Page 73 of Faerie Gift

I was whole. I was myself again.

Stronger than the average bear, I reminded myself, and rubbed my hands as I turned to face the artifact.

Having the glamour gone gave my body a fighting chance to heal itself from the abuse. To strengthen me using this half of my genetics which I’d been forced to hide. I straightened my spine, everything aligning the way it was supposed to as I stretched for a brief moment.

The Augundae Imperium…at last. I stared at it, getting my breath back, my body healing with each passing second.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Couldn’t wait to turn it over to Barbara and negate her threats, regardless of what she intended to do with it. That wasn’t my concern. My concern was simple survival, and right now that meant graduating from the academy and escaping into Faerie. If this was the only way to stay on my path, well, so be it.

I was almost home free. Wouldn’t it be awful if someone walked in right now? I thought with a low chuckle, hands on my hips as I studied the artifact.

The door knob began to jiggle. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

24

Iused every bit of my returning strength to throw a cognitive manipulation over my body the moment I heard the hinges creak, hoping I was fast enough to avoid detection.

You see nothing. No one is here.I am invisible.Hidden from your eyes.

The magic settled over me as the door opened and one of the chaperones walked inside, her gaze traveling the room.Jesus, it was the same woman who had found me the first time around. Professor Arlena.

She was nothing if not persistent.

I didn’t know if she was patrolling to make sure the Augundae Imperium was safe, or if something inside the room set off their alarms. I couldn’t take any chances. She clearly had good senses if she knew something was up tonight and decided to investigate.

Staying still beneath my glamour, I watched her step closer. Her nostrils widened as her gaze raked the floor. Too close to me. How did she know? My heart began to beat hard enough to split my ribs open, panic tightening my chest and making it difficult to draw air into my lungs.

My manipulation was good for eyesight. I knewthatmuch because it had been the subject of my first test—the desk “lions.” Yet I knew the true power of my gift lay in the ability to manipulate all five senses. Touch, taste, smell, all of it. I had to make sure she really believed me to the point where even if she physically ran into me, she would think she felt nothing at all. Heaven help me. Tonight wasnotthe night for this kind of trial.

If Professor Arlena knocked into me now, I feared the spell would crash and burn and I’d be caught. I could do nothing to hide my physical presence, invisible or not, and she would feel me there instantly. Just my luck she’d sense my magic and catch me in the act.

I held my breath as she continued to circle the room, her black hair slicked back and her gaze narrowed.

Howhad she known the room was compromised?

A final look around the Augundae Imperium assured her everything remained the way she’d left it, and she walked back out the door, closing and locking it behind her. I felt a push of magic seal it with a warding spell and at last I let out a breath. Dropping the manipulation immediately and flexing my fingers to make sure I could still feel them.

A shiver ran through me. Wow, another close one. It seemed I lived on adrenaline these days. A constant diet would sooner leave silver streaks in my hair than sustain me.

At least now I felt better physically, my shifter side giving me vigor and working to fix whatever the transfiguration had done to my insides. Blood stained my clothing because I’d worked hard to not leave a trail behind me. A probe against my nostrils assured me the bleeding had finally stopped.

With the spell to keep me hidden dropped entirely, I approached the Imperium, sending my senses out to seek. To see what kind of enchantments protected the artifact.

Surely our friends from Canada thought whatever Fae magic they put in place would keep the would-be thieves from leaving the room with the Augundae Imperium.

They’d never met me before.

I smiled to myself. I wasn’t one of the top five students for nothing.

The first layer included a ward designed to burn whoever tried to break it. A tricky little spell, but I knew there had to be a backdoor, a secret way to unravel the magic without suffering the consequences. Every spell could be undone if only you found a way around the wording.

This one had been taught to us in charms class. My smile grew when I located the chink in the spell, a tiny little knot of energy like a maker’s signature. Someone had gotten cocky. They’d left a mark on the magic and I unraveled it with only a tiny flash of heat in my fingertips.

The second layer was a little trickier. I sensed rather than knew for certain it had an element of time attached to the spell. Any mistake on the first try and it would send up a screeching alarm to alert anyone in the vicinity of the thievery. I considered it for a moment, letting my magic probe. Look for the weakness not in the spell itself but in whoever had cast it.

My wolf bared her teeth. The Fae were masterminds when it came to spells and charms, their magic inherent and tied to the earth itself. I had extra power on my side. Wolves, for the most part, had their own built-in defenses against this type of magic. It put me in a unique position to break through spells as well as cast them, if I chose.

I got through the second spell and into a spider’s web of pure crap.

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