The headmistress excused herself from her discussion and strode toward me. “Yes, Miss Dane?” Her eyes strayed to her daughter, who had taken to spinning in place. “Are you two okay?”
“I don’t know. Things are fuzzy and getting fuzzier,” I blinked a few times to refocus. “But I was wondering . . . when was the last time a witch got invited into Faerie? And why do you not look—drunk?” The word popped out, and I clapped my hands over my mouth in horror. “I mean! Faerie drunk! Not—” My arms began to tingle harder, and the sensation was almost unbearable, so I started to rub them vigorously.
“It is all right, Miss Dane. I understand what you meant.” Her lips were curled up slightly at the corners. “I suspect that the last time a witch came to Faerie was when I arrived at this very court to approve this challenge. And I do not look drunk because I have been here before, and my body has already acclimated to fae magic.”
Diana stopped spinning, and her mouth fell open in an uncharacteristically dramatic manner. “You came here and didn’t tell me?! Why do you never tell meanything, Mother?”
I patted her on the back and swayed with the motion of my arm. “My parents don’t tell me anything either.”
This time, Headmistress Wake actually did chuckle. “If I told you, then you’d know about the challenge wouldn’t you, Diana? That wouldn’t be fair.”
“Fair schmair, Mother! How could you go to Faerie and not say a thing!” Diana almost toppled to the floor—how, I wasn’t sure, maybe she tripped over her own foot?—but Headmistress Wake caught her and righted her.
“Yes, Diana, it happened. I’ll tell you about it later. For now, I think it’s best if you and everyone else take Headmistress Cristala’s suggestion andgo lie down. Come with me, I’ll show you to our rooms.”
We tried to oppose her, but as Headmistress Wake had her wits about her and we didn’t, the fight was short-lived. Before I knew it, Diana, Sam, Andre, and I were being escorted by four armed fae guards. They moved so fast that I could barely keep up, let alone absorb my surroundings without running into someone or something. Everything, from the fae we passed to the castle itself, seemed like one big, loud blur.
“The Spellcasters champions will stay here for the duration of their challenge,” a guard said as he turned down an empty hallway.
I squinted, trying to see his face more clearly, and became mesmerized by his pointed ears. Without thinking, I reached out to touch them, but Headmistress Wake stopped me.
“Miss Dane. It is inadvisable to touch a fae’s ears, or any part of anyone who does not give you their express permission. Am I clear?”
“But . . . they’re so . . . pointy.” My voice was breathy and high, and I grabbed at my throat, startled by the strange sound.
The guard chuckled. “It’s no problem, Headmistress. We understand that getting used to Faerie’s magic takes time. They should be fine in a few hours.”
“Thank you, gentlemen,” Headmistress Wake said. “And you’ll be just outside their doors?”
“A force will be positioned here until the last champion awakens,” the guard confirmed.
“Very well, then let’s get this lot into their rooms.”
When I awoke later, I shot up, my heart hammering as I absorbed my unfamiliar surroundings. I lay in a bed covered by a mountain of blankets. Someone moved behind me, and I twisted to find Diana, her mouth hanging open wide as she snored softly.
“What the hell?” I whispered, pulling the covers aside.
Immediately, I missed the warmth of the bed as I walked to the window. As soon as I looked outside and saw that I was in a castle in a snow-covered mountain range where winged unicorns flew through the air, all thoughts of the chill vanished, and my memories returned.
“We’re in freaking Faerie!”
“Holy shit!” A beam of purple magic shot past my shoulder, and I spun, hands extended defensively, to find Diana gaping at me. “I’m so sorry, Odette. I woke up and didn’t know where I was, and then I sensed you by the window.”
I dropped my hands. “Thank God your aim sucked. Remember where we are now?”
Diana nodded, but her eyebrows remained furrowed. “Faerie, for the Spy Games. But why are we in the same room?”
I shrugged. “Let’s go see if someone can tell us.”
We found two fur-lined jackets that someone had set inside the room for us, and pulled them on. After a quick once-over in the mirror, we peeked into the hallway to discover that we were being guarded by four handsome fae soldiers.
They hadn’t seemed to notice that we’d awoken, so Diana and I stepped into the hall and closed the door loudly. Every single guard spun to face us.
“How was your rest, champions?” the shortest said, a wide and welcoming smile on his dusky face.
“Errr, good,” I said. “Are all the champions sharing rooms?”
All four soldiers chuckled.
