“If you wanna call it that.”
“I don’t have much respect for cheaters anyway, so I won’t judge you this time. I hope none of you know anything about me,” I murmured, fishing for possible gossip about myself.
His eyes lit with sudden mischief. “You mean like when you’re dancing in your unicorn onesie?”
Dammit! An immediate flush of heat raced up my neck into my face. “Have you been spying on me?”
“Nah, not me, and no one in my circle is actively spying on you. Someone may or may not have flown past your window a few weeks back.” He plucked the last donut from the bag. “Pretty hard to miss stuff like that.”
“Gimme back my donut.”
He licked the glaze off it. “Nope, mine now.”
I still wanted it back but kept that to myself. Wanting desperately to be that donut, I settled for crossing my arms instead and glowering. “Anyway, how long are they keeping you here?”
“Aw, don’t be like that. If it makes you feel better, I own that little secret now and haven’t told anyone. I, uh, also told everyone else I’d beat their ass if any more coordinated flybys swooped past your dormitory windows.”
And just like that, my respect for Gabriel soared to new heights. “How much is it going to cost me to keep it that way?”
He winked. “A donut.”
I smiled. “I suppose that works. Seriously though, how long are you stuck in here?”
Gabriel wadded up the white paper bag and tossed it into the trash. He made the shot, but winced and relaxed into the pillows behind him again. “We shifters may heal fast, but even our bones can’t mend overnight. It’ll be a couple more days at the most, but they’ll heal back stronger. Good thing since finals begin Monday, and Ghastly’s makeup exams are a bitch. She never uses the same test. It’ll be a sheet of essay questions or some crap.”
“It’s rude to call her that.”
He grimaced. “Sorry. Habit. You and Amalia are right.”
“Speaking of vampires though… I figured you’d want this back.” I pulled out the crucifix and offered it to him. After buffing a little of my blood from the holy relic, I’d tucked it into my pocket and brought it with me to return.
He flashed me a grateful smile then fastened the chain around his neck again. “Thanks. Abuela gave it to me when she found out I was going to magic school. She’s human and really into the religion thing. Thinks I’m up north learning to be an exorcist or something I guess.”
“I suppose you probably shouldn’t tell her it was used on a vampire. I think that would freak out even a non-human.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Are you kidding? She’s Catholic. She’d probably hang it up on her wall and declare it blessed.”
Although I wouldn’t trade a day of growing up in a culturally mixed home, it was nice to meet someone with a family heritage as rich and varied as mine.
“My grandpa is kinda human, too, and he’d probably try to do the same thing. He has a little faerie blood. Not enough for school though, but he understands what we’re doing since he’s been with my grandmother on and off for so many years.” I tried to picture it and smiled, though my amusement was short lived, my mind drifting back to those pulse-pounding moments in the intersection. “Hey Gabriel?”
“Hmm?”
“How come there were so many? I mean, that’s not normal, right?”
“Four nosferatu singling out a pair of fae in the city? Sky, that’s as abnormal as it gets for PNRU. Provost Riordan told me a student hasn’t had to kill a nos in almost a decade.” The smile no longer reached his eyes and eventually faded from his lips. His dark brows drew close together as his gaze dropped to his lap. “I’ve never killed anyone before.”
Without thinking, I reached out and put my hand over his bruised knuckles. The color had faded to yellow already. He turned his hand palm up and squeezed my fingers.
“You were amazing out there,” I told him. “You did what had to be done, which is why I’m still alive to tell you that.”
“Yeah, but I failed Monica.”
“No. She failed you. She failed me too. I read the syllabus backward and forward, and I know she wasn’t supposed to split off from us like that.”
He released a pent-up breath and nodded. “Thanks. I guess I already knew it but needed someone else to agree.”
“Anytime.”
“Hey, at least you don’t have to deal with her next year.”
“True, but I still have to survive next semester. I don’t know how you do it, Gabriel, I really don’t.”
“I bet you’re wishing you’d been assigned to Blackwood’s ward.”
“Not gonna lie, I did at first, once I realized how awful Monica was at being a godmother, but…”
“But what?”
“Sharon needs me. So I can deal with being in a shitty position for a little while. Maybe by next year her confidence will grow and she won’t need a godmother anymore. Besides, you’ve been a great sentinel. Um, there’s also something I kinda wanted to ask you, but I’m not sure if now is a good time.”
“You can ask me anything.”
“Two things, really.”
“Okay.”
The moment I pulled the necklace out of my sweatshirt, Gabriel’s eyes grew large as the donuts I’d given him. “This showed up in my room today. Has anyone mentioned anything to you about sending me a gift?”
“No, not that I can recall.”
“Pilar and Liadan think it could have come from my grandmother, but she’s never given me anything like this before, and I can’t exactly call her on the phone to ask.”
Gabriel leaned closer. He slid his index finger beneath one of the rubies, his touch warm against my skin. I suppressed a shiver while he inspected it. “Holy shit, this thing is legit.”
“How can you tell?”
He gave me a look. “Trust me, I know real gemstones from fake. Are you sure someone didn’t slip it in?”
“Lia and Pilar wouldn’t lie about that.”
“I’m asking because this thing is worth thousands, Sky. Wait, no, more than thousands. Like, ‘needs a vault at Tiffany’s and a couple insurance plans’ level of value. Your admirer has good taste.”
The gasp whooshed out of me before I could hold it in. “Yeah, Pilar said the same thing pretty much.” But hearing Gabriel confirm that only made it more real.
“Someone insanely rich gave you a really priceless replica of Queen Titania’s bridal piece.”
I sank back into the chair. “Is it… is it even allowed to replicate the queen’s stuff?”
Gabriel shrugged. “Who knows. Our Magical History professor spent a week going on about Titania’s fashions and trendsetting. Mortals went out of their way to copy Lady Di, so the same is probably true of faerie royalty. Anyway, keep that shit on at all times. Bathe and shower in it if you have to.”
I nodded.
“Now, you said you had two things to ask me. What’s the other?”
“Dedrik offered to be my sentinel next year when I’m on my own. I told him I’d think about it.”
“I know. I told him it wouldn’t hurt to ask you. You’d think the dude was proposing to you, or something, the big deal he made out of it.”
Since he was in his sickbed, I didn’t punch him. “So what do you think then?”
Gabriel laughed at me. “Well, he isn’t the best sentinel in school since that title belongs to me, but he’ll treat you right. Actually… could the necklace be from him?” His grin faded, the humor sufficiently dampened as stoic-faced and quiet Gabe made his return.
“Huh? Why the hell would you think it was from Dedrik?”
“Sweetening you up maybe? He, uh, really wants to work with you.”
A prickling unease started in my gut. “Does he have the money for that?”
“The Conclave pays heavy survivors’ benefits when a sentinel dies in the line of duty. Take that pay times a dozen dead Blackwoods, years of interest and investments… Yeah. He c
an afford it.”
“No, it couldn’t be. That’s ridiculous. Nobody gives a gift like this to someone they barely know. Besides, there’s no way he could have magicked it into my room and the girls couldn’t keep that hidden from me.”
Gabriel glanced away and shrugged, wincing once. He smiled, but it was strained. “Maybe he has a crush and asked a teacher to do it. All I know is, that’s the kind of gift you give someone you want to marry. It’s a replica of the Heartflame, Oberon’s gift to Titania on the day they married. Surprised Pilar didn’t tell you that.”
“Oh…” An uncomfortable silence hung between us. “Well, if it is, I’ll have to give it—”
Someone behind me cleared their throat. I glanced over a shoulder to see Jada in the doorway, staring at us through half-slit brown eyes. I jumped up from the seat and shoved the necklace down my shirt again.
“I’ll get out of your way so you can get some rest.”
Gabriel blinked and studied both of us, weighing his options. A pleading look came to his face. “You don’t have to leave.”
“I really should go and get some work done on my study guide.”
Before he could protest or his girlfriend could make a flippant remark, I bolted from the recovery room and dashed back to my dormitory.
He might have been the cutest shifter I ever saw, but no way was I going to get in between that train wreck.
13
My Parents Need Work on Their Poker Faces
Going from Chicago to Virginia meant exchanging one type of cold for another, but I definitely preferred the less windy conditions of my hometown. There wasn’t even any snow on the ground. Yet.
I claimed my suitcase from the assigned carrousel and then stepped out the automatic doors into the curbside pick-up area. When I didn’t spy Dad’s Impala among the cars, I frowned and slipped out my phone.
No missed calls and no missed texts.
“Skylar!” Mom shouted.
Jerking my gaze up from the phone screen, I spied my folks waving to me from an unfamiliar SUV. Dad pulled up to the curb, and Mom hopped out before he turned the engine off.
“Look at you,” my mom gushed as she pulled me in for a hug. “You look so grown up now!”
“Mom, it’s only been, like, three and a half months.”
Dad stepped onto the sidewalk and took my suitcase. “Far too long. Welcome home, bambolina.”
“Thanks, it’s good to be back. But, uh, what happened to your car?”
Dad avoided my gaze for a brief moment. “A little… ah, incidente stradale, small accident on road. Nothing to worry about.”
“Uh-huh.”
When I asked my parents about the necklace, Mom said she’d never seen it before, and Dad swore Grandma hadn’t promised any gifts recently. I didn’t have the balls to write Dedrik’s student e-mail and decided to keep it a secret from everyone else.
The first days of Christmas break passed in a blur, a haze of fun with Mindi, chilling with my folks, and catching up with old friends. The worst part about magic school was that I couldn’t share most of my advancements and progress with anyone from a non-magical family. They might have been aware of us, but we didn’t share secrets, because the mortal community would freak if they discovered our limits.
But I could tell Mindi about the hot guy I’d befriended when she asked if I’d managed to attain a boyfriend yet. Like I’d been out there on the hunt for a man and made it one of my college goals: make the Dean’s list, graduate with honors, nab a boytoy.
“Wow, a wereraven. That’s so… I dunno, boring?”
I threw a pillow at her. “He’s not boring.”
“Sorry, I’m just trying to imagine a wereraven compared to a werewolf. I mean, those guys are ripped.”
“You know that actor you like so much in the comic movies? The one you are constantly drooling over?”
“Are you saying he’s a—”
“Yup. A raven.”
“Wow, okay. So what’s your friend’s name again?”
“Gabriel Fujimoto.”
“You know, his name sounds really familiar. Like I’ve heard it somewhere before.”
“Huh? Probably from one of those anime shows you love so much.”
Detective Mindi slid behind my laptop, opened a few social media sites, and within minutes ferreted out the Facebook profile of Gabriel Luis Fujimoto of Huntsville, Texas. Before I could chastise her, she discovered his parents owned an enormous security firm.
“I knew it! Fujimoto Security!”
“Stop looking through his shit.”
“Well you shouldn’t have told me his name. Whoa. He is hot. Oh. He has a girlfriend.” A recent, Christmas day photo revealed a selfie-style image of Jada and Gabriel, both of them as photogenic together as any fae pair. He wasn’t smiling. To top it off, he hadn’t even posted the picture. Jada did and tagged him.
“Uh, yeah. And she’s got the total Mean Girls thing down too.”
“She looks like a snob.”
“She—”
“Girl, look at this house. They have horses!”
I sighed and felt like I was committing an awful invasion of his privacy, even if I wasn’t the one left clicking through his public photo gallery. Looking away wasn’t an option when every photograph revealed a fascinating peek into his personal life.
“Wow, he can dance too. Look at this video.”
Latin music spilled from my speakers, leading my willpower to crumble. Stealing a peek as the screen revealed Gabriel, Rodrigo, and others dancing in a video titled “Gutierrez Family Reunion.” Bewildered by her interest in him, I threw both hands in the air and screwed my face up at her.
“Are you his agent now?” I demanded, exasperated.
“No, but he’s definitely your type. And he works out with you. I have to pay a fitness guy at the gym three hundred dollars every couple months to get what your friendly Texan here is giving you for free. How did you meet him again?”
I glanced at my calloused knuckles. Gabriel made me fight a lot without gloves lately, because as a fae, I’d need my hands free for making glamours. “He’s my mentor’s sentinel. That’s all.”
“Lucky wench.” She closed Facebook and dropped the subject. “Anyway, since when did you wear a crucifix?”
My gaze dropped to the new bracelet around my wrist. The charms were all sterling silver crosses. “Grandpa mailed it to me for Christmas. Dad told him I ran into some nosferatu during an assignment.”
Her eyes widened. “Holy shit. Seriously?”
“Yeah. It’s all good though. Gabriel fended them off.”
“No wonder you’re crushing.” Ignoring my glare, she bounced to my bedroom door. “C’mon, smells like your mom is baking again. Mine burnt the last brownie batch she tried to make.”
“Mom and Dad took some kind of gourmet baking class together while I was gone.”
Since I hadn’t come home for Thanksgiving break during the semester, my parents delighted in making up for lost time and had created a bounty of delicious things for me to eat since my arrival. Dad’s double chocolate fudge cake made up for missing Turkey Day with them.
“I thought the smell of cookies would bring you two down here,” Mom said as she removed a fresh pan of golden-brown snickerdoodles.
Mindi and I each wolfed down about half a dozen of them without regrets or shame, and then we sprawled across the couch to watch a horror movie with Dad in the living room. His digital rental about a possessed kid freaked Mindi out so much she didn’t want to walk home alone.
“I’ll walk you,” I offered.
Dad jumped up like his recliner was on fire. “No need for that, Sky. I’ll drive Mindi home.”
“Two blocks down the road, Dad?”
“Well…” He shifted and glanced at Mom. They did that weird thing married folk and parents do when they communicate with a nonverbal language of emphatic stares and shoulder movements that mean something happened but they won’t speak about it arou
nd the kids.
“It’s going to snow again,” Mom said.
“It’s super clear out, Mrs. Corazzi,” Mindi said, appearing as weirded out as me.
“Seriously, we’ll be fine. Besides, I need to walk off all this sugar and butter.”
Dad’s shoulders remained tense, but after exchanging another look with my mother, he returned to his seat. “All right. Be careful, bambolina.”
“Uh, okay. I’ll be careful in our perfectly safe suburban neighborhood.”
After donning coats and stepping into our winter boots, we rushed into the unforgiving winter night and left my parents behind us. Snow and salt crunched beneath my soles as we followed the path to the driveway and out onto the sidewalk. We hadn’t gotten more than two inches of snow since my arrival, and Dad used discreet magic to keep our walkways frost free.
“My parents are weird now that I’m home. Did you see that?”
Mindi laughed and pulled her jacket up around her mouth. “I think they just missed you, is all. I mean, at least when I leave my folks have my little brother to fuss over. Not to mention Jason’s living back at home.”
“Maybe. I guess I should be glad they’re not trying to have more babies now that I’m gone.” Though it would have been nice to have a little brother or sister to cuddle.
“Nah, they’re just gonna fatten you up.”
I groaned. “If I return to school slower than I was before, Gabriel is going to have words, lemme tell ya.”
“Hot as he is, I’d let him grouch at me all day long. Does he have a sexy accent?” Mindi fanned herself.
“Not really, if you mean a Latino accent or a Japanese one. He just sounds like any person from Texas to me.”
“Damn.”
Her disappointed expression sparked another surge of laughter from me. We made it to the end of the street and turned onto her lane. A soft crack drew my attention over my shoulder, but I didn’t see anything except pine trees and empty yards.
“Sky?”
“Sorry, thought I heard something.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the Steward’s dog. He keeps busting outta their yard and running around the neighborhood.”
The Hidden Court Page 17