Page 54 of Fae Trials

I lowered myself onto the mattress next to her. “There’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?”

“Something happened when I lost my magic,” she replied in a voice so low, I had to lean into her and strain to make out her words.

“You were cursed?”

“Maybe. It’s rare for a faerie to wake up one day leached of power.” She let her words hang.

I placed a hand on Helen’s and gave her what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze. “Sorry if I’m prying, but I would like to know more about what happened to you.”

Her shoulders rose and fell in a slow shrug. “I think I can sense destinies.”

“What?”

“It’s a feeling I get when I see a person, like a surge of power. The four princes are destined for greatness.”

“Okay…” My brows drew together. Even a human could tell that. “Can you sense it with anyone else?”

“You,” she murmured.

I snatched my hand away and shot to my feet. “What?”

“It changes every time. When you first walked into the dining hall, it was the same surge of power as the princes.”

“Like I’m destined to marry one of them?”

She spread her hands, still not looking at me. “But when…” Her breathing became ragged. “When…”

A spike of fear lanced through my gut, followed by roiling nausea. What on earth had she felt that had been too terrible to mention? The first of the girls returned from the bathroom with wet hair plastered to their damp faces. If we didn’t finish this conversation now, I doubted I’d be able to function for the rest of the day.

I sat next to Helen and took hold of her hand. “What is it?”

She shook her head from side to side. “Sometimes I feel the most terrible of destinies, flashes of being burned alive, ripped to shreds, left in the dark to rot, trapped in frost, I could go on, but it’s so horrible.”

“Right.” Thousands of ants crawled across my skin, and I forced slow breaths in and out of my nostrils to avoid spiraling into a full-blown panic attack. “Does your power say how I can avoid a painful death?”

“Unfortunately, it only tells me that your destiny has two paths: one great and one grisly.”

Rocking back on the firm mattress, I rolled my shoulders, the cloak suddenly feeling itchy and heavy. “If I can’t change my future, I may as well look for my sister.”

Helen raised her head. “How can you remember a sister?”

“It’s something Elijah told me. I think dark faeries are holding her in the Mound.”

“Brothel-keepers?” she asked. “That’s where all the half-bloods go who don’t attract a patron.”

“She’s a human,” I replied.

“Oh.” Helen tilted her head to the side in question but shook off her curiosity. I guessed she thought my mother had children by both a fae and a human. “If we sneak off now, we can make it to the Mound before Mr. Whittaker notices we’re not in class and sends out a search party.”

A breath caught in the back of my throat, and I twisted around on the bed to face Helen. “You’d take me there?”

“Of course.” She stood and walked toward the bathroom door.

I followed after her, the first surge of hope lighting my steps since uncovering Elijah’s latest deception.

* * *

After washing and dressing, Helen and I donned cloaks over our uniforms and left the remedial building through the back entrance, which led to an outdoor space paved with white stones and bordered by red and pink roses. A large barbecue took pride of place, surrounded by wooden tables and chairs.