Page 68 of Faerie Trials

Selene sighed and fixed me with a stare. Her eyes were devoid of their usual sharp humor. “Neither did I. And it may not work. We won’t give up, though. And whatever happens, know that we are going to take the best care of Bronwen that we can. We aren’t going to let anything else happen to her. So stop beating yourself up.”

“I can’t help it,” I moaned, dropping my head into my hands. “If I’d been there—”

“No more,” she interrupted. “Stay with her for a little bit tonight. Then tomorrow we’ll start fresh. We’ll have a plan of attack by then. Understood?”

I didn’t have a choice. With a grimace, I agreed. “Understood.”

* * *

On Monday Headmaster Cyrus called an academy-wide assembly to discuss the information for the third Trial. This one would test Bravery and had something to do with a tournament of magic where only the best would make it through. Another damn tournament pitting us against each other to see how we would perform, like show ponies.

There would be potions to brew, spells to cast, obstacles to overcome, and danger at every turn. And for what? To entertain a bunch of privileged voyeurs?

It didn’t seem fair to me, but with my attention fractured, I might have missed something important, some reason why we were forced to compete. Nothing I’d heard up to then seemed a good enough reason.

I managed to make it through the assembly with my knees bobbing and my fingers tapping on the armrests, just waiting until it was over. Sure, I worried about making it through the next Trial. But there were other, more important issues that needed my attention. Like finding Bronwen’s attacker, for instance.

I didn’t want to get Mike involved in what I had planned. Especially not when my secret had a huge potential to be exposed because of this. After the assembly, I made an excuse to him and hurried to send a call out for Melia and Onyx to meet me. They were the two people I knew I could trust.

We met at the same small café where Melia had first ambushed me with the proposition of meeting with another half-shifter, someone who could teach me more about my transfiguration power. The same someone who ironically turned out to be my fated mate’s son.

A guy who also happened to have a crush on me. Could my life get anymorecomplicated?

I pushed those thoughts aside and cleared my throat as I stared at the two of them. Onyx looked like he’d rather be chewing rocks than sitting down with me. He grabbed his chair, turned it around to straddle and brace his arms on the back, and looked at me.

I looked back at him. “It’s time for me to put everything out on the table,” I said, gesturing with my hands.

Onyx rolled his eyes. “Sounds like a dangerous proposition.”

“Are we ordering food?” Melia asked. She glanced around the rest of the diner. “And where’s Bronwen? Shouldn’t she be here?”

“She’s part of the reason why I wanted to talk to you guys. Yes, we can order food, get whatever you want.” I pressed my palm against my stomach. I was way too nervous to eat anything. I hadn’t been able to stomach even the thought of food since visiting my friend the night before.

Slowly, I sketched out the recent events for the two of them, describing the attack on Bronwen.

“Oh no! Is she okay?” Onyx asked.

“She will be. She’s strong.”

I knew what they were thinking—shapeshifters were notoriously hard to track and kill, and it was a good thing Bronwen shared the same DNA otherwise there was a chance of the shifter’s blood infecting her. The transformation had been known to kill humans in the past. At least there was no chance of her being adversely affected in that way.

“Here’s what we know.” I spelled out everything, from the attacks on the full-blood Fae women to what I’d found during the first Trial. Through my explanation food was delivered and Melia dug into the appetizers. She never took her focus from me, and although she interrupted a few times with questions, she never offered anything but full support for whatever I had planned.

Onyx, on the other hand, was quiet through it all. Watching and storing away the information to process in his own manner no doubt.

“Whoever the shifter is,” I told them, “he attacked at both of the first two Trials. It stands to reason he’ll try something for the third one too. Don’t you think?”

Melia nodded. “So we have to figure out who is the most likely candidate to be attacked next and work on finding a way to protect them,” she offered.

“Not to mention getting you through the Trial without bodily harm,” Onyx added. “We have to keep in mind they are designed to test your will and your magic. You can’t divide your attention to the point where you put yourself in harm’s way.”

“I’m going to be fine,” I insisted with much more confidence than I felt. Onyx snorted. “I know Mike and I will come up with a workable plan. He’s probably researching right now even as we speak. But I refuse to let anyone else be hurt. I’m determined that nobody else will have to die.”

Melia grabbed another fried zucchini blossom, stuffing it into her mouth and talking around it. “You’ve never been able to stay on the sidelines for this kind of thing. You are too much of a humanitarian.”

Ha, as if.

“Let’s start with the basics,” Onyx said and began ticking items off on his fingers. “First, the type of look this maniac is targeting. Specifically, girls who look a lot like Tavi. Which is weird.”

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