"Ok, there's that," I agreed.
"And faelings grew up on Earth," Bracken said. "They learned the same expectations you did as a human. Because of that, our appearance is the default becauseyoumade it so, not because Winter is somehow special. Just like how your ethnicity is pretty normal in America, but you'd stick out in other countries."
All of that made sense. Never mind that we hadn't had anyone shift from Winter to Summer - that we knew of. So, the changes were obvious because they were always one-sided. And yet, no matter how hard we tried to figure it out, none of us could think of why three people's magic had changed.
According to Torian, vows had been made across seasons throughout fae history. No magic had changed. The next morning, Ms. Rhodes confirmed she'd never heard of such a thing. But my newfound curiosity about the color of magic and the appearance of the person wielding it had me paying just a little more attention.
Normally, students crowded the halls between classes. Seeing one of the instructors was pretty rare. It had always felt like they stepped back, allowing us that short time to have fun with our friends. But now, I saw quite a few teachers standing beside the doors to their classrooms.
Eyes scanned the students passing by. As the day went on, I saw some step in to stop bullying or other minor squabbles. Warnings were called to people down the hall, making it clear their disobedience had been noted.
So while we weren't on lockdown, it felt like security had been stepped up. Maybe the wounds caused in The Silent attacks had been healed away, but the memories were still fresh. Students wore obvious charms on their wrists, in their hair, and hanging from their uniforms. People moved in groups now, and seeing the lone person running to class was much less common than it had been even last week.
And that night, a note was slipped under Aspen's door.
We were in the room when it happened, so we saw the paper skid across the floor. When I sat up, intending to see what it was, Aspen stopped me. I had to remind her that fae magic wouldn't hurt me. Only then was I allowed to open the folded piece of paper.
Aspen, a pair of girls in the 2C bathroom were saying you deserved what you got. They were talking about how to get you away from your brother so they could take you out. Please be careful.
There was no signature on it, not even an initial. She wanted to ignore it, but I was done with trying to fight an invisible foe without help. Pulling out my phone, I scrolled through the list I now had until I found a number most students didn't get access to. Tapping the contact that was just a picture of a leaf, I began typing.
Rain:
Someone slid a warning under the door. Aspen and I are bringing it over.
Then I shoved the paper in my pocket, caught Aspen's hand, and headed to our chaperone's door. I didn't even get to lift myhand before the door opened, with Ivy Rhodes on the other side wearing a baggy pair of sweats.
"What do you have?" she asked, gesturing for us to come inside.
Tag was sprawled on the sofa with her arm hanging conspicuously out of sight. I saw and smiled even as I handed Ms. Rhodes the note.
"We didn't see them," Aspen said. "We also didn't look."
"I'm less worried about that than the threat," Ms. Rhodes admitted. "Anita, babe?" She looked over. "I don't care if they know you have a beer."
"Good," Tag said, lifting her arm to take a long drink. "How can I help?"
"I'm stuck," Ms. Rhodes told her. "I can't put protections on the court because anything Rain touches would be negated."
"Ok?" Tag asked.
"But I need some ideas of ways to get around that," Ms. Rhodes explained. "They already have an alarm system of a sort, but I'd prefer it if we can work out a way to blend our magic, Rain's, and Keir's. I can't even think of how to make that work, so maybe you two can come up with something?"
Tag nodded. "We can try. We'll play with it tomorrow, Rain. Sound good?"
"Works for me," I agreed.
"And the threat?" Aspen asked.
Ms. Rhodes pressed her lips together for a moment, thinking hard. "The bathrooms are a problem. I hadn't considered that, but I also can't monitor them."
"So," I told Aspen, "use the one in our room or the main office. If you're late, then you're late."
"I'm more worried about Torian," Aspen admitted, "and we both know he won't think about it."
"Tell the sentinels," Tag suggested, proving exactly why Ms. Rhodes had dragged her into this. "They'll follow him around - and no need for charms or protection. Just normal, mundane eyes."
"Nice," I said, imagining just how much Torian would hate that. "It'll do for now, but we're eventually going to need something better."
