Page 72 of Faerie Marked

We stood facing each other, my shoulders hunched with fatigue and taking precious inches away from my height until I stared at her collarbone instead of her face. She sighed. “Okay, I know better than to leave you because you most certainly won’t relax no matter how badly you need to. But you’re not going alone, either. I’m going to come with you because two heads are better than one. I can’t risk another attack on your life. The guy is probably still out there and you’re the top student now.”

“Fine.” I just wouldn’t touch the crystal ball. I could try and make the spell work without the physical contact.

“Do you need help?” Melia looked ready to scoop me into her arms and carry me toward the divination lab herself. She might have been able to, as well. The Fae were very strong.

I chuckled though it sounded more like asthmatic wheezing. “I’m okay. Thank you, though.”

I grabbed a hoodie and slung it over my shoulders as best I could. We walked side by side down the darkened halls, each of my steps strategically placed to avoid the shafts of moonlight coming through the windows. If Melia noticed anything strange about the way I moved she didn’t say so. I knew she could never understand why I avoided the moonlight without telling her everything.

The party felt like it had happened years ago. How much difference a few hours made. Broken bones and new revelations.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the door of the divination lab and I pushed it open with a creak of wood, inhaling the familiar scents of tea and bergamot.

If I could move past my fear and do this correctly, then I might have a solid lead tonight. And this would be over. I’d made sure to slip the detective’s business card into the pocket of my hoodie. Once I had a face, I could give the information to Wilson and let him handle the rest. He might not believe me but I had the sling and the bites to prove I’d been attacked. The rest would be up to him.

Then it would be done. No one else would be hurt and I’d be safe.

My arm ached and I tried to move past the pain.It will be over soon.

“Let’s go to my workstation,” I told Melia. I’d feel more comfortable there.

She looked smaller in the shadowed hush of the room. As though she’d shrunk in on herself instead of standing tall, the way I always expected her to look. “Do you have your crystal?”

“Yes. It’s in the drawer with the rest of my things. I haven’t touched it since the first day when it was covered with velvet.” We moved up the risers toward the second tier where Mike and Roman and I worked on a normal day.

Melia did the honors, removing the crystal ball from the drawer and balancing it on its pedestal. Finally, she removed the velvet cloth. The crystal ball gleamed with an inner light. I sat down and moved my free hand toward it, close but making sure to keep from contacting the surface.

“Clear your mind,” Melia reminded me as she settled at my side. “The energy connections are already there. Think about the bites, think about the attack, the way the man moved and the sensations he gave you.”

“The will to live,” I muttered. “I’ve never felt more like I had to fight for my life.” Okay, maybe I could think ofoneother time.

“Place the whole of your attention on the masked man and nothing but him. It will create a link to him and should be able to give you a glimpse of his face.”

“Without the mask? I’ve only seen him with his face covered.”

“We can only hope,” she said as she crossed her fingers.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. Trying to center myself when everything inside of me felt like a whirlwind I couldn’t contain. When I opened my eyes, I focused my gaze on the depths of the ball.

The only thing I hadn’t been able to do in my divination class. And still I’d managed to pass, managed to get to the top spot. I tried to focus on the man and the way he reached out to grab me after I kicked him. The way his black hood and mask obscured any recognizable features. I tried to focus on the feeling of his body when he tossed me over the edge of the ledge.

After a few minutes of focus, the interior of the ball still remained empty. Blank.Do not pass GO and do not collect two hundred dollars, I thought ruefully. Maybe my exhaustion was blocking the way.

“I did tell you I’ve never been able to conjure an image from the ball, right?” I reminded Melia.

She blew out a breath, clearly unwilling to listen to my excuses. “I know you say you have your allergy thing, but it’s going to work a whole lot better if you touch the ball. You need the connection; it’s the only way we’ll be able to find out who this guy is. One touch and then you can heal later.”

“I can’t,” I told her with a pleading gaze.

“It’s just the graze of a fingertip to establish the connection—”

“No, I reallycan’t.” My eyes went supernova with pleading. “You don’t understand. This isn’t just something I don’twantto do. There are going to be serious repercussions if I touch this quartz.” I didn’t have any vials of potion left. I needed to be extra careful—super duper extra careful—until I had the chance to get back to Barbara the witch for more.

“Tavi,” Melia replied with a shake of her head and a tone full of exasperation, “I have literally never heard of a quartz crystal allergy. I know you say you have issues with it but I doubt a few seconds of touching quartz is going to do any serious or long-term damage. Don’t you want to catch this guy?”

“Why can’t you just understand? This is somethingI can’t do?”Dial back the hysterics, I warned myself.

“Because it’s ridiculous!” she exclaimed. “You want to catch this guy or not? You want to do what you can to stop him from hurting you and hurting other people? He’s already killed two students! Two! And he tried to kill you! He needs to be stopped. Just touch the dang crystal.”

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