Page 28 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

Silas grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. “Okay. That’s a good point.”

“Let’s get Freta, too,” I decided. “She’ll know things, too, since she’s house Alegro.”

“What about Penry?”

I thought of the girl. In comparison to the rest of the fae, she was somewhat mousy. I felt bad thinking about her looks in such a way, because she was by no means unattractive. It seemed to me that she might be part-human herself. Or maybe there was a connection to how powerful one’s beast was to how pretty they were on the outside. I studied Silas. He wasn’t particularly striking in comparison to the other men on campus, physically, that was. His personality made him the hottest man I’d ever met.

If the situation was different—

“Z?” he asked, lifting one eyebrow at me.

I realized I’d let my mind wander away with me and shook my head. “Right, sorry. I got distracted.”

His eyes seemed to brighten somehow. “By what?”

“I don’t think we can bring Penry into our confidence just yet. Not all the way, at least. We need to make sure she’s not the kind that will turn stool pigeon on us to try to get into the high fae’s good graces.”

Silas nodded his agreement.

From that day on, Silas and Freta taught me everything they knew about the Academy. The two of them knew various blind spots, ways for students to smuggle things to and from their dorms, and, after I told them about figuring out Jasper being wrong-bound, the proper way to blackmail high fae.

Occasionally, we brought Penry with us, when it wasn’t something particularly secret. She remained quiet and uncertain. I had the feeling she was even more uncertain about us than we were about her. But she joined our study groups and took my lack of knowledge about the fae world in stride.

As it turned out, Court Alegro had their own secret room, just like Vespa did. The entrance was through a rosebush outside, and led to a plush space with pink wallpaper and a crystal chandelier. It was far more feminine than I expected. The room was larger than Vespa’s, and included a small dining table, writing desk, and a daybed as well as a couch and chairs.

“Next time you end up needing a few days extra rest, you can come here,” Freta told me. “Sorry I didn’t share before, but…”

“But you had to make sure I wouldn’t turn on you,” I answered with a shrug. “I understand.”

Silas was stretched out on the rug, his hands laced behind his head as he dozed. Apparently, his roommate snored. He cracked one eye open as he lifted his head. “You know what all of this remind me of? Sneaking around Court Alegro’s palace.”

Freta laughed brightly. “Oh, those were the best of times! I always had so much fun creeping around, stealing food from the kitchen or hiding spiders and dead mice in my nanny’s bed.”

“Dead mice?” I laughed out loud. “I guess it wouldn’t be wise to try to get the golden boys that way. They’d probably cotton on and do worse.”

“Oh, yes. Don’t try to get at them,” Freta said, looking alarmed.

I gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t. So why did you put mice in your nanny’s bed, anyway?”

“She deserved it,” Silas said darkly.

I glanced between them, looking for answers.

Freta lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “She acted on my parent’s orders. And they sensed something was … different about me even from a young age. They were just trying their best.”

Her words made me want to flinch, but I did my best to keep my face blank. That was another thing. The more time I spent with Freta, the more I realized that she was not treated well by her family. I wasn’t sure how bad it really was, but between that and the things that Silas said about how the low-born fae were treated, I realized that they were closer to me and other humans than they were to the high fae.

“The manor where I grew up had secret passages, too,” I offered. “I liked to explore them to find spots where I could read without being disturbed.”

Silas and Freta both glanced at the book on my knee and burst out laughing.

The rest of the week went quickly. Classes were a mix of interesting and dreadful, and Lotmas insisted that Seb and I spend some structured time together for the mentorship. Basically, that meant I had to spend an hour every day after dinner getting beat up as Seb yelled at me about how terrible my form was. The nurses deemed my injuries not bad enough for the healing potions, so I swiped some more and stashed them in Alegro’s secret room to have a few mouthfuls every night.

On our break day, Freta and Silas were both recruited by Miss Atira for a demonstration of some sort, so I ended up exploring on my own. I’d learned enough routes around the Academy that I could escape from one side to the other without being detected, but it was still easy to get confused.

I was going through one of the secret passages when I found a door within it. It led me outside to the forest. As I stepped out, I found myself within a thick section of trees and bushes that blocked out the rest of the forest. The ground itself was covered in a mossy bed, just right for stretching out on to read a book.

The air seemed lighter and sweeter here than anywhere on the Academy grounds, and I pulled in lungfuls, feeling the tension I’d been holding since I first arrived slowly unwind. I dropped my knapsack to the ground and lay down, letting my eyes shut. I still had difficulty sleeping at night, despite the sleeping draughts I had.