"I will honor my promise!" Nevaeh breathed, clutching Aspen's hands in both of hers. "Poppy doesn't want to hurt any of you, and she's my friend now. I..." A desperate laugh slipped out. "I know it makes me a loser, but I never wanted to be Harper's friend. But family, you know? I had to."
"I know," Aspen said. "Trust me, I know. I mean, Tor's my brother."
Nevaeh laughed nervously at that. "Right. Good point."
"I want to know what they did!" Torian demanded.
"I don't know!" Nevaeh said, letting go of Aspen to back up. "Harper just said you'd never find 'it.' But I don't know what 'it' is! I'll see if I can find out!" She looked at Aspen again. "I owe you more than simply not ignoring things. I know that. I will make this even."
Before Aspen could reply, Nevaeh turned and ran, ducking around the many bushes and trees in this place to get out of sight. The rest of us just stood there, stunned almost, until not even the sound of her could be heard.
Then Wilder began to chuckle. "And that's going to cause a whole new set of rumors."
"Why?" I asked.
It was Keir who answered. "The sidhe can't take or give power, Rain. Jevadu are male."
Aspen just flashed him a smile. "I sing well, does that help?" Then she turned and grabbed a plant. "Rain, let's put these over here."
All I could do was shake my head and laugh, but in reality, whether she was sidhe or something else, did it matter? Not to me. Aspen was beautiful, amazing, brilliant, and perfect to me. Human, fae, or anything in between didn't matter. She was my girlfriend, and that was enough to make me not give a shit about anything else - except keeping her safe.
Chapter Fifty-Two
RAIN
We got the plants put in the ground so they wouldn't die, but the whole time, Torian was rehashing what Nevaeh had said. One thing stood out. She'd mentioned "it." None of us had a clue what it was, or what would happen to Aspen, but there was a thing at the center of this.
Then there was the bigger problem. According to Torian, no one but the monarchs could control the Wild Hunt. That meant Ms. Valentina couldn't. Harpercertainlycouldn't, but Nevaeh had been so sure of it. Never mind that the Hunt had already been here twice. In less than six weeks, they'd cometwice.
That was a lot.
Wilder pointed out it could be a coincidence. The weather had been favorable for it, since storms carried them around. Keir countered with it never having happened before, even when the weather had been worse. Hawke mentioned how gaunt and destroyed the Hunt looked, so they couldn't be using their own magic.
All of those led back to one thing: Nevaeh might be telling the truth. But when Torian wanted to head up to his room and do something about it, I had a better idea.
"We need to talk to Ms. Rhodes."
Each and every one of my friends looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Look," I insisted, "if Harper was here, Ms. Rhodes would know. She'sthe one who expelled her. If this is something Harper - or her mother - can do, Ms. Rhodes would know. Plus, it's her school, so if something is calling the Hunt here - and Ms. Rhodes' students are in trouble, she'dwantto know."
"This isn't her problem," Torian grumbled.
Aspen gave him a tired look. "It kinda is, and I think Rain's right."
"I'm with Rain," Hawke said.
That made Torian's head snap over. "Really?"
Hawke nodded slowly. "She's got a feeling for when adults will help or block us. I mean, she even got you to talk to Liam, right?"
"That was different," Torian said. "Liam's on our side."
"So is Ms. Rhodes," Wilder said calmly. "Tor, that's why she lets you stay." Then he glanced over to Keir. "Don't ask."
"Wasn't gonna," Keir assured him. "I don't like being cut out, but I also get it - and better than Rain does. I can't break promises either."
"So let's do this," I said, taking a step back. "Because if no one else will, I'll go talk to her. I mean, she and I have this deal, and I think it kinda plays into this. So..." I scrunched up my nose. "Please? I really don't want there to be a magicalsomethingout there trying to kill my girlfriend!"
