Born By Moonlight by Krista Street

Chapter 11

~ AVERY ~

Air flew past my face as I sprinted down the hall. Only one thought consumed me. I’d failed. Officially failed. And I needed to get the hell out of here before I lost it in front of everyone.

I didn’t know why I’d been holding out hope. Why I thought that maybe, just maybe, the outcome would have been different than it was.

But it wasn’t.

That one tiny sliver of hope inside me, that maybe fate would be on my side, that maybe I’d be given a second chance, withered into ash.

What I hadn’t been expecting was the explosion of pain that followed.

I’d worked so hard to achieve my dream. I’d bled, sweated, cried, and yearned for a life in the supernatural community. All I wanted was to be an ambassador and contribute in the only way my meager magic allowed.

Yet all of my hard work had been for nothing.

Wind streamed through my hair when I flew through the exterior doors. I knocked into a group of new recruits congratulating each other and giving one another high fives on the sidewalk.

A startled shriek reached my ears followed by, “Watch it!” before I dashed down the path.

The autumn breeze bit my cheeks. I’d left Wyatt behind me. I shouldn’t have done that. But I couldn’t stand to see another ounce of pity on anyone’s face—not even his.

When I reached my barracks, I placed my shaky hand against the scanner as panting breaths filled my chest. Magic enveloped my palm, and a brief moment of panic seized me. What if the door didn’t open? What if the scanning security no longer recognized me? I wasn’t magical anymore. Would it see me as a traitor?

But the familiar click sounded and the door unlocked, followed by the robotic voice welcoming me home.

I exhaled in relief before I raced up the stairs, taking two at a time. My ankle burned. I’d injured it in my last test, when I’d tried to escape the full-blooded fairy as I’d twisted and rolled my way out of her grip.

And that had all been for nothing too.

When I finally slipped inside my apartment, I braced myself for my roommates’ squeals and exclamations of joy that they’d passed their tests.

But all was quiet. They weren’t here.

I shut the door behind me, then leaned against it. I gulped in breaths, my lungs burning from my frantic run. Wyatt’s agonized expression again flitted through my mind.

I’d left him back there without so much as a thank you for checking my score. And what he’d said in the woods . . .

My thoughts whirled. So much had happened today. Too much.

I slid to the floor, the worn mat in our small entryway scratching against my butt.

My phone buzzed, getting a jump out of me. Then buzzed again.

I wiped at my tears and pulled my mobile phone from my pocket to see a dozen missed text messages—most from Charlotte and Eliza, but a few from the guys in my squad. Everyone was wondering where I was.

How long had they been trying to get ahold of me?

I forgot that I’d put my phone on silent, only letting it vibrate if a call came through, and one was.

From my parents.

With a shaky swipe of my finger, I answered the call. “Hi, Mom.” My voice sounded as hollow and broken as my insides.

“Avery? Honey, what’s wrong? We just got your text.” My mom sounded so far away as if the thousands of miles that separated us were taking a physical toll on our connection.

“Oh, Mom . . .” I gripped my phone to my ear. “I failed. I didn’t pass training.”

“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.”

I brought a hand to my forehead, realizing that this wasn’t even why I’d asked them to call me.

I’d texted to tell them about my magic being gone, about what the Safrinite comet was doing to me, but since the first thing out of my mouth had been about my test . . . she probably thought that was the reason for my urgency.

“Have you spoken with the Institute?” she asked gently. “Perhaps you could go through SF training again. I know that hasn’t been done before, but they would probably allow it. You’ll have to wait another year. I know that will be hard, but just because you failed this round doesn’t mean that—”

“Mom, stop. There’s more.” I knew she was only trying to help and give me encouragement, but failing my final test was only the icing on the cake. A huge spongy dessert waited beneath that icing, filled with poisonous batter that promised death to all who ate it.

“What do you mean?”

“My magic’s gone. The last of it died this morning.”

A moment of silence followed before she replied, “Your magic’s gone? From what happened the other weekend?”

“Yes.” I closed my eyes and told her everything that I should have told her last week, that I wished I’d told her. At some point in our conversation, my father joined in. Both of my parents were on speaker as I said through hoarse words and a choked throat what I’d been hoping I’d never have to reveal—because last week I’d still held out hope that this could all be solved soon.

“And now my life force is down, too, and since my magic entirely disappeared this morning, I’m not sure if that means my life force will now disappear faster.”

When I finished, they remained silent, only their haggard breathing letting me know they were still there.

My father finally swallowed, the sound like a rock dropping to the bottom of a pond, before he said in a shaky voice, “They said you’re going to die from this? That there’s truly nothing they can do?”

“Yeah. They’re still trying to find a cure, but—” I pictured Wyatt again, his bottomless eyes, his fierce despair when he’d turned from the boards to tell me about my failure, and the pain and love in his features when he’d told me his true feelings in the woods. “But I think I need to prepare for the worst. That’s why I’m calling you now.”

“Oh, honey.” My mom’s voice broke.

My father was no different. He kept clearing his throat, and his voice sounded raspy. I knew the two of them were holding each other. They’d always been like that. So in love. So supportive of one another. It wasn’t the first time I’d felt their great love even though an ocean separated us. If two people were made for each other in this world, my parents were it.

“We’ll come to Idaho right away,” my mother said after softly blowing her nose. “We don’t have any portal keys, and I’m not sure if we’ll be able to secure any unless the Institute helps with that, but worse-case scenario is that we can portal hop to get to you tonight. It shouldn’t take us more than five or six hours with the transfers between portals to reach you if we can’t secure keys.”

“We’ll call the Institute now,” my father said. “Just sit tight, Avery. We’ll be there soon.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.

For a moment, I just sat there, as if waiting for my parents to appear in my living room after using a portal key, but then I shook my head. They weren’t SF members. Even a portal key wouldn’t allow them to enter headquarters without clearance. The closest they could arrive was in the surrounding land outside the SF’s magical barrier. Or, if they weren’t able to secure keys, then they’d eventually make their way to the supernatural marketplace downtown, portal hopping until they reached it.

My head spun as I tried to process the logistics of it. Even with the magical advantages that supernaturals had, it still took time to reach destinations. If only I had time.

I took a deep breath and finally stood. My head felt foggy from the emotional toll of all that had happened today, but some of the heaviness that had been burdening me lessened. I knew that my parents couldn’t save my life but knowing that they would be arriving at some point today made the looming darkness over me lighten.

Another flash from my phone caught my attention. A fourth text message rolled in from Charlotte.

Just saw your score. We’re all down here with Major Fieldstone right now. Shit. I’m so sorry. Where are you? Eliza and I want to be with you.

My hand trembled. I grabbed a tissue to blot my eyes before replying:

I’m in our apartment, but don’t worry about coming here. I’ll come to you.

Her reply came immediately.

Ok. We’re supposed to go to some party in the main building, but we can skip it.

No. Go. You all passed, and that’s an amazing reason to celebrate. No way are we missing that.

Shit. You’re gonna make me cry, girl. This sucks so much. I wish we were all celebrating.

Yeah, but it’s okay. Tonight’s about the rest of you.

My roommates still didn’t know about the comet’s effects on me. Like my parents, I’d been hoping to never have that conversation, hoping it would all blow over, but now . . . ugh. I couldn’t handle another emotionally draining confession.

I’d tell them tomorrow.

With a sigh, I stuffed my phone into my pocket before heading to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face. Puffy, red-rimmed eyes stared back at me in the mirror while I patted my skin dry, but the cold water had helped.

I brushed some concealing powder on my cheeks and around my eyes, then applied a thin layer of lip gloss. Once I no longer looked like a weepy corpse, I headed toward the door.

I swept it open and was about to rush down the hall when I jolted to a stop.

Wyatt stood in the hallway.