Page 20 of Faerie Trials

Better for me.

I had a bottle of water with me and I measured out an entire teaspoon, chugging it down with a wince. It didn’t taste terrible but it wasn’t exactly candy, either. It left a strange gritty feeling on my tongue and I smacked my lips to try and get rid of the taste.

“You look like you swallowed a lemon.”

I wasn’t surprised to see Mike walking through the aisles between two bookshelves.

“Close enough,” I told him, still trying to get rid of the taste. “Vitamin supplement.”

He didn’t seem bothered. “You also look like you’re reading something you would rather not be and it’s giving you a headache.”

I set my palm on the book and smiled at him, the sort of tired smile you give when you’ve been pegged correctly. “I’m transparent, then,” I said. And then glanced down at the words that, thankfully, were no longer blurring together. Wow, the brain boost worked quickly! “I’m trying to figure out a little more information on the disintegration and reformation of the fairy court system. Especially since you once told me your family pre-dated the courts.”

Mike’s lips pursed as he grabbed the chair across from me, pulling it out and turning it around so he could straddle it and lean his arms across the flat back. “Some pretty heavy stuff.”

I nodded. The powder made quick work of my brain fog. I already felt my senses sharpening and my focus returning. “Absolutely. Still, I wanted to know more about Dorian Jade,” I said.

I wished I could tell him about the murders, but I couldn’t, not without revealing the Claw & Fang right along with my shifter nature. Those were the two things I absolutely needed to keep hidden at all costs. Even from Mike. Or maybe especially from Mike.

Kind of a bad situation.

Mike stared at me before slowly shaking his head. He even flashed me an eye roll for good measure. “I know how you get when you’re curious about something. You’ll research it to death.”

I threw a quill at him. “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

“Never a bad thing. But there really isn’t much information on Dorian Jade and I don’t want you spending all of your winter hours holed up in the library.” Mike took hold of the quill, the slender stem dwarfed in his large hand, and magicked it back to me with a flick of his wrist and a muttered word. It floated through the air, making designs as it went, before landing smartly next to my arm.

Was it my imagination, or had one of the designs been a heart?

I might have melted right there.

At least we were alone in the library. None of his stuck-up friends were around to see us and ruin the moment. They wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this because they were too concerned about their image. Full-blood Fae didn’t need to research or concern themselves with dusty old books. They had enough magic and knowledge and power at their fingertips so that they breezed right through classes, let alone these stupid upcoming Trials.

I leaned closer to Mike and said, “Youaren’t the least bit curious? I mean, he’s built a wall cutting your land in half. That’s a pretty big cause for concern. Don’t you want to know why? Or what’s on the other side?”

“Of course I’m curious! But I know my father and I know the grip he and the Elder Council have on the situation.” Mike shrugged, and I watched him lick his lips. Remembered how delightfully warm they’d felt against mine. I swallowed. “But if they aren’t concerned, then I don’t see the need to worry.”

I nibbled at my own lips. “Ah, but I didn’t say worry. I said curious. There is a big difference between the two.”

“Is there?” Mike reached out to tug on one of the loose strands of hair falling down my cheek.

“There is,” I told him with mock seriousness, although I felt the way my nerves stood to attention at the light touch. “And if you don’t understand the difference then I’m afraid all those extra study sessions will be for nothing.”

“Well,” he said as he leaned closer and lowered his voice, “I can tell you I have been curious enough to do a little research on the infamous Dorian Jade on my own.”

My jaw dropped. “Have you, now?”

“Years ago, before my father decided to send me to the mortal halfling academy, I was scared. Like how you’re shivering right now.” He slid his hand across the table and I thought I felt the tips of his fingers brush against mine.

“Yes, so scared,” I agreed, although I wasn’t shivering with fear.

“I did some digging in the castle library but came up with very little for the effort. It wasn’t until I cornered one of the imps who hangs around near the swan pond that I received some valuable information.”

He was close enough to touch and I found myself leaning closer still, until my skin went hot at his nearness. “What did you find out?”

“I found out you can never trust an imp,” Mike murmured. “Tricky little buggers.”

I giggled. Our noses bumped together. “The prince should never go unaccompanied to the swan pond. A valuable lesson indeed, sir.”

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