Tag: Character: Edie

Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 13: The Teeth

Chatoyant College Book 13: Chapter 4: Speculation

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Dawn didn’t realize until they’d already left the common room that Derwen was still with them. She wished the faerie would leave, so they could talk more freely, but of course Derwen would get offended if Dawn actually said that. And since she was friends with Edie, Edie probably wanted her around with them.

If Dawn thought of any other questions to ask a faerie, she could ask now. But Derwen had already answered her only question—she didn’t know what faerie might have killed someone on campus. If they didn’t know who was dead, they wouldn’t know who to suspect.

Even if they did know who the victim was, she realized, they probably wouldn’t know who to suspect. Except for Mardalan. She could always suspect Mardalan.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 13: The Teeth

Chatoyant College Book 13: Chapter 3: Located

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“Come on,” Dawn said quietly to Rico, shifting so his arms weren’t around her anymore and taking his hand instead. She couldn’t just stand here and speculate—she had to find out what Lorelei knew.

They worked through the crowd to find Edie with Corrie right at the front. Dawn hadn’t been able to see her because everyone between them was taller than Edie. “Where did Charlie go?” she asked when she reached them.

“He’s calling other RAs,” Corrie said. “They said the missing people were probably in other dorms.”

Dawn nodded. Just like Naomi had been the last time. “That’s good. And I guess he has to let the other dorms know that we have some of their people.”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 13: The Teeth

Chatoyant College Book 13: Chapter 1: Awake

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Wednesday, May 10

Dawn woke with a suddenness that had her gasping, arms shaking. For a moment, she thought she had dreamed the sound that had awakened her, a heavy pounding. There was no one else in the room—no, Naomi was there, Dawn realized, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Her roommate was still asleep, curled in her bed, which comforted Dawn. She’d probably just had a bad dream.

Anyone would have bad dreams on this campus.

But then she heard it again, closer this time—or maybe it was just easier to hear because she was fully awake now. Something was slamming against something else, many times in rapid succession.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 57: Gone

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Edie stood looking at the dirt for what felt like a long time, but couldn’t really have been more than a few minutes. Nothing changed, except that the sounds of dripping overhead became louder. A few raindrops plopped into the dirt, dampening it. The tree no longer protected it.

Finally, Edie turned and began walking directly back toward campus. She was glad Leila had been prescient enough to give her an excuse for not entering through the front gate; she wasn’t sure she could walk all that way right now. She didn’t know how she felt, but she was so shaken that she didn’t want to have to make her way through the dark forest or face anyone.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 56: The Tree

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Edie waited; Leila was taking a long time to respond. Anxiety twisted her stomach, but she clutched her umbrella and said nothing. She wasn’t going to rush Leila into a response.

She didn’t want her to leave, of course. But she knew, at this point, that there was nothing she could do to stop her. So she just wanted to understand. And if Leila was just going back to her tree, why bring Edie with her? Why bring her at all, when she’d vanished so abruptly last semester with the expectation that Edie would just forget her?

It was dark in the woods, the only light coming from the moon filtering feebly through the clouds—and perhaps from Leila’s tree itself. It was quiet, the dripping of the trees still the only sound. Edie waited.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 55: Trust

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The rain let up later that afternoon, but the clouds didn’t clear away, so Edie didn’t trust it. She and her friends went to the dining hall for dinner, and then she went back to the front gate with all of her rain gear, even though she was very early to meet Leila. She wanted to be sure she didn’t miss Leila or make her wait.

Leila wasn’t at the gate when Edie arrived, so she pulled out the book she’d put in her pocket, making sure that her four-leaf clover and phone were both where she’d left them in another pocket. She didn’t want to get caught without any protection or a way to reach her friends. She’d also made sure that not only Corrie, but also Dawn, Annie, and Roe knew where she was going. She knew Leila wouldn’t hurt her—she was fairly certain of that—but it was still good to know that if she was gone for a long time, her friends would know what to do.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 54: The Open Gates

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When Edie got back to her room, Corrie was still napping. Edie shut the door softly and tried to be quiet about taking her jacket off and opening her umbrella so it could dry a little, but Corrie stirred, then sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. “How long was I out?”

“I’m not sure,” Edie said honestly. “I was knitting. Maybe an hour?”

“Okay, that’s not so bad.” Corrie looked out the window and wrinkled her nose. “It’s this stupid rain. Were you just outside again?”

Edie nodded. “Leila was out there. When I got downstairs, she was gone, but she left me this note.” She held it out for Corrie to read.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 53: Soft Afternoon

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Edie knew she should get working on her homework, since she didn’t know what else the weekend might have in store for her, but with the rain still coming heavily down, making shushing noises out her window, she couldn’t get motivated to sit down and focus. When Corrie suggested going down to the common room to watch a movie, she agreed, and Annie and Roe joined them.

It was very cozy and nice, sitting in the common room while the rain continued to hammer down outside (though they could barely hear it from there), nibbling on popcorn and watching a Jane Austen movie. Edie wondered whether they would be able to do the same thing next year. Maybe if she, Dawn, and Corrie got one of those nice suites in Sayer, they would be able to watch TV in their own room. The common area in Sayer had seemed busy—though if each floor had one of those, unlike Gilkey, then maybe different ones would be more or less busy.

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 52: Fun in the Rain

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Edie’s eyes widened. That was a strange thought. But if Elrath thought it was possible for his brother to be revived, then wouldn’t he be trying to do that, instead of “fixing” the magic himself?

Though she wasn’t sure he liked his brother very much. Alaineth sounded like he had been a terrible ruler, and from what Tom had said, Elrath never even told anyone that he had a brother. He must have liked his sister somewhat, though, or at least wanted her back so he didn’t have to rule, so why wasn’t he trying to bring her back? Maybe because she’d been pretending to be human when she died, and done it on purpose, she couldn’t be retrieved.

But Derwen was shaking her head. “No, it’s not like that. You can’t bring back someone who’s been dead for a long time. We can be restored if we’re not completely dead, but it takes longer and is more difficult the longer and more badly someone has been injured.”

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Chatoyant College, Chatoyant College Book 12: Reemergence

Chatoyant College Book 12: Chapter 51: Connected to Nature

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This time, it was easy for Edie to watch Derwen move around the room as she ate her delicious pancakes and fruit. People were giving her a wide berth, even jumping out of her way, as she trailed water across the floor. It was hard to believe that her clothes and hair could have held that much rain, and yet she continued to leave a shining path behind her like a slug.

“Maybe she’s a water faerie like your great-grandmother, Edie,” Corrie said, also watching Derwen.

“I don’t have any urge to go play in the rain,” Edie said. She frowned. “Though I’ve never particularly liked swimming or anything, either. It might just be that I don’t take after her.”

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