Page 15 of Pixie Problems

"Is draining someone normal?" I asked.

She swallowed. "I can't talk about that."

All I could do was nod to show I'd heard. "Which means it's not normal. Can any of the jesters do it? More importantly, how do I block it?"

"No one can strip you," she explained. "You're the block, don't you see? If Winter magic is negative and Summer magic is positive, yours is a grounding rod, nullifying them both. You just suck in our magic andconvert it to those shadows. The only ones who can drain you are the wildlings, and I can't think of why they'd want to."

I heard all of that, as well as the things she was trying to steer me away from. "Aspen?" I asked. "Will you ever be able to talk about this stuff? The things you skip over and try to avoid, is it because I'm human?"

"No," she said. "It's because those of us from Faerie know things that could be dangerous to the people around us." She bit her lower lip, then chewed on it lightly. "The whole court has secrets, Rain. We can't help it. That's why we had to get out. Now, we're just trying to make sure those secrets don't ruin everything here too."

"Will Harper being gone help at all?"

She shook her head. "Harper was a bitch, and her mom will probably find a way to get her back at Silver Oaks, but no. The problems are bigger than school. It's all of fae society, you know? They have unfair prejudices, and their parents carried them here. I'm kinda hoping you'll help, though. Having a Morrigan on our side? That's something none of us dared to hope for, and yet you're here."

"What can I even do, though?" I asked. "I couldn't even make my own shadow behave!"

She simply shrugged. "The fables we have say the Morrigan will right the wrongs and bring back balance. They don't say how because none of us understand your magic. Plus, I was a baby when I left, so I didn't get all the good stories. I only remember the nursery rhymes. Jack's the one with all the answers."

"And he has a vocabulary of like five words now."

"Jack!" he said, right on cue.

So I thrust my arm out at him. "See?"

"And you're not an adult yet," she reminded me. "The heroes of our stories aren't usually seventeen-year-old girls. Especially not when our people live to be over a thousand. You've got time, Rain. You've also got some pretty powerful friends, and I assure you we will take care of you."

"Ok," I agreed. "And so you know, I'm going to learn all of this so I can take care of you back. Not because it's a debt, but because it's what friends do. Especially girlfriends."

"And you are a very good girlfriend," she breathed, leaning in to steal one more kiss.

Chapter Five

RAIN

That evening, I got to bust out some of the new clothes Liam had bought for me: the athletic wear. I had my choice of sports bras, leggings meant to work out in, and fitted tees that not only wouldn't get in my way, but also had some cool graphic prints on them. Then there were my shoes. The very expensive, highly recommended ones I still couldn't believe he'd just bought like that.

My new coat didn't really go with the whole workout look, but it did cover my ass. So as I hiked across the snow-covered lawn to get to the gym for my five o'clock appointment with my other dad, I didn't worry about anyone looking out and seeing nothing but spandex-covered butt cheeks. The snow on the ground crunched under my new shoes, and when I got close enough, the crows in the trees all cawed out a greeting.

"Afternoon, guys," I yelled back.

That made Jack chatter in approval. I wasn't sure if it was for me or the other birds, but I didn't care. Those other crows all seemed to be the normal type, but they'd still helped on the Winter Solstice. How many of them had blocked magic from the jesters? Just flying between people had sometimes been enough of a distraction to stop a spell from being thrown.

"Jack?" I asked as I reached the door. "Are the crows out here wildlings too?"

Sitting on my shoulder, he looked at me and twisted his head. That was neither a yes or a no.

"Some are and some aren't?" I tried instead.

This time, he nodded.

"And the ones who are supposed to be normal crows, are they actually normal?" He shook his head, so I kept going. "Because of the magic around the school?"

He nodded vigorously. "Morrigan!"

Ok, I wasn't quite sure how that all fit together into an answer, but it meant the crows here were all special in some way. I had a feeling they were Jack's little avian army, but how that helped me was still a mystery. Although once I was inside the building, Jack was tired of talking. He immediately took off, flying across the room to his favorite perch.

That let me strip off my coat and look around. It was currently winter break at school, which meant no classes. The gym was empty, only daylight from the windows lighting the place. That made it feel a bit abandoned, and yet it didn't have that empty feeling like I was alone in here.