After searching for a good ten minutes, I lean against a tree. The bark digs into my hand, and I feel its pain. Almost without thinking, I use the knowledge gained from Plant Healing to soothe the plant over, and as the wound in its bark heals, I realize that the mark could have been made from a blade.
My finger touches the healed spot, and I swear I can sense the plant's gratitude. In fact, I can tap into the plant itself. Plants don't have a conscious mind like fairies and humans do, but I can still sense a bit from the tree, a bit from its present and its past, and from how the tree got hurt and judging by the tidbits the tree gives me as well as the height of the mark and judging from height of Hope as well… The killer is tall, at least six feet tall, and male. A start at the very least. A start.
A start that does not disprove Damon. Not yet, at least.
Chapter 24
Two more stops to go. Next up, I have to find a way up to Washington. To be missing so many classes, but it can't be helped at this point. Who knows? I might not even be back before the projects are due. Sage and I are done. With our project, I mean. As upset as I am that he thinks Damon is guilty, Orchid and I had a talk. Yes, the way Sage talked to me had been wrong. He did apologize. Given his worry for me, his concern… Looking at it all from his point of view, I can see why he would suspect Damon and why he would tell me. He should've gone about it a different way, though. So no, Sage and I are not necessarily done. Not yet. And Damon? I don't know. I'm attracted to both of them, and I care about them both very much, more than I probably should. We're all young, too young to settle for the rest of our lives, or are we? I don't even know.
I just hope that I’m back in time for my project with Damon at the very least. Sage and I can pass so long as the plant continues to heal, even if I’m not physically there to present it. If Damon can’t get the plant to do something, anything when called upon by himself, we’ll both receive a failing grade, and that isn’t fair to him.
Of course, the reason why I’m gone is a matter of life or death. Someone else could be targeted next, another student potentially, so this is vastly more important than a project or two.
Human money is not something that fairies have in abundance, and I hate myself for it, hate, hate, hate myself for it, but I do a little song, do some sweet talking, use the magic of my voice, and suddenly, I'm on a flight to Washington even without a passport or identification card. I'm not entirely certain what a passport would be.
Once I arrive, it’s a little harder for me to convince a driver to take me there, but I eventually manage. I won’t do anything to endanger a human with this ability, and I guess I owe Professor Fern an apology. I keep telling myself that this is important, it’s for a good reason. After all, it’s possible the next victim could be another human. I don’t know. To ensure no one else is killed, the murderer has to be caught, and I’m doing whatever I can to help expedite the process.
Finally, I’m at Gary Walker’s store. It’s not closed, which surprises me, and I head inside. It’s bustling with a lot of customers, and I notice an older man standing in the corner, watching everyone.
When he catches me looking at him, he smiles. “Go ahead in front of me. I don’t mind. I’m in no hurry.”
“Thank you,” I say and then pause. “Did you know Gary?”
“Of course I did.” He pats the white hair on the top of his head. “He and I went way back. He was one of the good ones. A real shame what happened.”
“Did he have any… Did anyone not like him?”
“Oh, everyone who met him loved him. He was almost too good to be true. Wanted to change the world. He and his wife wanted kids, but that never happened, so he decided to view everyone as his kids. Everyone. Didn’t matter if they were older than he was. All he wanted was to spread happiness and love. Oh, and meat. He was meant for greatness.”
“He did spread greatness,” I say softly. “I’m sorry he died.”
“Me too, me too.” He eyes me. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”
“No.”
“Here. Let me help pick out a few things.”
“Oh, no. Thank you, but no.”
“I insist.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“I do.”
I try to refuse. I even use a bit of my magic, but his conviction is too strong, and it doesn't work, and he buys me some meat regardless of what I say.
“What can I do for you to repay you?” I ask.
“Pay it forward when you can.”
My heart aches. Not all humans are bad. Yes, they have their faults, their crimes, their murders, their rapes, their school shootings, and more, but there are good and decent humans, and my heart aches so very much.
I don’t want to ask him where Gary had been found, and I end up going to a library after I leave the shop, and I find details that bring me close enough. From there, I ‘m able to tap into the plants just enough to find the spot.
My palm touches the broken bark where Gary had been pinned to the tree. There’s some dried blood on the bark yet, and a tear leaks down my cheek.
A fairy can tap into nature, and trees of course, but I’ve never tapped into blood before. It’s hard, very hard too, but I can just tap into the blood, into its memory, and I can see the killer. Not clearly, just a hazy outline.
Wings.
Now, angels and demons have wings just like fairies do, so this revelation isn’t all that important.
Disgusted I can’t learn more, I talk my way into a hotel and then the restaurant staff into cooking my meat. The steak is delicious, the best I’ve ever had, and then I sleep, plagued by winged shadows. As soon as I wake, I’m off to the airport for another flight, this time to Las Vegas.
The lights, the hustle and bustle, the sheer volume of people… I feel rather out of place and even claustrophobic, and I accidentally bump into someone near the place of business where Annie once worked.
“I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” The woman eyes me. “People would pay to see you naked.”
I stare at her. “Excuse me.”
She smirks and steps back. She’s hardly covered at all.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“Oh, honey, they warm me up real good.” She laughs. “What do yo expect?”
“I don’t have any expectations.”
“Ah. Smart one. ‘Pect you think you’re too good for the likes of me, don’t ya?”
“Not at all,” I try to assure her.
“Yeah, well, someone doesn’t like us or at least didn’t like Annie. If it weren’t for the other murders being other places, I would be scared, but I’m just gonna continue on as I’ve always been. Gotta live life while you’re alive, or else it’s too late.”
“You knew Annie?”
"Knew her? I worked with her. Why?"
“I’m actually working on—”
“A report about the case? Ain’t you special. For school, huh? Want to take a peek at her old workspace? Bet your daddy would love that.”
“Oh, no, thanks but no.”
“Daddy wouldn’t approve? Or are you scared?”
“I’m not scared.” I eye the woman. “You’re chasing ghosts, aren’t you?”
Her arched eyebrows lift. “What you going on about?”
“Or running from them?”
“Not at all,” she snaps.
“What about Annie? Was she running from someone?”
“Look, Annie lived a tough life, but she was no pushover, and most everyone loved her, and the ones who didn’t were just jealous, but no one wanted her dead. It must’ve been wrong place, wrong time.” She waves her hand, trying to act all nonchalant, but the light’s gone out of her eyes. She misses her friend.
“I don’t think you’re a pushover either.”
“I’m not,” she says proudly before eyeing me suspiciously. “What are you playin’ at?”
I sigh heavily. “I was hoping to maybe see where Annie died.”
> The woman shakes her head. “I don’t know the spot, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Bad mojo,” she mumbles. Her eyes narrow to the point that they’re barely open. “Why are you so interested? You one of those true crime nutsos?”
“I guess you could say that,” I say, hoping that my uncertainty over the meaning isn’t evident.
“Then you’re gonna see her workplace whether you want to or not.”
And she grabs my wrist, takes me to a side door, and we enter a large room filled with women in various states of undress and mirrors and makeup. The woman leads me over to a particular mirror, a rose resting against the bottom of the frame.
“This here is Annie’s spot. She used to apply her lipstick twenty times a night. Always blotted it three times. She loved to blow kisses to everyone and anyone. Thought the world needed more love. ‘If I’m the only one to kiss them, at least they were kissed once,’ she used to say.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmur.
“She wasn’t in it for the money. Well, not just for the money. She needed to pay rent. We all do, but for her, it was a means to reach out to people.” The woman shrugs.
I reach toward the rose and then hesitate.
The woman smirks and crosses her arms. “I thought you might notice that. It was recovered near her dead body. John brought it back here. I thought it would serve her better here than on her grave.”
“Can I—”
“Touch it? Be my guest, but if a petal falls off, I hope Annie haunts your ass until you’re put into an early grave.”
Ignoring the threat, I touch the petals. The rose is dead, though. There’s no connecting to nature through death. Not really. At least not as far as I know.
A dead end. I learned a bit more from Hope. Not much from Greg, and nothing at all from Annie. My progress is at a standstill. Fire and brimstone, I’m going to have to return to the academy and face the music of my missed time, and I have nothing much to go on. Can things get any worse?
Chapter 25
A little over three days is all the time I was gone, which is actually pretty impressive if you ask me. The hours had blended together and all of the flights, and as soon as I return, Damon flies right up to me. I mean, I’m barely over the gates when he’s in my face.
To my surprise, he doesn’t say a word and just embraces me so tightly that I can barely move. My wings, after being confined for so long, hate that he’s constricting them to the point that I’m in pain and have to push him back.
“Not that I mind, but what’s with the big welcome?” I ask. “You worried about our project? We can work on it right now if you want. I’ll be honest, though, my mind isn’t in it, so linking our magic might not work. Maybe I’m too light and can only link with super light or—”
“Rosemary.”
His quiet tone fills me with fright.
“Yes?” I barely hear the word.
“I thought something happened to you. Bay wouldn’t tell me where you went, and I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“I thought the killer went after you.”
I shake my head. “No. Don’t worry. I’m not nearly close enough to cracking this case for the killer to reveal him or herself to me to try to knock me off.”
Damon doesn’t return my smile or appreciate my sarcasm. His face is as serious as it’s ever been.
“Don’t joke,” he says hoarsely.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” I demand.
“There’s been an attempted murder.”
“What? Who? Did they see the killer? Was it a student? Here on campus?”
"On campus. A student. No idea if he saw the killer or not."
“Hasn’t someone asked him?” I ask.
"I doubt it considering he can't answer."
"Why not?" I ask, unable to stop myself from envisioning a guy whose throat has been slashed to severe his vocal cords but not deeply enough to kill him. Although that's a different MO and would seem far more likely with a human murder attempt than a fae one.
“He’s in a coma.”
“Oh,” I breathe.
“The killer tried to dagger him in the back of the head, but Cosmo—”
“Cosmo?” I blurt out. “Fire and brimstone, you aren’t serious!”
“You know Cosmo?” Damon asks.
“He’s a friend of Bay’s just like Spring had been. Is she all right? Where is she? At the cottage or the infirmary?” I move to fly around him, but Damon grabs my arm and won’t let go. Despite my struggles, I can’t break free. “Release me!”
“Rosemary.”
“Let go!”
I beat on his chest with my free hand, and he does let go, only to wrap his arms around me again. I push and shove and try to get him to stop hugging me when a sob escapes, and I crumble against him.
“Let it all out,” he murmurs as he rubs my back and strokes my hair.
I can't talk. If anything, I'm wailing and blubbering all over him, but I can't help it. I am utterly paralyzed by fear. First Holly, now Cosmo… Who will be next? Thistle? Bracken? Bay? If anything happens to my sister, I will kill the murderer myself.
But why Bay and her friends?
“I don’t know,” Damon murmurs.
I pull back just enough to be able to look up at him. A single tear falls down my cheek, but I think I’m done crying for now.
I stare at him in confusion, and he gives me the saddest smile ever.
“You asked why Bay and her friends. I don’t know.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize I said that out loud.” I bite my lower lip. “Do you think…” I nod to myself, a theory developing in my mind. Yes, yes, I might possibly have the motive.
“Do I think what?” Damon asks. “Whatever you need, whatever you want…”
“Why did you stop me?”
“From flying off to see your sister or to see Cosmo? Which might be the same visit, I don’t know, but I figured you needed a moment to let the news sink in and let your emotions out. I didn’t think you would want your sister to see all of that.”
“No,” I murmur. “No, I wouldn’t. Thank you. That’s… That was really nice of you.”
He gives me his lopsided smile. “I’m not sure nice is the best word, but sure, we’ll go with that. Always happy to be nice.”
“Don’t start,” I warn.
He finally releases me entirely and holds up his hands defenselessly. “I’m here for you. Whatever you need. Even if it’s space.”
I hesitate. “I’m going to go visit Bay or seek her out and then visit Cosmo.”
“Alone?”
I nod and then bite my lower lip.
“You seriously can ask me anything.”
“I want a bodyguard put on Bay,” I blurt out.
Damon eyes me but says nothing.
“I think she might be in danger,” I explain.
“Because her friends are being targeted.”
I nod eagerly.
“It might just be a coincidence,” he warns.
“Or it might not be.”
“I’ll talk to campus police, but I don’t know if I’ll get anywhere.”
“Thank you.”
He grabs my hand, squeezes it, and flies off. Immediately, I head to the cottage. Before I can enter, Wren flies out to meet me and just gives me a hug.
“I’m fine,” I tell her.
“I know. And you look it, but before fine physically isn’t the same as fine mentally and—”
“I need to know that Bay is fine physically, and I would like you to do me a favor and try to pull some strings and maybe get Pine or one of his coworkers to act as her bodyguard. I don’t think any of the campus police officers will be willing, and—”
“I can ask, but why? Do you think she’ll be next?”
I glance around. No one else is flying right near us, but still, I guide her down, so we're on the ground instead of flying.
“What if because of everything last year, someone decided to take revenge? I mean, Spring stole the items, but it was to get fairy dust, a drug my sister brought to campus and that her friends all used.”
“Okay, but what about the humans?” Wren asks dubiously.
“The items were sold and based around from person to person. That’s why the items couldn’t be found even through magic.”
“You think the victims were all in possession of a stolen item.”
“A specific stolen item. Just one. The murderer’s,” I say triumphantly. “Do we still have a list of the students who had items stolen?”
“I’m not sure, but I’ll look around.”
“Can you ask Dahlia or Orchid to look for it while you contact Pine?” I beg. “I really am scared to death…” I can’t finish it. Terrible word choice on my part, and I close my eyes so I won’t start to cry again.
“Of course,” Wren says softly, rubbing my arm.
“Is Bay—”
“Not in the cottage.”
I nod a few times. “I’m going to the infirmary.”
“Okay.”
I get ready to fly, but Wren snatches my wrist and holds it tight.
“You need to be careful,” Wren says firmly. “Bay’s wings are getting darker, yes, but you two are still nearly identical. If the murderer goes after her, especially at night, he or she could very well mistake her for you. Bay’s not the only one who needs to be careful.”
“Wren, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Says the fairy who went off who knows where for a few days. Maybe to investigate a string of murders by herself?” Wren crosses her arms.
“I’ll be careful.”
“I just don’t want you to get knifed in the back,” Wren calls, but I’m already too far away to answer her.
Chapter 26
Two hours. That's how long I've been sitting beside Cosmo, waiting for him to wake up or for Bay to arrive. Cosmo. We might not be super close or close at all for that matter, but seeing him lying still on the bed, blanket rolled down to reveal his bare chest shocks me enough that I choke back a sob. Only Cosmo would be in the infirmary and not have a shirt on. It's that iconic that even the nurses don't put one on him. He's so strong and powerful normally, but right now, lying down like this, eyes shut, not moving, Cosmo looks small and weak, and I just can't accept that.
Light Fae Academy: Year Two Page 12
