"You can't do that!" she insisted. "That's not fair!"
"Honey," I sneered, "life isn't fair. I learned that a long time ago." And I took a step toward her. "Trying to kill my friends isn't fair. Harming innocent people isn't fair. Terrorizing the schoolcertainlyisn't fair. But you think things should be fair for you and not for everyone else? Sure. Explain to me how that works in your spoiled little fae head."
"Rain..." Ms. Rhodes warned.
But I lifted a finger at her while holding Gem's gaze. "I'm waiting."
"I can't live without magic," she tried instead.
"Oh, you'll live," I told her. "See, that's why it's called punishment. And while this may be Ms. Rhodes' school, and sheis the one who asked me to help her, do noteverthink that changes what I'm here to do."
"What's that?"
"Morrigan!" Jack cawed from my shoulder.
I just smiled. "I'm here to return the balance, Gem. To do that, we need something to balance. One season would make that really hard, don't you think? So if I have to protect Winter first, then I'll do that. See, I just realized why Jack picked me, out of all the people in this world, to do this."
It was Ms. Rhodes who asked, "Why, Rain?"
"Because I'm used to being hated. I've learned the hard way how to see through the crap people spew to make themselves look good. Fair is nothing more than a myth we tell ourselves. Fair doesn't exist, but trust does. And if people are going to mock and sneer at someone, then fine. Do it to me. I've learned how to ignore it. I also know that words only hurt if I let them, but magic? It's a dream come true, so I will not let anyone else screw it up."
"I didn't mean to," Gem whispered.
"You still did."
"But I just wanted to convince my father I'm not a disappointment!"
"You can't." I tilted my head a bit. "That sucks, right? But you know what? That's his fault, not yours. Stop judging your worth on what someone else says. Stop falling for peer pressure! Sheesh, didn't you learn about that in elementary school? Well, guess what? That's what got you into this. You wanted to look cool. How's that working out now?"
"You're not my Morrigan!" she screamed next. "I was doing what's right. You can't take my magic from me!"
This time, I made it to the door without stopping. Gem kept screaming, but I really didn't care. This girl had tried to hurt Aspen. Maybe it wasn't directly, but I'd been so worried aboutmy girlfriend after she'd found that girl dead in the tree. It hadhurther, even if it had hurt Carol more, and I would do everything in my power to make sure it didn't happen again.
Yet the moment we were outside, Ms. Rhodes caught my arm. "Rain, you don't have to talk to them. I'm also not going to get in your way. You are, after all, the Morrigan. That means I defer to you this time."
"No, Ms. Rhodes. I'm the Morrigan, but you're the one saving the fae. For this we get to be equals."
She glanced over at the bird on my shoulder. "Jack, I think you've picked the best one yet."
"Rain," he crooned. "Jack-Rain." And he nibbled at my hair.
"I'm just winging it," I told them both. "But I figure that's oddly appropriate, since a crow is the one who gave me his power."
And as we turned for the next room, Jack was rattling at my weak joke. Surprisingly, it made me feel like I had this. I was doing this, and I wasn't making a mess of this.
I just hoped it would be enough.
Chapter Forty-Nine
RAIN
It took me most of the morning to get all the students shackled. That was what I was choosing to think of this punishment as. Even better, I set the shadows up to use the power of any seasonal magic to fuel it. Jack nodded when I asked him if these would last, so I was pretty sure I'd done it right.
That afternoon, I asked Bracken if Keir and I could spar for my afternoon classes. He took one look at me and agreed. I really needed to hit someone after listening to the crap those assholes had spewed at me all day. And sure, maybe I didn't care what they thought, but it did piss me off that I couldn't make them feel the same way as the students they'd been attacking.
And teachers.
Because Ms. Caldwell had been the target of the group Wilder had interrupted. It seemed the Taxonomy of Faerie teacher was a Winter fae. She'd spent the centuries of her youth exploring Faerie, and hadn't been a part of any court, but she'd still been targeted simply because her magic was white.
