Chatoyant College, Book 13: The Teeth

Chapter 65: Backup

Corrie managed a smile and nodded at Dawn. She was asking the right question. If the magic professors did have a plan, that would probably make Link feel better about the whole thing. If they didn't actually have a plan, though, then it was best for everything to wait until they could come up with something useful.

"Yes," Professor Lal said. "At least, we have the rudiments of a plan. The center of campus seems to attract her the most, so that is where we will be. Troy, if you agree to be part of our plan, you will exit the magic building and walk across the grass as though you are walking toward the science building. We will be concealed around that space, at the various entry points." She made a gesture that took in herself and the other three magic professors. "One of us should be able to see or sense Gerlina when she enters, but as an extra precaution, we will have Corrie watching with her distance sight, which will allow her to survey the entire area from above."

Troy and Link both turned to look at Corrie. She tried to smile at them, but it turned into a grimace. "I can see far and clearly with distance sight, but if this is going to be in the dark, and I guess it has to be, I might not be able to see much."

"We hope not to need you," Professor Lal said. "This is merely as backup. Dawn will also be concealed nearby, in a place of safety, in case she can use her Sight to penetrate Gerlina's glamour."

"I might also be able to sense the changing air currents," Dawn said. "That seems to be the best way of finding her so far."

"In this way we will know when she approaches you," Professor Lal continued. "Then we will be able to spring our trap. The four of us have worked together to craft a magical net that should be more than strong enough to catch Gerlina and hold her, while at the same time being absolutely intangible to any human—or Djanaea, for that matter. It will only catch faeries."

"Kind of like the barrier at the borders of campus," Edie said.

"It is the same principle," Professor Lal said with a nod.

"How will you hide well enough that she really can't find you, though?" Troy asked anxiously. "We thought she might have a really strong sense of smell..."

"What makes you think that?" Ginny asked calmly.

Corrie bit her lip. She remembered why Troy had come up with that idea. Troy was blushing and didn't seem to want to explain his theory, but she certainly wasn't going to step in for him.

Finally, when no on else volunteered an explanation, he said it. "I'd been with Sean in his room for a while, and I'd kissed him a little while before coming outside. So maybe she attacked Sean because she could smell me on him."

To their credit, none of the magic professors laughed or even looked surprised. "It is possible," Professor Rook said thoughtfully. "I assumed we would only have to hide ourselves from her sight, which is easy enough to do, even for Ginny. And for her sense of hearing, we would only need to hold ourselves quite still. But smell, if that's what she was using—that is a dilemma."

"I can do this," Professor Strega said. The other magic professors turned to her in surprise. "It is a spell simple enough," she added, frowning a little. "I will cast it on all of us and we will be protected."

"That's very good, then," Ginny said, smiling at Professor Strega.

"And hopefully no one will get close enough to Gerlina for her to sense you by touch or taste," Corrie said.

She'd meant it as a joke, but the professors seemed to take it seriously, nodding. "If she can taste any of us, we have made a great error," Professor Lal said. "But from everything we know about her so far, we believe there is little chance of this plan going wrong."

"Well, I think it sounds pretty good," Troy said, looking at Link but not really talking to him. "I'm in."

Link shook his head. "Are you serious? You can't risk yourself like that."

"It won't be much of a risk. The professors will be there to watch me."

"And if I'm watching with distance sight, I can call for other help if something goes wrong," Corrie said.

Link looked over the top of Troy's head to raise his eyebrows at her. "And who else would you be calling for help?"

"Uh... there are other faeries on campus. Maybe they would be willing to help." She had no idea whether Professor Drehmer would help, and Brandon was gone, but there must be other faeries they knew. Tom didn't live on campus, but they could probably get him onto campus, and he and Troy knew each other, sort of. She turned to Dawn.

Dawn seemed to know what she was going for with no prompting. "We might know someone who can be backup. And there are the werewolves, too. Didn't they say the faeries mostly don't bother them out of fear?"

"That's true," Corrie said, feeling anxious but also relieved at the idea of asking Charlie—or her father—for help. "If we need backup, we might be able to get werewolf assistance."