“Oh my God,” I whispered, looking on uncertainly as the wing closest to me straightened entirely and then began to move normally. “What’s happening? I didn’t know chimelings could regenerate themselves.”
“Can they?” Bran looked doubtful.
“I don’t know but they must be able to. What other explanation could there be?” I asked. “Oh, Spike,” I whispered to him. “Please get well so I can take you back to Jalli. Please pull through, little guy.”
Spike seemed to hear me because at the mention of his mistress’s name, he gave a faint chiming sound and tried to move his head. But his little body still seemed to be broken, even though his wings had regenerated miraculously.
“Cry on him some more,” Bran said urgently.
“What?” It was such a strange thing to say that I looked up at him, trying to read his face. But again, my gaze seemed to slide away from his.
“Cry on his body—let your tears fall wherever he’s hurt,” he told me. “Don’t ask questions, Emma—just do it!”
Well, it wasn’t like I had totally stopped crying in the first place. And just looking at the little mangled body made me cry even harder. My tears rained down on the little chimeling as my shoulders shook with sobs. I didn’t care that everyone else in the class had turned to look at us by now. Well, all but the ones who were watching Mr. Barron tell Morganna to go to the Headmistress’s office for punishment. Clearly he had seen what she had done to Spike.
As she left, she shot me a hateful glance—as indigestible as poison candy coming from her pretty face.
I barely noticed her, though. Because Spike was actually beginning to get better. Not just his wings—his body too.
“There, I thought so,” Bran said with satisfaction as the little chimeling at last struggled up and stood perched on my palm, making inquiring doorbell noises at me.
“You…you thought what?” I asked, sniffling. I was finding that it was harder to turn the waterworks off than to turn them on.
“I thought you could do him some good,” Bran smiled as we both watched Spike hop around on my palm. “And look—you did.”
“It wasn’t me,” I objected. “I’m just a Norm—there’s nothing magical or enchanted about me.”
“Are you sure?” He frowned at me. “Because I could swear…”
“Swear what?” I demanded.
“No, never mind.” he shook his head. “Look, you’d better get the little doorbell creature to your friend, don’t you think? Before any of the other Fae girls start eyeing him?”
“You’re right.” I transferred Spike quickly to my shoulder and raised my other hand to wave down Mr. Barron. “May I please be excused to bring this little guy back to his rightful owner? It will only take a minute,” I told him.
Mr. Barron sighed and threw up his hands.
“Fine, go ahead. I’m postponing today’s test anyway. We’ll have another study period with the microscopes and we can have the test tomorrow.”
Which was excellent news for me. Not only did I get to give Jalli’s pet back to her, I was also going to have a whole extra period to study before the test! Somehow, as awful as the class had started out, everything was working out for the best.
My heart felt as light as a feather as I left the biology room.
That was until I ran into Morganna Starchild, waiting just outside the door.
9
“What are you doing here? I thought Mr. Barron sent you to see the Headmistress!” I jumped back quickly, putting a protective hand up to guard Spike, who was still perched on my shoulder.
“Oh, he did—for which I have you to thank, you little Norm bitch,” she snarled at me. “She suspended my weekend privileges for the rest of the semester!”
“Then you got exactly what you deserved,” I snapped, still keeping my hand up to shield Spike, who was chiming anxiously in my ear.
Morganna’s eyes flew to the little creature and her eyes widened, then narrowed.
“I thought I killed that ugly little bug. How did you bring him back?”
“None of your business,” I said—because honestly, I still wasn’t sure about that myself. “I’m taking him back to his rightful owner now. If you try to hurt him or steal him again, you’d better be prepared to pay the consequences.”
“From you?” She laughed nastily. “Please. We both know you don’t have any magic, human.” She used the word like a curse or an insult.
“No, not from me,” I said calmly. “But Spike’s owner, Jalli, is the little sister of the second most powerful Drake in all of the Sky Lands. He turns into a dragon as big as a barn and he would not be happy if he knew you tried to hurt his little sister’s favorite pet. Not to mention the others in my Coven who would stand against you, including the Witch Queen herself and her Blood Knight,” I added, naming Megan and Griffin with their true titles.
Morganna’s pretty face twisted into a sneer.
“You don’t scare me, you nasty little Norm. And you’re the one who’s going to be paying a price.” She stabbed a finger at me, as though she was about to place a curse on me. “Just wait and see, you’ll pay!”
Then she marched back into the biology room and slammed the door behind her, so hard it rattled in its hinges.
I stood there for a minute, a feeling of dread gathering like a lump of ice in my belly. Exactly how powerful was Fae magic anyway? Could Morganna actually do some of the curses she had threatened me with earlier? Were fairies as strong as witches? And if so, what could I do to protect myself?
I had no idea but I had a bad feeling about all this—a very bad feeling indeed.
10
Jalli was overjoyed to get Spike back. I found her in her second period music class, drooping against the wall with her eyes cast down. (Yes, Nocturne Academy has some normal electives like choir and jazz band, though they also offer a speed spell casters group and magical trivia.)
Anyway, the minute I knocked on the door and the teacher let me in, Spike saw his mistress and few straight to her, chiming so loudly I was sure they could hear him in the next classroom.
“Oh, Spike!” Jalli brightened up at once and held out her arms to the little chimeling.
Spike flew right to her and perched on her shoulder, rubbing his cheek against hers in pure ecstasy. It was the happiest reunion I had ever seen and it warmed my heart to see Jalli crying tears of joy while Spike chimed in her ear.
Luckily the teacher, Mrs. Mayberry, was a plump, comfortable, understanding woman who just happened to have perfect pitch. So instead of getting upset about having her class interrupted, she got interested in Spike instead.
“Would you listen to that!” she exclaimed. “He’s singing—er, chiming—a perfect middle C! Jalli, sweetheart, what notes do your other two little pets sing?”
Because Jalli was such a sweetheart and her chimelings were so well behaved, she hadn’t had any trouble about bringing them to classes with her. She had Jelly Belly and Sweet Tooth in class with her, perched on the windowsill near her desk. When she motioned and told them to chime along with Spike, they flew over at once and began singing along with their brother.