Chatoyant College Book 7: Upon What Soil

Chapter 37: Unusual Interest

Annie didn't want to go, but Roe was interested in meeting Tom, so it was a little group of four that headed up to the north end of campus. Edie was anxious enough that she actually remembered her bracelets this time, which reminded Corrie and Roe, too. She kept touching them as they walked through the campus, bumping into people as they tried to stay on the path—the sidewalks were crowded today, with fellow students moving around. But it was a Saturday, after all, and for once there was something on campus to do. Maybe the craft fair was getting some business after all.

She felt a little better, oddly, once they were under the trees. Maybe she was just feeling introverted. She was used to sleeping alone—maybe she felt crowded after last night, though she would never have thought Leila would make her feel crowded. Maybe... She shook off those thoughts as they climbed the shallow hill and approached a rough-hewn stone bench. Dawn stopped a couple of feet from it, looked around, and then called sharply, "Tom, are you out here?"

There was no response. Roe turned and sat on the bench, looking around. "Does he ever go anywhere else?"

Dawn sighed with frustration and started to pace in the small clearing they were in. "I guess he does. The other day when I called him he was over on the other side of campus, watching the court faeries. I don't know where else he goes. I wouldn't expect him to stay in one place all the time except that he told me he would always come if I came here and called him."

"And so I will," came a grumpy-sounding voice from behind them. Edie turned to see a slim young man, wearing clothes that mimicked leaves (she would have thought they were real leaves if she hadn't been spending so much time with Leila) and rubbing the heel of his hand on his forehead.

"You look like crap," said Dawn. Her pacing came to a halt and she crossed her arms. "Where have you been?"

He glared at her, but Edie was surprised; he looked unhappy, but otherwise perfectly put-together to her. Then she realized it was a glamour. She went in her pockets for a four-leaf clover, and saw what Dawn was talking about: his hair, perfectly neat in the glamour, was twiggy and sticking all over the place. His clothes were mussed up in a way that made her uncomfortable to look at him. His eyes were red and had dark circles under them.

"That's none of your business," he finally said. "What do you want?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Did you see any faeries at the party last night?" He seemed to be getting under her skin more than anyone else could, Edie noted with surprise. Or maybe it was the situation. She seemed to be perfectly calm about not remembering what she'd done the night before, but she was probably just hiding it well.

"I saw lots of faeries," Tom said, still grumpy.

"So did I," Corrie interrupted. "This one was glamoured as a woman, but he was really a tall man, with antlers."

Tom finally stopped rubbing his forehead. "Yeah, I saw him. Weird guy, I don't know him very well. I didn't talk to him at all. I was a little busy." He finally smiled, a tiny lopsided smirk. "So why do you want to know about him?"

"Apparently I... danced with him last night," Dawn said. "I guess you should explain, Corrie."

"Dawn was acting really weird, like she was high or something, but all she had was a candy bar. We thought it might have been some kind of magic." Corrie explained Dawn's increasingly strange actions from the previous night. Tom listened with apparent attentiveness, and when Corrie mentioned that Dawn had fallen asleep suddenly, he gave a sharp nod.

"I know what that is," he said. "And I think I am going to have to get to know Elrath a little better now. I am certainly going to have to have words with him."

"But what happened?" Dawn asked impatiently. "Did he put something in my candy?"

"Most likely, that's what he did."

"Why?"

"He has... an unusual interest in humans."

"Is there something wrong with faeries dating humans?" Edie interjected, immediately feeling foolish. She didn't even know why she'd said that. It wasn't relevant.

Tom smirked at her. "Not at all. But Elrath doesn't actually like to date them. He just likes to spend one night. There's probably some other unfortunate girl, with no way of seeing what's really going on, who's just wasted her time with him."

"But he's glamoured as a woman," said Corrie.

"Exactly," said Tom. He scowled. "I said it was an unusual interest. He probably loves the idea of seducing some girl who isn't interested in men. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go lecture him on why we don't mess with the humans under others' protection." He leapt straight up into the tree, and with a shake of the branch that dislodged one of the few clinging brown leaves, he was gone.