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93

Summer

I pout all the way from the dorm to the coffee cart. Alice and Connor happily chat together, which just annoys me more. You’d think the shower sex would have cheered me up, but something about the way he teased me this morning has me feeling sour. He has left me guessing about the engagement, and I hate being left in limbo. I think I feel okay about it, but I would also like time to prepare if that is what it is.

I grumpily order my coffee, and Connor wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

“You’re so cute when you pout.”

I glare at him and order Alice’s coffee.

“What’s going on with you two?” Alice asks, looking between us.

“Nothing,” I grumble.

“Nothing at all.” Connor smirks.

I glare at Connor. The barista calls my name, and I grab my cup. “I need to go see the headmaster. I’ll see you later, Alice .”

I’m about to stomp away when Connor reaches out and gently grabs my arm. He pulls me to him, and I tilt my head back to face him.

“Kiss,” he demands.

I fight back a smile and give him a quick peck on the lips. “Bye,” I say, trying to pull out of his hold. Connor shakes his head and slips his fingers into my hair, his big hand cupping the back of my head. He leans down and claims my mouth. His teeth nip sharply at my lower lip when I won’t open for him. I gasp into the kiss, and his tongue slips into my mouth, sliding lazily along mine. A moan slips from me, and Connor pulls back, licking his lips.

“That’s a goodbye,” Connor says, flicking his tongue over my lower lip, soothing the sting. My stomach flutters with how he took control, took what he wanted. Connor smirks and brushes a whisper-soft kiss to my lips before pulling back and finally releasing me. “See you later.” He winks at me and walks away toward his first class, a definite swagger in his step.

I stare after him, dumbfounded. Where has this guy been? Who knew he had it in him?

“Wow,” Alice says, fanning herself, and the barista starts up a slow clap.

I nod and exhale. Still stunned and unable to think about what just happened, I wave to Alice and head toward the headmaster’s office. Outside his door, I stop and take a deep breath before knocking.

“Enter.” His steely voice slips from beneath the bottom of the door, and I take another breath before entering the office.

“Miss Tuatha De Daanan,” he greets me, barely looking up from his notes.

“Hello, sir.”

He glances at me, meeting my gaze and waiting for me to continue.

I clear my throat. “I was hoping to ask about my visitor from yesterday.”

“Of course,” he says, gesturing to the seat in front of this desk, and I sit down.

“You told them I found the bodies,” I say. It’s not a question. The investigator already confirmed it yesterday.

The headmaster nods. “I told them a student discovered them. Apparently, they have someone following me.” His lips tighten ever so slightly.

“I see. She was wearing my sweater,” I blurt out.

The headmaster watches me. It is not new information to him. I mentioned it in my response to the one email he sent when I was in Dr?culea. The fact is just so horrifying to me that I hoped voicing it out loud to him would take some of its power.

“Did you make a list of other items?” he asks.

“Yes. I think I got most of them.” I pull out a folded piece of paper from my backpack. For a long moment, I stare down at the black lines crossing the page. “Do they know?” I ask quietly.

“They do not know that.”

I swallow hard and hand him the list. I feel my cheeks heat as he starts to read it, knowing some of the items are… undergarments.

The headmaster’s eyes dart over the paper and he frowns, obviously trying to find a link between the items or some answers within the list.

The silence is deafening, and I clear my throat again. “I think the clothing items have been missing since the break-in..” I look down, worrying the strap on my bag. “The… underwear is… an ongoing issue.”

I feel his gaze focus on me, but I can’t bring myself to meet his eyes. “So not from the break-in?”

I shake my head. “Well, two bras have gone missing along with… some other underwear items. But the panties specifically are not from the break-in.”

“When are they from?”

“Well…”

“Miss Tuatha De Daanan. I understand this is uncomfortable, but the more information I have, the better.”

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. “They go missing when I’m… with my boyfriend.”

“At home?” he asks, and I hear him shift uncomfortably in his chair. Clearly, he wants to be here as much as I do.

“No,” I say quietly, heat trickling down my neck in mortification.

“Ah.” The headmaster clears his throat. “If this were on school grounds, they would activate the rune that cleans the floors and grounds.”

I feel my ears burn right to the points. “Right, well. Thank you, sir.”

“I can put you in touch with janitorial?—”

“No! That’s really okay.” I’d rather die, actually. “Thank you, sir.” I jump to my feet and leave his office at a near run.

I’m still flustered and embarrassed when I get to class, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m as red as a tomato. Alice gives me a questioning look as I drop into the seat next to her. I shake my head, and we both turn our attention to the front of the class until the professor gives us our task. The class talks amongst themselves as they start working, and I turn to face Alice. Wanting to divert her attention from my meeting with the headmaster, I change the subject before she can start it.

“So, you’ll never guess what happened this morning,” I say, leaning in as I drop my voice.

Like a moth to a flame, Alice’s eyes light up and she moves in closer, hungry for the gossip. “Tell me immediately.”

I look around and move in closer. I am confident that the soft buzz of the other students will mask my secret, allowing it to drown in the mass of conversation, going only to Alice.

“Max got a boner when I was pinning him.”

Alice throws her head back, laughing hard, but she reins herself in quickly, wanting more information. “How big was it?”

My lips twitch, and I hold my hands up, roughly estimating what I felt against me this morning.

Alice lifts her brows, almost impressed. “Connor versus Max?”

I roll my eyes. “Connor,” I reply immediately.

Alice purses her lips. “Size-wise?”

I wrinkle my nose as I think. “Well, I’d need to analyze Max’s cock more. I just felt it against me.” A laugh burst from me at the sheer ridiculousness of this conversation.

“Okay, but you need to, for science.” Alice snorts.

“Absolutely not. Connor’s is the only cock for me.”

Alice smirks. “I just mean for you to measure it, not straddle it.”

I roll my eyes and start drawing a rune for the task.

“How was the headmaster?” Alice asks.

Fuck, my plan didn’t work that well, I guess.

“Fine. I gave him the list of my missing clothes.” I feel the blush crawl up my throat and into my cheeks again, the tips of my ears burning.

Alice snorts. “You put the panties on there, too?”

I bury my face in my hands. “Gods. Why am I like this?”

Alice chuckles. “People like your panties. What can you do?”

I glare at her. “People don’t like my panties.”

“Clearly, someone does.” Alice snickers.

“A killer stalker.” I pause. “Or the janitor.” I cringe, unsure which is worse.

Alice tips her head and eyes me. “You don’t think it’s… you know. The guy .”

I frown.

“What if he’s the one who’s stealing them?”

“He’s gone,” I say, shaking my head.

“He is? Why?” Alice watches me, and I hate the feeling of being analyzed.

I look down at my page and the incomplete rune sitting there. “We had a disagreement,” I say, giving her a half-truth.

“Well, when did your panties last go missing?”

“Before the fight. But I’m sure it’s not him.”

“Okay. Well then, someone else likes your panties.”

It’s like Alice mentioning the stranger unlocks something in me, and I can’t stop thinking about him. Could he have them? It is a fairly large coincidence that the panties stopped disappearing when he did, but also Connor and I have been much more conscious of where we fuck and where my panties are.

After class, Alice heads to lunch while I duck into the bathroom. I stare down at my phone. The messages with the stranger are still there. The chat has been unused for weeks now, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to delete it for some reason. I tap on it, and it opens. The last message sits there, the message before it all went wrong.

Come outside.

I take a breath and type out a message.

The message feels shit. There is so much to say, and here I am, practically accusing him of stealing my panties. I could have thanked him for the Yule present, asked him how his break was, or asked him if he was okay. But no. Always the asshole.

The message is basic, yet my heart jolts when it comes through.

I ask again, my stomach churning.

There is a pause before he sends another message.

I exhale heavily.

As I look over our messages, my heart aches with how much I’ve missed this. I hate admitting that I miss him, but I do. I miss talking to someone who seems to understand me and who has so much in common with me. But that doesn’t make any sense. We stopped talking because it was clear he didn’t understand me. What is wrong with me?

There is a brief pause before he replies.

I smile.

I exhale and put my phone away, going to lunch.

I pull on my thicker tights, getting ready to meet the stranger. I feel lighter than I have in weeks, and I’m excited to discuss books and runes with him. With a sigh, I pull on my boots again, longing for the day I can go back to wearing sandals or normal heels again.

“See you later, Al!” I call as I walk through the dorm and grab my coat.

Alice frowns at me from her door. “Where are you going?”

“I’m just going out for a bit. I won’t be long, and I’ll bring home tequila,” I reply.

It is no surprise that Alice is nervous. I’ve not been out without her in weeks, and the last time I was, I found that body. But I’m meeting the stranger, and whether or not I’m being dumb, I feel safe with him. At least, mostly. I’m not stupid enough to think he’s not dangerous, but I don’t think he’s dangerous to me.

Alice watches me for a long moment, but then she nods. “You better bring the top-shelf stuff.”

I grin and give her a sassy salute before leaving the dorm. The sun is setting, casting a strange orange glow over the forest. The mist is low, lying on the ground, and while the snow has mostly cleared for now, the ground is still covered in frost and black ice. I barely breach the mouth of the forest when I see his form. We’ve been here before. This is where he comforted me in the rain.

“Hello, little fae,” he croons, still facing away from me.

I clutch the book against my chest and move closer to him. “Hello, Stranger.”

He turns to face me, and I can see the faintest outline of his face. “I’ve missed you.”

I watch him, tilting my head slightly. “You have?”

“Does that surprise you?”

I nod, my gaze glued to him.

“Why?” he asks, and I can hear his genuine confusion.

“After last time, I—” I stop when I notice his shoulders tighten.

The unspoken thoughts lie heavy between us until he looks away. “You brought the book,” he says, and I am grateful for the change in subject.

I nod and look down at the book cradled in my arms.

The stranger waves his hand, and a plush, dark green blanket appears on the ground. With another wave of the hand, a small fire burst to life just in front of the blanket. He gestures for me to sit, and I get comfortable, grateful for the warmth. I rest the book in my lap as he settles next to me.

“Have you read any of it?”

“The first few pages,” I say. “It’s fascinating!”

The tension between us melts away as we focus on the book. “Did you get to the part about her sister?”

I shake my head and open the book, marveling over it again. “Not yet. I can’t believe how perfect the condition is. The indentations from the pencil are still visible! And look how there are times she uses both Ancient Daoine Sith and the more modern. They must have been transitioning the language at the time.” I flip to another page. “It’s so interesting. She has even used some mortal words!”

The stranger leans over, brushing his fingers over one of the passages. “Look, here she talks about how their father created Faerie to keep them all safe. She must have been a child when that happened.”

I nod, my fingers following the path of his. “But you see this note in Daoine Sith? It looks as if it was added later. Father the savior, Father the fool. That’s newer than the original passage. You can tell from the markings.”

The stranger shifts closer. “It appears the sisters had a volatile relationship. Perhaps that’s what caused the civil war. No one really knows. It was all swept under the rug.”

I turn the page, reading aloud, “ Her descent into madness and darkness can pull me down. How can I let her go it alone? Her struggle is so clear here.” I frown as I continue, “ She was a force too fierce for the cause. Her malice was poison. Nothing could have survived it .”

The stranger’s fingers accidentally brush over mine as he continues to read the passage, and my skin tingles from the touch. “ Even mine. My light was not a cure. And soon the land became pitched in darkness. A deal struck. A blood debt paid. ”

I feel his gaze on me as I continue, “ The final candle has been lit, the wick weary. Soon, there will be nothing left. ” I turn the page to continue, but the passages are… different. While those are dark, dreary, and void of hope, the following pages are much lighter. It’s almost as if they were written by someone else, yet the handwriting is the same elegant script.

The stranger is quiet for a long moment, and I glance at him.

“That passage we just read. It is new.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, looking back down at the book.

“That passage we just read. It wasn’t there before. I have read this book thousands of times. I have never seen that.”

I flip through the book and look at the front and back cover, trying to find a rune of concealment. “Huh. Maybe because I’m fae? Maybe it unlocks something?”

“Well, I think you might be the first fae who’s touched it since I… liberated it.” I hear the smile in his voice, and I can’t help but smile back.

“Liberated, huh?”

“I was a child with sticky fingers lost in an ancient library.”

I laugh, throwing my head back in delight.

I turn the page, and another passage presents itself.

“ The realm is torn in half and for nothing. For our father’s last cruel laugh as she slit his throat. ”

“This part is?—”

“Her sister killed him?” the stranger interrupts, his body going tense.

“Yes, and it was… gruesome.” My eyes move over the passage about her father’s murder. “These new entries seem to be more erratic. Unstable. Her sister appears to be falling into darkness and her into madness.” I brush my hand over the Ancient Daoine Sith markings in the margins. “These are almost feral, and this one barely makes sense.”

I feel his gaze on me. “Read it to me? My Ancient Daoine Sith is not very advanced.”

I look over the text, trying to make sense of it. I’ve always been able to read Ancient Daoine Sith, though I’m not sure why. As far as I know, there’s never been anyone to teach me.

“ A shadowed cave with petals shows beauty to only those that see it. ” I move to another one, “ Malevolence is the nature of the careless. Tread with chaos. ”

The stranger ponders the words, and the center of the page flickers with a soft, beautiful glow before a rune appears.

“A rune?” he asks.

I nod, frowning at it. It seems to move over the page like the paper is a slow-moving river, and it’s bobbing on the surface. I start to deconstruct the rune, trying to work out its origin and use.

“This rune, it’s…” I tilt my head, looking at it from another angle. The stranger reaches toward the page, about to touch it, when the meaning of the rune snaps into place in my mind. I know what the rune is. Fuck. I grab his wrist. “Don’t touch it.”

“Can you hear it? The singing?” the stranger asks, his voice sounding far away. I slam the book shut.

“Fuck. No, I can’t. I know what that rune is.”

The stranger shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“What is it?” he asks, still sounding dazed.

I grab his face, forcing him to look at me. “Focus on me.”

“Little fae…” His words are slurred. “How…. rune?”

I keep my hands on his face. “Stay with me.”

“Can’t hold… the spell…” His form starts to pulse and flicker, unraveling at the seams. I can tell he’s seconds away from disappearing, and I don’t know who he fucking is. This rune could kill him.

“I need to see you. In person. Where are you?”

“You… can’t, little fae,” he says, his words slurred.

I shake my head. “You don’t understand, Stranger. This is bad. You can blindfold me if necessary, but I need to draw a rune on you. Now.”

The stranger tries to lift his arm to cover my eyes, and I help him hold his hand in place and close my eyes. It takes two long beats before I feel something change. The heat of his body suddenly surrounds me, and I can feel the calluses on his palm against my face. Everything about him has… solidified and become more real. Excitement shivers through me. He is right next to me in his real form. The stranger mumbles something, pulling me back to the issue at hand. Now is not the time.

I push away everything and slice my finger before blindly reaching for him. My hand lands on his muscled forearm, and I start to draw the antidote rune. It had come to me the second I realized what the rune in the book does.

“What rune was that?” he asks. His voice is so much richer in person. It’s like nothing I’ve heard before, and it settles over me like warm honey.

I exhale a shaky breath as I finish drawing the rune on his arm. “I have only ever heard rumors of it, but it is said the fae spent a long time creating it. Supposedly, it was wiped from the minds of those who had seen it. I thought it was a myth.” So many stories and myths fill my mind, yet I have no idea where they have come from. It’s as if they are coiled into my DNA like some genetic memory.

I feel him shift, and then I feel the pleasant weight of his head on my shoulder. His hair brushes against my cheek, and I shiver. Unable to resist, I Iean into him.

“I’ve never been affected like that before.” He relaxes a little as the antidote takes effect, but his breath is still coming in labored pants, and he is careful to keep his hand over my eyes.

“Stranger?” I whisper. “Would it be so bad to let me see you?”

He tenses again, his fingers tightening against my face. “Yes.”

I nod and remain silent, staying close to offer whatever comfort I can. Being against his true form is intoxicating. The feel of his power pulsing against me is both familiar and exciting. I feel safe and more content than I have any right to.

“Tell me about the rune.”

“It’s an eradication rune,” I reply, keeping my voice soft and calm.

“Eradication? For what?” he asks, his voice a little more unburdened.

“For every non-fae.”

“So anyone who read the journal that wasn’t fae would die?”

“The rune is bigger than that. There are tales about it, stories, songs, poems. Even someone like me who didn’t grow up around the fae knows of them.” I think for a moment. “I think it never affected you before because you hadn’t broken through the lock. The passages unlocked when I touched the journal were obviously not meant to be read by anyone but fae.” I worry my lower lip. “It needs to be destroyed, and we cannot discuss this again.”

“Why?” The stranger sits up, obviously feeling stronger. I immediately miss his solid warmth against me. He removes his hand, leaving a silky blindfold in its wake.

“We both read those passages, Stranger. Fae can be chaotic, jealous, and cruel. This journal can’t fall into the wrong hands.”

“You’re right. I’ll destroy it.”

I shake my head. “I’ll do it.”

There is a shift in the energy, and then he pulls off my blindfold. I look at him, disappointed to see his avatar once more.

“That rune could have destroyed you,” I say, watching him.

“I have a feeling that if I weren’t… who I am, it would have. Thank you for your intervention.”

“Who you are?” I ask, almost desperate for the information.

“I’m,” he clears his throat, “rather powerful. In certain circles. I usually don’t have to avoid things like that rune.”

“Powerful?”

“Very.” I feel the heat of his gaze trail over my face. “Most beings could not create this avatar, and those who can cannot hold it for so long.”

I look away, trying to hide my blush and feeling grateful for the darkness. “Right.” I look down at the book. “We were hoping for answers, but instead, we have more questions.”

“I’m not so sure,” the stranger says. “There’s an old story about the creation and destruction of Faerie. Something about the changing of the monarchy being like the changing of the winds.” He pauses as if trying to remember. “How they became different, and then there was the fall of the great Faerie.” He looks at me and recites from memory, “ Sudden was the destruction of the dearest Faerie, her walls turning to the finest of sand within the hourglass. One sole light left. Untouched by the wrongdoings of the before. ”

This man. His mind is as beautiful as his voice.

“I remember Faerie from before the Fall.”

That shocks me. “Woah, you are old.”

He snickers. “I told you I was a little kid in a library. I just left out the part about it being the Great Library in Faerie.”

I laugh softly, but then I sober. “I wonder if that rune had something to do with their change. Such a drastic change, but I know that the line between sanity and insanity can be a thin one.”

Stranger nods. “It did seem like two different people writing in the journal.” He looks at me again. “Thank you for not looking.”

I smile at him. “Until you almost got eradicated, I really enjoyed myself.”

His low, masculine chuckle sends heat tickling over my skin. “Yes, the almost eradication interrupted one of the best evenings I’ve had in months.”

“Really?” I ask, my smile brightening.

He nods. “I should walk you back toward campus. It’s the full moon tomorrow, and the shifters will be out preparing.”

The stranger stands and offers his hand. I take it and he pulls me to my feet, lacing his fingers with mine as we walk back through campus.

“So… friends again?” I ask, needing to know we have healed the breach between us.

The stranger nods, and I smile, the stress of the last weeks easing. We stop for tequila and then walk in silence to the door of Kelpie Hall.

I hesitate but then throw my arms around him, hugging him. He tenses, but after a moment, he wraps his arms around me.

I smile up at him. “Goodnight, Stranger.”

“Goodnight, little fae.”