by Brea Viragh
“Another body.”
18
Another student dead. Another first-year front runner taken out, with the fire as a cover-up.
It didn’t take long for the dead girl’s identity to make the rounds. Carmela Luzon, the first-year with the highest points. She’d stolen the number one spot with ease after the last round of testing.
Poor girl.
I hadn’t gotten to speak to her much but I remembered her being quiet and shy. She didn’t make friends easily, preferring to keep to herself and focus on classes. She certainly didn’t have any enemies, either.
It would mean another visit from Detective Wilson, surely. Things had been going well for the longest time—
“Did you hear what they’re saying about Carmela?”
I glanced up from my oatmeal, chewing and considering Mike and Roman as they sat at our table with matching solemn expressions. Swallowing over the rock in my throat, I said, “I heard a little.”
“Don’t you think it’s weird how both the kids who died were top students?” Roman offered. He shook his head, pushing the macaroni and cheese around his plate. “This is more than a coincidence. I know it.”
“Keep your voice down,” Melia warned, jerking forward to place her finger over his lips.
It had taken her a few weeks to be comfortable around Mike and Roman, given the former’s status and the latter’s good looks. Fortunately, she’d settled into a routine fairly quickly because I wasn’t sure what we would have done otherwise. Mike was the sweetest person I’d met on campus, somehow still miraculously my friend, and Melia…she might have been my mentor but she’d quickly grown into the person I trusted the most.
I needed the four of us to get along.
“Come on, Mel, you have to admit, this is bad,” Roman continued. His gaze hardened suddenly. “You’re a fourth-year, you’re probably safe, but the rest of us are at risk.”
“Of course it’s bad,” she agreed with a vigorous nod. “Someone is killing off the first-year competition. One top student dead is something, but two is more than a coincidence. It’s a pattern.” She glanced over to me. “Sorry.”
“What? No way,” Mike argued. His cheeks flushed.
“What else could it be?” Melia shot back. “I mean, nothing else makes sense. We have already moved on. Why would someone else be offing the kids in your year? And the kids with the highest points? It’s more than a coincidence.”
“You’re insane.” Said lightly. But the laughter we four shared was strained around the edges. I agreed Melia’s theory was the best of any I’d heard so far.
As if I wasn’t worried enough about making it through the probationary period, now I had to consider some nutcase trying to murder me because of my good grades. Luckily, I was in the top 25, far enough away from the number one spot to be safe. Right?
Was it too much to ask for the killer to be Persephone? Two birds with one stone? Get rid of her and keep my class safe?
I stifled those gleeful thoughts as being unworthy. Entertaining, but unworthy.
But no, it just didn’t make sense. She had better grades than I did. If anything, she had the potential to be the next victim, especially if the rest of the kids ahead of her continued to drop like flies.
I couldn’t worry. Or at least I tried not to. Easier said than done, obviously, because I was a champion worrier and this was a good opportunity to hone my skills.
After classes, I met Mike in the library to study divination together. He knew I was absolutely hopeless with all forms of telling the future and had offered to help, an offer I jumped on without hesitation.
Any chance I had to spend time with him alone was one I’d take.
“Are you ready to figure out the secret path toward reading tarot?” Mike joked the second I let my bag drop. He wiggled his hands in the air woo-woo fashion.
I took off my school jacket and hung it on the back of the chair, the look I gave him pure skepticism. “Is there a secret path for tarot?” I asked.
“I have no clue, but we should figure it out because Marsh has been giving you death stares every time you get something wrong. I mean, she’s been decent about it but I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side.”
“Which is all the time,” I supplied. “I swear, when I told you I have no clue how to access my own magic, you thought I was lying. I’m totally not lying. There’s a steep learning curve.”
I had the book open in front of me. I wasn’t paying attention. I couldn’t, not with Mike smiling at me in the certain way he had. Like the world narrowed down until I was the sole recipient of his focus.
Yeah, hubba hubba indeed.
“We can figure it out. I know it. What did you think of Melia’s theory at breakfast? About the murders?” he asked.
“It’s not the worst theory I’ve heard,” I evaded, because I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him my true feelings on the subject: we were all in danger.
He chewed the inside of his lip and shifted to lean on one elbow, dropping his voice down to a whisper. “Come on, you don’t need to watch yourself with me. You can tell me what you really think. Are you worried?”
“As worried as anyone, I guess.”
“If you keep getting those good grades, you’re going to make me worry. And worrying about you is one more stress I’m not prepared to handle right now.”
I tossed my pencil at him. “Get real. You know it’s not possible.”
“What? You getting good grades or me worrying about you?” Mike asked with wide eyes.
“Both. I’m going to make sure I earn my place here but I can’t claim to be the best in class. Far from it,” I replied.
“Okay, Miss Top 25.”
“Okay, Mister Top 100.”
He pretended to be wounded, clutching a hand against his heart. “Ouch, the hurt!”
“You don’t have as much pressure on you as I do,” I teased. Although as Uncle Will was fond of saying, many a truth was said in jest. This time I surely told the truth. I wondered if Mike knew.
“You don’t want to talk to me about pressure,” he said with a shake of his head, causing a lock of gold to fall across his eyes.
I leaned forward with my arms folded on the desk. “Oh yeah? I’m sure being a prince is a really tough gig.” Did he want to trade places with me?
“Let me tell you something, Missy…” Mike glanced over at a couple of students walking by, pausing in his speech until they passed. I still hadn’t seen his personal guards anywhere. We’d been studying together a few times a week and those guys always managed to stay hidden. “Being a royal has its ups and downs and I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s rainbows and sunshine all the time. There are definitely some black times. Some moments I would trade if I could.”
I appreciated his honesty. “I can understand.”
Mike mimicked my posture, his left eyebrow raised. “You never did tell me your story, young lady. Did you think I wouldn’t notice you have been avoiding any talk of your home life with me?”
“Because my story isn’t a happy one,” I retorted quickly. I had to work overtime not to let his nearness get to me. “And we’re supposed to be learning the secrets of tarot, not gabbing about my past.”
“We’ve been friends long enough I’m going to start to think you don’t trust me with the information. Unless you really want to stay with your mysterious vibe thing.” This time his eyebrows waggled.
I chuckled at his needling. “The mysterious vibe thing has kept me alive until now. I’ll give you a little history, then, to soothe your wounded ego.” Those brows drew down at the statement. “I’ve already told you I lived with my uncle. He was—is—a defense lawyer in the South. He wanted me to follow a certain path he’d set out for me. It wasn’t anything good. I want to be my own person and not be used as a pawn in his power games. I came to the academy to get away from everything.”
“Wait a minute.” I watched him blink. Blink again. “Your uncle doesn’t know y
ou’re here?”
“No, he doesn’t. And I need to make sure he never does,” I insisted, making sure Mike understood the need to keep the information to himself. “Bad things would happen if he knew where I was. I wouldn’t want to put anyone in danger if he decided to send people after me.”
Mike mimed locking his lips. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“I really didn’t expect to get in,” I admitted. I leaned closer still and dropped my voice. “The school provided me with the out I needed, the only means to escape a bad situation.”
“In the spirit of candor, I should tell you about my own dad,” Mike said. Glancing behind him again to make sure there was no one else around before diving in.
“Are you sure your guards aren’t going to mind you spilling state secrets?”
“It’s common knowledge. Or at least it should be, to anyone who bothers to look beneath the surface. My father is the same way as your uncle. He is only concerned with power and how he can keep it. I’ve known since I was a baby, my role would one day be to step up as king of the Seelie court. Seems I’ve never really lived up to my dad’s high expectations. He’s not happy with me.”
“Do you…not want to be king?” I asked after a period of silence.
He raised his gaze to meet mine. “Would you? I’m not sure what I want. I mean, I’ve never been given a choice. What else would I do? I’ve trained my whole life for the role. The position of a lifetime. But I don’t know if I’d be a good king.”
“I truly believe you shouldn’t be made to do something you don’t want to do. I’m also trying to be supportive, so I’m not sure what to say to you. I’m not sure there is a right thing to say in this situation. If I tell you to step up into your destiny, it makes me a hypocrite.”
“We wouldn’t want you to be a hypocrite,” he said with a grin.
“Then again, I think maybe the best kings aren’t kings who are forced into their position, but kings who want to be there, who want to help their people and lead with dignity and strength,” I finished. As though my opinion mattered.
Mike reached out to grab a lock of my hair and tug gently, the space between us greatly diminished. “Now I see how you got to the top of the class. You’re too smart for your own good.”
“Stop it.” I swatted him away despite the warming in my cheeks from the contact. I wanted him to touch me. To put his fingers on my skin instead of in my hair.
“I’m serious. Not everyone would have the guts to be so honest with me. You don’t know how much I appreciate it, Tavi.” He kept hold of my hair.
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not joking.”
We leaned in closer still until I could sense the sweetness of his breath. Until I breathed in his exhalations. My gaze dropped to his lips. They drew me forward like a magnet. Another inch and we would be—
Laughter sounded and when I glanced up, Persephone and her cronies were crowding through the shelves of books, arriving in their usual loud attention-craving style despite a sharp shush from the librarian. Clomping around like ponies in a parade.
The moment was shattered.
And here I’d thought this my safe space. My bubble of peace burst as Persephone glanced over and saw Mike and me sitting so close together. Her brows narrowed together, mouth smoothing out into a sharp line, but she kept moving to a different table with her girls in tow. Keeping eye contact with me until the last possible moment.
Mike cleared his throat, shifting back in his chair and shaking his head. Our moment was gone. “I guess I should get going. I have a test tomorrow in a different class,” he said. “Which means I need to rest and study.”
It was an excuse, I thought with a rush of embarrassment. A lame excuse to get out of kissing me. Maybe he didn’t think I noticed the way he refused to meet my eyes now.
But I did. And it hurt.
“I guess we didn’t get much studying in, did we?” I pointed down to our still-closed books. We hadn’t done any studying.
“No, I guess not. I’m sorry.”
Mike packed the rest of his books in his bag and hurried out of the library without looking back. I blew out a sigh, taking my time in gathering my books and papers. What was I doing? Almost kissing the future king! I had a lot of nerve. Especially considering how I couldn’t be completely honest with him. He deserved honesty. He’d been nothing but open with me, open and helpful in every possible way when he didn’t have to be. A good friend through and through.
“What were you doing alone with Michael Thornwood?”
I jerked up to see Persephone staring at me. By herself, for once. She must have left the rest of her lemmings to fend for themselves. “It’s called studying,” I told her. “I’m sure you don’t need to worry about it but the rest of us do.”
Persephone shifted until her thigh cocked against the table to emphasize her full hips, her narrow waist, and the way the buttons of her white shirt strained against her ample bosom. She stared off into the distance with a contemplative smile I knew didn’t come naturally to her. “You know, the king has been closed off for years,” she said nonchalantly. “No one has seen him. Super secretive. And now suddenly his only son has emerged from their remote castle to come to school here.”
“What are you trying to say?” I asked nastily. There had to be a point to this story I had missed. Persephone did nothing without a reason.
“I think there’s something wrong with him. With the monarchy in general. Just my opinion, mind you, but it seems strange. Why would a full-blooded Fae would want to attend a school for halflings? Why would he want to talk to and befriend half-breeds in general, considering the expectations for him? Think about it.” Persephone tapped the side of her head.
“I’m not interested in your theories—”
“Just be careful, Tavi,” Persephone said as a parting shot. “I think you should stay away.”
Stay away from the only boy I wanted? Never.
19
Despite my secrets, I knew I would rather lose a piece of myself than give up on my budding feelings for Mike, no matter how crazy it sounded.
Persephone only desired what I had, and would do whatever she could to get it. She definitely wanted Mike all to herself, I told myself the next morning as I brushed my hair without the aid of a mirror. She would do her best to drive a wedge between our friendship, then she could swoop in and steal him.
Persephone wanted it all. She wanted power; she wanted the prestige of royalty. It fit her nature and would be the next crowning achievement in her already blessed life. For some reason, she thought I stood in her way and she could clear me out with a few well-placed threats.
I stopped brushing with a sigh, dropping my head against the wall behind me and letting the stone cool my overheated skin. There was no way I could have anything with Mike, if I were being realistic.
Who was I trying to fool? I was half werewolf, hated by the Fae. It didn’t matter we went to school together, that we were friends and studied and laughed together. That we’d almost kissed this afternoon. Almost.
Oh, those lips.
And look how badly I’d bungled things since I’d been here. I’d have to spend the rest of my life hiding no matter how things turned out.
I couldn’t tell Mike the whole truth about me because I’d be kicked out in an instant and thrown right back into Kendrick’s slimy grasp, and I would never allow it to happen. Not when I’d come this far already.
My schoolgirl crush on Mike would have to remain a pipe dream. A fantasy I entertained at night and told no one about. Let Persephone have him. I didn’t care.
Okay, I did care. I cared a lot.
Although she did bring up some good points…
I rapped the side of my head with the brush to clear it of those thoughts. No, she didn’t bring up good points. She was a jealous rival and nothing else. Whatever was going on in Faerie with the king, I’d worry about it later. After I earned my spot there and f
ound myself under his rule.
Walking into the divination lab the following day, I saw Mike at our usual table. He raised his hand with a warm wave and beckoned me over into my usual seat. As though nothing had happened between us.
Sure, if he wanted to play things this way, I was game. I could pretend nothing happened as well.
“Hey you,” he said right off the bat once I slid behind the desk. “What are you doing tonight?”
“The schedule is clear, my friend,” I told him with a rushed smile, dropping my bag and reaching inside for the tarot deck.
“Do you want to try studying with me again?”
Hmm, curious. “I thought you had a test and needed to get your beauty sleep?” I joked.
Roman cut in with a snicker, pushing dark hair out of his face. “If this one doesn’t get his normal ten hours of sleep then you’ll see his real face. Which is not pretty. So yes, he needs his beauty sleep, take it from me.”
Mike shut him up with a well-placed elbow to the ribs. “I do need to get my rest, and I do have a test, but neither of those things mean I don’t want to study for this class. I’m still interested in learning the back-door shortcuts to being a great tarot reader. What do you say?”
My inner pep talk from earlier didn’t seem to matter. One look at his smile and I melted like butter in an Arizona heat wave. “Sure!” I replied with way too much enthusiasm. Dial it back a notch, woman. “I’d love to.”
“Let’s say our usual table in the library?” Mike clarified. “Seven o’clock? We can study in sprints and see if we can annoy the librarian during our breaks.”
“I like the way you think.”
Professor Marsh approached the class with a swish of fabric, her pencil skirt emphasizing her slender lower body, and fixed us all with a stare that silenced conversation within seconds. “Everyone!” she called out, her cat-like eyes flashing. “I’m sure you have noticed the covers on your stations today.”
In fact, I hadn’t. I’d been too busy mooning over Mike. I looked down now and noticed the plush pile of purple velvet and the hard lump beneath it.