Page 51 of Pixie Problems

"What's that?"

"Promise me that you meanmy sister no harm."

And that was easy for me to do, so I said, "I swear that at this time, I mean Aspen no harm, and if that changes, I will let you know if at all possible."

Torian's tongue darted out to lick his much-too-pretty lips, then he nodded subtly, almost like he wasn't aware he was doing it. Rather, I got the impression he was coming to terms with something internally. But after humming again, he offered up his hand.

"Deal," he said. "I'll accept you into the court, but if you ever hurt her…"

The rush of power sealing our agreement was intense enough that he didn't even need to finish the thought. If I broke that deal, it would probably kill me. Fuck, how strong was this kid, anyway?

Chapter Fifteen

RAIN

Missing the end of the New Year's Eve party sucked, but not as much as I'd expected. Aspen was waiting in our suite when I got back. She then took me around to the boys' side to hang out with the guys - including Keir. Yeah, something was off with them, but no one was talking about it, so I did my best to ignore it.

Then it was back to training with my zez. Bracken had our sessions scheduled for the evening, right around when I'd do them during class. That made it easy on New Year's Day, since I was able to sleep in. The next few days, however, he pushed me hard, letting me know it was partly to make sure I didn't lose control of my temper again - and thus my shadows.

Oddly, it was nice. Bracken never got angry if I was frustrated. He didn't yell at me for lashing out. Instead, he showed me other ways to control my emotions, such as movement. Discussion was his favorite method, though - even if it was harder for me.

I'd never really had anyone who wanted to actually listen to me before. Now I had two! More if I counted my friends, but that was different. I talked about different things with them than I did with my dads. But those last few days of winter break passed too fast, and all too soon we were back at school.

On Monday morning, I headed downstairs out of habit, but when I reached the first floor, Jack started cawing. Belatedly, I remembered I was supposed to go to the Never, not to my English class. So, turning around, Ifollowed a cluster of older students through the heavy wooden door and made my way down.

Ivy Rhodes stood calmly beside the bottom of the stairs. The college-aged kids around me all smiled or nodded at her in greeting, but when she saw me, the headmistress stepped into the flow of bodies, gesturing to a side hall.

"I have a room down here we can use," she explained.

And while that was great, I couldn't help but notice all the people looking at me. I wanted to say "us," but those eyes were just on me. Ms. Rhodes wasn't a big deal. From the whispers around me, it seemed I was.

Thankfully, the room she directed me to was small. It looked more like an office, or maybe even smaller. There was a table for four in the middle, but the walls were what shocked me the most. Made of packed dirt, the tree's roots were visible - and dense.

"Have a seat, Rain," Ms. Rhodes said.

"Uh, ok?" I was so lost right now.

Still, I claimed a space facing the door. She took the chair with its back to it, right across from me. Dropping my bag by my chair, I reached up for Jack, but he leaned closer, pressing into my neck. Clearly, he didn't want to move.

"Ok," I said. "So what's first?"

Ms. Rhodes plopped her pristine elbows down on the table, then leaned in. "First, we talk." She offered me a reassuring smile. "Rain, tell me about this shadow of yours?"

"Uh, the mist ones, or the silhouette one?"

"The silhouette," she said.

I grunted, trying to think of what to say. "I mean, it just 'wakes up' sometimes. I don't know what else to call it, and I can't feel it or anything, so I don't know how long it's been doing it."

"Morrigan," Jack declared.

"It's her power?" Ms. Rhodes asked.

Caw!Jack replied, ruffling his feathers.

"That means neither yes nor no," I explained.

Ms. Rhodes slowly nodded her head. "So it's a power, but not necessarily hers?" she tried next.