by Sophia Shade
News flash—nothing did.
“Was it you?” I ask when she approaches me. “You were the person sending me notes. You sent me the message about Erick. And you put Minister Demis’s name in his book.”
“Actually, that was my book,” she says. “But yes, I made it appear as if the book belonged to Minister Demis so you would look more closely at him.”
“Why?” I ask. “If you knew he was involved, why didn’t you arrest him?”
“Because I didn’t know for sure,” she said. “I had my suspicions, but I couldn’t prove it. And if I investigated him, he would have found out. As you know, if I had leveled my suspicions without evidence, I could have been charged with treason myself.”
“So I hear,” I say. “But why give me the message?”
“Well, you were investigating it anyway, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I was,” I say sheepishly.
“So why not give you a little push?” Minister Tempest smiles. “I knew you would figure it out.”
“But why did you put Erick’s name on a list of people I couldn’t trust?” I ask.
“That…was a list of people you don’t trust?” she asks, her eyebrows pulling together. “Why don’t you trust Damon Clawfire? I thought you were making a list of people who could help you.”
“I…I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. I’m so weary of all the suspicions and mysteries. It’s hard to keep my own theories straight anymore. “We’ve just never gotten along.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says. “Well, you did clear him of murder. He will owe you for that.”
“Yeah,” I say, glancing across the room where he’s speaking to some other students. He deliberately turns around. “He certainly does.”
“Well, keep in touch, Imogen,” she says as she pats my shoulder. “You did well. I foresee great things for you.”
The use of the word foresee grabs my attention. “You…you do?” I ask, but she seems to not hear me as she leaves and joins the other ministers.
I’m about to follow her, to ask her if she meant something more by that statement, when someone calls my name.
“Hey, Imogen,” Ella says, pulling Dannika over with her. “I heard you passed all your classes. Congrats.”
“Thanks,” I say with a relieved sigh. “I’m just glad this year is over.”
“I think we all feel that way,” Ella says.
Dannika just stands there with her arms crossed, an unreadable expression on her face.
“Hopefully next year will be better, don’t you think, Dannika?” I say, trying to draw her out.
She just shrugs. “We’ll see.”
“We still have three years left,” I say, remembering Callador is a five-year school, unlike the four years the human realm has for college. “Maybe we should decorate our room when we come back. Make it more of ‘our’ space.”
“I don’t know,” Dannika says. “I might try to get a room by myself next year. Upperclassmen can do that.”
My heart sinks, and I’m not sure how to respond. I knew she was upset, but I thought she would give me more time to make it up to her.
“Dannika,” Ella says chidingly. “Surely you don’t mean that.”
Dannika tosses her hair over her shoulder. “I still have lots of goodbyes to say,” she says. “I need to go.”
She leans down and gives Ella a kiss on the cheek before striding away without giving me another glance.
“What…what happened?” Ella asks, shaking her head.
“I did,” I say. “I screwed up. Again.”
Ella rubs my shoulder, then takes my hand. “I’m sure you two will work it out. All you fire Fae have tempers. Just give her the summer to cool off.”
“Yeah,” I agree even though I don’t believe it. “I’m sure it will all be fine.”
Caleb catches my eye from across the room, and I squeeze Ella’s hand tighter. He stands there like he wants to come over, but when his gaze falls on Ella, he freezes. We need to speak privately, but I don’t let go of her hand.
Ella’s gaze follows mine, and she loosens her grip. “Maybe I should go…”
I grasp her hand tighter. “Stay. Please,” I say. “Just stay a moment longer.”
Tilting her head inquiringly but not arguing, she stays by me making small talk until Caleb moves on.
“You’ll have to talk to him sooner or later,” she says.
“I would rather it be later,” I say.
“Well, I really do need to get going,” she finally says when he’s out of sight. I reluctantly let go of her hand. “See you in a few months.”
“Bye,” I say sadly, watching my only real friend walk away.
I shoulder my bag. Bracing myself, I head into the woods toward the faerie door near my home. Alone this time.
Just as I’m about to pass through it, someone calls my name and runs toward me. I turn around to find Erick at my heels.
I shift the weight of the bag on my shoulder. “What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t let you leave without saying goodbye,” he says. “It’s been a rough year, but you pulled through. You were incredible, actually.”
I shake my head. “I was terrible. I hurt my boyfriend and my best friend all in one year. I don’t think either one of them will ever forgive me.”
“Dannika will,” he says.
“And Caleb?” I ask.
He waves me off. “You don’t need him,” he says. “You have me.”
My eyes go wide, and I step back. “Wh…what are you talking about?” I ask. “We barely get along. And Caleb was my boyfriend. You’re not my boyfriend.”
“I could be,” he says. “If you wanted me to be.”
Sighing, I close my eyes. “I thought we went over this. Back in the room. You said I only acted on those feelings because of my addiction.”
Erick arches an eyebrow. “And you admitted those feelings were there in the first place.”
He’s right, but us getting together wasn’t. At least not like this. And this isn’t one of those cases where doing the wrong thing would be the right thing.
“I can’t think about this right now,” I finally say. “I’ve been through too much. And I need to focus on finding Mom.”
“She still isn’t back?” he asks. “I can’t believe Headmistress Shadowburn couldn’t find her.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say. “Someone powerful must have gotten her. Someone even the strongest Fae can’t see.”
“Do you need me to come with you?” he asks. “I don’t go back home for the summer. I usually stay here at Callador. Let me help you.”
“Thanks for the offer,” I say. “But I need to do this alone.”
He opens his mouth as if he’s about to argue, but then closes it. “Of course, Imogen. I’ll be here waiting for you when you come back,” he says. “And if you need me, or if you need to come back sooner, you can go to the portal. I’ll make sure Mr. Clawfire reopens it.”
“Thanks,” I say. “That would be great. I just wish…”
I stop talking midsentence, a thought niggling at me. That night with Caleb and the wisps, when one landed on my hand… Caleb said it was enough to grant me one wish.
“What do you wish?” Erick asks.
“I wish Mom would be there when I get home,” I say. “I just want to know she’s safe.”
“I wish that, too,” he says. He steps over and gives me a friendly, comforting kiss on the top of my head. “Now get out of here.”
A small smile curves my lips, then I step through the rippling faerie door and back into the human realm.
I practically run home. I’m already forming a plan in my mind about where to start searching for Mom, but I need to get her car back first. Charging my phone is at the top of my list, and then I’ll call a ride-share service to take me out to Briar Hills. Hopefully the car is still at the park where I left it.
As I run up the stairs, though, I notice there’s a light o
n inside.
Did I not turn them off when I left? I can’t remember. It would be like me to leave the lights on for weeks at a time.
I turn the handle to the porch door, and it opens. It was unlocked. I’m sure I would have locked the doors.
“Hello,” I call.
Noise is coming from the kitchen, so I carefully walk that way. I warm up my hands in case I need to fireball someone. Peeking around the corner, I see someone’s back.
“Professor Goodkind?” I ask, starting to wonder if I’m dreaming again. But then the woman turns around.
“No, silly,” my mom says. “It’s me!”
“Mom!” I drop my stuff and run into her arms. “Where have you been? I was so worried!”
“What are you talking about, pumpkin?” she asks as she strokes my hair. “I’ve been here the whole time. Waiting for you.”
I pull back and stare at her face. “No…” I say. “You were gone. Missing. I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“Oh, well, I must have just been at the store,” she says. She turns back to the stove and plates some spaghetti. “I wanted to make you a special welcome-home dinner.”
She walks over to the table and puts the food down. Then she gets some juice out of the fridge and pours two glasses. Incredulously, I gawk at her. When she finally sits at the table, she motions for me to join her.
“Come on, darling,” she says. “Have a seat and eat before it gets cold.”
I sit across from her uneasily. “Mom,” I say. “Are you all right?”
“Of course, honey,” she says as she puts a napkin in her lap. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You were gone,” I say. “No one could find you. Headmistress Shadowburn sent her best people to search for you. They didn’t turn up anything.”
“You actually think she would waste her own people looking for a worthless human?” she asks. “She probably just told you that so you wouldn’t worry.”
I start to scoff, but realize she could be right. I don’t know the headmistress actually sent people to look for Mom. I only ever took her word for it. Thinking about the headmistress lying about it hurts my stomach, but it is possible.
“Okay,” I say. “But I was here, weeks ago. And you were gone. You left me a note.”
“Did I?” she asks. “Let me think. A few weeks ago… I must have been visiting friends or just went for a drive. I’m so lonely here without you.”
“But your car was still here,” I say. “How did you leave without it? And didn’t you notice it was gone?”
“Oh, that’s right,” Mom says. “My friends came to pick me up.” She twirls her spaghetti on her fork. “Eat up, darling. You don’t want it to get cold.”
Sighing, I pick up my fork. I don’t know why I’m so…unsettled. This is what I wanted. What I wished for. To have Mom back. She’s here, and I should be elated. I was so worried for weeks I couldn’t think about anything else. But she’s back now. She’s safe. So what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just be happy?
But she completely ignored the mention of her missing car, which is so not like my mom. Keeping things from me isn’t new, but this…this is different.
Trust your instincts…
I think back to what Erick told me. To trust my instincts. They told me to trust Erick, and they were right.
Now, they are telling me something is wrong. It’s like all my senses are on high alert. I don’t know what it is, but it’s obvious Mom wasn’t just out with friends. She was missing.
I consider she might be blowing it off because she doesn’t want to upset or worry me, but that doesn’t feel right either. It’s something…else.
She must have been up to something. Doing something she knows I wouldn’t approve of.
Mom smiles as she eats, as though everything is just fine. I take a bite to placate her, trying to act as if everything is normal.
But if Mom won’t tell me where she really was, I’m going find out on my own.
Continue Reading in A Curse of Sparks!
Also by Sophia Shade
The Fae Academy Series
A Curse of Fire
A Curse of Flames
A Curse of Sparks (Coming Soon!)
About the Author
Sophia Shade is the enchanting author of the Fae Academy world. She lives beyond the Shadow Veil with the students, teachers, and creatures who attend Callador: Academy of the Aos Sí. When not writing, she spends her time battling darkness to save her newfound friends and family from the mysterious force that wants to drain all magic from Faerie once and for all.
www.sophiashade.com
