The Faerie Guardian

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

I don’t return to the Training Center. Instead, I climb up to the fourth floor and hurry toward the library. I peek inside, checking for Amon, the head librarian. He’s cool, but he won’t approve of me missing training. And aside from that, I don’t want him asking questions about the two things I’m about to look up.

The library appears to be empty. I tiptoe across it, heading straight for the graduate records. I sit down between the shelves, breathing in the smell of old reed paper. I pull out the volume that includes the year my parents graduated. I flip through to the relevant page, then scan the list until I find their names: Kale Fairdale and Rose Hawthorne. My mother’s name is written in gold, indicating that she was top of her class. For years I’ve hoped my own name will be printed in gold in one of these books. I continue scanning the list, but by the end of it I’ve yet to come across an Angelica.

Perhaps Nate’s mother wasn’t in the same year as my parents. I turn back a few pages and search some more lists, then forward, and search some more. No Angelica. I lean back against a shelf, the book resting on my lap. So, either Angelica confused me with someone else when we met in the labyrinth, or she was lying.

Idly, I flip back to my parents’ page—and sit up straight. There it is. Angelica Ashwood, right at the top of the list. How did I miss that? A shiver whispers across the back of my neck. So she was telling the truth. There’s a chance, of course, that this could be another Angelica. But I doubt it. Nate’s mother seemed pretty certain she knew my parents. And hated them. Perhaps she and my mother had a similar relationship to the one Ryn and I share. Perhaps they were in competition with each other the whole way through training, and Angelica never forgave my mother for being top of the class.

I close the book, return it to its place on the shelf, and stand. I’ll think about Angelica later. Right now I have something else to search for. I place my hands on my hips and stare at the shelves around me. Where do I even begin to look for a spell that involves an eye-shaped tattoo? I wander around the library, reading the labels on the shelves, hoping for something to jump out at me.

“Is someone back there?”

Oh, crap. I guess Amon’s returned from his tea break or wherever he went. I slip behind the far end of a bookshelf and crouch down. I hear his footsteps as he walks past the shelves, checking down every row. He stops. I wait several seconds before risking a glance around the edge of the shelf. He’s neatening a row of books, pushing them from behind so the spines line up perfectly with one another. When he’s satisfied, he walks away. I hear the door to his office close.

I puff out a breath of air hard enough to lift a lock of hair from my forehead. How am I supposed to find out what this eye on Nate’s back means? If only I had the ability to locate things instead of people, I could easily find whatever book has that symbol in it. I take a step forward, then stop as something dawns on me: I can find people. So if I can’t find the spell that involves an eye-shaped tattoo, then I should be looking for the person who cast it.

*

The moon is lost behind heavy clouds, but Nate’s bedroom is brightly lit tonight. The overhead light, the television, the bedside lamp, the desk lamp—it’s almost blinding after the absolute darkness of the faerie paths. I tiptoe across Nate’s bedroom floor to where he’s working at his desk. The rain pattering against the window helps conceal the sound of my footsteps. I stop directly behind his chair and quickly cover his eyes with my hands.

“What the—” He jerks in fright, leaving a line of pen across his page. He reaches up to touch my hands. “Jeez, Vi, you trying to give me a heart attack?”