Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,48
I swallowed a lump of bagel. “I wouldn’t have gone on about pixies if I’d known what you went through.” Anger crawled into my chest, making my hand clench around what was left of my bagel. I’d seen a glimpse of Atlantean prejudice during the exam, but when Victoria had snapped at the culprit, I’d figured it was a one-off. Or, at least, that no one would dare be outwardly hostile after that. It burned me up inside, to think that my best friend had faced that alone.
Genie drained her cup. “Pixies are a way bigger deal, Pers. Although, I wouldn’t mind if they left some well-deserved ‘gifts’ in Charlotte’s pal’s room. Maybe a few in our classmates’ rooms, too. You know, as long as they couldn’t be traced back to a bunch of tiny monsters on the loose.”
She always makes jokes, even when she’s hurting. She could hide it pretty freaking well, but there was a subduedness in her face that revealed her pain. No one could come out of an encounter like that and feel okay. Not even the toughest woman I knew. A twinge of remorse lay on top of my anger; if I hadn’t bailed on the movie, I could’ve been the one to stand up for her.
“Do you want to speak to Victoria about it?” I asked as she passed me my coffee.
She looked off toward the wall to hide her expression. “Nah, there’s no point. I’m not going to change anyone’s mind overnight.” She gave me a forced smile. “I’ll win them over with exposure therapy—be so in their faces that they won’t be able to see a big, bad wolf when they look at me anymore.”
“This is what your dad was worried about, huh?” She was trying to comedienne her way out of this, but I didn’t want to watch her sweep it all under the rug.
“Yeah…” Her eyes scrunched up, as though she was fighting tears. “I thought he was being a drama queen or using it to prod me back toward Atlantis. I guess he’s seen more of this than I have. And you know what the funniest thing is?”
I frowned. “What?”
“I never thought I was sheltered before I came here. But my dad shielded me from so much.” She coughed suddenly, and it sounded like a covered sob. “The SDC made me think Atlanteans were already part of the gang, you know? Fully integrated, accepted members of magical society. Now, I see more clearly.”
“I’m so sorry, Genie.” I threaded my arm through hers and gave it a squeeze.
She sighed. “It’s fine. Either they’ll get used to me, or they won’t. It doesn’t matter. I’m going to graduate and be a hunter, regardless.” Her expression hardened. “But if they say anything about me or you again, they’ll get another impromptu shower. I might not be able to change their perspectives, but that doesn’t mean I’ll put up with their hate-spewing.”
“Neither will I.” I didn’t ask what had been said about me, because I already knew. It was about my Purge ability, my lack of useful magic, or both. Plus, even if they had their issues with me, they’d likely only dragged my name into the fray to get a rise out of Genie. Clearly none of those idiots realized they were playing with fire. They had no idea what Genie was truly capable of. Drenching them was a walk in the park for her, as easy as snapping her fingers, and I knew she’d shown restraint when she could’ve gone all-out on them. But she hadn’t, because she wasn’t like that, and because she valued her place here. Still, I was glad she’d fought back. They’d clearly deserved it.
We dropped our breakfast trash in a bin as we entered the hallway that led to the Repository. We scanned the ceilings, investigated statues, flung back curtains, peeked into classrooms, and cracked open study doors, looking for any sign of the pixies. We were on high alert; even the whistle of the wind through the rafters turned us into nervous wrecks. We even ducked into a couple of recesses to lie in wait for the pixies, but the creatures were nowhere to be found. It looked as though they’d gone into ultra-covert mode, steering clear of the hunters who’d waste no time dropping them into a Repository orb.
“Just how small are these things?” Genie whispered as the pair of us ducked behind a chimera statue to search for the creatures.