Page 29

Could Bryce and, by association, Brayden be better fae than I? I touched my lips as a sense of dread rushed through my system.

That would be terrible.

Last night’s conversation helped clarify my relationship with my new friends slash fellow quintet members, but a trace of uncertainty remained.

That nagging concern only grew throughout the following day, especially after the second disturbing revelation of the evening had left me wallowing the rest of the night.

Bryce Dubois.

Bryce’s behavior changes were first noticeable during our morning biology lecture. However, the oddities became blatant during our three-hour laboratory that afternoon.

I was used to the staring, the silent challenges, the undermining of my authority—such as plotting with Damen to exorcise my ghost this very evening—but why did he have to look at me with such longing ?

I shivered, and the hair on the back of my neck stood straight every time he brushed past my desk.

It almost seemed he was trying to check up on me or stare into my face.

It was dreadful.

I couldn’t help myself; I took the first chance to escape to the restroom—just for a moment’s peace. It was better to ask forgiveness rather than permission in such instances.

On the way back to the room, I debated skipping the rest of class. Still, I wasn’t rebellious enough for that yet, and eventually, with heavy limbs, I continued my way back to class and to Bryce’s unnerving stares.

How much more must I endure? It’d be horrible enough tonight when his presence encroached upon my fortress of peace.

Still, my heart wasn’t in the mood for academic excellence. It felt foolish to waste time on education while my ghost was in danger of eradication. I should be researching how to save it, not playing around with Bryce.

I felt useless. In the past, when I’d had a mission, it had been my responsibility—along with Finn, who would complain but do my bidding—to help prepare. Yet no one had even asked me to do any research.

Despite the peril we’d recently faced together, I had to acknowledge our efficiency as a team. It was a testament to our resilience and ability to adapt and overcome even the direst situations.

Maybe we could clone him and create a version that hadn’t lied to me.

Or I could just text him back.

“Bianca?” The sound of my name drew me from my musings, and I froze. Three innocent-looking boys stood between me and the safety of Bryce’s supervision. I didn’t know their names, but if I remembered correctly, they were in my class.

However, I didn’t have the best track record for this sort of interaction. Plus, why did boys always travel in groups of three or four? Didn’t they know how to do anything on their own?

“That’s your name, right?” The first one, a tall, early-twenty-something with dusty blond hair grinned sheepishly as he touched the back of his head. The other two at his sides—a black-haired, blue-eyed boy with thick glasses, and a buzzed cut, dirty-blond with an earring—glanced between us.

“Yes…” I answered. They appeared innocent enough, but Finn had been right about one thing—I didn’t talk to people.

I looked longingly toward the classroom.

“Oh, awesome.” The blonde grinned. There was a purity in his expression that seemed to radiate from his smile, and I felt silly for my distrust. “I’m Shane, and these two are Preston and Brian.

” He nodded to the dirty-blond and black-haired boy in turn.

“We’re sophomores, and we wanted to introduce ourselves.

I didn’t notice you at the secondary school, so you must have been at the other location. ”

I took a step back and pulled at my skirt. What was he talking about?

“How are you in my class if you’re not a freshman?” And even more importantly, how did Bryce not notice a gaggle of his students missing? Was he stupid or just plain negligent?

“Science isn’t our strong point.” Shane shrugged. “We’re liberal arts majors, and mostly prefer the humanities and history. But I’m in the psychology program.”

That explained a lot.

“Brian studies history and anthropology, and he had something he’s been wanting to ask you,” Shane said, gesturing toward his bespectacled friend, who stepped forward. “It’s been bugging him since the first day of class.”

“Yes?” I asked. Brian looked away and ran his fingers across his hair. Why did he seem nervous? It wasn’t like I was scary .

“You’re—you’re fae,” he said. I lifted my eyebrow. I hadn’t thought it was that obvious. “And a girl,” he continued. I frowned. I would have thought that’d be more obvious. “Where…” He glanced at Shane, and my nervousness abated somewhat.

He was almost as shy as me.

“Where’s your chaperone?” he asked.

What the heck?

A muscle under my eye twitched. “Why would I need a chaperone?” I asked.

Brian perked as the telltale sign of intellectual curiosity took over his expression. There was a familiar, mad gleam of excitement in his eyes as he said, “Because it’s rare to see a fae female in the human realm, and I know my family would never leave any of ours unprotected. Yet here you are.”

His family? I studied him. Was he a fae too?

“I—” I pulled at my sleeve as I answered, “I’ve never had a chaperone.” Or had I?

He frowned at me. “You’re a Brosnan, right?” he asked. “I don’t recall the name.”

“Is the name really that important?” I retorted. Why was I feeling defensive over Kieran? It wasn’t like he’d been insulted. Regardless, Brosnan wasn’t the name I was born with—even I didn’t know what it was—but he didn’t need to know that.

“It can be.” he nodded. “I originally thought that you were from one of the noble families. At least, it felt like that.”

“Noble family?” I touched my lips.

The fae had noble families? This was all new information.

He glanced at his friends before leaning forward and cupping his hand to his mouth.

“You know, the noble families. Like Dubois, Stephens, Doyle, Maguire, Nam…” When I didn’t reply, because I refused to show shock that apparently Bryce was someone special, he continued.

“Are you Unseelie? Have you he ard of Renouf, Bryne, or Uttar? I mean, there’s more in both courts, but surely you recognize some of them? ”

“Skipping class, I see.” Bryce, in his consistently less-than-perfect timing, stepped between us. For some reason, the tension that’d been weighing against me disappeared in his presence. My fingertips were still pressed against my lips as I glanced up at him, and he frowned down at me.

“Break’s over.” He looked to the others. “Get back to work.”

My thoughts reeled as Bryce glowered after them as they disappeared into the classroom. Why hadn’t anyone told me this before? Or maybe this was information that only a fae might know.

“Hey—” I grabbed his arm and waited until his eyes met mine. “Do you think I’m Seelie or Unseelie?” I asked him. He was supposed to be some sort of noble princelike figure, plus my Er Bashou. If someone like Brian could tell, then he should certainly know.

“What?” he asked.

“I—” I looked away from him, and my skin flushed. “I was curious.” I could always ask Dr. Stephens. Apparently, he was just as important.

“Why does it matter?” Bryce asked. “Neither is inferior to the other.”

I tightened my grip on his sleeve to stop myself from shaking. “That’s not what I mean,” I said. Why was he taking this the wrong way? “I just thought…”

Bryce was frowning at me. “You thought what?”

Why was my face so warm? But maybe he could help. Mr. Weaver hadn’t gotten back to me yet. “That I could find my birth family.”

He gazed down at me, expression blank. “Why?” he asked after a long moment. “The Griers adopted you. ”

“Ah…” I let him go and stepped back. Who did he think he was, questioning my motives? How did he even know? “…Before that…” I began but stopped. It’d make no sense to him. “I was curious to know why my birth family didn’t want me.”

“I… what…” Bryce looked past me as he touched his tie. Then he began again, “You’re a female born into a culture where extremely few survive. I highly doubt that your birth family did not want you.”

I shook my head. That made no sense.

“Anyway—” There was something wrong with his voice. It made it almost too difficult to understand him. “Go to class and tell everyone that we’re done for the day. Then you may leave. We’ll see you later tonight.”

What ?

“But...” I began, but he ignored me. Before I could even explain why this power was outside of my jurisdiction, Bryce had turned his face and walked away.