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Adelaide clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “The Grove does not admit fairies, gnomes, elves, or dwarves. We consider dependence on such creatures a sign of poor discipline in the Craft. Besides, those creatures can be so…disruptive. And dangerous. I do hope you haven’t gotten involved with any up there at Fairwick. It’s what I was afraid of when you took the job.”
“So it wasn’t Fairwick’s academic standing you disapproved of?”
“Well, there’s that, too. They didn’t even make theU.S. News & World Reporttop one hundred colleges, which I attribute to their liberal admissions policy, letting in refugees from all over the world…andoff world. I mean, would you wantyourdaughter to sit in class next to a hobgoblin…or room with a phouka?”
“I really like my students,” I said, shocked by the venom in Adelaide’s voice. “And I haven’t seen any hobgoblins.”
“That you know of. What we at the Grove hear is that Elizabeth Book allows otherworlders to attend—andteach—in human guise. Who knows what sort of creatures you’ve got in your classes! It’s irresponsible not to let people at least know what they’re dealing with. I wanted to warn you when you took the job, but you’ve never listened to me.”
“But you never even told me I had fairy blood!”
Adelaide leaned forward and grabbed my hand so quickly I gasped aloud. Her crabbed fingers dug into mine like pincers. “Of course I didn’t tell you that you had the taint of the fey. Your mother, although she never chose to practice the Craft, was descended from a long line of distinguished witches. She disgraced her heritage by marrying a man with fairy blood.”
“What heritage?” I asked, ignoring the slight to my father. I’d always known my grandmother didn’t like him, but I’d thought it was because he was Scottish.
“The heritage of the Grove. One of its tenets is that we do not associate with fairies.”
I snorted. “But witches have been the victims of prejudice and persecution for centuries. Why would you be intolerant of fairies?”
“It was the association of witches with demons—which is just another name for what you call fairies—that brought about that persecution. It is also well known that fey blood neutralizes a witch’s power, which is why, I assumed, you showed no signs of any talent for withcraft. Your mother assured me she saw no sign of it.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Although perhaps we were both hasty in that judgment…at any rate, now that you do know the true nature of Fairwick College it would be best if you resigned.”
I sat back in my chair, yanking my hand out of Adelaide’s clawlike grasp, and stared at my grandmother. Small white lines had appeared around the corners of her mouth where she clenched the muscles to control her expression. I could feel the anger rising off her, though, like heat waves, except that her anger was a cold thing. I noticed, too, now that neither of us were speaking, that the Laurel Parlour was deadly silent. Tucked away in their deep cavernous chairs the members of the Grove were listening.
“And if I don’t resign from Fairwick?” I asked, pitching myvoice loud enough to be heard throughout the hushed room. “What will your club do to me?”
“You always were so dramatic, Callie.” She shook her head and smiled, almost fondly, as though at a small pet’s misbehavior. “The Grove won’t do anything to you, but…” Her smile vanished. “Neither will we help you if you are in danger there. And trust me, sooner or later, youwillbe in danger there.”
I thought of the incubus who had nearly wrecked my house and the vampire who had gotten me to agree to an ambiguous deal. I thought about Frank Delmarco, who was hiding the fact he was a witch. What I had always hated about fighting with my grandmother was that she often made a good point. And that she often turned out to be right.
But she wasn’talwaysright. She had discouraged my friendship with Annie (that little Italian girl) and told me not to write a book about vampires, “because vampires had gone out after Anne Rice.” I had to hope she was wrong about Fairwick, because even though I had seriously considered resigning on the drive down to the city, I knew now that it was the last thing I wanted to do. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get back.
“You always told me to rely on myself,” I said, rising to my feet. “So that’s what I’m going to do. Rely on myself and the good friends and neighbors I’ve found at Fairwick. And if you—or any of your club—should change your minds about Fairwick, I’m sure you’ll find that the door is open.”
I had only meant to extend a message of tolerance (one I was very far from feeling at the moment), but when I uttered the last four words Adelaide’s face turned ashen.
“The door is open?” she repeated hoarsely.
So there was one thing she didn’t know. “Yes,” I said, smiling. “I opened it.” Then I turned and walked away across the soft carpet, past the plush upholstered chairs, feeling like a small naked field mouse making its way through a forest populated with sharp-clawed owls watching me from their roosts.
