Chatoyant College, Book 13: The Teeth

Chapter 59: How Much Longer

There was nothing else to talk about. They had their plan; now all Dawn and her friends had to do was wait for a call so they could talk to Troy and Link.

Dawn didn't like the idea of using the Djanaea as bait, but she also knew Corrie was right. Link would agree to it. If it would protect Troy, he would do it. She just didn't know whether Link alone would make effective bait; after all, Gerlina had chosen to attack Troy, and she'd done so almost as soon as he'd walked out of a building. It was possible that she did know which one was the prince—and it was also possible that she would be afraid of Link, since he was the one who'd fought back against her.

But that was all something to worry about when they actually talked to Troy and Link. With Troy's injury still healing, he might not be able to participate anyway. And the choice would be up to them. Dawn didn't have to think of every contingency.

She, Corrie, and Edie were quiet as they walked back to Gilkey, because a campus security officer was accompanying them. She didn't think it was necessary, since they'd been fine on the walk there, and a human security officer wouldn't be able to do much against Gerlina anyway, but the officers had insisted that they not walk back alone.

The officer was obviously curious as to what they'd been doing in there with the magic professors, but they hadn't given her helpful answers, so she stopped after a couple of questions. When they reached Gilkey, they thanked her for her help, then went on inside by themselves. Dawn hoped the officer didn't run into Gerlina on her own.

They still didn't discuss it until they'd reached Corrie and Edie's room. Dawn went right inside with them, as she often did, and neither of them questioned it. Corrie just threw herself down on her bed, then quickly sat up. "Whoof. This is definitely an evening. Are you okay, Dawn?"

Dawn closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again quickly, not wanting the vision of blood and torn bodies that she'd seen in the middle of campus to reappear behind them. "I think so. I just hope I don't have nightmares tonight." She pulled Corrie's chair away from her desk and sat down in it. "I wish they hadn't made me look at the bodies. It was horrible, and there was nothing interesting for me to see."

"What did they think you could have seen?" Edie asked, sitting down on her own bed.

"Lal asked if she'd left anything behind. I guess maybe they thought she would have left some sign behind of who she was, or... physical evidence, I guess, like at a regular crime scene. Fingerprints or hairs. But it sounds like she wouldn't have even had those."

"Covering all their bases, I guess," Corrie said. "Too bad it was useless."

"I wonder if I would even see anything different if I looked at Gerlina," Dawn said. "Maybe I'd see the teeth even without being attacked, but she's hidden pretty well so far."

"Only because we weren't looking for her," Edie said. "Now that we know what to look for, maybe you could. Find that cold spot and watch for it."

"Now that finals are over, I have the time," Dawn said, nodding. "But that's too dangerous. I'll just let the magic professors go on with their plan. I hope they have some backup in case using Troy and Link doesn't work, but we're out of here in a few days anyway. With no one on campus, maybe it will be easier for them to catch her."

"The seniors will still be on campus for almost a week," Corrie said. "Graduation is on Thursday. That means Link is staying and Troy probably will, too. They'll work something out. And they can probably find someone who has decent enough distance sight to watch for Gerlina, like Professor Rook himself." She rolled her eyes. "Just because mine is really good doesn't mean I'm the only one who can help. They're just lazy and want to keep using the people they don't have to explain everything to."

"Of course," Edie said. "They don't want to reveal the existence of faeries to any more people than they have to."

Corrie shook her head. "How much longer can they hide it?"

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"The campus magic doesn't work to hide faeries anymore," Corrie said, lifting her right hand and raising one finger. "There have been three attacks that are obviously not by something human." She raised another finger. "If Ginny didn't do anything to their memories, or threaten them with severe consequences, the Circle of the Goddess girls are probably going to tell people what they saw. At least, Meg will. And Professor Strega mentioned faeries in front of them." She raised a third finger. "People are going to notice that something's up."

"You're right," Dawn said. "But what can we do about it?"

"Nothing," Edie said.

"That's right." Corrie put her hand down and braced it on the bed. "The information is going to come out. And then everything's going to change."