Page 46 of Faerie Marked

A month of classes at the Halflings Academy passed alarmingly fast, bringing us closer to the elimination where the school culled the weak links, and I prayed I wasn’t one of them. The first year, as I found out, focused mostly on book work and history until fall break would bring the first cull, followed by a shift in emphasis to spell work and magic.

Magic… The thought excited me.

Unfortunately, I’d never been good at book work. I had a terrible memory and a bad track record with taking tests. Uncle Will had lamented my unfortunate memory many evenings during my internship with his firm, where most of his coworkers had taken to leaving sticky notes of reminders for me to find.Everywhere.

I’d once found a note on the inside of the women’s bathroom stall reminding me to order ink for the office printer.

If I couldn’t remember to order ink then how could I be expected to pass a test on Faerie history and lore? It was all new to me.

Notes wouldn’t help me here. I spent every waking moment of those first four weeks studying, deep in the books and doing my best to memorize everything, and maintaining a constant low level of anxiety. At least my hair wasn’t falling out. Yet.

Fall break would be the first real test to see if I belonged, I thought, biting my nails yet again, surrounded by books.

If I failed now, I had nowhere to go. Nowhere else to turn. So far, luck had been on my side. I hadn’t sensed an inkling of Kendrick Grimaldi or any other member of either pack. There were no more killings, and though Persephone remained an annoyance I found if I stuck to the library when I studied, I rarely saw her.

It became my personal sanctuary.

I also hadn’t heard from Detective Wilson since my interview, nor seen him sniffing around the castle. His business card burned a hole in my pocket all the way back to the dorm and I ended up sticking it into the box with the rest of my potions. It sat there, a reminder, when I opened the lid every thirteen days.

Talk about the dead student in the tree eventually died down and became old news, Loudon’s identity known but the murder unsolved. The police hadn’t found a shred of evidence leading to a culprit. Soon the speculations were only a low simmer as the rest of my class stuck their noses to the books and got down to work.

We all wanted a place here.

Everyone felt the same kind of pressure I did, the pressure to make the cut and move on to our second semester. Outside, the trees began to change color from emerald green—the same color as Mike’s eyes—to dappled shades of red and orange and yellow with the approaching autumn.

Then we were two weeks into October.

The only real problem I’d run into was the food. The damn food—I’d found out the hard way—I couldn’t eat because the academy chef loved garlic the way some people loved chocolate, and the more time passed the more garlic he added to every single dish. I ended up having a salad and fruit most days because I couldn’t take the chance anything else contained his precious garlic.

The big day arrived, and I spent more time than I wanted hyperventilating in a panic. I muttered a curse, struggling to take deep breaths thanks to our laundry service overly starching academy uniforms, the seams and creases too crisp to make for easy movement. The fabric scratched at me. Everywhere.

“Don’t be nervous,” Melia soothed, walking beside me on the way to the auditorium where first-years would be tested.

“How can I not be nervous?” I asked breathlessly. “This is the make or break moment. I’m going to pass out. I can’t breathe.”

She blew a raspberry designed to lighten the mood. “You don’t have to think about it in those terms. This isn’t your make or break moment.”

“Don’t I?” I said with a fake laugh, attempting to moisten my dry mouth. “You’re safe. You’re already almost out of here and on your way toward earning a spot in Faerie.”

“But I remember being in your position,” she replied. “I remember being so crazy out of my mind, I wanted to rip my hair out. In fact, I did. I ended up with a tiny nickel-sized bald spot above my right ear. And you know what?”

“What?”

“It didn’t help me pass my exams. It took forever for the hair to grow back and I had myself going crazy for no reason.” Melia stopped and grabbed me by the shoulders to make her point. “Just concentrate onyou. Forget everyone else, forget about the competition aspect of the process. That’s what the professors want you to focus on. They want you worried about everyone else so they have you stressing and they can weed out the weak. Focus on you and your literature because it’s the only way to get through it. Keep your mind sharp and your wits about you.”

I pressed against my roiling stomach. “You tell me this now? Exams are literally five minutes away.”

“Then get in there and kick a little butt, baby girl. You got this!” She sent me on my way with a playful swat on the rear and a smile. It did nothing to settle my nerves but I appreciated her enthusiasm.

Melia believed in me. I couldn’t let her down.

The oddity of the situation struck me as I took a seat, a quill popping out of the air in front of me along with a bottle of black ink. Months earlier I’d planned on finishing up school with the rest of my class, regular shifters like I’d pretended to be. With my friends Dawn and Jason, and together we’d make our plans for the future. College choices. Majors. Normal things.

Now look at me.

The rest of the auditorium went quiet and the silence had mass. It had depth and substance. At one point I remember looking out across the space and trying to find Mike’s familiar head. I wondered how he felt about the tests, and if he did poorly, would his parents force the school to keep him here or would he have to be cut like any other person?

But those thoughts wouldn’t help me pass. They didn’t help me in the least.

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