosities.
I stopped beneath the large red sign painted with white and black lettering hanging above an ancient wooden door. The last time I’d been here with Patty, bugs—real or created—had crawled around the letters. Now, the bugs had fled. Or Katya’s children had eaten them.
Despite the sweat skizzing down my temples, cold had sunk into me, making me shiver.
It was now or never. I could flee and let the healers remove my hand or I could take a chance with a sorceress’s magic.
No contest.
Opening the door, I stepped inside. A bell jangled overhead and I looked up, catching the golden cup’s shudder. Anywhere else, the bell would be considered whimsical. Pretty. Instead, the chime masked reality. Like everything about this place, it shouted beware.
“Fleur,” a creaky old voice said from farther in the room.
Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. Katya moved closer on her eight, spiky legs until she loomed up in front of me with her forearms lifted in the air. Her gray furry body the size of a horse eclipsed the lights overhead.
She held out a pincer adorned with a ring set with a sparkling black, faceted stone that had mesmerized me the first time I saw it. This time, I avoided looking at it directly when I kissed her “hand,” my lips barely brushing her scaly flesh.
“Lovie!” The formalities over, she clapped her pincers. “You’ve come back for another concealer?”
She’d done her best to ensnare me the last time I’d come here with Patty. I’d need to watch my back, my front, and my mind until I was at least a hundred miles away from her.
“Not this time,” I said, quite proud that my voice didn’t shake because my insides sure trembled. Moving forward, I shifted aside the tacky web spanning the entrance, the slender threads snagging on my clothing and encircling my fingers like rubber bands. With a quiver, I ripped them off and flung them to the side.
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 66
