Reaching Answers (Artemis University #8) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,14

hope. He was the only fairy I knew and if they were like him… I didn’t really care to know more. I knew I had to free them and I would, but I wasn’t really in a rush to, especially given how much getting him unlocked from that powerful magic had hurt me.

We finished eating and stacked our containers in the bags. I wondered what we were doing there besides eating and having a night off. He stood first and I followed, helping to fold the blanket.

“There is something I must show you, but you’ll need to use the rune to run.” He glared at Chief when the dog growled. “I will not injure your master and princess. This will help her, I promise.”

It was hard not to smile when he muttered something about my damn dogs and all those who were so protective of me.

Lucca and a few others who knew about me and the rune had asked me why I still ran so much several days a week if I had a fairy way to run so fast, it made CGI look crazy slow. My answer had been simple, and I hadn’t hidden they were a bit dense to ask.

“I might not always have the energy after or during a fight to use it, but I should always be prepared to run away when I need to.”

Duh.

“Let’s go,” I agreed, getting the feeling something big was going on. I thought of the rune and took off after him, feeling good to let out magic again when I needed it instead of being on lockdown for so long. We ran miles and miles in the time it took to blink.

He stopped and after I reacclimated myself to moving normally, I gasped as I saw we were in a section of Faerie I’d never been before.

And there were dozens and dozens of people all around. I spun in a circle and saw there were over a hundred fairies. At first, I couldn’t seem to find my voice as I stared at all of them frozen by magic, not locked in the caustic darkness, but something was still off. It wasn’t like how I’d seen others—or even when I’d done it—freeze people with magic or runes.

I wet my lips as I moved closer to the nearest fairy. “You’ve been busy making progress.”

“Hmm, yes,” he murmured as he glanced around. “I still have a lot of catching up to do to balance the scales.”

I flinched at his wording, glancing at him. “It’s not a competition, Neldor.”

“Is it not?” he challenged.

I bit back a sigh. Of course he would think that. I ignored him and went back to where my mind had been, leaning in and narrowing my eyes. There were traces of caustic something on the fairy. “Not to ask the obvious, but you’ve tried to wake them?”

“No, as I worry what could happen, but my magic also let me clearly know that the spell is beyond my level.” He shrugged when I couldn’t hide my shock. “My training began much earlier than yours, Tamsin. You’ve been comparing yourself to other supe standards. I said it all wrong, and I say it now not to judge or upset you, so hopefully you’ll hear me.”

“Okay,” I hedged, having a feeling I wasn’t going to like it.

“You are vastly behind.”

“I know that,” I snapped.

“No, you don’t,” he said gently, using a tone I didn’t know he had. “Their elites have become lazy and complacent. Their high levels are closer to lower-medium of where they used to be. There is a reason there was never a fairy dorm at Artemis or any of the supe colleges. We politely took classes there to be part of their society, but we are light years ahead of them.”

Which made me light years behind as I was only slightly ahead of their lower standards. I’d only learned the curriculum I’d been there for, completely lost on many of the basics supes learned growing up. Shit.

I took in and let out a slow breath. “I didn’t know to that extent, but I did know my knowledge was extremely behind. I have been reading the journals of our people, and it’s clear I’m ridiculously behind and couldn’t catch up properly until I found anyone and got help. Working with White has been a huge help.”

“Yes, she is a wise one and learned much from her father. She was a good choice in mentor with your lack of options. She is a