I smiled. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea, actually.”
“Well, we can work out a proper plan of action tomorrow.” She gave a pointed yawn. “We’ve both had a tough night, and you’ve had a doozy of a Purge, so you need to sleep before you keel over. No offense, but you look shattered. And if you want to catch these things, you need to have your mind clear and not all loopy from exhaustion.”
I shook my head. “I can’t risk the pixies doing something terrible while I’m asleep. Everyone will know it was me, and… I don’t want to be the liability they already think I am.”
Genie took my hand. “I know your dream has you freaked, and it’s totally understandable, but the Institute won’t do that to you. If you’d Purged an army of freaking Godzillas, maybe they’d think about it, but even then, they wouldn’t just march you off to a glass box and throw away the key.” She led me gently back down the corridor, toward our rooms. “If the pixies are evading you and haven’t wreaked havoc anywhere else, chances are they’re trying to hide. If this place seems huge to us, then it probably feels cosmically massive to them. Besides, they’re not going anywhere—the Institute is warded against escaping monsters. They’ll still be here in the morning, awaiting your expert capturing techniques. I told you I liked the tweed, didn’t I?”
I sighed reluctantly. “And I guess they’ll sound the alarm if something does happen.”
“Exactly!” She flashed me a tired grin. “But I have a feeling they’ll keep a low profile. Harsh as it sounds, even the pixies must have a sense by now of what happens to monsters in a place like this. Plus, if things do take a nosedive, we can go to Victoria or you can go back to Nathan to get help.”
“He’d be our best bet.” My cheeks warmed up a smidge. “About that… There was one part I left out. I chased that other pixie into his room—I didn’t know it was his room, just so you know—and she may or may not have gone into his bedroom and rummaged around in his underwear drawer. And I may or may not have had to wrap the damn thing up in a pair of bright orange, Hawaiian-print boxers.”
Genie grabbed me. “Hawaiian print?!”
“Believe it or not.” I nodded, giggling with humiliation.
“Well, well, well, the fashion disaster reveals new and horrifying layers.” She grinned. “I’ll be sure to mention them the next time we see him.”
I grabbed her arm. “No! You can’t! I swore I wouldn’t say anything!”
“Then I’ll just have to picture them.” She cackled, and my spirits lifted.
After walking back the way I’d come, she dropped me at my door. I resisted opening it, so she wouldn’t have to see the decimation inside. The thing was, I had no intention of going in there and catching some zzzs, but I needed her to believe it. Not in order to lie, but because she looked absolutely exhausted. She’d taken such good care of me during my banshee recovery, and I wanted to return the favor, even if it meant carrying on this pixie-catching fiasco on my own. I’d seen one, and that had to be a good sign. They couldn’t hide from me forever, and if I left it until tomorrow, there would be no telling what they might do in the daylight. It would certainly be harder to cover up their existence from Victoria and the rest of the Institute if they decided to go on a chaotic rampage during waking hours.
Genie eyed me. “You’re going to go to sleep, right?”
“It’ll take a while with so much going on, but I should eventually drop off.” I could rest once I had the pixies captured. If I managed it in the next few hours, I might actually get some sleep before morning came around.
“Okay.” Genie stretched out her arms. “Well, I’m pooped. Try not to think about it too much, and we can keep looking between classes.”
I nodded slowly. “Sleep well, Genie.”
“And you.” Yawning loudly, she sauntered back down the hall to her bedroom and disappeared inside. I waited a few minutes, to make sure she didn’t come back out, before backtracking to where we’d collided. The orbs and the pixie had gone, but I knew they had to be around here somewhere.
If I’m not resting tonight, pixies, then neither are you. The search had well and truly resumed. I just had to hope I had no more run-ins with anyone before dawn rose, unless those run-ins happened to be with my pesky Purges.
Nine
Persie
I awoke with a jolt, to find foggy, gray-tinged sunlight trying to sneak through the gap in the curtains. My bedroom still smelled like the aftermath of a bonfire, but most of the smoke had escaped before I’d returned from last night’s adventures. Well, it was more like last night and this morning’s adventures. I hadn’t made it back to my room until after five, when the sun had started to come up over the horizon and the cleaning staff had thwarted my continued search attempt.
Today is going to hurt. I’d be working on three hours of sleep, and the idea of getting stuck in training knocked me sick. I’d probably need to duct tape my eyes open by lunchtime. Lucky for me, I had the adrenaline of pure panic pulsing through my veins. I’d scoured as much of the Institute as possible since leaving Genie, and though I’d seen traces of pixies in knocked-over plant pots, smudges on the walls, and a few glimpses of wings, they’d managed to stay one step ahead of me. I’d even outright spotted a few after
