Page 88 of The Cursed Fae

“Take it from the girl who buried her best friend yesterday—you need to learn to use your magic responsibly. Playing at the beach with my brother is not doing anyone any favors.”

She stomped out of the room, and I finished getting ready for class.

My next confrontation came from Astrid. She was a lot nicer about it, but her message was the same as my roommate’s. I was messing with things I didn’t understand. The words carried more weight coming from her.

“I’ve screwed up, too,” Astrid told me at lunch. “Big time. That’s why I’m super careful about when I use magic.” We sat alone at a table by the window. She glanced at the nearby diners before leaning closer. “What I did the other night was a controlled risk. I have a lot of experience with that spell.” She took a deep breath, expression softening. “Your energy was ridiculously low. I don’t think you appreciate how close you were to the edge.”

Tina had made me realize how dangerous it had been, but she’d failed to impart the severity of the consequences. Evidently, Astrid didn’t tell anyone about the infusion.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “And I’m sorry. It was not my finest hour.”

She squeezed my hand. “Hey. It’s okay. We all make mistakes. This is just bigger than most,” she teased.

I blinked back tears. Why hadn’t I asked Laz more questions about the spell?

“Luckily, I was there to be your white knight,” she continued, trying to lighten my mood.

“Thank you,” I said again, because once didn’t seem sufficient.

Astrid squeezed my hand. “Stop thanking me. It’s weird.”

I cracked a smile, and then something occurred to me.

“Can I ask you a question?”

She stiffened and wrinkled her nose. “I don’t feel great about where this conversation is going, but sure. Why not?”

“Did you give Missy magic? Is that why you know the spell so well?”

She blinked a few times, and I braced myself for an angry reaction. Astrid started laughing loudly enough to draw the attention of the nearby tables. Awkward laughter bubbled up in my throat, and I giggled as if I understood the joke.

Astrid took a long drink from her water bottle to let the looky-loos return to their meals. Once everyone stopped peering at us, I leaned in. “Why is that so funny?”

She pretended to wipe a tear from her lashes. “You make it sound like donating blood.” My wide-eyed stare made her laugh again. “My dad gets transfusions at the hospital. We don’t broadcast it, but it’s not exactly a secret.”

It took me a minute to realize why Astrid thought I might know that. My ghostly friend.

“Missy has barely told me anything,” I admitted. “She’s the reason I was at the cove, though. I went there to summon Ray for her.”

Confiding in her could backfire, and I held my breath while I waited for her to say something.

“Look. Let’s not talk about this here. Let’s hang out in my room after dinner. Morgan has a thing with her brother.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

The third lecture of the day came from Professor Canterwald. Chancellor Keene told her about the ingredients Laz had swiped. Even though she wasn’t aware of the ghost-summoning-gone-wrong, she had a lot to say.

“Thank Gaia you did not attempt that spell,” she said from her desk chair.

I frowned. “How do you know I didn’t?”

“Because you’re standing here in front of me.” She shook her head. “Advanced casting isn’t safe for a novice.”

I bristled. The spell had worked. Sort of. Tons of ghosts had showed up…just not the right one.

My fingers went to the necklace Nana had given me. I’d donned it reluctantly, but keeping it on wasn’t such a bad idea.

“Is it the type of spell that could deplete someone?” I asked, trying to make the question sound educational, like I was simply hoping to learn more about the supernatural world.

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