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Chapter Forty-Eight

RAIN

W e ate. We rested. Torian made me drink an entire glass of nectar from the silver oak in the middle of the atrium, and then all of my friends hit me with some sort of enchantment or conjuration.

Not surprisingly, I lay down on my bed as we were all talking and planning, then woke up to darkness and Aspen crawling under the blankets beside me.

"I..."

"Shh..." She breathed, wrapping her arms around me. "This is why you don't mess with the fae, Rain. We decided to manipulate you into resting, and we're good at it."

"But what happened with the attackers?" I asked. "I missed all of it."

She kissed the side of my neck. "It's still being sorted. I can say Tag was sent up to bring you some nectar." And Aspen giggled. "We made it clear we'd taken care of that and assured her you'd be ready."

"For what?"

"I don't know," she said. "Now go to sleep." To make sure of it, Aspen began humming fae lullabies or something.

The music was in Faeril, and while I didn't understand a word, it was amazingly soothing, and I hadn't really woken all the way up.

I also didn't fight her. If my girlfriend thought I needed to sleep more, then that was an easy way to make her happy.

And when the alarm went off on my phone the next morning, I actually felt rested.

The feeling in the halls was off, though. Students moved in groups rather than alone like they usually did. I kept seeing people looking over their shoulders, and too many were clutching their tablets as if bracing for the worst. Even the sound in the halls was subdued.

As I jogged down to the Never, it was only worse.

Underground, people spoke in whispers, looking at every door as if they didn't trust it.

On my shoulder, Jack sat crouched low, but his beak was snapping from side to side, making me think he noticed it too.

Yet when I stepped into my normal room, Ms. Rhodes was sitting there with two mugs before her.

"Good morning, Morrigan," she said, sliding one towards my spot.

I took it before I was all the way around the table.

"My friends hooked me up, then tricked me into passing out before the sun was even down," I told her.

"They wanted me ready for the worst today, and were convinced you'd ask me to do something, but all of them said they didn't know what was going on. "

She sighed the way she always did when things were going wrong. "Rain, they were all Silent."

"Are you surprised?"

Slowly, she shook her head. "No. I did notice three of them with dark manacles." She lifted a brow.

I grunted. "Yeah, um, so I realized the mittens - which worked really well - meant they couldn't do things.

Open a door, write, or whatever. And I thought about that the last time, but not seriously, you know?

More like just a fleeting thought - yet when I saw Wilder had them all held somehow, because I didn't realize it was a glamour until someone told me, um, I just..

." I shrugged. "I thought they were imprisoned, and prisoners wear handcuffs. "

"Can you make them again?" she asked.

I nodded quickly. "Yep. I mean, those are easy. I just have to hit them. I mean, magically hit them."

Which made Ms. Rhodes smile. "What do they do, Rain?"

"They kinda nullify their magic. With those on, they can't do anything but live. It doesn't strip magic from them, but it does eat what comes out of them."

"So, a barrier, basically?"

I quickly took a sip of my coffee. "I didn't think it through. I just told the shadows I didn't want them to be able to do any fae magic, but I wanted them alive. Why?"

She lifted her own cup and took a drink.

"Because there's one thing I learned in war.

Rain, spies can be flipped, but only if they're treated well.

Not perfectly, and if they aren't punished, they won't trust us.

They expect a certain level of restraint and being watched, but if their captors are more kind than their own side? "

"You want to flip The Silent?" I asked.

She nodded slowly. "Expelling students hasn't slowed down the attacks. That means it's not a threat they fear. We don't know who is doing this - beyond a vague name we've given them. We don't know who is working with The Silent already, how they are recruiting, or anything else."

"I thought you had trackers in the school."

She canted her head, making it clear I wasn't wrong. "Sadly, we can find no patterns. Not a person they all meet with, a place they all go, or anything. Yes, there are some people who all of them talk to, but I'm on that list. Everyone can easily be explained away."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"We do something more terrifying than kicking them out, while treating them better and more fairly than whoever sent them to fight against fae royalty without being properly trained!"

The anger simmering in her voice made me realize she felt strongly about this. Her plan sounded good enough to me, and my friends were convinced I was necessary for this. That only left me one question.

"So what do you need me to do?"

"Right now, we have twenty-seven students enchanted into their rooms. Any magic they try to use will be reflected back on them.

Lethal spells will be nullified to pain, no damage.

Rain, I want you to put your Wild handcuffs on all of them.

Once they're stripped of their magic, then we'll see who wants to talk around their promise.

Maybe we'll get something. If nothing else, we have a better chance at stopping this if the ones who've been caught can tell the next group it isn't worth it. "

"So I'm going to cuff them, then you'll just let them go back to class?" I asked.

"Not immediately," she assured me. "Most will get a few days of suspension, but then yes, I want them back in class, back with the friends they're going to realize they do miss, and back in the lives they almost gave up."

I nodded. "I can do that."

"Now?" she asked.

I pushed to my feet and reached out for Jack. "As long as I can drink and walk, then now's good."

Ms. Rhodes gathered up her own things, then led the way out. Together, we stopped by the office, where I was told to leave my tablet, because if I missed class, then I missed class. This was more important. Then we headed to the third floor, aiming for the girls' side of the building.

The first door was just like all the rest on this floor.

Ms. Rhodes banged on it, then opened the door and stepped in.

"Gem? I told you I'd see you this morning.

Ah, good. You're dressed." Then she gestured for me to come in.

"This is Rain le Fae. She is going to apply your punishment.

I am the one who made this decision, but the Morrigan agrees it is fair. "

"Winter lover," the girl, Gem, sneered at me.

"Fae lover is more accurate," I said, turning to the sound of her voice.

"Unlike you, I had no preconceived notions about who is right or wrong.

All of this is amazing to me, and I think it's a shame someone wants to harm others simply because they're different.

" I flicked my fingers, sending shadows at her to become cuffs.

Comfortable ones, but still inhibiting. "Personally, I think hate is a pretty shitty thing.

I hope you realize you've been lied to."

"We can't lie, you stupid human."

"Some of you can," I countered. "You can lie with the truth, with omission, and with deception. Faelings can lie as often as they can't. And you know what? One person's hate can be true for them and wrong at the same time."

"But Winter caused all of this!"

"Winter?" I asked. "So everyone in a season is the same?

" The cuffs solidified as little more than inch-wide bracelets.

They were too tight to come off, but loose enough they wouldn't bite into her skin.

"I guess that means you're just like every other Summer fae, hm?

Like the same colors and foods? Are attracted to the same people?

Enjoy the same subjects? Have the same abilities, power range, and taste in clothing?

" I raked my eyes over her. "Or maybe, people are more than one thing. "

"You wouldn't know," she grumbled, tugging at one of the manacles.

"Nope," I said. "I wouldn't know anything about racism, religious persecution, attacks because of gender identity or sexual orientation. Yeah, we humans know nothing about how to hate. Then again, we might be rubbing off on you." And I turned to the door.

"Wait?" she begged. "What did you do to me?"

I turned back. "I took away your magic, Gem. I did it in a way that won't kill you, but that makes you as powerless as any ordinary human. Convince me you've changed, and I'll remove them."

"Fuck you!" she shot back. "You know I can't do that."

"Then tell me how this was planned," Ms. Rhodes offered. "Give me something, Gem. If you help me, I will be happy to have those removed and send you home. If you learn how big of a mistake this was, I'll even let you stay, but that requires a lot of proving yourself."

"Then I'll just call my father," she shot back.

I shrugged that off. "Fine. Doesn't mean those cuffs will go away. You just have to decide what your dad will think about a magicless faeling for a kid."

"You can't do that!" she insisted. "That's not fair!"

"Honey," I sneered, "life isn't fair. I learned that a long time ago.

" And I took a step toward her. "Trying to kill my friends isn't fair.

Harming innocent people isn't fair. Terrorizing the school certainly isn't fair.

But you think things should be fair for you and not for everyone else?

Sure. Explain to me how that works in your spoiled little fae head. "

"Rain..." Ms. Rhodes warned.

But I lifted a finger at her while holding Gem's gaze. "I'm waiting."

"I can't live without magic," she tried instead.

"Oh, you'll live," I told her. "See, that's why it's called punishment. And while this may be Ms. Rhodes' school, and she is the one who asked me to help her, do not ever think that changes what I'm here to do."

"What's that?"

"Morrigan!" Jack cawed from my shoulder.

I just smiled. "I'm here to return the balance, Gem. To do that, we need something to balance. One season would make that really hard, don't you think? So if I have to protect Winter first, then I'll do that. See, I just realized why Jack picked me, out of all the people in this world, to do this."

It was Ms. Rhodes who asked, "Why, Rain?"

"Because I'm used to being hated. I've learned the hard way how to see through the crap people spew to make themselves look good.

Fair is nothing more than a myth we tell ourselves.

Fair doesn't exist, but trust does. And if people are going to mock and sneer at someone, then fine.

Do it to me. I've learned how to ignore it.

I also know that words only hurt if I let them, but magic?

It's a dream come true, so I will not let anyone else screw it up. "

"I didn't mean to," Gem whispered.

"You still did."

"But I just wanted to convince my father I'm not a disappointment!"

"You can't." I tilted my head a bit. "That sucks, right?

But you know what? That's his fault, not yours.

Stop judging your worth on what someone else says.

Stop falling for peer pressure! Sheesh, didn't you learn about that in elementary school?

Well, guess what? That's what got you into this.

You wanted to look cool. How's that working out now? "

"You're not my Morrigan!" she screamed next. "I was doing what's right. You can't take my magic from me!"

This time, I made it to the door without stopping.

Gem kept screaming, but I really didn't care.

This girl had tried to hurt Aspen. Maybe it wasn't directly, but I'd been so worried about my girlfriend after she'd found that girl dead in the tree.

It had hurt her, even if it had hurt Carol more, and I would do everything in my power to make sure it didn't happen again.

Yet the moment we were outside, Ms. Rhodes caught my arm. "Rain, you don't have to talk to them. I'm also not going to get in your way. You are, after all, the Morrigan. That means I defer to you this time."

"No, Ms. Rhodes. I'm the Morrigan, but you're the one saving the fae. For this we get to be equals."

She glanced over at the bird on my shoulder. "Jack, I think you've picked the best one yet."

"Rain," he crooned. "Jack-Rain." And he nibbled at my hair.

"I'm just winging it," I told them both. "But I figure that's oddly appropriate, since a crow is the one who gave me his power."

And as we turned for the next room, Jack was rattling at my weak joke. Surprisingly, it made me feel like I had this. I was doing this, and I wasn't making a mess of this.

I just hoped it would be enough.