Page 48 of Faerie Fate (Fae Academy for Halflings #7)

Chapter Thirty-Three

M ike’s grip bruised my hand. Neither of us let go.

Bronwen looped an arm through mine and her other arm clasped Noren to her chest, the incandescent blue of a morsana flower poking out of her pocket along with the stolen silver dagger.

That just in case flower.

With the four of us clustered close, I dipped my head, closing my eyes against the now familiar sensation of Mike’s magic.

The pixies called out a collective farewell to us. I knew, because I’d etched it into my memory, that Elfhame and Poppy stood together, the former’s arm lifted in a wave.

Then I imagined the cloud of forest green encapsulating us, drawing us out of the past and depositing us in the future. The air tightened around us, the magic drawing closer until it became a vacuum where infinite possibilities existed at once.

Our feet never left the ground but we flew. We barely moved but we were generations and miles away from where we started. Mike grunted with the force necessary to hold the spell.

My new magic felt the way his declined, watching every last drop of his power filter away into the effort of holding us in his vision. Right into the basement of the Elite Academy.

The clock immediately reset on three things—curing my curse from zombie Madam Muerte, freeing the barrier blocking passage between the mortal realm and Faerie, and fixing the chain of consequences that were going to happen as a result of unblocking my powers.

The consequences Poppy warned me about.

But for a second, with my eyes closed, I could stay removed from those things. I could wait for the inevitable exhaustion and dizziness to take over. They hadn’t hit yet. Maybe I needed my body to catch up with the effects of time travel.

First and foremost, though, we had to save the academy. And Livvy.

“What… Dad? ”

Mike’s concerned voice jolted me. My eyes popped open and quickly adjusted to the basement’s dim lighting. And the oddity waiting for us.

King Tywin stood regally, garbed in his royal blue tunic and the gold crown perched on top of his head. His white beard was trimmed into an orderly oval beneath his chin, and a retinue of loyal guards stood watch behind him.

None of them seemed surprised to see me. That emotion only went one way.

Noren growled and Bronwen tightened her hold on his scruff to get him to quiet.

“Well, Michael?” King Tywin asked. His tone played chills on my bones like a maestro. “Did you get what you needed?”

He greeted us like an ally. Like he actually waited for us to come home rather than jumping out of a box at the last moment to surprise us.

“What are you talking about?” Mike held firm even as his posture went rigid.

His hand gave him away, though, his tremor passing through our connected touch.

“Did you get what you needed to defeat this wolf shifter hurting my students?” Tywin sounded put out at having to repeat himself. Or maybe it was the clarification that pissed him off. “You were gone longer than I expected.”

“You’re not in a coma…”

Mike broke contact but he didn’t go to his father. Not right away. A few halting steps brought him closer but the two definitely weren’t the touchy type no matter how much time passed since we saw Tywin upright.

The last I’d heard, Barbara had broken into the castle and used the Augundae Imperium on the king. She hadn’t killed him, but she’d injured him.

None of the healers had been able to wake him. We’d sent Laina to the same fae hospital after her injury with the shadow warriors at the entrance to the Abyss.

Was Laina about to pop out of the wall too?

Tywin looked kinder than I remembered, which made no sense. He reached out for his son only to let his hand drop before making contact.

He sighed. “Michael. What are you talking about?” he asked haltingly. “I’m not in a coma. As you can plainly see.”

His tone suggested he suspected his son was addled by the journey.

Bronwen and I sagged together.

“But you were. I mean, when we left, you were confined to your bed. I visited you a few days ago…” Mike trailed off.

Tywin pursed his lips, his eyes narrowed. “I’ve never been in a coma. Do I need the physicians to look at you?”

“But what about the witch? What about Barbara?” I made a mistake in blurting out the name because it brought the king’s attention to me.

His confusion escalated. “Who’s Barbara?”

“You know, the witch in the dungeons,” Mike clarified.

Confused, he refused to take his attention away from his father, away from the miraculous picture the king painted in the midst of this nondescript basement.

Tywin didn’t leave his castle. After ruling for almost three hundred years, he had to be tired.

Too tired to make the rounds and visit the Elite Academy just because.

“Do you mean the witch Poppy ? The one who broke into the castle?” Tywin supplied. He bristled. “She’s imprisoned, safe in her cell and awaiting trial for her foolishness. The Elders will convene at the end of the week.”

The longer we stared at the king, the more insistent the pinching sensation in my brain. Not a side effect from the curse, or the time travel. At least not yet. Those things would come, I was sure of it.

But something else, something important I’d skipped over.

“At this point, the witch hasn’t admitted why she broke into the castle. I’m sure we will get an answer out of her shortly.” Tywin’s chin jutted out at the mention as though I’d reminded him of some minor annoyance.

“So no one was hurt?” I pressed.

This time, Tywin openly stared at me, but the expression made me much less uncomfortable. I was used to him staring at me with thinly veiled disgust. Bronwen, on the other hand, seemed to shrink in on herself, hiding behind me and Noren.

“No,” Tywin answered carefully. “No one was hurt.”

“What about the Augundae Imperium ?” Mike asked.

Tywin glanced at his son, more confused than ever.

“That artifact has been missing for nearly two centuries. Why would you ask me about it? Did your travel through time addle your brains? I’ll have to call the healers to examine you immediately.

Captain Hezarwick, will you send a message to the hospital? ”

I pinched the bridge of my nose to somehow help order my rampant thoughts.

Tywin was never in a coma.

Barbara was still imprisoned, but her name was Poppy now.

There was never an Augundae Imperium involved, so the sham of a trial and execution where Barbara had been put to death for nearly killing the king never happened.

I never had to run into the forest with Onyx.

What else had changed?

I felt Mike looking at me but he wasn’t the only one. Bronwen, too, stared at the cluster of people in the basement, our expressions mirrors of horror.

This wasn’t a minor blip in the future, not a minor change. We’d significantly changed things.

Tywin cleared his throat, impatient. “Get the barrier down, Miss Alderidge. That was your entire purpose for using my son’s magic this way, wasn’t it? Bring it down and let’s rescue my students. They’ve waited long enough.”

I’d never heard him speak about the halflings at the mortal academy with such conviction before. I always thought Tywin hated them for not being pure blood. Our halfling status made us lesser citizens to him.

And halfling shifters were positively forbidden.

My rib cage was a prison and the only thing keeping my spinning insides from spilling out. “Me? You want me to bring the barrier down?” I had to make sure I’d heard him correctly.

“You are the only one who can do it. Now, if you please. Who knows what kind of havoc that monster is wreaking as we speak,” Tywin snapped. A vein bulged at his temple.

How did Tywin know about my magic?

I stared at the king, startled, before forcing my gaze away again. It always made me feel strange to stare at him. Like I was constantly trying to see bits of Mike on his face and coming up short, unable to recognize anything kind or caring in Tywin’s features.

“Well, Miss Alderidge?” he pressed. Irked at being kept waiting.

This was a direct order from my king. And although I had no damn clue how to take down a barrier, I’d done the impossible at EverRose. Earned myself a nickname I didn’t deserve.

I blew out a breath. “Yes, sure.”

Wild magic writhed in my veins. Rather than rising from the well, as I’d always seen my power do before, this time it erupted. It was everywhere. It was me.

It encapsulated body and soul and when I lifted my hand, it needed only minimal prompting in a direction. It crashed against the invisible barrier between the realms, hammering at it. I saw it clearly, a wall of wavy invisible heat like a mirage in a desert, trapping us on one side or the other.

Okay, so I might actually be the only one capable of taking down the barrier. The keys would work now if I wanted them to.

I didn’t need one.

The wall dropped, my magic the absolute victor in this match without having to order it. And barely winded, I stepped through the open portal to the Fae Academy for Halflings without a key. The doorway opened up in front of me outlined in gold.

A thought. Barely formed. It became an order and the portal widened enough to accommodate the others, too. The magic recognized the gasps behind me, the terror from everyone, including the king. It allowed them space for their awe.

If I’d thought the problems King Tywin had with me were gone because of the changes to history, now he’d certainly be suspicious of me again.

Then my gaze snagged on the solitary figure in the room at the academy. Kendrick Grimaldi straightened, throwing back his shoulders. But there was no mistaking his reek of fear or the insistent pulsing in the scar around my neck. We were still connected.

My soul still belonged to him.

My magic roared inside of me but instead of cowering, I stood straighter, drawing it around me like a protective cloak.

“Tavi, what are you doing?” he snapped.

“What?” My head tilted to the side. “No loving greeting for your mate ?”