Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 112: Stakeout

After working on their homework and having dinner, they gathered their friends to go to the library. Annie insisted on joining them, though the others argued against it. "If I see her, I'll tell one of you," she said. "I won't interact with her at all and I'll be careful so she doesn't notice me."

"Everyone has their iron bracelets or at least a four-leaf clover, right?" Corrie asked. Edie and Dawn nodded. Rico and Naomi held up their wrists with the bracelets on. Annie held up a four-leaf clover. Corrie wished Roe could be with them too, since she knew their friend was very competent, but she also knew that Roe's lessons with Professor Strega were more important.

"The iron bracelets might not work, though," said Edie. "Remember, Professor Lal said that iron only works to break glamours if the glamour is directed against you specifically, and if there really is a faerie working at the library, her glamour is probably there to hide her from everyone."

"But they'll make good protection," said Corrie. "I don't expect her to attack us, but if she does, the iron will hurt her."

"So what exactly is the plan?" Naomi asked Dawn. "We're not supposed to attack her or anything, right?"

"Of course not," said Dawn. "That would be dangerous in a lot of ways. No, we're going to try to identify her and then follow her when she leaves. That's what Tom said—find out who her friends are and we'll find out where the book came from. And maybe the knife."

"Oh," said Naomi. "What if she doesn't leave?"

"We'll figure something out," said Dawn. "I work at the library, so I can probably come up with some excuse to stay as long as she does, even if it's after the library closes. And the rest of you don't have to hang around. Once we've identified her, well, I'm probably the only one who needs to actually follow her."

Corrie smiled at her. "As though I'd leave you alone on this."

Dawn grinned. "Well, I didn't think you would. But nobody has to feel bad about staying back. We don't know where we'll go to follow her. Especially you, Annie."

"I won't come," Annie said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I promise. I'm just there to be an extra set of eyes. And to do some homework."

"So we're looking for a person working at the library named Sarah, right?" Rico asked.

"Right," said Dawn. "And I think she's been deliberately hiding herself from me, so we have to try to keep her from noticing us. And for those who can see through her glamour, she's supposedly a faun—short, furry, and with horns. But those of you who can see through glamour should definitely tell me if you see Sarah, and if I see someone who is a faerie and it's not Sarah, tell me that, too. I can't tell who is and isn't." She took a deep breath. "Okay. Everyone ready?"

"Always," said Corrie.

"Let's go," said Edie. "I want to figure this out."

Dawn nodded and led the way to the library. It was warmer out than it had been, but still cold, and Corrie was glad when they reached the glass doors and went into the library, even though it wasn't as well heated as their dorm. Dawn gave them directions to the different parts of the library—Corrie needed to look at some history books, Naomi had a digital art project that needed to be done on special graphics computers, and the others had to be in different parts of the library to make sure that at least one of them would see Sarah wherever she might be.

Before Corrie went upstairs to where the history books were, though, she hung around on the bottom step to listen to Dawn's conversation with her boss, Emi.

"Hey, Dawn," said Emi. "You know finals hours haven't started yet, right?"

"I know," said Dawn. "Believe it or not, I'm actually here to study."

"And you brought all your friends, but you're not working together."

"We just wanted to walk together," said Dawn. "The only class we have together is magic, and that doesn't have any homework. Hey, is Sarah here today?"

"Not yet," said Emi. "When she gets here, I can tell her you're looking for her. Where will you be hanging out?"

"That's okay," said Dawn quickly. "I'll just catch her when she's not busy. I know there's a lot of work to get done these days." Corrie noticed that she didn't tell Emi where she was going to sit. "I'll see you later, Emi."

Corrie started up the stairs, so she didn't hear Emi's response, but she did hear Dawn ascending the stairs behind her. She half-turned and smiled, and Dawn gave her a nod. It was time for their stakeout to begin.