Page 42 of Faerie Marked

I raised my arm to the sky with the scroll in hand yet again.

This time,thiswin, Mike came over and grabbed me around the waist. “You’re doing a great job! What did I tell you?” he crowed to the others as he twirled me in a circle. “How did you get so good?”

“Natural talent.”

I was breathless. I was floating and flying in his arms and I never wanted the moment to end. We tumbled to the ground beside each other and the dampness sank into my clothing. My arms flung out to my side, fingertips grazing against something as I stared at Mike, at his smile.

Whatever my outflung hand had found felt familiar. What… A shoe?

I broke his hold on me and pushed up on my elbows to grab the shoe, staring for the longest time. I glanced down at my own feet to see if I’d accidentally knocked my own sneakers off during the game. Mine were still there, and so were Mike’s, as well as the rest of the group.

“Whose is this?” I asked, holding it up. “Someone lose a shoe?”

Mike shifted to stare at the shoe, and then to take the same inventory I’d taken. Nope, not one of ours. I was about to toss it away when something else caught my eye, flopping back onto the wet grass as I slowly raised my other arm and pointed straight up.

Lodged in the tree above us was a body. Dead, from the looks of it.

15

Ididn’t remember which of the girls screamed. Might even have been me.

I didn’t remember anyone going to fetch Headmaster Leaves, bringing him out along with some of the other professors. I didn’t remember being instructed not to touch anything, although that wouldn’t have been my first inclination, I was sure.

I also didn’t remember being shuffled back to the dorm along with the rest of the girls and changing out of my drenched clothing, unable to stop shivering, the whole of me filled with the heavy lead weight of dread. The rest of the night was a blur until the sun rose, the headmaster making sure the rest of the class kept a healthy distance from us until we could be questioned by the authorities.

The rain had stopped finally. I realized when I followed the rest of the girls into the auditorium for the second time in as many weeks to speak to the headmaster, who demanded an explanation though I knew the detectives who were still on the scene hadn’t found much beyond the identity of the body.

The boy we’d found in the tree last night turned out to be the top candidate for the first-year class, or so rumor had it. From the tone of his voice, even Headmaster Leaves had expected the deceased boy to be the top of our class by the first elimination, with a clear path to earning his place not only at the academy but in Faerie.

Those dreams were stolen from him and yet no one could figure out a motive. It was a waste of life. A waste of talent.

I didn’t understand why either, and it scared me.

Wasn’t it supposed to be safe here? Wasn’t this place my escape from my one true danger in this world: the ceremonial binding to a man who would torment me for his own amusement?

I tried not to think about those things as I sat down next to Melia in the cafeteria afterward. She saw them on my face anyway.

“You look like you’ve seen better days,” she said at once, raising her gaze and chewing as she stared at me. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Not much,” I admitted. Rubbing the side of my head, I went on to say, “I’m the one who first saw the guy, Mel. Sweet dreams aren’t exactly on the menu tonight.”

“Yeah, I understand, but you’re going to have a hard time getting through your classes if you don’t sleep.” She watched me shuffle in my seat, uneasy.

I scratched my head. “I’m sorry. I’m a little bit preoccupied with things lately.”

“No one blames you.”

I glanced up at the familiar voice. Mike and Roman stood there for a moment before settling into the empty seats across from us.

“It was a wild night,” Roman agreed. “The police came to our dorm room and went through Loudon’s things. Took most of them away as evidence.”

“You…you…” Melia snapped her jaw open and shut. They’d never sat with us before. It left her visibly surprised and tongue-tied for the first time since I’d met her.

“A dead student,” I mused, my hands still clenched on my lunch tray. “I’m not surewildnightreally covers things. Try insane. Ridiculous. Scary.”

“It came as a shock to everyone,” Roman said. “Poor Loudon. He was a really great person.”

“Does anyone know what really happened? I mean, have they examined the body?”

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