by Sarina Dorie
Vega continued writing. “Were any Fae involved in appointing you, Principal Dean?”
The principal’s face flushed. “I hardly see the relevancy that has in this situation. As I said before. we’re asking Ms. Lawrence the questions, not me.”
The orb flashed red—almost matching his face in brightness. Did that mean something was relevant?
There was a detail I was missing here. I twisted the competency bracelet around on my wrist and blinked. The charm wouldn’t last long, but it might clarify the situation. Additionally, it might give me the skills necessary to lie without lying.
The pathways in my brain connected, thoughts firing through my head. My creativity and critical-thinking skills bridged gaps I hadn’t seen before.
“Did the Princess of Lies and Truth appoint you?” I asked.
The principal sucked in a breath. “N-no.”
The sphere flashed red.
I stood, understanding at last. “For some reason, Princess Quenylda took an interest in you. She appointed you as dean and suggested you enhance the school wards, which allowed the Silver Court entrance. You felt betrayed when her father broke your back. You must have demanded retribution and petitioned her to do something on your behalf. You were able to acquire a dwarf-made suit because Princess Quenylda paid for it. She probably said she’d do another favor for you and get you your old job back—or something better. You would be principal instead of dean. In return for this, she expected you to report to her and ensure you fired me. Is that correct?”
Vega’s pen scratched out my revelation on the paper, the only sound in the room as the principal stared at me in horror. Vega looked up, pen poised. She looked from him to the glowing crystal ball.
“Fuck,” Chuck Dean said.
The sphere flashed green.
“I take it that’s a yes?” Khaba said.
“I didn’t say yes or no. I’m not answering that. It’s a ludicrous accusation.” Chuck Dean said.
The sphere flashed red. It felt thrilling to be this intelligent. I was like Sherlock Holmes.
Vega stared at me with admiration in her eyes. “Holy shit. You’re smarter than I thought.”
I didn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing I had used a magical enhancement.
Khaba smoothed a hand over his chest, signaling he was rubbing his lamp and about to use magic. “I believe this meeting is over.” His lips twitched into a smile.
The principal’s face turned red. “That isn’t the way it happened!” He pounded a metal-encased fist against the table.
The table broke in half, Vega’s pad of paper sliding toward the broken center. I jumped back. Vega remained were she was. She lifted the pad of paper and set it under her hand where it levitated as she continued to write.
“The princess told me there was a teacher at this school using forbidden magic to murder people.” Chuck Dean pointed a finger at me. Despite the anger radiating from him in waves, I felt oddly calm. “Her Majesty told me the murderer was Alouette Loraline’s daughter, and it was up to me to put a stop to her before she killed any children or experimented on Witchkin like her mother had. She told me what you are, one of the forbidden Red affinities. It would only be a matter of time before I caught you using blood magic, pain magic, sex magic, or necromancy on some hapless child or staff member.”
The sphere flashed green. That meant Khaba would know Chuck Dean was telling the truth about me.
I lifted my chin. I had once feared my friends would find out what I was. Whether it was the confidence brought on by temporary competence with the bracelet’s charm or that I was tired of fleeing from the truth, I didn’t deny what I was.
I also chose not to answer and confirm it.
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” Khaba said. “I’m sure you believe what you’re saying.” Khaba waved a hand at the green light. “Sadly for you, the princess duped you, and you fell for her lies. Come along to my office. It’s time for you to write your letter of resignation.”
Khaba took hold of the principal’s arm. It was probably in my best interest that Khaba thought Chuck Dean had been deceived. As someone who was compelled to follow the rules, Khaba would be put in an uncomfortable position if he knew the truth. Or if he remembered the truth, for it to be spoken out loud and for him to need to act upon it.
Chuck Dean shoved Khaba back. “I haven’t been duped. Ask her if she’s one of those dirty Reds. With your lie-detecting charm, you’ll see it’s the truth.”
“Come now,” Vega said. “Clarissa is as much a Red affinity as I am.”
The globe flashed green.
“Isn’t that right?” Vega asked me.
It was times like this I missed having her as a roommate.
“Yes,” I said, laughing at the brilliance of the truth. “I’m as much a Red as Vega is.”
The orb blazed green.
Khaba lifted his crystal ball. The sphere shrank in size until it was the size of a marble, and he was able to pocket it. Honestly, I didn’t know how he fit anything into his snug pants.
Khaba placed a hand on the principal’s—former principal’s?—shoulder and escorted him out. This time Chuck Dean didn’t resist.
I grinned at Vega as they left. I held up my hand. “High five!”
Vega spit on my hand.
I looked at it in disgust. “Is that some kind of magical protection spell?” I wiped her saliva onto my skirt.
She lifted her chin. “You have been keeping secrets from me.”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me. If you want me to help you, you need to be honest with me. Why are you trying to turn Madison Jennings into a Red affinity?” Vega leaned closer.
Just when I thought I’d succeeded. I had to get chewed out about this?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Time to Wake Up and Smell the Corpses
I skirted back from Vega, not knowing what she might do if she found out why Maddy needed to be fertile. “It’s none of your business.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe if you were willing to put a little more trust in me, I would be willing to help you.”
Trust Vega? The problem with Vega was sometimes her idea of being helpful came with a price tag. I didn’t want Madison to be put in Vega’s debt.
I tried to find a plausible explanation. “The fewer people who know what’s going on, the better,” I said. “This is dangerous.”
She jabbed a finger into my collarbone. “Don’t act like you’re trying to protect me. We both know I’m the stronger witch out of the two of us.”
Vega wasn’t adept at using her newly acquired Red affinity to shoot lightning out of her eyeballs like she wanted, but she was still a skilled and powerful Celestor.
The competency spell was wearing off, leaving me tired. My resolve to stand my ground slipped away.
I dodged to the side. “I’m trying to protect Maddy,” I said. “She’s in debt to a Fae Court. She has to pay her firstborn child to the King of the Pacific.”
“So? Why does she need to become a Red affinity for that?”
“She’s already tried to get pregnant and can’t. She’s afraid the king will force her to bed mermen until she conceives—which will be her entire life if she isn’t fertile.” I quickly added. “Don’t tell Felix. He wouldn’t like me helping an underaged student.”
Vega crossed her arms. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a fuckwit?”
“Yes. You have. Lots of times.”
“Let me guess. You’re convinced this is the only way. Now you’re going to go through with this reckless plan?” she asked. “Even if it puts you and her both in danger.”
“I don’t want to put Maddy in danger. I don’t know of another way than using the Fae Fertility Paradox to solve this. Do you?”
“No.”
Vega sauntered over to my desk and opened a drawer. She removed a corked bottle. It looked like the one Ma
ddy had carried in her backpack, the one with cranberry juice in it. Only this was a deeper crimson.
Vega held it up, sloshing the fluid around inside. “I suppose you’ll need this if you’re going to transform her affinity.”
“You won’t tell Felix, then?”
She shrugged noncommittally. “If you don’t deem your own husband trustworthy with this information, why would I?”
The remark cut me deeper than her earlier insults. Felix Thatch was a good person. “No, that isn’t, I can’t—”
“Tomorrow you can show me the potion you’re making, and I’ll tell you whether you royally fucked it up or it’s salvageable.” She glanced toward the door. “But first, let’s make sure Mr. Dean has resigned, and Mr. Khaba is preoccupied with other matters before we start playing with the dark arts and crafts.”
Huh.
Perhaps Vega truly was on my side. Or perhaps there would be a price tag later.
I was too mentally and physically exhausted to shower. I changed into my most comfortable pajamas and fell into bed beside Felix Thatch. He sat reading a book.
Absently, he stroked my head. “Late night?”
“Yeah,” I said.
He turned a page. “What were you up to? Scrying again?”
“Um. A little.” That seemed like the lesser of two evils. The other option was to tell him the truth and admit I’d almost been fired for being an incompetent teacher by not hiding his MP3 player. I didn’t know how the principal had found that and not all my electronics.
“Khaba stopped by this evening after dinner,” Thatch said.
I stiffened.
His voice remained a monotone. “He warned me the principal was bent on taking out his wrath on you and was about to search our room. I removed your bag full of forbidden delights and hid them in the pantry of my classroom. The principal searched our room while I was grading papers. It’s fortunate you haven’t anything else in your possession that would be compromising. You’re welcome.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” He’d done a good deed for me. Only he’d forgotten about his stupid MP3 player, which I’d been blamed for.
Thatch continued reading. I snuggled closer to him, wishing for the sanctuary of sleep. It appeared my secrets were safe and I could relax.
Thatch turned a page. “Josephine Kimura and Pinky also stopped by this evening.”
I waited for him to reveal that he knew my big secret. When my the silence didn’t solicit a response, I asked, “Did they say why?”
He waved a hand airily toward the door. “They were looking for you. I told them if you weren’t in your classroom, they could find you tomorrow.”
I wondered why they had really ventured down into the dungeon. It appeared they hadn’t tattled on me to Thatch. I appreciated Josie’s loyalty.
“Did they say anything else?” I asked, trying not to let on that I was nervous.
“Probably. But I can’t recall. I tend to tune out the majority of what Josephine Kimura says. Call it a survival mechanism.”
He closed his book and leaned across me to drop it on the floor. “Is it going to be another lesson tonight?”
“I’m too tired. I just need to go to sleep tonight.” I buried my face against his shoulder, savoring his warmth.
He kissed the top of my head. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with your performance-review meeting that Principal Dean insisted couldn’t wait until tomorrow? The meeting you didn’t see fit to tell me about, I presume, because you didn’t want me to attend?”
I groaned against his shoulder. I should have known he’d been hinting at it, trying to give me an opportunity to come clean. “Who told you?”
His voice remained carefully neutral, his expression guarded. “Who didn’t tell me? First it was Mr. Khaba, then Vega Bloodmire, followed by Pinky and Josie. Even Mrs. Keahi informed me—in case I wanted to have a little sit-down with the principal to defend your honor. The only person who didn’t inform me was my own wife. Imagine that.”
“I didn’t want to get you involved. He would have fired you.” I couldn’t meet his eyes.
Indignation laced his tone. “Have you so little faith in me?”
I worded my answer carefully. “I have faith that you would take the blame for things I did that you didn’t.” That was true, but there was so much more. I didn’t know if I trusted him anymore.
He loved me enough that he wanted to protect me, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I tried to think of what I could tell him that was genuine. “I didn’t want you to hear about the things I had done. He wasn’t wrong. I’ve been negligent. I haven’t been able to focus. All I can think about is my fairy godmother. I shouldn’t be teaching.”
He smoothed a hand up and down my back reassuringly. “That isn’t your fault. He should have granted you a leave of absence in the first place.”
“I guess.” Treating me with kid gloves wouldn’t have gotten me any closer to rescuing my fairy godmother. I needed time and skill to be a powerful Witchkin, not time off to wallow in self-pity.
“So you would allow him to fire you so that you can leave?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. I didn’t want to condemn myself further. It was bad enough he knew.
“Did he fire you?” he asked. “How long will you be permitted to work? Until the end of the school year or the end of the week?”
“Maybe you’re the one who needs to have faith in me,” I said. “I can dig myself out of my own messes. I’m not completely incompetent.” At least I wasn’t when I could rely on my bracelet and spells to make me smarter.
“I never said you were.” He circled an arm around my waist, drawing me closer. “Do we have to fight about this? Can we just have one quiet, peaceful evening of cuddling?”
He’d been asking for that for weeks. He wanted to enjoy our time together. I couldn’t blame him for that.
“Yes, we can cuddle,” I said. I had been so horrible to him lately, negligent of our relationship and dismissive of what he needed. I wanted to give him this pleasant evening.
I didn’t know how long we had together. In the time we had left, I wanted him to know I loved him. Either I would die or he would die trying to save me. Or both.
There was a good chance I was leading Felix Thatch to his death by asking him to teach me the magic I needed to be a powerful witch. I thought about that moment with Maddy in the closet. I didn’t want to be like my biological mother and use other people for their magic, but I feared the stronger I grew, the more I was going to become like her and lose myself.
And lose everyone I loved in the process.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
See You in My Dreams
I knew I was lucid dreaming as I floated through the sconce-lit passage. I might have thought the stone walls were those of Womby’s, but they whispered with malicious intent, as though the very rocks were carved from hatred rather than granite.
The air wavered like heat rising from blacktop on a sweltering day. This passage felt real, the cobwebs in one corner familiar and alien at the same time. I knew this place. It wasn’t an invented dreamscape from my imagination. I was in the Raven Queen’s castle.
Perhaps this was a dream—a fear of my subconscious. Or perhaps I was seeing the present.
At the end of the hallway, a shadowy figure cloaked in midnight feathers glided past the sconces. From her imposing stature and august grace, I knew it was Odette, Thatch’s sister—the Raven Queen’s favorite pet. Two guards with faces like birds flanked her.
Odette didn’t appear to notice me as I watched. She opened the door of a room. The guards remained outside. I floated through the wall of a cell and into another containing a man manacled to a wall. Passing through the stone of the cell was effortless. I joined Odette in what appeared to be a small indoor courtyard. Moonlight shone through the ornate metal grate of the ceiling. Water dripped on stone in a corner. Lush, leafy plants crowded the space.
Odette directed her gaze into the shadows. “It appears Her Majesty has thought of everything to tempt you to join us. Or almost everything.”
By all appearances, Odette appeared to be alone, talking to a room full of plants. I didn’t see my fairy godmother. I felt her essence of herbs and oak, home cooking, and love radiating from under leafy boughs. That’s how I spotted her.
A figure sat huddled under a prison of thorny blackberry branches. Crimson roses bloomed alongside stinging nettles. My fairy godmother lifted her face at the sound of Odette’s voice. Her hair was dirty and tangled. Dirt was caked under her fingernails. She resembled a wild woman, orchids blossoming in her auburn hair.
Her entire body ached, yearned for something, but I wasn’t sure what she needed—Sunlight? Water? Food? She was surrounded by plants, even if they weren’t the friendly sort, free of toxins and thorns.
“There is one thing left for you,” Odette said.
Abigail Lawrence wet her lips. “Death.”
“No. That would be too much of a reward.” Odette’s eyes were full of pity. They were gray like Felix Thatch’s, not overwhelmed by black like when she was working magic. “The Raven Queen wishes to make an example of you. She wishes to use you to taunt Clarissa Lawrence.”
My mom hugged her arms around her knees.
“What my sovereign doesn’t realize is the bargain I made with your charge.” Odette walked the short length of the room, plants snapping back from her as if she contained a deadlier poison than they did.
“Six months ago, I agreed that I would not harm you, nor allow any in the Raven Court to hurt you or kill you.” Odette waved a hand in front of her, runes shimmering in the air. I couldn’t read them, but I had the sense they represented our oath.
Our bargain had been that Odette would ensure no one from the Raven Court killed, cursed, or harmed my fairy godmother. No one from the Raven Court would go to her in her home or seek her out in the Morty Realm. Of course, they hadn’t. They’d used a loophole. They’d abducted her from Womby’s property, not her home.