The Scary Godmother

by Vivienne Savage

  Due to the extremely short notice, Professor Tristal had stated any fae who played godmother to the student body would receive credit in her glamour and channeling classes. Ben had already popped by and let Liadan spruce up his best slacks and button-up shirt into a tuxedo worthy of James Bond.

  A tap, tap, tap clicked against the bedroom window. Before Pilar could shoo away the peeping raven, I hurried over and raised the pane. I recognized Gabriel’s beak and his unruly crown feathers.

  “Really? Can’t you use the door like a normal boy?”

  He cocked his head and hopped up onto my offered wrist. “Who wants to be normal?”

  Rolling my eyes, I carried him from Pilar’s room and downstairs to the living room. By then, he’d walked up to my shoulder and settled close to my neck. Turning my face into his feathers, I inhaled a deep breath of his unique, spicy scent and let the warmth course through me.

  Our cuddle lasted a moment longer before he flew down to the floor and transformed. “So… special lessons from Lord Protector Dain?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Word travels fast around campus, especially when royalty is involved. This is the equivalent of the Great Fenrir showing up with one of his top dogs to train a shifter.”

  “Yeah, well, it was a total surprise to me.”

  “I bet.” He smiled at me, hands in his pockets. He wore a tux, but the trousers were too short with an inseam that revealed his socks. And they were unbearably tight—just shy of dick-outline tight. No wonder he’d flown over. “I’m proud of you, you know. It’s a pretty damn big deal.”

  “Yeah. I don’t think it’s hit me yet. Sometime later, or tomorrow, I’ll freak out about it. So, why are you here?”

  Gabriel gestured to his flooding pants hem. “Take a guess. I don’t have time to polish my shoes, and I’m like three inches taller since I last wore this tux. Think you could…?” He wiggled his fingers, mimicking spellcasting.

  I laughed. “You trust me with your suit?”

  “Don’t have much of a choice. I was planning to ask you before the wedding if you’d—”

  “Say no more.” I swished my crystal wand. Motes of color surrounded Gabriel’s dress shoes and left a glossy finish behind. His pants hem dropped a couple inches, and the fabric loosened enough that girls wouldn’t be dividing their attention between Gabe’s package and the faerie king all night. “Haircut too?”

  “Please.”

  Another flick of the wand tidied his hair, though I left enough length for the classic broody look he had pinned down.

  “Thanks, Sky. I wish I could take you to the ball without it looking funny.”

  “I wish you could too.” After a beat, I added, “So… are you going alone, then?”

  “Yeah. No one looks weird at a guy when we go to these things alone. You?”

  “As of right now, Lia is my date. Pilar gets to go with King Oberon.”

  “I heard about that.” He frowned. “How is she doing?”

  “Loads better since the king arrived. It’s like he knew exactly what to do to drag her out of her shitty mood. The right things to say and everything.”

  “Well, he is the king of faeries. If he didn’t have mad empathy skills, I’d kinda be worried.” Gabriel sobered, humor fading from his face. “So, did you ask him about the necklace?”

  My hand raised to the enchanted pendant dangling from my neck. “No. I planned to ask tonight.”

  “Oh. That’s good.”

  “Why?”

  He shrugged and glanced away. “Just figured you’re probably ready to solve the mystery. It’s meant for the reincarnation of Titania. Maybe he needs it back to give her.”

  When I tried to study Gabriel’s face, he wouldn’t make eye contact with me and glanced away, angling his gaze down toward the floor. Tension rolled off him in palpable waves, the emotion trembling through him in sour notes of anxiety.

  I’d never heard Gabriel’s heart song before. As we were bound by my role as her faerie godmother, I’d heard Sharon’s from time to time. Occasionally, I heard the inner melody of another fae, like King Oberon when he arrived at the combat room—but never Gabriel.

  His heart song screamed in the erratic tempo of anxiety, and discordant notes crashed together like cymbals tumbling down a flight of steps.

  “You’re worried I’m Titania.”

  Gabriel didn’t reply.

  “Gabe.”

  He glanced up, brows knit in consternation. “What if—”

  I took his face between both of my palms and stroked his unshaven cheek with my thumb. “I’m a sylph. Titania is a phoenix, remember? I already Ascended, so it can’t be me.”

  “No one but Titania and Oberon know exactly how it works. For all we know, it could change you. Sylphs and phoenixes both have wings.”

  “And if I were Titania, do you think he’d have blown me off to ask Pilar to the ball?”

  Gabriel’s shoulders relaxed. He exhaled, like he’d been holding his breath for hours and could finally breathe again. The wrinkles in his brow smoothed with the next stroke of my thumb against his face. I stood on tiptoe, kissing him, and he melted into me, wrapping both arms around my waist.

  “You won’t get rid of me that easy. You are so stuck with me. Now go so I can change.”

  After letting Gabriel out through the front door, I returned upstairs to find Pilar’s hairstyle had changed again, from sleek tendrils and loose curls to a chic, face-framing bob.

  Holly joined us a moment later in a strapless gown the color of dried blood, sporting perfect gothic makeup and eyeshadow I envied. She glanced at me after I tidied her hair, turning it from dull and dishwater blonde to glossy and golden. “All that talk about extra credit and you aren’t even ready. What about you?”

  Less than thirty minutes to go, and I was still walking around my damned house in a T-shirt. Groaning, I pictured a dress I’d seen my mother wear in a prom photo and drew the Rags-to-Riches glamour from my repertoire of godmother spells.

  A swirl of rainbow glitter spiraled around me then cascaded downward over my shoulders, transforming white cotton into a shimmering scarlet gown designed to reveal my back in lieu of showing off my super-average boobs.

  “Ugh, I wanted silk, not satin.” I frowned at the mirror.

  Pilar glanced at me. “I find it useful to think of silkworms or spiders when I’m glamouring silk.”

  Taking her advice to heart did the trick. The fabric softened and fell in a gentle drape to my ankles. A few minutes on my shoes transformed them from wedges to strappy gold heels with an open toe.

  Liadan clapped. “Perfect!”

  “Your ass looks bangin’ in that,” Holly added.

  Twirling in a circle bounced the skirt around my calves. Thrilled with my outfit, and also hoping Gabriel appreciated all of my effort, I slipped into the heels.

  Then the bell rang.

  Pilar shot a frantic look toward the bedroom door. “Oh no! Please tell me that isn’t him. I’m not nearly ready.”

  Was three hours not enough? “What else is there to do?”

  “My makeup and my nails. I have to paint them. And my hair needs curls instead. I don’t like this.”

  I sighed. “I’ll get the door and stall if it’s your escort, but I think your hair looks great the way it is.”

  Liadan stood a better chance of settling our nervous roomie down—not that I could blame her. I’d be freaking out if my date was royalty too.

  With that in mind, I took a quick moment to make sure everything was presentable before I opened the door.

  Julien, immaculate in a tux with a silver-toned vest and tie, stood on our stoop with a single yellow rose in his hands. He offered the blossom out to me with a smile and a little flourish.

  “Bonsoir, mon amie. You look lovely this evening.”

  “So do you. Handsome, I mean, not lovely.” I accepted the rose and beckoned him inside. “We were all just finishing up here. Did you need something?”


  “I thought I might see if you would accompany me tonight.”

  “Oh.” Somewhere in the back of my mind, I should have known better. All his little flirtations should have tipped me off. “Julien, I…”

  Julien chuckled. “I know I am not the escort you truly want, but I am willing to be your date if it means you’ll be left alone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There is a particular raven who has caught your eye, no?”

  His words were a splash of cold water, raising goose bumps over my bare arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “But you do. You and Gabriel are more than friends. The other fae are too blind to see it, but I do. I can tell by the way he looks at you that there is something more. I can also understand why you both hide what you have.”

  “Why are you asking me out then?”

  “Simple. Gabriel is a good man, and I enjoy your company. This way, should he ask you to dance, no one will think anything of it. I will be—what is the expression? Your beard, so to speak.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  He shrugged. “We may not know each other well yet, but I consider us to be friends.”

  “We are. Thank you, Julien, really. I’d love to accompany you. Give me a second to let the girls know really quick.”

  “Of course.”

  He waited downstairs while I ran up to check on my roomies. Pilar finally appeared ready to go.

  “Is he downstairs?” she asked.

  “No, it’s Julien. He’s going to escort me.” Three sets of eyes blinked at me. “What?”

  “What about Gabriel?” Holly asked. “I mean, I know you two can’t go together, but is he okay with it?”

  “He knows about me and Gabriel somehow, so I guess maybe they talked. Anyway, do you want me to wait around with you for the king, Pilar?”

  “No, you go on ahead. I’ll be fine, I swear.”

  “Okay.” Following impulse, I moved in and gave her a quick hug. “You look stunning. I’ll see you there.”

  After hurrying back downstairs, I took Julien’s arm and we set off for the campus ballroom. Everyone we passed buzzed with energy, excited about the rare opportunity to mingle with fae royalty.

  All the while, I couldn’t help but occasionally touch the necklace I had worn since the last semester, wondering if tonight would be its last evening in my possession.

  Julien guided me into an enchanted wonderland, the campus ballroom transformed to sheer elegance despite the short notice. Flower garlands hung from the vaulted ceiling, lit by lanterns filled with multicolored light. I couldn’t tell if fire, magic, or fluttering sprites provided the illumination.

  Students and professors mingled together in the massive space, everyone stunning in their formal attire. Yet none of them, not a single one, could hold a candle to the faerie delegation. They glowed like Tolkien elves, and their garments appeared to be made from magic itself, with living flowers, glittering jewels, and silks that shimmered like opals.

  “Would you like to dance, or shall we walk around and mingle a bit first?”

  “Walk around, if that’s okay with you.”

  Julien smiled and dipped his head. “Of course.”

  We started our circle around the room, pausing here and there to talk to his friends or mine. Several of his fellow seniors eyed me with curiosity, others with jealousy. If it weren’t for him helping me, he could have escorted one of them.

  As if reading my mind, Julien led me away from the group and over to the refreshment table. “Don’t mind Natalia back there. She is sore I turned down her invitation.”

  “I hope it wasn’t so you could be my pretend date.”

  His soft, warm laugh set me at ease. “No. Truthfully, I have no interest in her at all, but she’s been a bit, ah, insistent. You are helping me as much as I have helped you.”

  “I get that. Glad to be of service then.”

  Trumpeting horns announced the king’s arrival. A hush fell over the room and everyone turned to watch his entrance. He wore a handsome, tailed frock coat, the perfect blend of old-world style and modern fashion, embellished with feather-shaped sidhe floral motifs on the lapels. The darker gold made me wonder if he’d made a last-minute color coordination with Pilar to match her champagne dress.

  But as breathtakingly handsome as he was, my eyes went to the woman at his side. The joy in Pilar’s aura made her shine like the sun. She was radiance personified.

  Dain and Eldan followed behind the pair, one in silver and blue, the other in gold and green.

  Oberon escorted Pilar to the center of the room and led her into a dance. Music sprung up, and that was about when I noticed there wasn’t a band anywhere. I craned my neck, looking around the room, but the music seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once.

  “Shall we?”

  Julien and I joined the others moving onto the dance floor, and the night truly began.

  Oberon was such a compassionate monarch that, whenever Pilar needed to rest her feet, he danced with every girl—and guy—who had the balls to approach him. Somehow, he still managed to make her the star of the ball, treating her with such courtesy and respect that I couldn’t love him more as our leader.

  When I wasn’t enjoying the bevy of Tir na Nog-inspired hors d’oeuvres and bite-sized desserts, I chatted with Liadan and Julien, since we decided to share him. He kept the other fae boys off us by the sheer magnitude of his presence. I even danced once with King Oberon, twice with Dain, and once with Eldan.

  But the highlight of the entire evening was when my sentinel asked for a dance. Gabriel spun me out onto the floor for an upbeat number, but no sooner had we found our spot then the music changed, morphing into a slow, melodic ballad.

  It felt like every shifter eye in the ballroom was on us.

  By the end of the night, when the campus clocktower tolled 4:00 a.m., I was so beat I took off my shoes and stored them in Neverspace to spare my cramping, swollen feet another second of walking on four-inch heels.

  Like a true gentleman, the king escorted us back to our townhome. At the door, he took the time to address each of us in turn. He started with Pilar, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. My friend looked ready to swoon.

  “Thank you for the pleasure of your company tonight, Pilar. I hope you will take my words to heart. A woman such as you should not have her spark snuffed out.”

  “I will, Your Majesty. Thank you.”

  Pilar curtsied and stepped inside, positively glowing with happiness. Her aura shone gold with rainbow sparkles.

  “Thank you for everything, my king,” Liadan said as she curtsied. “The ball was lovely.”

  “I am pleased you thought so. It seems so little a thing.”

  “No, it was wonderful,” she said in a rush. “It meant so much to everyone. To Pilar, especially. You didn’t have to do that, and it says so much about you that you did.”

  Oberon took her hand and gave a courteous bow. “Then my work here is done. I bid you goodnight, Liadan.”

  “Goodnight.”

  I waited until she moved inside before I stepped away from the door and studied the faerie monarch. He returned my gaze with a placid smile.

  “I trust you enjoyed the evening as well?

  “Very much, thank you.”

  He bowed. “My pleasure. However, I sense you lingered here because you wished to speak with me.”

  “I wanted to ask you a question, if that’s allowed.”

  “Of course, though I cannot promise I will have the answer you seek.”

  “That’s all right.” I wet my lips and studied his earnest expression. He wasn’t the imperious faerie overlord I expected and had danced with anyone who took the time to approach him whether vampire, shifter, or belonging to fae blood.

  “Your question?” he coaxed, patient and still smiling.

  “I have something I think I’m supposed to give back to you.”

  He cock
ed his head, a long sheet of golden hair sliding over one shoulder. It reminded me of something I’d seen some of the raven shifters do, especially Gabriel. “Oh?”

  I removed my wand from Neverspace and tapped the end of it to Titania’s necklace. The illusion dispersed, revealing the true rubies I’d hidden since midsummer. “This appeared in my room last year. I can give it back to—”

  “No.”

  I stared at him. “No?”

  The king shook his head. “It is not yet time for the Heartflame to part from your possession, Lady Skylar. You will know when the time is right.”

  “Okay.” I pressed my lips together, watching him. His eyes shimmered and a hint of red lapped around the edge of the iris. Flames. “Did you give it to me?”

  “No, I did not. It vanished from this world on the day my beloved Titania’s flame dimmed.”

  “Not to press my luck, but is there anything you can tell me? Like who I’m supposed to give it to?”

  “If I knew with absolute certainty, my love would be safely with me in Tir na Nog where she belongs until the day of her Ascension. Perhaps she is. One cannot say for sure. What I do know, is that at some point, you and she are fated to cross paths.”

  Hearing it from him loosened the final knot of tension that had been building in my chest. A long exhale whooshed from my lungs before I could reel the relief back in.

  “You worried the Heartflame may belong to you?”

  “No. Worried I’d have to give it to one of my friends.”

  His bitter smile tightened the corners of his eyes. “It seems that is not to be, young one. Three centuries ago, when my love last sought me, the mere sight of her was enough to stir my memory of the king I should be. I Ascended right away. Such is how it has always been.”

  “The ball. That’s why there was a ball tonight. You hoped Titania would be among the student population to Ascend.”

  He canted his head to me. “Apt deduction. It pleases me to discover you are as bright as you are beautiful.”

  The praise made me flush with pleasure. “Now what will you do?”

  “I will continue to wait for her, which means I shall continue to watch you.”

  “Right. Because that’s not intimidating at all to know.”