I nod dully. This is a nightmare, a living nightmare.
I go to class, but I can’t concentrate. There are whispers in class, which don’t help any, and I can’t help it. I use telepathy to get into the minds of the two girls who are whispering the most.
The walls they have to protect their thoughts are weak, crumbling, their thoughts loud and leaking out all over the place.
That half-demon has to be expelled. I don’t care if he’s guilty or not.
Don’t be naïve. Of course he’s guilty. He probably coerced that Thistle guy into committing those murders last year. He’s so dark.
Dark but dreamy.
Yeah, but I don’t know if I want to kiss him anymore. He might be able to influence us through his lips.
Through his words or his tongue.
Sickened, I pull out of their minds. Has Damon kissed either of them?
I casually look over my shoulder at them. The girls notice and purse their lips, crossing their arms, looking like twins despite their having different hair and eye colors.
As soon as the class is over, I fly over to them. "I'm so sick of people thinking Damon is the murderer just because he's part-demon. Anyone could have done it."
“Of course you would take his side,” the blond fairy says.
The redhead rolls her eyes. “Yeah. I mean, you’re from a demon-loving family, all dark and twisted. You probably wish your dad was a demon so you could be part-demon yourself.”
I gape at them, furious. “How dare you! You know nothing about me or—”
“Oh, please. Everyone sees how you fawn over those boys. You can’t just have one, can you? And your sister is no better.” The redhead buffs her nails on her low-cut shirt.
“You leave my sister out of this,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Girls,” the professor says warningly.
“Don’t worry. I was just going.” I grab my stuff and leave.
Bracken is waiting for me, and he hands me a honey cake.
“What’s this for?” I ask as we start to fly off to my next class.
“You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat anyway.”
“I’m not—”
“I overheard what you were talking about,” he says.
I flinch and shove the honey cake into my mouth, so I have an excuse not to talk.
“It’s not easy being associated with darker fairies, especially considering this school is Light Fae Academy,” he says. “I had to deal with a lot of shit, and the others in my crew did too. Bay never worried about what others thought about her, only their thoughts about you. If she knew what those girls said about you, she would threaten them and somehow turn them into loyal allies.”
“Allies?” I ask, noting he didn’t say friends.
“You know, people who will do anything for her? She has a ton of allies.”
“They aren’t sticking up for her now,” I grumble.
“No. That’s the thing. Allies don’t always stick by your side when there are flames burning at your feet. Stick to those who know you, really know you, and you won’t have to hear any of that shit again.”
“Thank you, Bracken.”
He shrugs. “I think we got off on the wrong wing. You were just so uppity and uptight when we first met. I thought you were as judgmental as the others.”
“I would say that we can be friends, but then I think back on how being friends with Thistle worked out.” I flinch and drop a little lower in my flight. “Not that I think you’re anything like Thistle.”
Bracken laughs. “If you think I’m going to blow up at you for that, you’re wrong. We were all wrong about Thistle and about Spring. I’m just glad he didn’t hurt you.”
“Really?”
“I’m not a monster.”
“You’re a decent judge of character when it comes to darker fairies.”
“Maybe. I was wrong about Spring and Thistle.”
“Yes, but friendships can make things murky.”
He lifts his chin. “Who do you want to know about?”
“Damon,” I say in a rush. “I’m sure he didn’t do it, that he’s innocent. What do you think?”
“I think you’re right,” he says without hesitating.
“Do you have any guesses?”
“Not one,” he grumbles, “and I do not want to have this hanging over my head for the rest of the year.”
“I want the murderer caught as quickly as possible.”
He laughs, but the sound is a bit dark. "I'm more selfish. I want to work here for a few years and then see if I can get hired by a fairy court. Doesn't matter to me which one."
“You do?”
“Why do you seem so surprised?” he asks gruffly.
“I just thought you wouldn’t want anything to do with either fairy court, that’s all.”
“Well, they pay the best, and it’s the ceiling for a guard position. Why wouldn’t I want the very best?”
“You’ll get there.”
“Not if there are multiple murders here. First a student and now a professor…”
I gulp. “Good luck.”
“Thanks, now get to class so I can help other students. And, oh, if you decide to investigate, let me know if you have a suspect. I don’t want you or anyone else to investigate alone. It’s not safe.”
“I know that better than most,” I say sadly.
I enter my class but linger by the door to watch him fly off with another student. Who would’ve thought that Bracken was actually the good fairy out of him and Thistle? It just goes to prove that I really don’t know fairies. I don’t even know myself. Here I am, mentioning to Orchid about maybe wanting to investigate human crimes and I hadn’t bothered when humans had been murdered. It took Thistle murdering a student and harming another for me to start to investigate the deaths. I shouldn’t have waited so long. Thistle would’ve been caught earlier, and Cosmo wouldn’t have gotten hurt, Holly killed… Maybe even some of the humans would’ve been spared too.
And
