Page 78 of Faerie Marked

“Oh, sure you are.” I didn’t have to force the anger into my voice. All I had to do was think about how they’d sat at a different table tonight.It should have been me, Mike had said after the results of the lottery. Yeah, I didn’t have to work at my frustration at all.

“You look terrible—” Mike cut off when I swiveled to glare at him. “I mean, no, that’s not what I mean. I’m just saying you look a little beat up.”

“Thank you so much for your observation, Michael.” I brushed him aside, the haunting worry in his gaze following me. “I’m going outside for some air. Please leave me alone.”

The boys fell away and I continued my walk alone. Alone outside with my not-broken arm and no weapons. But I knew I had allies waiting nearby, my favorite blue-skinned nurse and werewolf detective, plus extras working for the police force, all prepared to help me when the masked killer arrived.

And he surely would. This was the perfect time to make a move.

I stopped on the front steps of the castle with my hands cupped in front of my face to warm them against the early winter frost. I fought against the chill crawling along my skin. Turning my face to the moon, I noticed with a jolt I no longer needed to fear the moonlight. Garlic yes, but not moonlight. I could walk outside under the dark night sky without protecting my skin.

It felt like a homecoming.

The nurse’s potion was very different from the one I’d received from Barbara. She hadn’t given me any other objects or situations to avoid outside of those I already knew. I wondered if I’d be safe from quartz now or if I’d still have to worry about divination—

God, when Marsh found out what I’d done to her divination lab, with the broken shards of crystal… Or maybe she already had. I was going to be in for a world of hurt. And stripped of points. Alotof points.

There went my number one status. Ah well, easy come easy go, right?

My breath blew out in a white cloud of mist in front of my face. The night was cold, winter setting its claws into the land as December rolled around. The thin school blazer I wore did nothing to protect me from the chill.

I thought about the moon and how I’d missed her.My lady. Although my shifter senses were still dulled under the effects of the potion, I could feel my wolf beneath my skin. A part of me stretching lazily and relishing the buttery-soft silver rays from overhead.

I didn’t have the luxury of those kinds of thoughts. Not now. It was showtime.

I drew on the constant low level of anxiety I’d harbored since arriving at the academy, using it to add an aura of fear to my person. The killer was a shifter. He would be able to smell my terror. It would draw him.

Yes.

My sneakers crunched along the partially frozen grass of the front lawn as I stepped away from the relative safety of the castle. Outside of the light cast from the lanterns along the exterior wall.

It didn’t take long for our guy to make his move.

Footsteps sounded behind me, muffled to try and keep me from sensing him. They drew closer. I heard them and turned slowly to see a man approaching me, tall and thick across the shoulders with suitable menace in each step. A one on one shakedown. I knew what he wanted, I knew he was stronger, and I knew he wouldn’t stop until I was gone for good.

“I knew you would show up,” I told him. Turning fully to face him and seeing the same mask, the same build as the one who’d knocked me around last night.

The last of my fear disappeared. This ended now. I wasn’t sure and I couldn’t see through the thick material of the mask, but I could have sworn I caught the hint of a smile, like an animal before a fight. This was about to get ugly.

He didn’t speak. Just continued to stare at me.

“Are you going to try to hurt me again?” I asked. “I saytrybecause you obviously didn’t get the job done last time.”

The taunt bounced off of him without eliciting a response. How long would it take for Detective Wilson to come out? Where was the rest of his team?

Seconds ticked by and nothing happened.

“You have a lot of nerve, coming after me where people could see you. Aren’t you worried someone will come outside and catch you?” I tried again, raising my voice to make sure my backup could hear.

Wilson,come on!

I glanced around toward the side of the castle where the team was supposed to be waiting. They were. I noticed three figures standing directly in front of the stone foundation, facing away from me with a blue nimbus around each of their heads. I tuned in to the stench of magic around us.

Glamoured.

My backup had been glamoured, an unbreakable spell until the caster decided to end it.

“Oh, no.” My stomach dropped.

---