Page 75 of Faerie Gift

Dropping the manipulation, I stopped right in front of her, cradling the Augundae Imperium. “Why do you think I’m here?” I snapped. I couldn’t help myself. The night had worn me down to the bone.

Instead of getting mad, Barbara laughed. Tipped her head back and let out a big-bellied guffaw. “You have some spine, girl, I’ll give you credit. You’ve always been one to stand up to me even when I had a rifle leveled at your face. You remember? Too funny. Although you almost peed yourself.”

I highly doubted she wanted to stand there and chat with me. Did this line of teasing have a purpose? Probably to knock me off my guard.

“Give it here.”

I flinched at her sharp tongue. Barbara took the Augundae Imperium greedily, almost snatching it out of my hands. She stared at it for a long moment. Caressing it with gnarled and arthritic fingers like a woman with a long-lost letter from a lover.

“What are you going to do with it?” I asked her.

She shoved it down the front of her overalls and shrugged. “Whatever I feel like,” she said. “There is a world of possibilities. It all depends on what direction I decide to take.”

“I’m free from your debt now. Right?”

I needed to hear it from her. Needed the assurance that after tonight, we were done.

Barbara waved a hand and I felt something unchain inside of me. A tension I hadn’t been aware of, a bond keeping the two of us connected.

“There you are, kid. You’re free. But it was such a pleasure doing business with you.” Her tone dripped with honeyed sarcasm. “I’d do it again. Come see me.”

Then she vanished on a cackle, leaving behind the scent of stale cigarettes.

I stared at the spot where she’d stood. Feeling like I’d just made a very,verybig mistake.

25

My emotions were shredded. Fear and panic and guilt chewed at me, hard. A constant punch to the gut. I walked back to the castle with a hand pressed to my stomach, then my mouth, as though my crazed laughter would spill out and alert everyone to what I’d done.

The laughter turned into panicked breaths when I made it back to the dorm and found everyone asleep. I waited through the darkness into the morning in a constant state of dread for word to spread that the Augundae Imperium was missing. And might have had a heart attack when, at the end of several weeks, nothing had happened.

Not a damn thing.

Which meant my manipulation was still in effect. I wasn’t sure if I should be proud of myself—or terrified of what would come next.

During those several weeks I’d kept to myself more than usual, studying and preparing for the final round of competition among the first-years while trying not to go insane.

The end games. Fifty students competing for the final thirty-five spots.

At last, the final competition arrived and I hadn’t been able to eat. It was an all-day event the whole school watched, testing divided into three categories: written, oral, and practical.

I needed perfect marks in each event to ensure I secured my spot at the academy for next year, no room to leave anything to chance anymore. Especially not with the things I’d done.

Melia stood in front of my bunk and grabbed my face with both hands. Turning me so I had no choice but to face her. “Hey. Look at me.”

I forced a smile for her benefit, my teeth grinding together. “I’m looking at you.”

“Are you paying attention?” she questioned.

“Of courseI am. I’m making direct eye contact, aren’t I? You know I’m not so good at the multitasking business.” Dressed all in black, dark and grim, I felt like death walking on two legs. Or I would be the moment I made it off my bunk. For some reason, all I wanted to do was crawl back beneath my sheets and make a fort. Then stay there the rest of the day.

Then Melia said something unexpected, her gaze softening. “I spoke to my human family. My uncle and his new wife? And they’re willing to welcome you into our home for the summer. I know you don’t have anywhere to go, you can’t go back to your own home, and Uncle Russ is happy to welcome you into his. I mean, I won’t be there, but I’ll write to you every day.”

Floored by her kindness, I stared at Melia. Her grip lightened until her fingers stroked my shoulders, trying to soothe the tension in my muscles. My pulse drummed and thundered through every vein, every artery. I could hardly comprehend what she said and I wanted to cover my face before Melia saw me crying.

“Well? Say something,” she urged.

After the awful things I’d done this semester…I didn’t deserve it. Flushing, I raised my head. “Thank you.”

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