Page 67

Chapter Fifty-Seven

KEIR

I checked on both Rain and Aspen by text. The girls tormented me, each one texting me even though they were sitting side by side. It made me smile. They were cute, and everything about their relationship made me happy. Knowing that Aspen wasn't upset by the day's events helped even more.

The one thing I didn't think about was that kiss. I pushed it out of my mind, reminding myself Torian wasn't into guys. It meant nothing. He'd merely been frustrated and without any other way to vent. Besides, kissing hurt a lot less than the punch I'd expected, so I'd take it.

But when my alarm went off the next morning, my mind jumped right to that mess. Specifically to the scars on Torian's back. He was just a kid ! Well, when he'd been given those marks, he had been. For an adult to do that to a child ? Even a wildling one?

I couldn't wrap my mind around it, and if anything, it made me more convinced the Mad Queen had gone completely insane. Fae did not harm children. They were a treasure. We had so few of them that each and every one should be pampered and adored - not left with scars crisscrossing their backs!

I also knew Torian wouldn't want my sympathy, so I didn't give him any.

Finding a clean uniform, I may have put a little extra effort into my hair, and then left for my first class of the day.

This was the only downside of Silver Oaks.

Unlike a normal university, our class schedule was strict and structured.

Just like high school, we had classes from eight in the morning until at least two every afternoon. Often later.

It made sense, though. So many of the foundlings needed a little stability before they could control their manifesting magic.

By keeping all of us in class, the students weren't worried about missing out on fun, so we paid attention to our instruction.

As college students, we could pick any of the offered classes we wanted, but our degrees did have requirements.

Literature of the World was the one I dreaded most, so it was what I started the day with.

Yet as I walked into the room, Mr. Banks gestured for me to come over. "Keir? You've been reassigned." He lifted a slip of paper.

"What?" I took the note, unfolded it, and quickly scanned the words. "I'm being moved?"

"Ms. Rhodes thought you'd understand," he said.

Pushing out a sigh, I read the words again, paying attention this time.

Your first class of the day is being changed to room N012. Please report there for the remainder of the semester. Grades and credits will be adjusted accordingly.

I crumpled up the note in my hand. "So you know, I didn't expect this, Mr. Banks." Then I turned and lengthened my stride, hoping I could get back to the first floor and down to the Never before the hourly bell rang.

I couldn't.

I was halfway down the stairs when it went off. It then took me two more minutes to find the right room, because N012 was not one of the larger classrooms. When I realized that, I started looking at the numbers on the private rooms, and found it.

The door was closed, so I knocked and entered - then stopped hard.

Sitting in front of me, Torian was tapping the end of his pen on the table furiously.

It was less of a drumbeat than a flutter, yet he stopped the moment he saw me.

The guy's eyes narrowed, then jumped to the other corner of the room.

There, Ms. Hawthorne was standing with her arms crossed, looking more than a little annoyed.

"I was reassigned here," I said, looking between the two. I was sure my confusion was showing.

"Yes," Ms. Hawthorne said. "Keir, you're a good choice. Sit. I'm to make sure neither of you leave. Ms. Rhodes has to get her own class started, then she will be in to talk to you both."

"About?" I asked.

Ms. Hawthorne simply smiled. "Apparently, the rules of this esteemed institute are being bent for those of a..." She sniffed. "...Certain persuasion."

"Gotcha." She meant monsters.

Pulling out the chair across from Torian, I dropped into it hard, then set my things on the table beside me. His pen started tapping again, but Torian's eyes didn't meet mine. The smug look on his face, however, was the one he usually wore. The one I was starting to think might be a mask.

"You ever going to show me that Burst I've heard you have?" I asked.

One corner of his mouth lifted. "Nope."

"C'mon," I groaned. "A plant native to the Summer Palace?"

"The Elysian Fields," he corrected. "The palace is near them, but not actually on them. It's a ten-minute ride to the Sea of Grasses."

"Ride?"

He lifted a brow. "Yes, there are horses on Faerie. No, there are no cars. No pollution either. Well, not the smog kind."

"I see."

He went back to his drumming, so I began to tap the edge of my thumb in a matching tempo. Torian's pen hesitated, but then continued. In the corner, Ms. Hawthorne tensed, then shifted like she was annoyed. Now I was fighting to keep a smirk off my face.

Soon enough, the door opened again, and Ms. Rhodes stepped in. "Ah, good. You're both here." She looked over at Ms. Hawthorne. "I'm sorry for making you watch them, Pearl, but I've got this from here."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Ivy," Ms. Hawthorne grumbled as she headed for the door. "The silver oak is meant for our magic."

"I'm well aware of that," Ms. Rhodes assured her.

But while Ms. Hawthorne left, the headmistress waited, saying nothing. Not even when the door closed. Nor when Ms. Hawthorne's footsteps faded down the hall. Instead, Ms. Rhodes waited until this entire side of the Never was silent.

Then she set a small prism on the table between us. "Your exercise for the day, Torian, is to only allow blue light through. The rest you can block, refract, or contain in any way you choose, but only blue light will shine on the other side." Then she turned for the door.

"This is child's play!" Torian called after her.

The headmistress paused with her hand on the knob. "Then it should be easy. Keir, when he's accomplished that ten times in a row, you may leave. Otherwise, you can go when the hour is up."

"Why?" I asked.

Letting go of the handle, the woman turned back to us.

"Oh, I thought it was obvious. You, Keir, want to help the court.

Bracken says you have the ability to block Mr. Hunt's magical strength.

Liam has let me know you like being the hero.

Well, you're not. You, Mr. Delaney, are a common fae mongrel with indeterminate power.

The sort of power we do not understand. You've made it your place to stand with the Morrigan, so this is your chance to prove you deserve to be there. "

"I haven't done anything wrong," I reminded her.

"Mm..." She smiled. "So prove you can do something right. Torian, blue only."

"I could do this in my sleep!" he snapped.

"When you had control, yes. I'm sure you could." She paused to lick her lips, holding both of our attention in the process. "But that's the thing. You don't have control anymore, do you? So find it, and if you slip, Keir will shield it. Together, you might even learn how to be a team ."

"I don't need him!" Torian grumbled.

"Oh, because you think Hawke will always be there for you?

What about his goals, Torian? You are not the center of the universe, and I will not allow you to think you are.

Master your control, and we can worry about what comes next, but as long as this building is being ravaged by lightning, glamours, frost, and who knows what else?

No, you will learn how to not only control your magic, Torian, but also your power . "

"And I've been pulled out of literature to babysit him?" I asked.

"And to learn your own place, Keir." She smiled at me. "Do you know when I met Joan le Fae?"

"No, ma'am."

"When she made me a general and put me in charge of the trolls.

When she dared me to convince the Summer militia to fight beside monsters.

Keir, this is your chance to learn what it means to be fae.

Forget all the gossip you hear in the halls, and stand up for what you believe in, even if it's doing nothing more than keeping this place standing.

Silver Oaks is our sanctuary, and right now, you're defending it. "

"Ok," I relented. "But if you're changing my degree, then you are in my debt."

She just smiled. "No, I'm actually doing you a favor. You just haven't realized it yet. The debt is yours, Keir, but I'm not going to require repayment. He will." And she tipped her head at Torian. "Ten times in a row, Torian. Not nine. Not 'close enough.'"

And then she left. Across from me, Torian groaned, scrubbing at his face as if to erase something. It took me a little too long to realize it was his smile.

"What's so funny about this?" I asked.

"Her," he admitted. "I think I might actually be outclassed. The woman is a force of nature."

"She was the general of the Summer Army." I huffed because that should say enough. "She walked in both palaces, Torian. Of course she knows how to play this game!"

Finally, his pretty green eyes found mine. "Do you?"

"I don't want to."

"Hm..." His gaze slid down to my chest, then back up, hanging on my lips.

"And yet you have a knack for it. So you know, the Morrigan will get enmeshed in fae politics.

Whether she wants it or not, Rain will be buried with the bullshit our kind thinks is fun.

If you really want to help her, then you'd best figure out how to enjoy it. "

"What, or die trying?"

He shrugged. "That's typically what happens when a Morrigan shows up."

I nodded my head slowly. "So where do you fit in?"

"Making blue light," he said.

I just waved at the prism. "I'm waiting."

"I'm distracted," he said, keeping his tone very casual.

Which made me smile. "So does this mean we should talk about what happened yesterday?"

"Nope."

I murmured. "I thought you were straight, Torian."

"Yeah..." he said, pulling the prism closer. "I did too, but that's the problem. I don't really know what I think anymore."

"I see." Yet when he continued to stare at the crystal, I had to ask, "So did I cross a line?"

"Pretty sure I crossed that line." His eyes flicked up, then back to the crystal. "Did you know the gate almost closed on me when I was crossing to Earth?"

"No, you never talk about it."

He thrust out his lower lip and nodded, but his eyes stayed on the stone. "See, that's the thing. I wasn't afraid of dying. I've never been scared of it."

"So what are you afraid of, Torian?"

Before me, his fingers tightened on the prism.

"Her. They talk about her like she's some icon of Summer, but she's not.

I'm fucking terrified of her, because even with all this power, I am still no match for the things she can do.

I know it, because she made sure I know it.

The only way I had to stop her was my control.

As long as it was perfect, I stood a chance. "

"And now it's not," I realized. "Ever think it's because you push yourself too hard?"

He laughed once. "Trust me, that's not my problem."

"Then what is?"

He pushed the clear crystal back into the center and flicked his hand. Immediately, pure blue light poured from it, but that wasn't the impressive part. The lack of a beam going in was what shocked me, yet Torian just caressed the angled edge as if he was caressing a pet.

"I'm tired of saying it, Keir."

"Yeah, well, you haven't said it yet."

He just hummed thoughtfully. "Not that. I'm fucking tired of saying I can't talk about it, because that's the only answer I can give you."

So I reached over, placing my hand on his, making him look up. "Believe it or not, it's an answer I'll take. I didn't join the court to learn your secrets, Tor."

"Then why?"

I let my fingers trail over the tendons in his wrist as I pulled my hand back. "Because I wanted to help." I should've left it there, but the words were barely out of my mouth before I realized they weren't quite right. "Because I want someone to need me to help."

He turned the stone. "We need you." And then he pushed blue from the other side. "We also hate that we have to."

"So do I," I assured him. "Trust me, Torian, I fucking hate everything they're doing to you."

"Which is exactly why you're on the court," he said. "You just have no fucking clue what it means."

"It means enough," I assured him. "I prefer to call it friends."

Before me, the light cracked, shifting into an entire rainbow, and Torian let out a heavy sigh. "Damn it."