Fae of the South (Court of Crown and Compass Book 3) E. Hall (ebook reader macos TXT) 📖

Jurik’s desk when she’d called Lea and me in here. The Nefral Weapons crime was either bogus or perhaps I’ll find clues about what it is.

A wide oak desk is tidy with little more than a phone, container of pens, and a computer. It’s unlikely the headmistress would leave anything of importance out in the open. I click the computer on and open and close drawers while waiting for it to come to life. Of course, it’s password protected.

I sigh, troubled by my lack of discovery and slouch in the office chair. What would Lea do? She’d ransack the place and dump confetti everywhere...she’d also think like someone who has something to hide.

I don’t know which is worse, having the students or administration as enemies.

A small table by the window hosts a crystal decanter. I sniff it. More of the stijl passed around? I open the drawer in the top of the table. Napkins. Glasses. Nothing. I tap my hand against the underside of the table and sure enough, an envelope drops.

Somewhere in the building, footsteps echo on the marble floor—security.

My pulse races. I pull the papers out. On the top is a biography with Lea’s name printed in bold. Her photo is paperclipped to it. Next, there’s Amelia and several other fae girls. I flip through and reach Aaron. His face is crossed out.

The beam of a flashlight rises and falls on the wall in the corridor. I bolt across the room and hide behind the door. The flashlight illuminates the office and lands on something glinting by the small table under the window. The security officer enters the room, pads across the carpet, and bends over to pick that something up. He inspects a paperclip before setting it on the desk. With his back turned, I dash into the hall. The plush carpet mutes my footfalls. I go back out the way I came and don’t bother stopping back at the dance.

I enter my room and pull out the files. With shaking hands, I recognize the names and faces of many of the other students. It isn’t only Aaron’s photo that is crossed out. There are three others. The only thing I can come up with that they have in common is that they’re all fae...and I’m not. Yet, at the bottom, there’s my bio and photo. Under my name, it says, vampire.

Focused on what this could mean, I don’t react quickly enough when someone shoves my door open, sending me stumbling over the stuff strewn around my room. My attacker smells like smoke and the inside of a Brooklyn trash bin on collection day.

Chapter 13

Leajka

 

 

The liquid from the goblet slides smoothly down my throat like water, but it has an airy quality. It doesn’t bubble and fizz like Amelia’s Irn-Bru, nor does it taste like nothing. It’s woody, like the earth, but when it gets to my belly, a warm fire smolders.

When the goblet reaches Amelia, she downs the last drop. A smile beams from her face, but her eyes are lost to vast impenetrability.

Tyrren has vanished in the crowd, but Emeric’s arm is around me and the other grips my palm firmly. Once more, I’m swept into his presence. It’s like nothing else matters. His hungry lips tell me he wants me. His eyes consume me.

Longing radiates from my belly to my chest to my mind. I feel wild and on the edge of leaning in for a kiss. It’s dangerously exciting.

A whisper enters my mind, a warning of the dangers of dancing with the fae. Wandering into a fae ring brings mischief or madness. Traps and tricks. Confusion and curses.

But I’m also fae so what should it matter?

I close my eyes as we dance, letting myself slip away.

The light behind my eyes is yellow, then orange, and fades to crimson as shadows creep in around the corners. I feel weightless like I’m falling away from everything I’ve ever known. I listen for my breath, but there is only the sound of fire crackling. There is no ticking of the clock, no minutes or hours creep by.

It’s as if I’ve danced right into another realm, a place where nothing matters except merriment and mayhem. Glorious mayhem. My true nature pushes past all the confines I’ve created to be a good girl. It’s getting darker behind my eyes now.

I want other people to dance and dance and dance with me until they too lose themselves to the shadows.

Loud cries surround me from this distant place, belonging to people who’ve danced in the fae court and never returned. They drown in fear and sorrow. Part of me likes the sound of their desperation. I want to hear the people plead and lament.

They continue to sob. Their panic doesn’t pierce me. I’m on the edge of darkness. I am the darkness.

I’m awakened to being unseelie fae. There is no way for me to hide or escape this truth. There is no stopping me. It also explains my reckless behavior. I can no longer deny my nature.

The shadow inside grows, leaving little more than a pinprick of light, as small as a distant star in the sky. Inside of it, there are memories. I have the urge to glimpse them one last time.

Me crying. My mother leaving. I’m alone like I’ve always been. That singular sound makes me feel the sorrow of the world and everyone who’s ever been lost to the dancing court. My own eyes fill. I cry.

It’s like my mother is suddenly here, extending her hand for me to take. I do. At last, she’s returned. She wants me to go with her. I’m not alone after all.

The darkness recedes and light fills my awareness. There’s good in me too. I hope.

I blink open my eyes. There’s a hand in