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Chapter Six

RAIN

T hat night, I told Aspen everything I'd learned.

She told me all about the weirdos watching her.

Worse, at least a dozen people had asked her about the Hunt.

One wanted to know if she was the reason they kept coming back to Silver Oaks.

She'd made it clear the Hunt was after all fae on Earth, but she wasn't sure they'd believed it.

All of this did nothing but confirm my fears that something had changed over spring break.

It had only been a week, but a week of spending time with our friends, not required to attend classes, and plenty of students heading home to talk to their Summer-loving parents?

Yeah, biases were on full display right now.

Oddly, it wasn't the jesters giving us shit. Sure, they still threw out their childish taunts, trying to make themselves look cool and tough, but we were all used to that. The truth was it felt like the jesters were merely a part of a bigger problematic group. Aspen called them traditionalists.

I thought they were just whack.

But Tuesday morning came much too soon. This time, I woke up with my alarm, but Jack didn't. The crow had his nose tucked under his wing in the cutest way. I almost didn't want to disturb him, but I certainly didn't want to be late again. Not with Ms. Rhodes teaching my first class of the day.

Aspen and I managed to make it out of our rooms early enough to take the elevator this time.

She got off on the second floor for her first class.

I went down to the first, then hurried around the atrium so I could get to the staircase that led to the Never, but as I passed the atrium, I saw a pair of girls in there.

They were kneeling over something. Initially, I thought it was a plant, but a few more steps revealed a book on the ground. Ok, so studying for a test this morning? But when they saw me, both looked up and made a strange gesture.

They pressed their fist over their heart while making an L shape.

At least, it was the same gesture kids did when holding an L to their foreheads for "loser.

" Except after they tapped their chest with it, they made a circle with their arm, like rolling the whole thing, and then pressed their chest again. Worse, they did it in unison.

"Morrigan..." Jack tried to whisper.

"I don't know what that was," I told him as I lengthened my steps, "but it's weird."

Not surprisingly, when I made it to the room we used, Ms. Rhodes was already there. Once again, she had a coffee for me - mixed with hot cocoa the way I liked it - and slid it across. I took the cup, but this was starting to be a habit.

"What's the deal with the coffee?" I asked. "Should I get used to this?"

"Sure," she said. "Rain, I give you a drink. You give me information. That makes it a trade. It also means neither you nor I can be held responsible if we cross outside the student-teacher lanes."

"So a fae excuse?" I asked.

She smiled at me proudly. "Exactly. Now, give me some information."

So I told her about the girls and their weird gesture. I didn't know them, but both seemed to be faelings. Not that it made them stick out, but I was trying to give her all the details I had. The whole time, she was nodding.

"I know the gesture is American Sign Language for loyalty," she said. "However, because it's a sign in an Earth language, I can't tell you what group is responsible for it. For all I know, this could be a few students who are simply awed at seeing a real Morrigan."

"Torian's gotten it too," I pointed out.

And her body stilled. "Ok, that makes me worried."

"Us too," I agreed. "Ms. Rhodes, something's weird.

The whole feeling of the school is off. Aspen's getting glared at, Wilder's having shoulders crash into him in the halls.

Hawke's getting looks. Not good or bad, but more like they're weighing him.

Torian's mentioned people nodding or dipping their heads at him. "

"And Keir?" she asked.

I sighed. "He's seen it, but they don't seem concerned about him. Keir said he feels like he's watching this happen from the outside, but he's noticed it. What bothers me the most is that none of us are hearing anyone talking about it."

"Except Tag," she said, leaning back. "Anita Taggart told me about your discussion."

"I wasn't going to get her in trouble," I admitted.

Which made Ms. Rhodes chuckle. "Rain, it's ok. Tag and I are on the same side. We don't always agree, but she's been my partner for well over a decade now. It's why she works at Silver Oaks."

My mouth dropped open in surprise. "Wait. You... and Tag?"

"Mhm," she agreed. "There may also be times I can't tell you things, but she can. I just want to make sure you know how close that tie is back to me."

I nodded. "And I'm going to guess this isn't something I should share with others?"

"The court can know," she told me. "I'd prefer the student body doesn't. But we also have something else I want to talk about."

"Ok?"

Silence hung for a moment as she watched me, almost judging me. Then, "Rain, how did you kill the hunter?"

I put my left hand on the table, exposing the bracelet Hawke had made for me. It was a leather cuff with the crow-shaped stone secured to it. Carvings of fae creatures had been worked into the space around it.

"This reuci you gave me? When the Hunt shows up, it glows. All I know is I stabbed the hunter, it flashed, and the man turned from grey to normal-looking and died because he had a sword in him."

"Are you ok?" she asked, leaning a bit to see my face better. "I know that had to be hard, and talking about it likely makes it harder."

I nodded. "I'm ok. It's weird and gross, but not like, traumatic?"

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Rain, most people don't realize what traumatizes them until much later."

"Seeing Jack get knocked out of the air scared me more?" I offered. "I mean, that's kinda how I'm judging it. And I'm sure it's not exactly good for my mental health to kill people, but they were trying to kill us, so I dunno. That makes it feel like, um, justified?"

"Which is more than fair," she assured me. "I'm more interested in what spell you performed."

"I didn't."

"You did," she countered. "The reuci holds wild magic like a battery. It can also be enchanted - which I intend to teach you soon."

"How soon?" I broke in.

"As soon as I think you can do it without destroying the stone. Sadly, I can't demonstrate that for you. Reuci and my magic do not mix well, so we're going to have to muddle through this the hard way."

Ok, that was a pretty good answer. "But once I can do that, I can make it hold my sword like your necklace holds your armor?"

"That's the plan," she said. "But if you used your reuci to turn a hunter back to a normal fae? Rain, that's huge."

"Yeah, I got that impression."

"So I want you to try your hardest to remember everything you did," she told me. "Write it down. I'll have Liam pick up a journal for you, so you can keep track of what you do with your magic. Any detail, no matter how minor it seems, should be recorded. Then we can go over it together."

I nodded. "Ok, that makes sense. But what are we going to do about these people watching us? That's my real concern right now."

"I know," she assured me. "The truth is that quite a few teachers and staff have realized who Torian and Aspen really are. I'm sure they've mentioned it to students they work with. Nothing has been confirmed, but the hope of fae royalty being among us?"

"Problematic?" I guessed.

Ms. Rhodes sighed. "Yes and no. Plenty will think the gates are about to open. Dozens of traditionalists will do their best to position themselves well."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means," she warned, "they will try to impress you, Torian, and maybe even Aspen." She paused. "Or hurt you three."

And that was the problem. The entire court was getting a bad feeling lately. None of the information coming out was reassuring. Oh, maybe they might want to impress us, but the signs did not point that way.

I thought about what this could mean for the rest of my lesson.

Harper's mom had called the Hunt on Aspen last month.

She'd left a magical lure on campus just to get revenge for some perceived slight.

Granted, they hadn't known Aspen was the Winter Princess back then, and the Winter Queen now. But would that have changed anything?

I had a bad feeling it would've only made their attacks worse, so once Ms. Rhodes released me from class, I hurried up the stairs. My goal was to meet up with Aspen before second period so we could talk. If I got there early enough, I should catch her coming up the hall.

I managed to reach the second floor just as the halls began to truly fill up.

Leaning against the wall beside the hall to our class, I scanned the heads coming my way.

Like in all schools, there was a clear flow to the traffic.

Those coming this way were on my side. Those going away were on the other side of the hall, and the chatter of a few dozen conversations turned everything into an indecipherable roar.

Then I saw her. Aspen's silver pixie-cut hair stood out among the warmer tones around her. Lifting my hand, I tried to get her attention. "Aspen. Aspen!"

It took a couple of tries, but she heard me. I knew because she looked up. I started to smile, my hand caught halfway in a wave when someone behind Aspen moved. I barely registered a tablet smacking my girlfriend in the head, but the crack was loud. Immediately, two other people rushed in.

My girlfriend dropped.

"No!" I screamed - and my shadow streaked away.

"Court!" Jack cawed as he took flight, darting over the heads of students to get to Aspen.

Without thinking, I began to push magic. Dark fog rolled from my hands, across the floor, and toward Aspen with a speed that almost matched my crow, but it wasn't fast enough. She had to be at least twenty, maybe fifty feet from me, and I couldn't see her!

Someone screamed. A handful of students jumped away from my Wild magic. I took the chance and ran forward, hoping I could help. All I wanted was to stop the person who'd hit Aspen. Or people. Or make sure she was ok. Maybe put a shield around her?

I didn't know, and that wasn't good for magic.

What mattered was a clear intention, and yet Wild magic had a mind of its own.

Everyone in the hall was crying out. Some because of the dark fog rolling across the floor.

Others were yelling like they were encouraging something, and that made my heart drop.

But I wasn't the only one running that way.

A guy tackled someone, shoving them to the ground.

Over there, another wrapped his arms around a girl from behind, lifting her feet off the floor even as she screamed for him to let her go.

I was pretty sure she was the one who'd hit Aspen with the tablet.

And before me, Aspen lay sprawled on the floor, blinking as if confused, but she wasn't getting up!

A guy was standing over her with his hands out like he was ready to fight.

Belatedly, I realized it was Pascal, one of the sentinels from Bracken's weapons classes, but too much was happening too fast.

"Rain, he started it!" Pascal pointed at a guy fading back into the crowd.

"Hold him," I breathed, and my magic rushed after him.

"Morrigan!" Jack cawed, dropping down to wrap his talons in another girl's hair. "Rain-Jack!"

"And her," I said, commanding my magic.

It obeyed. The shadows turned into a wolf to chase the guy. A harpy grabbed the girl in its claws, forcing her to the ground. Once the wolf caught the guy, both shadow creatures turned into restraints, securing them in place - and everyone else was pushing as far away as they could.

"Don't let them get away!" I demanded, hoping someone would listen to me.

"Sentinels, the Morrigan has given orders!" Pascal snapped.

"Heard!" two guys responded in unison just as teachers ran toward us, and Pascal chased after the guy he'd warned me about.

"What is going on here!" the first teacher demanded.

"Rain, remove the magic!" Ms. Rhodes said, proving she was here as well.

But I didn't stop until I reached Aspen, dropping down to my knees to check on her. "Asp?" I begged.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking around with fear and confusion in her eyes.

"The floor," I said. "It's ok. I got you."

"Rain!" Ms. Rhodes yelled this time. "Remove the Wild magic!"

A burst of green light washed across the area and my ears popped as the pressure changed. White came next. Immediately, the crowd around us fell silent, except for the people still struggling to hold the ones who'd attacked Aspen.

And Aspen lifted her hand. Her eyes met mine right before she snapped, stopping everything.