by Brea Viragh
Okay, it came out a littler harsher than I wanted. Food just bumped up to priority number one.
The older girl didn’t seem to take offense at the statement. She kept her attention focused on Mike and Roman’s retreating backsides with a cluck of her tongue. “I’m the person freaking out about you talking to the Michael Thornwood,” she said. “Do you have any idea who he is?”
“Apparently I have no clue who anyone is at this point. My car broke down on the side of the road last night and Mike stopped to give me a ride.” Why was I telling her these things? “I’m not sure what the big deal is.”
Finally, Mike disappeared in the crowd and I lost sight of him. The girl let loose a sigh at his disappearance. “Pure gorgeousness.” She’d been watching Mike as well, her mouth rounded in an O of surprise. “Goodness, just when I thought I’d seen everything. Tavi Alderidge, you are one lucky girl. A hell of a lucky girl. You are Tavi Alderidge, right? I had your picture in my files but I left them on my desk. Jeez, I’m sorry. Melia Haversham.” The girl made the introduction as more of an afterthought, too wrapped up in Mike’s presence to remember her manners.
I could understand.
Shrugging, I reached out to shake her hand. “Are you my mentor?”
“Girl, yes. I’ve been assigned to you for the duration of your stay at the academy. Well, until I graduate, of course.” Then she broke off on another sigh. “I still can’t believe you rode here with Michael. No big deal, you say. Yeah, it’s a big deal because he’s a big deal. Oh damn, we’re going to be late. Okay, let’s hurry. I’ve got something to show you first.”
She pulled me away from the cafeteria doors and I cast a glance over my shoulder filled with wistful desire. No snacks for me.
If Melia was flabbergasted at my interaction with Mike, I felt the same way trying to follow her in conversation. She didn’t make it easy as she led me back the way I came.
“Come on, come on. You’re going to want to see this, Tavi. Can I call you Tavi? Is it short for anything? Like, would you prefer I call you by your full name?”
“Tavi is my full name,” I told her.
She hurried me up the staircase and along a small hallway off the main entryway. The space opened up into a grand ballroom with oil portraits hung on three of the walls. The fourth wall was cut through with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors leading out onto a pretty garden patio. Beyond the patio was extensive greenspace perfect for games and lounging in the summer.
“Look.” Melia gestured dramatically to an oil painting dominating the wall to my left, hung centered over a marble fireplace. “Now you’ll see why I’m acting a little cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.”
I stepped closer, rubbing my eyes to clear them. The painting showed a handsome gray-haired gentleman in regal navy-and-red clothes with his arm around the shoulder of a smiling woman sitting on a velvet chair before him. To the woman’s right, a young man stood, one hand curved around the lapel of his suit jacket. A man who looked suspiciously like Mike.
I shook my head. “I don’t understand. Why are you showing me this? Who are these people?”
Melia laughed, the sound rich and honeyed. “Oh Tavi, you are sweet. You don’t know a thing about Faerie, do you? That’s King Tywin and Queen Laina with their son Michael. Michael Thornwood, the crown prince of Faerie.”
13
Mike had lied to me about his identity. Everything I thought I knew fell away, and I was left holding the shattered remnants of everything we’d started to build…
“No,” I told Melia with a shake of my head, brows drawn together in disbelief. “No, you can’t be right. If Mike is the prince of Faerie…” Dear God! “…then he’s full Fae. Why would he be here?”
I stared at the painting for what felt like hours, my head continuing to shake and causing the ache between my ears to deepen.
Melia shrugged, the movement emphasizing her delicate shoulders clad in a white button-up shirt leading down to a dark skirt. School uniform? I’d need to ask her where I could get one. When I came down from the delirium cloud I currently rode.
She was a few inches taller than me with the delicate build I now expected from the Fae. Despite her slender frame, Melia looked as though she could handle her own in a fight. I didn’t expect there to be one.
“I wish I knew,” she replied with equal disbelief. “I’d heard a whisper he was coming, and the rumor mill said it had something to do with King Ty wanting him to understand more about their people in the mortal realm. Or something like that. But you know how rumors are. You hear dozens of statements and only one is correct. Or maybe none.”
“I don’t understand.”
I floundered to keep up with this new piece of information, my gaze riveted on the painted rendition of Mike. The same Mike who’d carried me into the nurse’s office hours earlier and waited for me outside the door. The same guy who’d offered me a ride when I’d been broken down on the side of the road. The same one who’d helped me find my dorm last night.
“I don’t either, but at least we can be confused together.” Melia flashed me a smile showing very white teeth. “And now you know who he really is and how crazy it seems to see you guys are buddy-buddy.”
My chest hollowed out and I merely said, “Yes, I do.”
The one friend I’d been grateful to have turned out to not only be a liar, but a royal liar. Someone I could absolutely, positively, under no circumstances let into my life on the off chance he’d find out my secret.
“Come on,” she said, hustling me out of the room. “We have a lot to get through today. Time to begin your tour, new friend!”
The more time I spent with Melia, the more I saw how her inside matched her beautiful outside. Her eyes were a vibrant golden-brown lit with an inner fire. Her hair fell in a heavy curled fall of rich brown and dark bronze, the ends brushing around her narrow waist to offset the caramel of her skin.
She moved with ease and grace as though she didn’t notice how, when she crossed a room, people stopped to stare at her. A year or two older than me if I had to guess, yet decades ahead when it came to poise.
And she was kind. The kindness took me by surprise.
“You really are going to like it here, I can tell,” she told me on our tour as we walked side by side along a third-floor corridor “You aren’t one of those first-years who thinks they can make it through probation just because you’re half Fae. There are so many kids like that, it’s honestly shocking. They think they’re tough shit until they figure out this isn’t a game of favoritism and their so-called natural powers are shared by, like, literally everyone.”
Classes weren’t slated to start until tomorrow morning to give students more time to acclimate. Fine by me. For some reason I felt like I needed more time than most, despite being so excited to be here.
“How can anyone think that?” I wanted to know. “Being half Fae doesn’t guarantee you’ll be good at your classes. We’re all in the same boat.”
She gave a little sigh. “I wish I knew. There are just so many who think they are better than everyone else when really, once you come through those gates, the staff lay it out as an equal playing field. We all start at zero once we walk through those doors. Or one thousand, with their point system, and from there the only thing moving you forward is you. Not your magic, and not Mommy and Daddy’s money. Take me, for instance. I’m a fourth-year but I had to earn my spot with my claws.”
She flexed her fingers for emphasis though the tiny roar she gave made me laugh.
“You don’t really have claws,” I burst out.
Melia laughed again. “No, girl, I don’t, I’m using claws as a metaphor. I got through with my wits.” She tapped the side of her head. “I happen to be a natural-born nerd for all things book related.”
On the tour, I found out every main hallway throughout the main castle was decorated with golden-framed mirrors. Those I would have to avoid like the plague. Or start walking around wearing a full-body covering like
a ghost.
Great, I can’t walk anywhere or I will break the potion’s spell.
I had to be on guard no matter where I went, clearly.
“You are going to love this. Ready?” Melia stopped outside of the library, pressing her hand against the wall to draw my attention. “You see this? The plaster fairy on the sconce here?”
I nodded.
“There are a bunch of them around the school. Look for them, they’re all over the halls and they mark the secret passages most students know nothing about.” She dropped her voice to make sure no one else heard her. “You are going to flip. They’re super easy to navigate. It’s a simple word, the spell to open the door, and once you’re inside you say it again to seal the passage from the inside. Then boom! You go wherever you want without anyone the wiser.”
Melia closed her eyes, muttering the word “elaphrium,” and I watched the wall slowly melt into nothingness. Empty blackness met us, though I had the distinct impression of space accompanied by the damp scent of mold.
“Are first-years allowed to use these passages?” I asked, leaning closer to inspect the doorway. This could definitely come in handy…
“Girl, no one is supposed to know about them. Now you do, and you must use this knowledge only in case of emergency.” Her voice dropped into serious territory. “Or if you need to get away for a little alone time. Just keep it to yourself. I’m not really supposed to know either. My mentor told me years ago on the down low and now I pass the secret on to you.” She clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you already.”
I learned two things about Melia then. One, we were going to get along just fine. And two, she had a quirkiness about her that made her unpopular with Fae halflings like my bunkmate, the blondie, despite her good looks.
People not only stared at her because she was pretty but because she didn’t give a crap what anyone thought of her and it brought out a lot of jealousy and disdain. She kept her chin raised and the conversation animated in a way putting me instantly at ease. I’d lucked out getting her as my mentor.
She dropped me off at the last part of my orientation for Tuesday, the homeroom meeting. This was a class I’d go to once a week to cover the history of Faerie and meet one on one with the professor assigned to check on my progress.
“You’re going to be fine,” Melia stated, miming drawing in a deep breath and releasing after a few seconds. Did she see my nerves already? “Nothing to worry about, okay? You have a good head and a keen eye. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Anything you need to know, you ask me. If you feel out of place or anything, or if you just need a pick-me-up pep talk, I’m here.”
I didn’t have to force a smile this time, pausing outside of the carved wood door to my homeroom. “Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer?” I asked her.
She rolled her eyes before saying, “Tavi, you managed to make friends with the most influential Fae in the land before you even arrived. I’d say you have everything you need.”
It hurt to say goodbye to her, even knowing I’d see her again soon. Melia was definitely the best part of this experience by far.
Then my mind flashed to Mike and the wink he’d sent me earlier. Okay, one of the best parts.
“Are you going to stand around and loiter all day or are you going to take a seat, Miss?”
The teacher’s voice snapped me out of my head and I stared at him, tall and slender and gorgeous. I should have expected as much from the staff. They were all full Fae and their kind of bloodline came with perks like perfect hair, a killer body, and a cold smile to match the ice of his eyes and white hair.
My gaze fell on the first row of students who all turned to stare at me, their faces familiar. My bunkmate and her goonies.
Dammit, no.
“Hurry up, hurry up,” the teacher urged me with a wave of his hand. “Everyone else is already in their seats and you are wasting our time.”
“I’m sorry,” I muttered under my breath. There was a single empty chair left in the back and I grabbed it without further hesitation.
My stomach sank as the professor glared daggers at me.
“Well, since we are all here, finally, perhaps we can begin with an introduction,” he stated.
Throughout the course of the lesson, I learned the man—Professor Hoarfrost—had a very strict hold on his classroom. There were certain things he would and would not tolerate without exception. The students around me lost points for breathing too hard, for raising their hand to answer a question and getting it wrong, and once for losing their pen on the floor and having to retrieve it.
Beneath his scrutiny my mouth went dry and would stay dry for the rest of the class.
Hoarfrost tapped a finger against the blackboard behind him and a map of the area burst into life, white lines appearing from the endless black until a clear picture formed. “Can anyone tell me what year this academy was established in the mortal realm as a separate yet equal entity to Faerie?” he asked.
I raised my hand when his attention fell on me. I knew the answer to this one; the year was clearly posted on the website. Thank goodness.
Then the pretty blond raised her hand and Hoarfrost nodded his head, ignoring me completely. “Yes, Persephone Glaski?”
Her correct answer earned her an extra fifty points. Fifty points and praise for nothing other than repeating common knowledge available to anyone who could read.
“Very good.” His smile warmed by a bit. A second rap on the board had the picture changing. “And who can tell me when we received our charter to pay for our scholarship students?”
All of us, right? Weren’t we all scholarship students?
Again, my blond bunkmate raised her hand, higher than the rest of us who knew the answer, and again Hoarfrost picked her to answer.
My stomach soured. He was clearly playing favorites. I had no doubt about it. But I had to keep my mouth shut if I wanted to stay here, safe and far away from Kendrick.
The thought certainly brought my attention back to the situation at hand.
When Persephone Glaski turned around to proudly smirk at me for her third round of extra points, I said nothing, mentally zipping my mouth shut. I kept my face blank.
Persephone was nothing but another pawn, no one I needed to worry myself over. I intended to win. Yes, I’d win.
These were the opening salvos of the battle that would either make or break me.
14
Michael Thornwood, the Crown Prince of Faerie, waited for me outside the cafeteria at three on the dot, and I wasn’t sure if I should smile at him or drop into a curtsey.
Oh God, what had I gotten myself into now?
Sunlight shone on the golden strands of his hair, hanging below his ears. His green eyes fixed on mine immediately with a singular focus twisting my stomach into warm knots. Any more time with him and I’d start to crush—if I hadn’t stepped into crush territory already. Which wasn’t a good idea. In fact, it was a very bad idea.
“Hey there, Tavi.” He raised a hand in greeting. “You’re early.”
Early? “No, apparently I’m late, since you’re already here,” I teased. “Homeroom went well for you?”
Did the rest of our professors know why the prince was here?
He shrugged, unconcerned and amazingly put-together in his dark blue jeans and red v-neck t-shirt. “My orientation ended early and I had a little time to spare. I guess it went well. It was boring.”
I didn’t know what to say to him, honestly. I hadn’t exactly been sure back when he was regular old Mike, but now? Talking to a prince, for cryin’ out loud?
“Let’s go get your suitcase,” he said. “It’s a nice day outside and I’m sure we could both use a walk and fresh air.”
“It’s not much. I can get it myself if you point me in the direction of the car.” We fell into step beside each other. Maybe I should have stayed a step behind him. Were people looking at us?
Oh, definitely.
I str
uggled not to wrap my arms around my chest against their attention. I really needed to shower.
“Nonsense, I’m happy to help,” Mike said with a chuckle and a twist of his lips. “And I’m not giving you the keys to my car. I’ve seen what you do to your vehicles. Can’t risk you steering my poor girl into a ditch.”
I couldn’t help but laugh in return. “It wasn’t my fault! I bought the worst car on the lot for this trip. I was in a hurry to get here.” Then I shut my mouth. I didn’t need to give too much away. But he didn’t press me about Big Dan, and I was grateful.
We chatted lightly as Mike led the way to the school’s parking lot. I didn’t remember much of the walk. My attention was focused on Mike and how closely we walked together, our arms knocking occasionally. Was I supposed to stay a certain number of steps behind him? Was I supposed to address him in any kind of certain way? Your Highness felt stuffy after everything he’d helped me through.
He was still helping me.
Mike clicked the keys to open up the back door to the car and then proceeded to drag my suitcase out. “This is large enough to fit a body in,” he grunted. “What did you put in here?”
I watched the way he moved, the way his muscles bunched and flexed beneath tanned skin. The red shirt brought out the startling color of his eyes and put me in mind of spring grasses yet again.
More than a small part of me warmed this time.
Prince Michael Thornwood of Faerie.
No, bad idea, I told the warmth, urging it to disappear and quickly. I didn’t need any other complications, let alone entertaining dirty thoughts about someone like Michael. Someone who was way out of my league on a good day and was in a bad position to rat me out if my secret ever came to light.
“Yeah, I know it’s heavy,” I said at last, purposely turning my gaze to the ground and my dirty sneakers. The most comfortable pair I owned. “I may have brought too many things.”
“You packed everything,” he teased. “Let me guess. You chose some of your favorite rocks from your garden so you wouldn’t get homesick.
