Page 17 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

Red was stalking up the aisle toward me. I shoved the books into my pack, slid it into place, and hurried for the door. He sped up, a grin starting to spread over his face. Shit! I sucked in a deep breath and darted down several aisles.

Go away, I thought at the lights bobbing happily above me, giving me away. A though in response to my thoughts, the lights scattered, plunging me into darkness.

“Oh, ho,” Red crowed from closer than I expected. “You’ve learned a trick, have you?”

I held my breath, ducking into the deeper shadows as he passed by in the aisle right next to mine. If he came around the corner, the lights following him around would give me away. I slid my feet out of my shoes to stop from making so much noise, then quickly crouched to grab them and backed away, easing one foot at a time.

When he reached the corner, he turned the other way, opposite to me. The lights bobbing over his head lit up his hair in a ghostly light. Soon, he’d disappeared among the stacks.

Given how I’d gotten rid of my lights, I didn’t trust the ones following him to continue to show where he was, so I closed my eyes and reached out with my other senses. The sound of his footfalls was soft, muffled by the carpet, but still audible. They grew more distant and I skirted forward once more, cautiously creeping to the edge of the stacks.

The light grew stronger at the far end, and the footsteps followed it. Red appeared along the lines of stacks, peering into each one.

I gritted my teeth. A few reading chairs were nearby, between me and the exit. If I hurried, could I get to them without him noticing? I wished I knew what sort of beast he had. They impacted a fae’s senses, even when not in bound form.

“Show yourself, Miss Azriel,” Red taunted in a cruel voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”

Yeah, right. He leaned into one of the other aisles and I took my chance, darting across the space to the chairs. There, I crouched in the thickest part of the shadows, willing myself to disappear. Though my blood raced, I kept my breathing even and controlled so I wouldn’t make more noise than necessary.

He drew closer to the chairs and I stayed perfectly still. My hands tightened around my shoes. As far as weapons went, they weren’t much. Better than nothing. I should have taken my knapsack off, left it behind. The weight of the books would slow me down.

“Where are you?” he called, only a few feet from my hiding place. If he came any closer, the light above him would give me away.

“Red,” shouted a voice from deeper in the stacks. It was either Gareth or Jasper, I couldn’t tell which. “Where are you?”

“Coming,” Red answered, and took off back toward the others, like a dog called back to his master.

I waited for the count of ten, listening hard. No lights came back and the library fell utterly silent. Carefully, I eased myself to standing, searching the shadows for any sign of the other bullies. Then I spun and raced toward the doors. I found the tapestry that hid the stairs and charged up them, not pausing for breath until I was back in my dorm.

Freta jumped, eyes wide, when I slammed the door and leaned against it, panting. She had been putting her hair in a braid and froze as she stared at me. “What happened?”

I massaged my chest as I struggled to get my breathing back under control. The books weighed down on my back and I slipped them off, tossing them onto my bed, before I concentrated on expanding my lungs deeply. The first few times felt like I was drowning, but it soon eased.

Freta got up from her bed and locked the door before she turned to me. “What happened?”

“I’m sorry,” I blurted. “I’m sorry for how I acted earlier. I … I’m their target.”

Sinking to the edge of my bed, I explained about Lotmas making Seb my peer mentor for his class and the encounter I’d had with him in the library. I hesitated before I told her about Red suggesting they could hide my body in the woods.

Freta shuddered. “They wouldn’t do that. We all have tracking spells on us that monitor our health.”

“Gareth said something about that. That the staff would know who was involved if I died.” I rubbed my eyes. My hands were still shaky. “I won’t blame you if you want to move rooms. Association with me will only put you in danger.”

Freta threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. It made me stiffen. When had anyone hugged me? She shook her head, getting curls in my face. “No. I might have a weak bind, but I’m still from Court Alegro. All of their courts are friendly with ours, and they won’t want to risk damaging that relationship.”

She sounded confident, but I wasn’t so sure. “What are their beast forms?”

Here, she pulled back. “Seb is a gray wolf. Jasper is a dragon. Gareth is a black jaguar. Flora, a fox. Savannah a tiger. Red is a gorilla.”

I nodded, absorbing that information. “And you’re a badger?”

She looked away. “Yeah.”

I thought of the robust, snarling creatures that sometimes dug their holes in the forest. “Badgers are more frightening than foxes.”

Freta snorted. “It’s not just the creature, it’s how strong the bind is. I have a weak bind. I struggle to shift to my other form, and its traits haven’t strengthened this form at all.”

“But … still better than being unbound?” I guessed.