A Faerie's Curse (Creepy Hollow #6)

  “What if it wasn’t an intruder?” the woman suggests. “It may be that one of your guardians here is an unregistered Gifted person.”

  “That’s also a possibility,” Councilor Merrydale says. “In fact, we probably have more than one unregistered Gifted faerie working here, as do the rest of you at your various Guilds.”

  “It’s disgraceful to think of,” someone else says, shaking his head. “Guardians working for the law while breaking it every day. You’d think they wouldn’t be able to live with themselves while lying to us like that.”

  “Well, they do,” Olive says with a bored sigh. “Hence the work that’s going on downstairs.” She leans back in her armchair and crosses one leg over the other. “Can we move on to the next item, Head Councilor?”

  Her disrespect stuns me, but Head Councilor Bouchard doesn’t seem to notice. He consults a scroll in his hand. “Hmm. Well, there is, of course, the Lord Draven matter, but as was the case with our last few meetings, the Seelie Queen has shared no new information.”

  A jolt of surprise shoots through me. These must be the Guild members Angelica negotiated with.

  “Probably a good thing,” the shaved woman mutters with a shiver. “As far as I’m concerned, he can stay imprisoned beneath the palace floors for the rest of his days.”

  Nods of agreement come from the rest of the group, and a man who hasn’t spoken yet says, “I still can’t believe he—”

  “It’s probably best not to dwell on that item,” Olive interrupts, “given that we have nothing new to discuss.”

  “Yes, probably best,” Councilor Bouchard agrees. “Then the final item, as always, is this week’s surplus Seer visions.”

  “I’ve collected them all,” Councilor Merrydale says, leaning forward and picking up a large stack of papers. “Including the ones Meira forgot to bring last week.” Across the table, the woman with the shaved head nods.

  “Have they been checked?” Councilor Bouchard asks. “Anything still to come?”

  “No, they’ve all expired. I checked each one.”

  “Well, you know what to do with them,” Councilor Bouchard says with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  Councilor Merrydale stands and moves to the fireplace, and I watch in horror as he tosses the dozens of Seer visions into the flames. As Head Councilor Bouchard calls the meeting to an end, I pull my head away from the peephole. “I’ve seen enough,” I whisper to Perry. We tiptoe our way out of the storeroom and back into the library.

  “Did he burn those visions?” Perry asks me immediately. “I know there was a fireplace in there, but I don’t want to assume—”

  “Yeah. He did. Did you, um, hear everything?” Did you hear about Lord Draven, is what I really want to ask.

  “Bits here and there,” he says, “but not everything. I heard that last bit about the ‘surplus Seer visions.’” He makes quotes in the air with his fingers. “Can you believe that? They actually throw visions away. Was that the stack of papers on the table?” I nod and he lets out a low whistle. “That’s a lot. I can’t believe they know about that many things going wrong that they just don’t bother to fix.”

  “Yeah.” I bite my lip and look around, keeping my eyes peeled for surveillance bugs. “If Zed knew about this, then I can see why he might not be so enamored with the Guild system.”

  “Zed’s the guy responsible for the dragon disease?”

  “Yes. He was trying to tell to me that the Guild system is messed up and that they don’t help nearly as many people as they could. He wanted to know how they decide who’s worth saving and who isn’t.”

  “It’s probably random,” Perry says in disgust. “I doubt they put any more thought into it than that.”

  “Look, I agree that this is wrong, but it in no way excuses the things Zed did. He is a despicable, worthless—”

  “What? No, of course not. I’m not excusing anything.” Perry looks horrified. “Killing every guardian is not the way to go about this. The Guild should be training more guardians. Let non-faeries in. Or send all those extra visions to the Reptiscillan Protectors Institute. Don’t ignore and then burn them.”

  I nod, staring at the floor as my mind ticks through possible solutions. “I wonder where they keep those surplus visions before bringing them to their secret meeting each week.”

  “Why? What are you thinking?”

  “It’s not a long-term solution to the Guild’s problem, but … well, I have a friend—a group of friends—who could make sure those visions are seen to instead of wasted. We’d have to find the visions first and copy them.”

  “I’ll see what I can find out. I might even have to talk to … ugh. Pretty boy what’s-his-name.”

  “I assume you’re referring to Rick,” I say. The Seer trainee Gemma has a crush on, which Perry is all too aware of.

  “Mm hmm,” Perry says, looking as if he has a bad taste in his mouth.

  “Well, I should go before I get caught. Thank you so much for showing me that. I’m not sure I would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.”

  “I know. Oh, wait. I have to tell you some other stuff.”

  I peer around the bookshelf, then pull my head back and shuffle further into the shadows. “What is it?”

  “Those two names you gave me to look up are both on the Griffin List. So whatever they’re doing downstairs with those people in boxes is related to Griffin Abilities.”

  I nod. “The conversation I just overheard confirmed that. I think they’re trying to come up with a way to test for Griffin Abilities. I assume it would be mandatory for everyone to be tested.”

  “That would suck big time.”

  “Now that I think about it,” I say, “I wonder why they didn’t come up with a test ages ago. They know they can’t trust everyone to be honest enough to register themselves or their children.”

  “They’ve probably been trying for a long time and just haven’t succeeded yet.”

  “Probably.” I look around the bookshelf again. “Okay, so I need to—”

  “Wait, just one more thing.” He grasps my shoulders as if to keep me from running away. “I know you told me to stop snooping around Olive’s things after you found out who really framed you for killing Saskia, and I did—sort of—but then I came across something yesterday. Remember I told you we found scrolls with non-Guild seals in Olive’s office?” Without waiting for my answer, he rushes on. “I found out who the seal belongs to. None other than—” he smacks my shoulders as if beating out a drum roll “—the Seelie Queen.”

  “The—what? Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I saw the seal in a textbook the other day.”

  “Olive? My bad-tempered ex-mentor is receiving correspondence directly from the Seelie Queen?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “Maybe she was delivering the scrolls to someone else. Someone like Head Councilor Bouchard.”

  “Why would these scrolls need to go through Olive then? Why not directly to Councilor Bouchard?”

  “That’s … a good question.” I place my hands on my hips as I consider it.

  “And another thing that’s weird about Olive is that she periodically disappears for half a day or so at a time.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “My mentor’s office is nearby. I notice stuff.”

  “Okay, but that might have absolutely nothing to do with the scrolls from the Seelie Queen.” On the other hand, I add silently to myself, it might have everything to do with those scrolls. I don’t want to get too excited yet, but it’s definitely worth following Olive around for a day or two to see if maybe, just maybe, the place she disappears to is the Seelie Court.

  * * *

  Invisibility gets me safely out of the Guild without incident. I closely examine my level of fatigue when I arrive back at the mountain, but I don’t feel any more tired than usual. Could it be possible the witch was lying about her curse? I can’t forget that dream, though. The dream that ended with v
ery real pain stabbing into my chest when I woke up. Perhaps I just didn’t use my Griffin Ability enough tonight to feel the curse’s effects.

  Warm light illuminates the living room doorway along with the flickering shadows of a dancing fire. I walk into the room and find Gaius in an armchair. “Hey,” I say. “I might possibly have a way to get to the Seelie Court. I’m not certain, but I’ll investigate further tomorrow.”

  He looks up at me. “Oh, that’s good. Excellent. Well done.” Though he smiles, his tone lacks its usual enthusiasm.

  “What’s wrong? Is everything … Have you spoken to Chase yet?” I walk toward him and hold my hand out for the ring. It’s been far, far too long since I heard his voice.

  “Calla,” Gaius says slowly, removing the ring from his pinkie finger and placing it on my palm. “I haven’t been able to get hold of him. It’s been over a day now and he hasn’t responded. We don’t know what that means, and we can’t assume the worst, but we need to be prepared for … well, for anything.”

  A chill settles in my bones as I allow myself a glimpse of a dark future in which there is no Victoria, no brother who loves me unconditionally, and now no Chase. I shy away from the image with a shudder as I wrap my arms tightly around my chest and press my lips together. I don’t think I can speak, so I simply nod as Gaius reaches up and squeezes my arm. Trying to comfort me, no doubt, but when I look into his eyes, all I see is the same hopelessness I feel.

  CHAPTER

  FIFTEEN

  You’re not dead, I whisper silently the next morning as I get dressed. You’re not dead, you’re not dead, and I will find you. Despite the fact that I get no response, I tell myself that somehow Chase can hear me.

  The witch’s warning echoes at the back of my mind as I walk into the Guild under the cover of invisibility. I know it will weaken me to conceal myself, but this is too important an opportunity to pass up. With the Seelie Palace party only four days away now, this could be our last chance to find a way there. Wearing a brunette and orange wig and a tan jacket borrowed from Lumethon in place of the black one I always wear, I climb the stairs to Olive’s office. Filigree’s small shape is a comforting warmth in my pocket. I considered telling him to go back to my room when I found him hiding in the jacket earlier, but facing a full day of camping out in enemy territory felt easier with an accomplice at my side—even an accomplice as small as mouse-shaped Filigree.

  Olive’s office is near the end of a corridor where a group of chairs and a table form a small waiting area. I walk past her door, pick up a random textbook from the table, and settle into one of the chairs. As I lift the textbook to conceal my face, I pull my illusion back. My imagination is once again hidden behind a mental fortress, and I’m completely visible now. My heart pounds at the thought of my vulnerability. Anyone can see me sitting here! But I have to conserve my strength. I need all of it for the Seelie Court mission, and I have no idea when the witch’s curse will begin to take a toll on me.

  I hear footsteps and Olive’s voice. I swallow and tighten my fingers around the open textbook. She probably won’t notice me sitting here, but if she happens to see my face, she’ll recognize me. I watch her feet beneath the bottom edge of the textbook. She continues past her office, moving toward me, but turns into another office before reaching the end of the corridor. I force myself to breathe out and relax my grip on the book. I’m not going to get caught, I tell myself. And even if I am caught, I can fight my way out of here. I’ve done it once before, so surely I can do it again.

  For the next hour or so, I observe Olive coming and going from her office. For one terrifying moment, I’m certain I’m about to be discovered when a mentor I only vaguely recognize stops in front of me and asks why I’ve been sitting here for so long. I try to imagine Gemma’s face instead of my own before lowering my book and saying that my mentor tasked me with memorizing two full chapters before she quizzes me about them. Fortunately, the mentor standing in front of me seems to accept this. After wishing me luck, she continues on her way. Before raising my book once more, I see Olive closing her office door and walking away with a trainee at her side. This is my chance.

  I make sure no one is watching before imagining myself as invisible once again. I walk to Olive’s door, test the handle, and find it unlocked. Glancing around to make sure I’m truly alone, I open the door and slip inside. Without wasting a second, I move to the desk. Olive might be doing training now, but who knows when she’ll lose her temper, give up on her trainee, and come back upstairs. I search across the desk’s untidy surface, looking for these supposed scrolls with the Seelie Queen’s seal. Finding nothing, I move to the drawers. I open and close them, riffling through the jumbled contents. Nothing. Next, I move to the filing cabinet. I’ve just slid the top drawer closed when the door handle turns.

  I rush to conceal myself, holding my breath as Olive pushes her door open and enters the office. She walks to her desk, frowns as she looks down at it, then grabs the stylus sticking out of a dirty mug before turning away. As the door bangs shut, I slowly release my breath.

  I search the rest of Olive’s office—with Filigree’s assistance, though I’m not sure he understands me when I tell him what I’m looking for—and find nothing. I wonder if Perry left signs of his search here. Signs that would raise Olive’s suspicion and cause her to hide the scrolls elsewhere.

  I return to the waiting area, picking a different chair and a different textbook this time, and keep watch for Olive. By the end of the day, the only remotely interesting thing she’s done is stand in the corridor and shout at Ling—her supposedly perfect fifth-year trainee—for failing to place in the top five for the knife throwing competition that I gather, based on her words, was held on Saturday. She adds that both she and Ling will be spending all night in the training center perfecting her technique and that she couldn’t care less about the fact that Ling’s parents will have to eat dinner without her.

  I’m guessing this means Olive’s not going anywhere exciting tonight, so as other mentors lock up their offices and head downstairs, I join the stream of people leaving the Guild. My restlessness rises a level as I think of my complete waste of a day. A day I could have spent searching for Zed or the witches. A day I could have spent sneaking into the French Guild, tying up Head Councilor Bouchard, and forcing a truth potion down his throat so he’ll tell me everything he knows about the Seelie Court.

  Gaius looks thoroughly alarmed at my suggestion when I lay it out for him that night. “No,” he says. “Absolutely not. Capturing the Head Councilor is out of the question.”

  “We’re running out of time, Gaius! If anyone at the Guild knows anything about the Seelie Court, it would be him, right? He could be our only option.”

  Gaius cautiously pats my arm as if soothing a wild creature. “Following your old mentor seems far more sensible, Calla. Give it one more day, okay? Then we’ll reassess.”

  So I give it one more day.

  I can’t hang out in the waiting area any longer without raising attention, and I don’t want to project an illusion for hours at a time, so I slip into Olive’s office while she’s busy speaking with a mentor in the corridor and hide beneath her desk. I stay there for the remainder of the day, observing her. I conceal myself when I have to, but mostly I rely on the solid, old desk to hide me. I was worried she might kick me when sitting at the desk, but she piles so many things on her chair throughout the day, that she doesn’t actually sit on it all that often.

  As the afternoon draws to a close and my body begins to ache from being crouched in the same position for so long, I start to consider the Head Councilor plan again. I’ll need to steal a truth potion from somewhere. It’s the kind of potion that would be kept in a locked room or cabinet along with other dangerous substances, but as long as I’m not seen by a surveillance device, I can probably get hold of one.

  I wait for Olive to leave again before crawling out from beneath her desk. I’m about to stand when her door opens and she strid
es back in. My projection of invisibility snaps over me immediately, but her attention is on the amber in her hand so I doubt she’d have noticed if I’d been a little slow to conceal myself. With a grumble under her breath, she slips the amber into her pocket. She turns back to the doorway and stops just outside it, leaning into the office next to hers. “Something’s come up,” she says. “I can’t work tonight, and I’ll only be back midmorning tomorrow.”

  “Seriously?” comes the response from Olive’s neighbor. “Another one of your random emergencies? I can’t cover for you every time you have to go off on another trip.”

  Another trip? A trip to the Seelie Court, hopefully. I tiptoe out the door as Olive says, “I’ll make it up to you.” She walks back into her office, retrieves her jacket and a small pouch from her top drawer, and locks her office door. Anticipation pounds through me as I follow her downstairs, practicing the words of the faerie paths spell in my mind. Thank goodness Gaius made me memorize them. They’re scribbled onto a piece of paper stuffed into one of my pockets, but it would be too much of a distraction from my invisibility illusion to have to take the note out and read it. I’ve managed to repeat the tongue-twisting words twice by the time we reach the little room off the side of the foyer where Olive will leave through the faerie paths. I realize that I never asked Gaius if the spell will work if the words aren’t uttered out loud, but fortunately it’s noisy in here with two guards chatting to a flirtatious trainee. I wait for Olive to raise her stylus to the wall. The moment she begins writing the words to open a doorway, I start whispering the words. The doorway opens. As she walks into the darkness, I hurry after her, continuing with the spell as quietly as possible.

  I say the final word. Darkness surrounds me, and I have no idea if it’s worked. No idea if I’m trapped here. Then, up ahead, light appears with Olive’s silhouette framed against it. I almost laugh in relief as I hurry after her. I find myself on the bank of a wide river filled with the clearest water I’ve ever seen. The riverbed is covered in sand so white it seems to reflect the silver glow of the moon. Luminous fish-like creatures zip here and there through the water. The moon itself hangs low in the sky, but I can’t tell if it’s rising or sinking. I’ll figure it out soon enough, then we’ll know what time of day we have to leave the mountain on Thursday.