Everything was different here, and I worried that I was kidding myself about adjusting, fitting in. Most of the other students and faculty were pretty nice to me, but I was clearly at the bottom of the pecking order, and so no threat to anyone. Except possibly Nissa who seemed to think I was after her boyfriend. With Zephyr and Bain in my sights, why would I want a third, no matter how tall, sexy, and generally hot he was.
I did hear him suggest they end their relationship though. Which was interesting in the extreme, since they were the couple everyone expected to stay together forever. Betrothed before they were even old enough to understand. From birth maybe? But they seemed joined at the hip, so that was probably just fine.
Hmmm. He hadn’t sounded just fine he—
Shrieking, I stumbled back a few steps then turned to run. A shadow darker than any I’d been contemplating in the courtyard poured over me, casting me in blackness no light could ever pierce. I kept running, racing for home, hoping I could circle around and turn in the right direction. Or perhaps find my way into any doorway at all. It became harder and harder to move at all as the darkness wound tightly around me, reeling me into ever thicker blackness. The air was sticky and rancid, the ground slippery under my shoes. I struggled, but it was nearly impossible to gain traction of any kind in the muck over, under, and around me. Still, I struggled with all I was worth. I opened my mouth to scream, but the gross goo poured in before I could emit a single syllable, and I snapped my lips closed. Also, my eyes. Something scrabbled at my back, claws piercing the fabric of my shirt and stripping away the stretchy bra strap. Was the shadow trying to get me naked or...no, he was poking my shoulder blades.
My wings! I hadn’t even managed to unfurl them or whatever you called it, and this...this disgusting terrifying mass was trying to get them away from me. What possible use could they be to someone else?
I didn’t even care. Renewing my struggles, I flailed and kicked and grabbed fistfuls of slime until it was gone. The courtyard was clear again, little pools of light spilling out of windows and shadows in the corners where they belonged. Something made whatever it was retreat, and I cast around to see a student moving toward us. She was by far the shortest person I’d seen here, petite and graceful, with silvery hair cut to just above her ears in wild curls, and while she wasn’t exactly up-in-the-sky flying, her wings fluttered, keeping her toes just above the ground. She was carrying a strawberry and studying it, as if it held the secrets of the universe.
Surely that innocent tiny fairy hadn’t scared away that evil force? Then she lifted her face and looked at me with eyes holding universes, planets, stars, supernovas.
And then she was gone.
Sometimes this place was too much. I ran for the door leading to the hallway of our suite, as fast as I could. Then I threw myself on my bed and put my pillow over my head, grateful Alara was in one of the other rooms watching something. I’d seen her giggling with the rest of them as I tore past. I didn’t have the words to describe what had happened just yet, and as long as I didn’t tell anyone about it, maybe it hadn’t really happened.
Maybe.
Chapter Six
Standing outside the door of our dorm room, I steeled myself. There was no reason to freak out anyone for something I couldn’t even explain properly. What was I supposed to do, tell Alara a black mass tried to rip my back open and eat me?
She would think I had eaten one of those sparkly purple mushrooms and was still in the aftershocks.
I heaved out one weighted breath before turning the knob and walking in. I squared off my shoulders, determined to put on a good show. My insides were shaking, vibrating almost to the point where I felt like I’d either had too much coffee or not enough.
“Hey,” I said and tried to busy myself with putting my books in a perfect stack on the desk to cover up the shiver in my voice.
“Hey, yourself. More antics in the library, or did you actually study?” Alara laughed at her quip, and I forced myself to do the same. She was already in her chicken pajamas. The feathers on the chickens were made of a soft material. I knew because she had made me feel it the first time she wore them.
“Yeah. I was trying to find something on iron and fairies. That’s a thing, right?”
She nodded. “It’s a thing, but I’m not sure where info about it is. Maybe ask Ciara. She’s a genius with books.”
“Okay.”
I tapped my foot as a way to release some of my pent-up nervousness then opened my dresser but just stared at the contents. The stickiness of the moments before poured over me like warm honey, and I knew nothing would cleanse me of it.
“What’s going on with you?” Alara’s voice sliced through theughthat clung to me.
“Me? Nothing. I’m just putting on my pajamas.” I reached for something in the dresser but it was jeans. Gods, my brain wasn’t working. I needed to calm down and get a grip on myself.
“No you’re not. You’re holding a pair of jeans and hunching over the dresser. Did something happen in the library?”
I stood up to convince her otherwise, but my head began to throb. The edges of my vision swirled with inky blurs, and I had to hold onto the edge of my desk to stable myself. “It wasn’t exactly in the library.”
Alara rushed over to me, all of her fuzzy little chickens on her pajamas moving with her. “Sit down. You’re all pale and swaying like you’re in the ocean. Tell me what happened.”
I sat on my bed after she led me there and leaned over, resting my face in my hands. “I was walking back here, and something came after me—attacked me.” The rest of the story poured out like one long strung-out sentence, and even telling her made all the feelings wash back over me like a sludgy tidal wave.
“Let me see your back.” She made me stand, and I pulled up the back of my shirt. “I don’t see anything, Endy.”
Jerking down my shirt, I got defensive. “What are you trying to say? That it didn’t happen?”
Alara took in a long breath through her nose. “I’m not saying it didn’t happen. I’m really not. I believe you. I’m simply letting you know you’re not physically hurt.”
I tipped forward and put my forehead on her shoulder. “I don’t understand what’s happening. I’m scared, Alara.”