Page 75 of Eagle Eye
There's no such thing;
It is the bloody business which informs
Thus to mine eyes."
I shivered. "That's disturbing."
"No, Tess. That'sShakespeare."
28
Tess
As we approached the auditorium, which my former teacher told us they had seriously upgraded since my day, the headache slammed into me. I grabbed Jack's hand and squeezed to get his attention. When he saw me wince, he immediately understood.
"So," he said, lengthening his stride to catch up with Mr. Washington, who was almost running down the hall in front of us. "How is it you're sure the knife doesn't have any magic? Are you sensitive to Fae magic?"
Albert stopped so suddenly we almost ran into him, and then he turned to frown at Jack. "I imagine Fae magic is like any other magic and,as you know, shifters are sensitive to magic. There's definitely none in my knife. But hurry and see for yourself. I need to get back to class and then back here for rehearsal."
When we entered the auditorium, a scattering of kids were already there, some in partial costume, some just in their street clothes. One boy was on the stage, holding a script in one hand and mumbling to himself as he paced back and forth. I wondered if this was Shelley's Trevor; he was certainly cute enough to have attracted her attention.
A girl wearing a long black robe with sneakers stood off to the side of the stage, intent on practicing her monologue.
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death."
"Act five, scene five," I whispered. I hadn't remembered the "bloody gouts" piece, but I definitely remembered this. I quietly recited the rest of the soliloquy with her:
"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
When I caught Jack staring at me, I shrugged. "I loved Shakespeare. Still do, really. Like Frank McCourt said, his words are 'like having jewels in my mouth.'"
Mr. Washington, meanwhile, had rushed over to the stage and was rummaging in a props box.
"Aha!" He turned and held up something shiny. "This is it. Now do you see?"
We walked over to him, but—to my disappointment—my headache was actually fading with every step I took.
Mr. Washington handed the knife to Jack, who gave it a cursory glance and held it out to me. "Looks like quartz in the hilt. Nothing a Fae queen would have cared about, certainly. I don't get any magic off this at all, Tess. You?"
The teacher's eyes narrowed, and he pinned me with a stare. "Youcan sense magic? Is that new?"
