Page 28 of Faerie Gift

“Not to worry,” she said at what must have been my horrified expression. “We’re going to figure this out. What did you say she wanted?”

I hadn’t. I told Melia then, probably bungling the name from my poor memory.

The two of us rushed to the library, both still in our pajamas but at that early hour unlikely to be observed. artifacts. With her amazing memory, it wasn’t long before she recalled a specific book on ancient artifacts, which was soon located among a group of dusty undisturbed tomes.

“Look under A. It started with an A, I think,” I told her. “August something? Augustus Imperial? No, that’s not it. I hate myself right now.”

“Why don’t you use your cognitive manipulation to convince yourself you have a good memory?” Melia muttered with a smile—to lessen the sting of her words, more than likely. “It might be the best shot we have at this point.”

“You know, that’s not a bad idea. I’ll look into it later. If I remember.”

It took a few more moments before we found an entry in the table of contents.

“TheAugundae Imperium?” she asked.

Something snapped into place in my mind. “Yes, that’s it, exactly!” We flipped to the right page and I held the book open. My blood went cold as I read the description. “The Augundae Imperium: an artifact that siphons magical power from anything or anyone it touches.”

Oh no. Not good. Not goodat all.

Melia took up where I left off. “It can effectively strip and collect the magic from any object or talisman, as well as drain magic power from any witch, Fae, or other creature with such powers, storing it inside the body of the box itself for use at a later date. To the wielder goes the entirety of the siphoned magic.”

We both stared at the entry for a moment longer. I blinked, as though hoping it would make what we’d just read better. Nope, not better.

Melia laid her hand on the open book and turned to me, shaking her head. “Tavi, this is not good. This is not good at all.” She was echoing my own earlier thought. “I mean, assuming that our fellow students from Canada evenhavethe artifact…what does Barbara want with it? Can you trust her with something this powerful?”

I worried my lower lip. No, I didn’t know what she wanted to do with the artifact, and no, I couldn’t trust her with it. Not even a little bit.

“I don’t have a choice,” I said with resignation. “I have to get her what she wants because I signed the contract and a deal is a deal.”

“What do you know about the contract? Did you read it?” Melia pressed.

I wanted to slap myself. “No, I didn’t have a chance to read it. More like the quill popped out of thin air and I just signed my life away. Hindsight, right?”

No amount of joking made this situation any better.

Melia turned to the description of the artifact again. I wished for a picture. “What if we spent a little time trying to figure out how to break your contract?” she asked.

“It’s not going to do any good. Barbara wants the August—”

“Augundae Imperium.”

“—nowand I can’t chance what she’ll do if I don’t get it for her. She threatened to tell the school my secret. I can’t give up my chance to get into Faerie.” My voice rose with something akin to hysteria intoonly audible to dogsterritory.

Kendrick was waiting for me if I didn’t leave. Kendrick Grimaldi, the bloody alpha of the Grimaldi pack who would stop at nothing to press me under his proverbial—and literal—thumb. A lifetime of brutal domination was what I’d have to look forward to.

Not to mention whatever consequences I’d face if I backed out on my promise. Barbara had said she’d squeal on me but I had a feeling that was only part of it and her retribution would make Hell look like a good alternative. I shivered.

Melia let out a long, low sigh. “I understand, girl, but this is bad. This is extremely bad and I don’t know of any way to sugarcoat it for you.”

“I understand. I just have no clue how to get out of this. The best route seems to be giving Barbara what she wants. And if the Imperi-thingy is with the exchange students, then their dorm is where I need to start.”

We read the rest of the text pertaining to the artifact but learned little more from it; there wasn’t a sketch or a drawing of the “box” so I didn’t know where to start beyond the obvious.

“Look,” Melia said, “if the exchange students brought it with them from Canada, then it isn’t going to be sitting on a table in plain sight, I guarantee. They’re going to hide it and use a crap-ton of spells and wards to keep it contained and safe. They won’t want anyone to find it. It will be protected. Measures like you’ve never seen before.”

“I know,” I agreed. Then closed the book because I didn’t want to look anymore. My eyes hurt. “Not to mention it could be a danger tothemin the wrong hands. They all have magic too, right? So it’s critical that the box is secure. I’ll think about breaking the spells when we get to that point. First things first. Doing a little recon and finding out exactly where and how they have it hidden.”

“Well, well. Good morning! I had a feeling I would find you here.” Mike sauntered up to us wearing his school blazer and a big grin that had me instantly melting. “What are you two doing huddled in the library this early? You know you missed breakfast, and classes start in fifteen minutes.” He stopped. “Wait, why are you still in your pajamas?”

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