Page 56

T he cake was delicious. But the flavors didn’t outlast the stressors that came with living in Neverthorn.

As the earth continued to turn, the threat of Nocta’s attack grew.

The Solstice Games would be held in just a couple of weeks, and we’d be able to flex a little. It would be held miles from the school, off grounds, which meant the dulling effects we were all still grappling with would disappear.

In theory, at least.

But would our time at the games be enough to prepare us for what was to come? To prepare for Nocta himself? I still felt like we were missing something important. Something that was being kept from us.

I blew out a breath and looked at the date hung on the wall. Two days before the Feast of Abundance.

“Bandit ...” I rolled over and pulled the covers over both our heads early on a Sunday morning, quickly spinning a rune of silence over us so we couldn’t be overheard.

“I need to find an inexpensive gift for Opie, and one for Fable. I’ve got like two days, and I’d like to get them each something, and I don’t have time to search on my own with all the homework I’ve got. ”

Traditionally, small gifts were traded between yourself and those you were most grateful for in your life. It was a day to thank Mother Hecate for the gifts of her magic and thank the Horned King for not frucking about in your life too much.

The date had snuck up on me, and now I needed to get something together quickly. And, in truth, I hadn’t thought I’d still be here by the time the Feast of Abundance rolled around.

“Didn’t you all agree not to do gifts?”

He was not wrong. House Phoenix had decided on the whole not to exchange gifts on the Feast of Abundance. Simply because we’d all kind of forgotten about it until the last minute. Like me, they’d been swamped with classes, homework, and worry.

I shrugged, hating how this was going to sound, like I was playing favorites, but it was the truth. “I know, but they ... the two of them mean a lot to me, and the gifts ... I think I can find a way to make the gifts more than just gifts.”

“How about a chicken?” Bandit slapped his hands together. “You could let them pull their heads off themselves.”

I grimaced. “They aren’t raccoons,” I reminded him.

“Right, right. Okay, what are you thinking?”

“Something Opie can wear, like a bracelet or a ring so she knows she’s never alone.

She’s ... she’s going to need it.” I felt terrible even saying the words, but I knew that one day she’d realize, truly realize, that there was no magic in her and she would feel very much alone.

I had to admit, the gift was partly for me.

If she wore it, I’d mark it so I would always be able to find her in case anyone ever tried to separate us again.

“Check the Nevershoppes. See if you can find anything good, and then I can go back and pay.”

“And for Fable?” He cocked a brow. “You going to produce Zeed for her to kiss under Hecate’s flowers?”

I laughed softly and shook my head. “She’d love me forever if I could do that. But no, I’ll leave that to the two of them to decide when he comes back.”

If he came back. He still hadn’t answered any of Fable’s letters. Liam still hadn’t gotten any info from the family which was weird. Fable had thought maybe he was mad at her for telling me that they’d gone to the fairy ring ...

What could Fable possibly need that I could get for her on a limited budget? “I think a pair of small throwing knives would be good. I can start teaching her. That way if anyone tries to dull her magic, she has a way to protect herself.”

Bandit saluted me and then he was springing out of the bed and rushing out of the massive dormitory.

I pulled the sheet back to see Fable staring at me. “What was that all about?”

“Secrets abound,” I said with a wink.

She laughed and slid her runners on. None of us slept in pj’s anymore, we all slept in some variation of being fully clothed now that we all shared one big room.

“Come on, let’s go check out the library, we have some time before remedial runes with Doyen Moreno.” Fable grabbed my arm and dragged me to my feet. We hit the kitchens first, snagging coffee and breakfast sandwiches from Mrs. Wickersham.

The library didn’t give up any of its secrets, not a single one. Or at least, no secrets that would do me or Fable any good. There was nothing on Nocta we hadn’t already read in another book or article. There was nothing in the legends section that was new. But we kept at it.

Because there was no other choice.

The next morning, I found myself negotiating with a giant of a man over his handmade knives.

“They be worth more than what you are offering,” his low growl rumbled against my skin.

I tapped the knives, knowing that they would fit Fable perfectly. They were balanced, light, and in their sheaths, they would lay flat against her inner forearms so that even with a shirt on you’d not notice she had knives strapped to her.

“I know that,” I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. I didn’t have much to offer. I paused. “Can I put it on an account?”

His dark eyebrows arched upward over blue eyes flecked with silver. “I don’t do accounts.”

Damn.

I ran my fingers over the two blades and their arm sheaths. “I’ll be back.”

I needed enough money to pay for the necklace Bandit had found for Opie too. Neither of these things were negotiable in my mind. Both gifts would protect them in different ways.

I let myself out the door and stood in the street.

The Nevershoppes hadn’t changed in a hundred years as far as I knew.

They were rustic, with thatched roofs, some had rounded doors, other large square ones.

Big windows were in place in some of the shops, allowing people to peek in at the wares before actually committing.

The Black Bear pub still called to me, but I didn’t have time or the extra funds to actually visit the place with the amazing food.

The cobblestone lane that ran through the middle of the shops was full of students hurrying between the stores. Everyone was looking for last-minute gifts.

And that gave me an idea. There was an option to get the funds I needed. I blew out a slow breath and let my eyes drift over the kids that were in and out of multiple shops, those with the biggest packages.

If I was going to do it, now was the time.

I tucked my hands in the pockets of my jacket and lowered my head into the wind as I walked straight toward a girl from Draconell – Misty Lillentia.

She was from one of the wealthiest Dwimmer families around.

A snob who talked down to the staff at school, she loved to brag about how much money she and her family had.

Maybe it was time to separate her from a tiny bit of it.

I plowed right into her, gasped as we kind of danced around one another, my hand going into her pocket and snagging the entire bundle of coins, sliding it into my own pocket as the parcels and bags went in the air.

“Oh, sheet, I’m sorry!” I was yelping as I grabbed at the bags, helping her gain her feet. “Sorry, totally in my own world there.”

Misty shook her head. “Whatever, loser.”

I handed her the last bag that she’d dropped, and she and her friends carried on back toward Neverthorn.

Bandit tugged at my leg. “That was slick.”

“Yeah.” I felt lower than dog poo stuck in the treads of a shoe, but for Opie and Fable, I’d do worse if I had to.

Back into the blacksmith’s shop I went. I opened up the coin purse and counted out the agreed price for the two blades and their sheaths.

“Managed to find that money awfully fast, lassie,” he said as I dropped the coins into his open palm.

I shrugged. “Playing hardball wasn’t getting me anywhere. I had the money all along.”

Lies, lies, lies.

I had a feeling the big blacksmith knew it. Even so, he wrapped up the blades. “Fae made, they won’t break, and they’ll find their way back to her should she lose them.”

I nodded. “Thanks.”

He winked and a tiny flush of heat made me look away. The man was good looking, and if he was part Fae then I was right to avoid his full gaze.

Leaving, I headed down the street to the junk house. Yes, you read that right, junk house. Apparently, Bandit had found the perfect pendant in all the junk that was lying around.

Boxes upon boxes were stacked to the ceiling, teetering as I brushed by. The store clerk was nowhere to be found. But that didn’t mean he or she wasn’t there. I probably just couldn’t see them. I edged through the spaces sideways, following Bandit.

“Come on,” he whispered, motioning for me to keep up with him as he raced through the store.

A teardrop ruby he’d said – I wasn’t sure if it was fake or not, but he led me straight to it, at the back of the store that smelled like mothballs and unwashed bodies, not a great combination.

I held my breath as best I could as I dug down and through the box he indicated.

The box was labelled as knickknacks. My fingers brushed against the smooth gem, and there it was.

I tugged it out of the pile of assorted items. A ruby necklace that caught the light, throwing color like flames around.

Whoever had put it in here had no idea what they were throwing out.

“Nice! Thank you for finding it.” I kept my voice low.

I motioned for Bandit to move and searched the area until I found what else I was looking for: something to hide it in.

A teapot.

“This is perfect! Phyllis will love it!” I held it up and slipped the ruby pendant into it.

I had no doubt that the pendant was real now that I’d seen it, and I wasn’t about to pay full price for it – not when I was certain that even if I had my entire pouch of money still from Misty that it wouldn’t be enough.

Was the teapot actually for Phyllis? No, of course not.

It was cracked and stained, not a real gift. But the shop owner didn’t know that.