Page 79 of Faerie Gift

“It’s not that I didn’t feel safe,” I tried to tell him.

“You didn’t trust me.” Mike had turned his face away, his arms over his chest, his grin strained. The lightness in his tone rang false. I saw beneath it to the frustration boiling there. Frustration and insult.

“Idotrust you,” I said, staring at his profile and hating the strain in his lips, the crease between his eyebrows, because I knew I’d put it there. Not on purpose, never on purpose.

“You have to know I would be there for you, whatever you need, the way you’ve been there for me. I…I have feelings for you.”

My thoughts went still and when I could finally take a breath without my lungs convulsing, I said, “Wait. You do?”

He looked at me and nodded. “Yeah, I do. I thought I made it pretty clear. Just like you’ve made it clear there are pieces of you I’m not entitled to know about.”

“I’m sorry, Mike, it’s…well, you know. Transformation is a big deal.”

He looked me over with an odd stare that went over my head. I felt my cheeks blush.

“Well, of course it is! You should have come and talked to me about it. I mean, if you’re practicing an archaic magic not allowed at the academy, then there has to be a good reason for it. A reason you kept to yourself. And it really sucks you didn’t trust me enough to tell me.”

I blinked.Wait a minute.“It’s not just an archaic magic,” I insisted.

“It didn’t come up on your magic test. Did it?”

“What else do you know about transfiguration?”

Ike let out a measured breath and stiffened. “I know it’s hard to master. It’s rare, rarer than cognitive manipulation. An ancient magic most Fae do not use.”

“Anything else?”

“What is this really about?” he asked.

Okay, small mercy. Mike doesn’t know I’m a shifter. But I couldn’t let out a breath yet. A chill rushed up my arms. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I really am. I wasn’t sure how you would react to it and I didn’t want anything to change the way you thought about me.” Truth. Not the entire truth, but enough of it.

You could cut the tension with a knife. Suspicion crawled up my spine the longer he stared at me and my heart squeezed. In the time I’d known Mike, he’d struck me as warm-hearted, kind, compassionate to all he met. Now he was cold at the edges. Ready to tear apart my perception of him in an instant.

Mike continued to stare at me as though he wasn’t sure where to go with this conversation, what to think, what to say to me.

“It seems like we’re not on the same page this year,” he said at last.

I froze, unsettled by the harsh edge to his voice. “Maybe we’re just struggling to figure things out. But I have feelings for you too, Mike.” It was terrible to admit. Terrible and necessary. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I continued.

“Those boys looked like they wanted to hurtyou.”

Though I was quickly becoming skilled at disguising my emotions, I couldn’t hide them from Mike. “Yeah, the tall one’s brother is the same one who attacked me the other night.”

“Are you serious?”

“Sadly, I am serious. I guess he had words for me, words other people shouldn’t hear.”

Mike held out a hand. The smile I’d been waiting for finally flashed across his face, accompanied by a glint of white teeth. “Come on. I’m done being mad at you.”

Thank goodness. “Where are we going?”

“To get a snack before we move on to our oral exams.” Mike sighed and from the corner of my eye I saw him worrying the inside of his cheek. I could still feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of my head, so I took his hand and let him lead me toward the cafeteria. I pretended to be hungry. Even though I’d completely lost my appetite.

* * *

The snack I forced myself to eat helped a bit, but not enough for me to stop thinking about what had happened with those boys. And with Mike. It was another layer for me to work on peeling back. After exams, of course. My mind spun like a kaleidoscope on a merry-go-round.

The afternoon hours were slated for our oral exam, a one on one experience between teacher and student. I waited my turn to be called into the room on the second floor. Trying not to bite my nails. Alone, I kept watch for any more surprises.

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