Read Online A Faerie's Secret (Creepy Hollow Book 4) by Rachel Morgan - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rachel Morgan
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long dark pants and a dark tank top. If this were an assignment, I’d cover up my pale arms, but it’s too warm tonight to bother with that. I step into my boots, which lace themselves up as I grab my trainee pendant from beside my bed. The boots aren’t helping with the heat, of course, but I don’t feel guardian enough without them. I return the robe to the colorful section of my closet—a section I won’t be using much anymore—and check that my door is properly closed. Then I open a doorway to the faerie paths on the wall beside it.
I picture the overgrown ruins of the old Creepy Hollow Guild. It existed for many centuries before Lord Draven destroyed it a decade ago. It was an enormous structure, concealed by exceptionally powerful glamour magic. Draven’s magic turned out to be more powerful, though. When the Guild exploded forth from the single tree it was hidden within, it demolished a large part of the forest. I never saw it back then, but I trained in the area recently with Ryn, and Zed took me there a few times during our years of private training. The forest has regrown within and around the ruins, reclaiming the area as its own. Trees pushed their way through, moss gathered on the stones, and vines crawled over fallen pillars and splintered wood.
I walk out of the faerie paths and onto the ruins. The leafy treetops filter out most of the moon’s light, but glow-bugs and sprites with tiny lanterns always hang around here, and one of the varieties of creeping plants glows at night, further lighting up the area. I climb over and between cracked and crumbling obstacles, looking out for Saskia. Part of me wonders if she’s lured me here to meet some wild and dangerous creature instead of her, but then I hear her voice.
I look around and find her leaning against a fallen stone statue of a pegasus. The majestic creature has no head and only one wing and is riddled with cracks. Beside Saskia is a guy I recognize from our class. “There you are,” Saskia calls to me. “I thought you might be too afraid to show up.”
“Why did you think that?” I ask, heading toward the two of them. “It’s not as though I’m late.”
“Whatever.” She folds her arms over her chest and stands up straighter. “This is Blaze. He’s the one who came up with the initiation idea in our first year.”
“Hey,” Blaze says. “So I heard you’re willing to do whatever it takes to prove you’re one of us instead of some artsy freak.”
I look at Saskia. Clearly she did some editing when reporting our conversation to Blaze. She raises an eyebrow, as if daring me to contradict her. I remind myself not to let this girl and her pettiness get to me before turning my gaze back to Blaze.
“Did everyone in your year do this initiation?”
“Yes. Even the skinny nerds. Initiation isn’t allowed by the Guild, but this was all off the record, of course. We had our own ranking system too. We paired people up and made them race against each other to complete the task. It made our first few weeks as trainees a whole lot more fun than they would have been otherwise.”
“It was rather thrilling,” Saskia says, grinning at the memory.
“So what is this task?”
“You need to go Underground to Sivvyn Quarter, retrieve an item—anything. A book, jewelry, whatever—and bring it to us at one of the Underground clubs to prove that you did it.”
I look from Blaze to Saskia, then back again. “That sounds like a stupid task.”
The smirk on Blaze’s face turns to a glare. “Sivvyn Quarter is a residential area. That’s what makes it a challenge. You won’t just find something lying around. You actually have to break in to someone’s home and take something—without getting caught.”
“So you want me to steal something? Doesn’t that go against the very essence of who we are as guardians? We’re supposed to do good, not bad.”
Saskia lets out an exaggerated groan. “Jeez, Calla. Do you take everything in
I picture the overgrown ruins of the old Creepy Hollow Guild. It existed for many centuries before Lord Draven destroyed it a decade ago. It was an enormous structure, concealed by exceptionally powerful glamour magic. Draven’s magic turned out to be more powerful, though. When the Guild exploded forth from the single tree it was hidden within, it demolished a large part of the forest. I never saw it back then, but I trained in the area recently with Ryn, and Zed took me there a few times during our years of private training. The forest has regrown within and around the ruins, reclaiming the area as its own. Trees pushed their way through, moss gathered on the stones, and vines crawled over fallen pillars and splintered wood.
I walk out of the faerie paths and onto the ruins. The leafy treetops filter out most of the moon’s light, but glow-bugs and sprites with tiny lanterns always hang around here, and one of the varieties of creeping plants glows at night, further lighting up the area. I climb over and between cracked and crumbling obstacles, looking out for Saskia. Part of me wonders if she’s lured me here to meet some wild and dangerous creature instead of her, but then I hear her voice.
I look around and find her leaning against a fallen stone statue of a pegasus. The majestic creature has no head and only one wing and is riddled with cracks. Beside Saskia is a guy I recognize from our class. “There you are,” Saskia calls to me. “I thought you might be too afraid to show up.”
“Why did you think that?” I ask, heading toward the two of them. “It’s not as though I’m late.”
“Whatever.” She folds her arms over her chest and stands up straighter. “This is Blaze. He’s the one who came up with the initiation idea in our first year.”
“Hey,” Blaze says. “So I heard you’re willing to do whatever it takes to prove you’re one of us instead of some artsy freak.”
I look at Saskia. Clearly she did some editing when reporting our conversation to Blaze. She raises an eyebrow, as if daring me to contradict her. I remind myself not to let this girl and her pettiness get to me before turning my gaze back to Blaze.
“Did everyone in your year do this initiation?”
“Yes. Even the skinny nerds. Initiation isn’t allowed by the Guild, but this was all off the record, of course. We had our own ranking system too. We paired people up and made them race against each other to complete the task. It made our first few weeks as trainees a whole lot more fun than they would have been otherwise.”
“It was rather thrilling,” Saskia says, grinning at the memory.
“So what is this task?”
“You need to go Underground to Sivvyn Quarter, retrieve an item—anything. A book, jewelry, whatever—and bring it to us at one of the Underground clubs to prove that you did it.”
I look from Blaze to Saskia, then back again. “That sounds like a stupid task.”
The smirk on Blaze’s face turns to a glare. “Sivvyn Quarter is a residential area. That’s what makes it a challenge. You won’t just find something lying around. You actually have to break in to someone’s home and take something—without getting caught.”
“So you want me to steal something? Doesn’t that go against the very essence of who we are as guardians? We’re supposed to do good, not bad.”
Saskia lets out an exaggerated groan. “Jeez, Calla. Do you take everything in
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