The Fox’s Tale

January was a bitch of a month to begin with. For starters, Tarquin and his guards had not been able to find a trace of the fake Darcie, and no progress was made on how Ivy had been brought into the palace.

The atmosphere was tense at school the first two weeks after break too. Multiple fights broke out in the halls, and dramatic breakups between couples and close friends took place almost hourly. The Shifters were all on edge as more and more Hunter attacks were taking place, sometimes in broad daylight.

Car accidents and other accidents seemed to sky rocket. The weather contributed to the oppressive atmosphere with plummeting temperatures and days on end with flat, gray skies, sleet, and freezing rain.

Ellery was so overwhelmed by everyone’s fear, anger, pain, sorrow, and worry that she passed out twice which led to the rumor that she was pregnant. The rumor gained legs when she bolted to a trashcan and vomited on her way to her second period English class the second Tuesday after break.

Quinn, who had been escorting her from History to English, picked her up, and hollered across the crowded hallways for me to get my butt over there. I was pushing my way through my fellow students trying to get to her when Seth, that bastard from tryouts, walked up to Quinn.

“Are you tapping that too? I guess once she got a taste of dick she decided to sample more than one. Which one of you is the daddy?” He stood there laughing like he was the funniest person on the planet. Quinn all but dumped Ellery in my arms and then decked Seth.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” The chant went up among our classmates and I hoped Seth had good health insurance because Quinn was going to mangle him.

I carried Ellery into her English classroom instead of watching. Lady Beatrice was consoling Rhiannon who was also retching, regurgitating her food almost totally undigested.

“What’s happening?” I asked as I laid Ellery down on the floor. Devon burst through the door before she could respond, carrying both Rose and Lark.

“My tummy hurts,” whimpered Rose, and Lark gagged, but managed to keep her breakfast down. I helped Devon get both of them on the ground and then he sat down and put his head between his knees.

“There’s something…in the air vents.” He shook his head, trying to clear it. “We need fresh air.”

I ran to the windows and began rattling them, trying to get even one open. “What the hell is wrong with your windows, Beatrice?” I’d managed to get one to open but only about three inches.

“The school felt that it was a safety hazard to have windows this size open wide enough for someone to climb out of them since we’re on the second floor.”

“How many Fae are in this school?”

“Hundreds if you count the partials.” She covered her mouth with her hand and gagged, then ran her other hand over her pregnant belly.

I looked around for something big enough and heavy enough to break the windows, but my options were limited. Even though the desks and chairs were made out of wood and metal they were lightweight enough to be easily moved.

When Devon hit the ground in a faint I picked up the lone fully wooden chair in the room and threw it as hard as I could through the first window. It tore a hole through it and plummeted to the ground.

I knocked the rest of the glass out with my arm, thankful that I was still wearing my new jacket. Lucas and Lee raced into the room.

“People are dropping like flies! Where’s Ellery?” asked Lee.

“Over there.” I pointed to her. “Get them all as close as you can to the windows. I need to find something else to break the other one with.”

“Let’s get the filing cabinet,” Lee suggested.

“Good idea.” I answered. Before I could even move Lucas threw himself through the other window crashing out of it like an action hero.

“What the fuck?!” Lee and I both ran to the window and looked down, only to see Lucas in a crouch on the ground, broken glass and the smashed chair pieces scattered around him. He stood up and took off running.

I took off running as well, only I was headed for the fire alarm that would alert House Sinclair of trouble. I collided with James as he was running towards it as well. We spun each other around but didn’t break our strides and I beat him to pulling it by seconds.

“Get anyone strong enough to help. Everyone who is vomiting or has fainted is Fae and needs to get out into fresh air immediately.”

“Got it.” James took off, rallying other football players and some teachers to help.

I sprinted back to Ellery. Lee was cradling her near the open windows, while Beatrice, Rhiannon, Rose, and Lark gulped fresh air, draping themselves over the window sills, heedless of the broken glass.

“Give her to me, you help him.” I pointed at Devon’s prone form. Ellery stirred slightly when Lee handed her to me, but didn’t wake. “Ellery, Ellery, Princess, can you hear me?” Her eyes fluttered open and then she turned her head and vomited again.

I heard the heat vents turn off and breathed a sigh of relief. At least more of whatever it was wasn’t getting pumped through the school. Sirens sounded in the distance and in what felt like the blink of an eye Ellery and I were at home in our apartment.

Jones hovered like a hummingbird, unable to sit or stand still. Fitz came out of the bedroom after a few minutes alone examining Ellery.

“She’ll be fine in a few hours. Ordinarily she’d be strong enough to have fought off the effects of the iron ore mist without much help, but someone has been using magic and other methods to make the school inhospitable. She’s seriously strung out.” He sighed and then stretched his arms over his head.

“Lucas said that in addition to the canister with the iron ore mist, there was another with silver mist set up. Take down the Fae and then the Shifters,” I explained what Lucas had told me.

“Lucas said? Did he touch the canisters?” demanded Jones.

“Well, yeah, he ripped them off where they were attached to the heating system, after he broke it.”

“And naturally the only ones who wouldn’t be affected by either of those are the Incorruptibles and the humans.” Jones looked lost in thought.

I didn’t like what Jones was implying. “Lucas jumped through a plate glass window which not only saved Ellery, but four of her friends and your brother-in-law’s sister. He’s a good guy, even if he is a vampire. Besides, I thought you said you trusted him.”

“I do trust him. It’s just, you never met his father. There’s bad blood between the Incorruptibles and the Unseelie. Once word reaches Esmeralda’s Court that it was an attack that wouldn’t affect the Incorruptibles the High Council will blame them. ”

Ethan walked in at that moment. “The whole school is covered with ancient Unseelie spells designed to cause upheaval and unrest. Lucas doesn’t have the abilities to put those spells in place.”

“Alastair,” I growled.

“Call the Pixies” said Jones. “And then bring in Henry and all of his apprentices. I want that school with so much protection that no one even thinks a mean thought inside it.”

The official verdict was that there had been a gas leak, and the school was closed for three days. The team practiced at the Sinclair’s house in the full sized court that they had had installed when Jones was in middle school.

We won our away game on Friday and when everyone returned to school on Monday it was a much more enjoyable place to be. The Pixie purification had worked wonders. People who had fought made up and family members who had been injured recovered faster than anticipated.

Best of all, from my perspective, teachers stopped giving pop quizzes, and handed out extensions on assignments like candy. Unfortunately it did nothing to quell the rumor that Ellery was pregnant, but we all knew that when she didn’t start showing a bump that they’d let it drop.

I kind of appreciated it since Ellery wore clothes that were even more form fitting to highlight her flat belly. The weather also refused to cooperate forcing the home Cumberland game to get rescheduled for a Tuesday.

We chugged along through the month; practicing, winning games, and wonders of wonders, socializing more. Ellery started interacting with more people in the halls and in class. I’d asked Quinn, who was an excellent judge of character thanks to his mixed heritage, to introduce some of his friends to her and that got the ball rolling.

She didn’t add anyone new to the lunch group, but getting to class took longer than usual thanks to her stopping to chat every few feet. I asked her about it one night as we were getting ready for bed.

She explained as she snuggled into our bed. “I thought about what you said, and you’re right. I have been hiding myself away. Having you in my life has given me the strength and the courage to try, although I think Henry’s spells are why I’ve been able to do it so easily. Everyone at school just feels happier.”

It was a good thing too, since the Cumberland game loomed ahead and Ellery had an ax to grind with Coach Monroe.