I was already halfway across the room. I yanked the door open, heart still drumming from what I’d witnessed out the window. Bella stood in the corridor, her braid half undone and boots unlaced, like she’d run the whole way.
“I saw something,” I said. “You too?”
She nodded, eyes wide. “Near the hedge?”
“Yes.”
“Come on,” she said, already turning. “We need to follow it. If we wait—”
“We’ll lose it.”
The halls of the Academy echoed with our quick footsteps. It was quiet, too quiet. Just stone and shadow and the occasional gust of air that felt like it came from somewhere deeper than any hallway should lead.
We took a shortcut through the east corridor,
Bella didn’t speak, and I didn’t ask where we were going.
The grounds looked different in the late night. Snow clung to the cobblestones, and the trees hadn’t quite shaken off the chill. We slipped past the old fountain, now overrun with icicles, and ducked under the stone arch leading to the Butterfly Ward, where snow made way for glimmering leaves, dewdrops, and brilliant petals drooping in the breeze.
I looked up and saw a flicker of a silhouette, and Bella froze.
The figure spun around, eyes wide, and I caught sight of its face peering through the parted hood. It had taken a different shape.
My breath caught at the sharpness of its features, the otherworldly glint in its eyes. It had an angular jawline, skin faintly shimmering as if dusted with illusions-laced starlight, and those ears… tapering upward in a delicate point. I recognized them from old paintings and stories.
A fae.
It was true.
Nova had been right.
I nearly stumbled backward.
A fae?
My mind reeled, recalling how the fae had fled Stonewick with the curse, cutting ties and supposedly sparking enmity with the shifters. Hardly anyone has ever seen them since, and certainly not in Stonewick.
And yet, here was one, kneeling in the Butterfly Garden, rummaging in a satchel of who-knew-what before we came across her.
Or was I just wishing it to be?
Her eyes darted around, landing on me in alarm.
“You… you scared me,” the fae managed, voice tight but melodic. Purple robes fluttered as she rose to her feet, revealing a slender, agile form. Clearly, she didn’t intend to be caught.
I held up my hands in a gesture of peace, heart thudding like crazy.
“Sorry. I, um, didn’t realize anyone else was here. Are you…Are you lost?” I asked.
She turned, the hood slipping back from her face.
Immediately, I saw a wealth of deep red hair tumbling around pointed ears, and a pair of bright green eyes that locked onto mine. A small smile curved her lips, the expression warm yet mysterious.
She snorted softly, a blend of amusement and tension.
“I’m not lost,” she murmured, voice laced with quiet dignity. Then, as if she realized that might sound defensive, she cleared her throat. “I mean, I meant to come to the Academy.”
My mind spun with a thousand questions.
