Page 43 of Faerie Gift

Mike spoke in a patient and measured tone. “It’s good you’re staying safe.”

“We’re certainly trying.”

Ah, now I understood his look. He’d been trying to feel them out as well. I wondered what he’d picked up on, and whether it was the same as the tiny details I stored away for later. The way they clustered together. The way everyone but Zinnia refused to make eye contact. The slight sheen of sweat on Saffron’s cheeks despite the chill in the air.

This whole thing was like moving pieces on a chessboard. One move forward and three back. Careful or you might lose your queen.

I worked hard to unclench my teeth and enjoy the fact the four of us were actually talking.

We continued the conversation for a few moments longer until one of their chaperones arrived, barking out something in French I couldn’t follow. A prim woman, she clapped her hands together for attention. It left no room for misinterpretation no matter what language she spoke.

In front of her, one of the students rolled their eyes, and Zinnia and Saffron hung their heads. Their chaperone waited, her arms over her chest, ready for them to follow whatever order she’d given.

“I’m sorry, Tavi,” Zinnia said at last. “Our teachers don’t want us spending time or speaking with you anymore.”

That reinforced what I’d overheard in the library. “I get it. Sure. No need to get involved or make friends because your group is only here temporarily.”

Zinnia worried her bottom lip. “Yes. But they’re saying to avoidallacademy students because that’s simpler than saying to avoid—” She stopped abruptly, conscious of the chaperone’s presence and no doubt afraid she’d said too much already, and only pierced me with a look that left nothing open to interpretation.

I stared at her for a full five seconds, making sure my jaw didn’t hang open, before I finally spoke. “Wait…what?”

“I’m sorry. So sorry. Take care.” She waved, a timid gesture, then took off in a rush toward their dorms.

“What was that all about?” Mike asked at their retreating forms. His eyes sparked a bit.

We watched them go, more confused than we were before. “I don’t understand,” I said.

“Clearly they think we did something wrong.”

“Don’t even go there,” I warned.

Why were those chaperones so dead set on keeping their students from mingling with the rest of us? Wasn’t the whole point of their stay here to get to know us? And even worse, from what I’d just witnessed and Zinnia had spilled, it wasn’t just the mingling with academy students they were being cautioned against, but more specifically against mingling withme.

I sighed, leaning back against the wall and allowing Mike to loop an arm over my shoulder. Under normal circumstances I would have enjoyed the contact and the easy way he touched me. My only saving grace tonight was how Mike appeared as shaken as I was.

Could this whole deal have something to do with the Augundae Imperium? Did they somehow know that I was looking for it, determined to take it for my own reasons?

I didn’t know, but I was ready to find out.

Whatever the consequences.

15

The school waited with bated breath to see if the detectives found any leads, clues, or possible persons of interest for Professor Reeds’ murder.

They did not.

When nothing happened, we all hesitantly moved forward with classes, though the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Wilson didn’t have anything to say about it, either, and carried out his interview with me with a grim sort of dissatisfaction.

“I’ll let you know if we find anything,” he told me on my way out. Then crooked a finger for Mike to enter the office and give his statement.

Done. Over like I hadn’t stumbled over a half-eaten body for thesecondtime. I walked out of the office in a daze.

What were the chances? These kinds of things I couldn’t make up, honestly. I lacked the imagination.

The exchange students…we barely saw them anymore. They must have damn near gone into isolation. They no longer sat in on academy classes and didn’t even eat with us in the cafeteria.

Whatever the old chaperone had snarled at Zinnia and Saffron must have been a warning given to all the kids, a warning to stay away from the rest of us. It even had me wondering if I’d been mistaken in thinking I’d been singled out. And no way to test that theory since they avoided all of us.

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