“Classes will resume as normal for the remainder of the day, and for those of you that need reminding, curfew remains in place. That is all,” he turned and walked away from the edge of the balcony as everyone erupted around us with their thoughts and unanswered questions.
“Is it just me, or did he seem a little pissed?” Jet chuckled.
“Not just you,” Beck laughed.
We started heading out with everyone else to get to our next class, and Adar gave me a small wave. Now was as good a time as any to introduce everyone. After all, I had said we could be friends.
“Guys, this is Adar. Adar, this is Jet and Beck,” I informed him, gesturing to each one with their names.
“Pr-” Adar started, but stopped himself. It sounded as if he were about to correct me and use his title, but for some reason didn’t. “It’s nice to meet the two guys that have this one's heart,” he grinned and reached out and shook their hands as they looked him over.
“Look, if you’re done with this little alpha display you are trying to pull off, we should get to class,” I interrupted before either of them could say anything. I turned them around and pushed lightly against their backs. The room was still full of people, and they didn’t need to draw any more attention than they already had by stopping in the middle of the hall. “We’ll see you soon Adar,” I gave him a small smile before leading the guys down the hall.
“We weren’t going to start anything,” Jet said as we reached the stairwell and climbed the steps to our next class.
“I didn’t give you the opportunity, just in case,” I grinned back at him as we exited into the corridor.
I bumped into Becks back as I turned back around. Letting out a small oomph, I peered around him at what had made him stop so suddenly. Frost stood in the middle of the hall, glaring at the three of us. “Princess Una, my office now,” he ordered before turning and ignoring us.
“What the hell does he want?” Jet muttered.
“No clue, but don’t worry. There is no way he has anything on me.” I held each of them close for a moment before pressing a kiss to their lips. “I’ll be back before you know it,” I told them as I backed away, letting go of their hands at the last possible moment.
My stomach rolled with nerves, the only thing I could think of him being able to punish me for was skipping class. But I didn’t see him doling out that punishment himself. He had guards or the professors to take care of that for him. I honestly had no clue what he would want to speak to me about again so soon. No matter what it was, I was not going to show him any sort of fear.
I passed through the halls quickly, wishing for once that I was actually sitting in class. I took a deep breath as I entered the wing of the castle that held the offices of most of the professors as well as the headmaster.
I was stopped outside his office by one of the guards, “The headmaster said to wait here,” he growled, directing me to a chair that was sitting just outside the door.
I nodded and took the seat as the guard crossed his arms and leaned against the opposite wall. Looking up and down the corridor I noted that everyone else seemingly vacated this end of the castle. I wondered if it was to stay out of Frost's way, now that he was pissed over another attempted escape.
Voices from inside Frost’s office carried out to the hall and I glanced at the guard quickly to make sure he wouldn’t spot me trying to listen in on the conversation. He still stood, propped against the wall, but his eyes were closed now.
“Need I remind you why you were sent to our school, Prince Adar?” Frost’s icy voice became clear as I leaned a little closer.
“No, you don’t need to remind me. I know very well why I am here,” Adar responded.
“So then, you would also recall the only way your freedom will be granted?” Frost asked.
“I guess you're stuck with me then, because I won’t hurt her,” Adar ground out. I didn’t know him well, but I could hear the restraint in his voice as the headmaster continued.
“You’re willing to throw away your future, for a girl?” Frost questioned.
“For her, yes. It would be worth a thousand lifetimes in this hell hole to never hurt her again. I have caused enough damage as it is,” Adar stated with conviction. I wondered who they were talking about. Who was he supposed to hurt? And why would that give him his freedom?
“You are a stupid boy, Prince Adar. It’s no wonder your mother was so easily able to trick you. I suggest you change your mind, your life here will not be an easy one,” Frost tried again.
“What is it that you have against her anyway? I know what my mother does, but why do you support her?” Adar asked.
“While that’s none of your concern, I’ll humor you. She helped something that was mine escape, and I want it back,” he snapped.
A chair moved across the floor as I assumed one of them was standing and I sat back against the seat, not able to make out the words they said any longer. The guard lifted his head and scowled at me as he straightened. Thankfully I had sat back just in time to avoid being seen by him.
My mind reeled with what I had just overheard. Adar was sent here to hurt me? Why though, when I had saved his life? Why hadn’t he in the stairwell? That would have been the perfect opportunity for him to do whatever it was he was here to do.
The door opened and I looked around, making sure my expression didn’t give anything away about what I had just overheard.
“Una,” Adar said, clearly surprised to see me sitting outside the office.
“Hey,” I gave him a small wave. It was hard to be angry at him for keeping secrets, even one as big as this. After all, I had been the one to be a dick to him, when he was only trying to be nice. Then again, he could have only been being nice because he wanted to get close enough to me to kill me. Something told me that wasn’t the case though.
“Princess Una,” Frost gestured to his office door before heading back in.
“Princess?” Adar said, the shock clear in his voice.
“Yeah, not too fond of that title though,” I stood. “Whatever you have going on, if you want to talk, come find me,” I offered.
“Thanks,” he nodded before turning down the hall. I watched him walk away and he looked once over his shoulder, giving me a small smile before he disappeared around the corner.
I headed into the office, wishing I was anywhere else but here at the moment. Frost motioned wordlessly to a chair in front of his desk and I sat.
“I called you here to give you one last chance to give me the information on the escape? Surely after witnessing today’s incident you would want to avoid your friends meeting the same fate.” Frost said icily.
“I’ve told you, I don’t know anything else,” I jumped as he slammed his fist down on his desk, his name plate bouncing against the smooth wood.
“Tell me what you know!” he bellowed.
I sat a little straighter in my chair, glad to see Frost so worked up. “There is nothing to tell. Maybe instead of worrying about people who already escaped, and likely are not coming back, maybe you should concern yourself with who’s sneaking pixie dust in right under your nose?”
“I don’t care about the pixie dust,” he ground out, his nostrils flaring as he struggled for control. “I want you to tell me everything you know about the others.”
“Headmaster Frost,” I placated, using the title he didn't deserve, “You had your veritician question me already. If there was anything I knew, she would have gotten it out of me. That is, unless you don’t trust her? Though she strikes me as a lady you don’t want to piss off,” I poked a bit at him, hoping to get him to be just frustrated enough that he would give me some sort of information that I needed.
Frost took a visible deep breath as he glared down at me, “You have no idea who you are messing with, Princess Una. You will tell me what I need to know.” He held his hand out and I felt icy tendrils wrap around my neck, tightening little by little until I was gasping for air and my lungs burned.
The edges of my vision began to turn black and I fixed on the icy blue eyes staring at me, not willing to give in. A knock on the door seemed to be from far away but instantly the hold on my throat fell away as the person knocked again.
“Enter,” Frost called, smoothing his hand over his suit jacket as he tore his eyes away from mine.
Professor Chan peered around the door, “Sir, you wished to see me?” he avoided looking at me, and I knew it was intentional. We needed to keep our cover secure, no matter the cost. I forced myself to keep my hands at my side and not rub my throat as Frost spoke.
“Yes, just one moment. We were just finishing up,” he gave a bright smile as Professor Chan backed out of the room. As soon as the door was closed, Frost rounded on me again, “You got off easy this time. I suggest you reconsider what you want to tell me before we have our next talk,” he ground out.
I stood, my gaze never wavering from his, “My answer will be the same then, as it is now. I don’t know anything,” I turned, leaving him fuming behind me as I left his office.
In the hall Professor Chan stood as I came out, “Are you okay?” he asked. I nodded my head, not wanting to give anything away, or risk Chan getting caught. I would have time to talk to him the following day.
The bell rang, dismissing the last class of the day as I passed through the halls. So I detoured and headed to my room, where Ry and I had agreed to meet up, before we headed to the secret room. She exited the stairs right as I did on the opposite end and we met in front of our room.
“Where have you been?” Ry asked, looking me over curiously.
“More later. Are you ready?”
She nodded and I led the way down the series of halls leading to the restricted door. Thankfully, this time we weren’t followed and we pushed through the door quickly before anyone came our way.
“What is this?” Ry asked as we stopped next to the brick wall and I scanned for the lever again.
“You ask a lot of questions,” I chuckled as I stood on my toes and pulled the loose brick. Ry let out a small gasp as the wall slid open and I grabbed her wrist and tugged her inside.
The door slid shut and we found the guys already waiting for us. Jet paced back and forth, and Beck sat on one of the chairs, though he stood when we came in. “You made it,” Jet breathed out his relief as he pulled me into his arms.
“I told you I wouldn’t be long,” I laughed into his chest.
“I still don’t like risking you with him,” Jet said against my hair.
I gave him a hug before turning to greet Beck. “Glad you're safe,” he held me close for a moment before Ry cleared her throat behind us.
“So if this little love fest is over, does someone want to tell me where the hell we are?” she asked as she walked slowly around the room before turning back to face me.
“This is our secret hideout. It’s one of the few places we know of that Frost has not discovered yet. We meet here when we don’t want others listening in. And for this, we don’t want others over hearing,” I walked to the crates and pulled the files from the hidden spot between the crates that made up the table. I took a seat and put them down on the top and motioned her to come over.
“Is this the information you have to help Shay?” she asked as she joined me, followed by the guys who each sat on one side of me.
“Yeah. So an old professor that worked here was working on finding who was responsible for bringing in the dust. Though I don’t think he would have ever expected them to bring the source right into the castle. He was extremely meticulous, and we have our feelers out, hoping he can give us more information on some of the people in his notes, for now though this is what we have to go on,” I explained, trying to remain as vague as possible as we didn’t want to give her too much information about our own planned escape.
“Wait, you mean the professor who escaped with those students? You know where he is?” she questioned. I should have known she would have an analytical mind and pick up on something like that, after all she did serve in the military.
“That is who I mean, but I have no clue where they are. And it’s much better if you don’t know too much either. For now all you need to know is that we have his documents, and a place to start looking,” I picked up a folder and passed it to her.
She looked down at the folder in her hands, “Why won’t you tell me the truth?”
“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you the truth Ry. It’s safer for you if you don’t know that much. Knowing even this much about Shay is more than enough to get you thrown in solitary for a month of high tides.” I said, my voice pleading for understanding.
“Ry, we aren’t sure how much you already know, but what we do know, is that Frost has a veritician under his thumb. If he were to find out that you had any sort of connection to us, he would not hesitate to use her on you,” Beck informed her.
“Alright, fair enough. What do you need me to do?” she replied as she looked between the three of us.
I motioned to the folder in her hands. “The professor had these lists of people he suspected and people he cleared of being involved with bringing pixie dust to the castle. I was hoping you could help us go through them, and tell us if anything or anyone stands out to you for any reason?”
“Seems easy enough,” she shrugged. “Why can’t we just work on getting her out of here? Maybe if she is far enough away from here that binding thing won’t matter.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” I told her. “The spell will affect her, no matter where she is. So we have to find the person responsible, end the spell and then we can get her out of here.” She was right, it would be much easier to just get Shay out of here. We all agreed though, we needed to do it the right way, protect Shay and shut this thing down for good.
“It makes sense. Though I’m more of a get it done kind of girl. We could just kill every suspect on the list and ask questions later.” We all looked at her in shock, and she laughed, holding up her hands, “Kidding. Kind of.” Ry opened the file and looked down, “This professor was organized, I’ll give him that,” she murmured as she scanned the papers.
I picked up another file, and the guys did the same. We all fell quiet as we read over Sebastian's notes. He had been looking into the possibility of someone mailing it into the castle, but now we knew that route was no longer needed. Not considering they had their own little fairy on tap in the caves.
“Have you guys looked into the guard? Craig?” Ry asked at last.
“He’s on our list, as well as the driver,” Jet replied.
“My money is on Craig. Not only does he come and go as he pleases, but he works right alongside Frost. Who better to slip someone or something into the castle, than the person that works the closest with the headmaster?” she reasoned.
Beck nodded, “That's true. But why not the driver then? He has access to a lot of people, all of the time.”
“He doesn’t know the ins and outs of this castle though. I’m not saying that he might not be involved too, but he is definitely not the one in charge of the whole operation,” Ry said. “So when we do figure this out, how are we going to get her out? Without being burned alive by the dragons.”
“She can do her little pop in and out thing, right? Why not use that to our advantage?” Jet suggested.
“Shay says that’s faulty right now, with whoever is dusting her, taking so much all the time,” I informed him.
“Yeah, but once we figure out who that someone is, then they won’t be draining her anymore right? So theoretically, she can just poof herself out of here.”
“It’s worth talking to Shay about at least,” Ry said. “Hopefully she shows up tonight, so we can get things moving. I’ll head back just in case,” Ry dropped the folder on the table and stood. “Don’t be late, guys,” she winked before heading for the door. After looking at it for a moment she reached up and pulled the lever and it slid open. She gave us a quick wave and stepped through the opening, closing us b
ack in. Yeah, I was not going to underestimate that one.
Chapter 24- Beck
I started to get up to help Ry leave, but she surprised me by finding the lever to open the door herself. The door slid shut behind her and I let out a small laugh, “Well then.”
“She’s certainly perceptive. You were right to bring her in on this,” Jet said, tossing his folder on the table.
“We will get her out, don’t worry,” I reassured her, gently.
“I know, I’m just worried about what they will do to her in the meantime,” Una murmured, putting her own folder down.
“We have some help now, so hopefully it won’t be too much longer. And Eva should send a response soon. Before you know it, we will be getting Shay out of here, and then back to the sea,” Jet leaned over and kissed Una’s shoulder.
She looked down at her legs, “I always wanted to know what it would be like to have legs. Now I can’t wait to have my tail back.”
“It is different, that's for sure,” Jet rubbed his hand over Una’s knee, just dipping under the edge of her skirt.
“If you guys could go back and change things, would you?” she sat back on the crate and looked at us.
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
“We were all sent here for something right? Would you go back and change it? Or would you still have done the same thing, even knowing what you know now?”
“Honestly, I would have still stood up to my mother. I won’t ever be dark like she is, or kill like she wants me to. Even so, I’m glad I was sent here, because then I met you,” he grinned, making her laugh a little.
“What about you Beck?” she asked.
I was torn in my answer and told them as much. “Honestly, I have met some of the best people since I was sent here. That, I would never change,” I took Una’s hand, hoping she would understand as I absently rubbed my thumb over the back of her fingers. “I would change my arrogance though. I would have never tried to show off and accidentally take the life of two people that never did anything to anyone.”
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