Page 46 of The Cursed Fae

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. This was not the moment.

“It was just a shielding spell,” I said, to break the silence between us. “I didn’t even know I could do a shielding spell.”

Kendall’s head snapped to the side to look at me, the oddest and most unsettling expression on her features. Glassy eyes refused to focus, but Kendall’s voice was strong when she spoke.

“A shielding spell. No.” She shook her head and lowered her voice. “You created a pocket dimension. You’re a dimensional fae. Did you not know?”

Chapter fifteen

Opposite of a Winner

My quiz on the Aries Coven that afternoon didn't go well. I knew the material. Or rather, I had known the material. My rattled brain simply couldn't regurgitate it. What did Kendall mean when she said I was a dimensional fae? Laz had administered the test himself. He'd declared me a water fae, just like ninety percent of my family.

Was it possible he was wrong?

He and I were the same age. Sure, he'd grown up in the supernatural world, so presumably Laz knew a lot more about elemental categorizations than I did. Still. Mistakes were inevitable. Maybe my being a dimensional fae explained a lot more than just how I'd shielded the cove from the vampires.

Professor Tartan made a clucking sound with her tongue as she graded my embarrassingly blank quiz. My cheeks grew flushed, and I wiped sweaty hands on my jeans.

“May I make a suggestion, Winter?” she asked, placing her red pen on top of my paper. “Arcane University is an excellent school. It is the best supernatural institution of higher learning in the country. Already, you are at a disadvantage from your life in the human world. I suggest you study harder. At least give yourself a fighting chance to do well here.”

She flicked her wrist across the desk, making the quiz paper rise and snap to attention.

“I expect next week's test to go better.”

That evening, I met Laz for dinner, questions still swirling in my head. He was over the moon about his Arena Games performance. After I left, he'd won first place, and everyone in the dining hall wanted to congratulate him.

“This means you definitely get to compete at the Night of Four Moons,” Astrid said when another round of well-wishers left. She grinned. “Guess we'll find out how good you really are against those wolves. I hear a bunch of the packs are putting teams together this year.”

Laz rolled his eyes, smile sardonic. “I can already tell you, I will not measure up against those jocks. So very scary.”

At the next table over, Ewan snorted into his macaroni and cheese.

“Where'd you go, Winter?” Astrid asked. “Didn't you want to stay to witness Laz's stunning victory?”

Laz frowned. “You missed my big win?” He held a hand to his chest. “That wounds me.”

“Yeah. Sorry. I had that quiz for Professor Tartan.”

That was the truth, of course. But not the entire truth. After the conversation with Kendall, I just hadn't been in the mood to jump around and cheer for a sport I didn't understand. Using the schoolwork excuse, I'd booked it out of the arena to think.

“How'd that go?” Laz asked.

I sighed and stabbed a piece of chicken with my fork. “Not great. I need to study more, to focus.”

“Don't feel bad.” Astrid took a long drink from her water bottle. “I used to fail her quizzes all the time. I still managed a passing grade for the class.”

Her attempt at commiseration didn't help. My mood was in the toilet, and I felt inexplicably determined to keep it there. It didn't help that the next person to arrive at our table didn't want to congratulate Laz, but came over to let me know Chancellor Keene wanted to see me immediately after dinner.

“Any idea what I should expect?” I asked Laz as we carried our trays to the conveyor belt.

He looked uneasy, like he was the one about to face his father. “He probably just wants to talk to you about what happened at the cove. They've been talking to everyone.”

“Morgan was with the chancellor and the council for two hours yesterday.” Astrid shivered as if the prospect of a lengthy question-and-answer session was so much worse than the attack we'd all witnessed. “They barely had questions for me, though.”

“Want me to go with you?” Laz offered.

I shook my head. “That's okay. Thank you, but I don't think that would be the wisest move. I'm a big girl, I can handle it.”

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