Page 27 of Faerie Marked

“Are you a member of one of the courts?” I asked him cautiously. I knew about the courts, at least. Faerie was divided into Seelie and Unseelie, one considered dark and the other light. Then I remembered what Elfwaite had told me about shades of gray and wondered again where Mike fit into the picture.

He shook his head until strands of gold obscured the side of his face. “No, I’m not a member of any court. My family is older than the courts, older than most of the High Lords and Ladies of Faerie. We try to stay neutral.” Then he stopped as though unwilling to say more.

I chuckled to break up the tension. “And here I thought my family was something because my uncle is a lawyer.”

It wasn’t exactly giving anything away, but it was enough to keep the conversation rolling.

“Hey, being a lawyerisa big deal,” Mike answered with gravity.

“I guess it doesn’t extend to children though, does it?” I joked. “Or any kind of niece or nephew.”

He glanced over, studying me as much as he could without taking his attention from the road. “I don’t know. You seem like something to me.”

Oh, my word, was I flirting with a murderer? I highly doubted my initial impression of Mike was accurate, but still…

Lingering mortification over what I’d said took hold of me and I pressed a hand to my chest. “Well, good,” I replied, trying to ignore my embarrassment. “Nice of you to say.”

At least Mike appeared amused. “You’dhaveto be something to get the invite to the academy. Never forget.”

“Gotcha. I’ll try not to.” Another glance in his direction. I couldn’t stop looking at him. “Are you looking forward to starting?”

He mumbled some noncommittal response though laughter still danced on his face.

“Ah, the truth comes out! You aren’t excited to start at all. You were right about the nerves.” I started to laugh, the habitual snort airing at the end until I slapped a hand over my mouth to stop it.

He shrugged and shot me a devilish smile. “It’s school, isn’t it? If I told you I was excited for school, you’d think me either a liar or an asshole.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and wondered at the twists and turns the night had taken. We passed the time with conversation flowing from subject to subject without delay.

At last, Mike jerked his head toward the windshield. “Here we are.”

It still didn’t hit home, not really, not even as we drove up to the ancient metal gates with the academy logo welded into the wrought iron, a swirling design I couldn’t quite understand although I saw it clearly, even in the dark.

“We have reached our final destination,” Mike stated with cheerful ease. “The Fae Academy for Halflings and our new home, if we can make it through the probationary period.”

“It doesn’t look like they’re expecting anyone to come in at this hour.” I stared at the gates and felt my insides shift. Too bad I had no clue whether it was good or bad. “Are you sure we’re allowed to be here?”

Great wide tree trunks kept the majority of the place from view. Stars were bright overhead and I thought I saw the rising turrets of the castle through the night. Fifty acres, though…plenty of room to hide the magical occupants.

“Most new students don’t generally arrive past midnight, unless you’reus. I guess we are crazy after all.” Mike pulled to a stop and flipped up the parking brake to keep the car in place. When I lifted my brow in silent inquiry, he continued with, “Don’t worry though, there should always be someone up. I’ll try the intercom. There has to be a night guard on duty who can let us inside.”

The realization hit me like a wave at the beach when my back was turned. Mike slid out of the driver’s seat and I remembered I hadn’t taken my potion yet to hide my wolf shifter nature, and here we stood at the doorstep of the campus.

Dammit.

Thank goodness he hadn’t seen me in direct light. Maybe I should be grateful the conversation kept him distracted, otherwise his magic might have sensed something off about me.

I had to hurry.

“I’m just going to grab something out of my bag,” I called out to Mike, stopping short on the other side of the car.

“Yeah, go ahead. I’m still trying to figure out how to get the gate to open. Do you think the whole campus is protected by magic? It wasn’t part of my reading. They’ve got to have wards in place. Right?”

I had no clue, and ignored this line of questioning.

The case was buried in my large case under the rest of my things. Hands shaking, I pulled at the zipper and tossed my clothes to the side, sparing a look over my shoulder to make sure Mike’s attention remained on the gate.

Hurry.

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