Witches in Training (#2 in the Witches Trilogy) [rewrites ongoing]

Chapter Twenty-Two: Traitor in our Midst

VERA

"Fairy sight?"

"Fairies have enhanced sight and usually hearing. You're vision's been somehow bumped up to par with Russell's-how?"

Russell figures it out in a second. "Fairy blood." He realises. "Louis' blood's been all over her."

Kieran snaps his fingers. "Of course. It doesn't affect you because you're already a fairy, and it hasn't affected me because I stopped the bleeding before anything else. But Vera had it all over her!"

Something else involving fairy blood suddenly comes back to me. "Parker touched me." Kieran and Russell turn to stare at me. My cheeks flame as I realise the implications of what I just said. "Uh-my face, I mean. With fairy blood on his hands."

Not looking any more relieved, Kieran demands to know how I know.

"I was sort of conscious... hi, Kami!"

The dryad tumbles through the barrier with an 'oof', soaking wet. "Ugh. I'm drenched."

"No, Kami. Water is dry." Kieran says with his usual dry humour, waving his hand and making Kami dry immediately. Shaun enters the tunnel in a similar state, his glossy caramel hair dripping. He looks at Russell and frowns.

"You're Vera's trainer, right?"

Russell is nonplussed. "Er-am I?"

It even takes me a while to remember. It seems like years ago that I met Russell as my new trainer. "Yes, idiot." I tell him. "Psh."

Russell grins. "Oh, right."

Kami and Shaun both look curiously from me to Russell. They think it's strange that a trainer and trainee who haven't even trained together for a month are so comfortable with each other, particularly because Russell's a guy, and he's seven, eight years older than me. They don't know anything about all that's happened.

Kieran doesn't bother to offer any input. "Shaun, you said you had news."

"Anne and Jon have disappeared." Shaun replies, running his fingers through his hair and showering me with droplets. "Oops. Sorry, Vera."

"Anne and Jon have disappeared?" Kieran repeats. "When?"

"Two, three days ago." Shaun replies worriedly. "A little after you contacted us. I met up with kami on the way here."

"What took you so long, anyway?"

"Exiles." Kami says. "Stephen's been on me for ages."

"Exiles?" I find myself echoing with Kieran, though for different reasons. For me, I remember the word being mentioned repeatedly-something about recruiting. Something about two of her friends being recruited. That's where Jon and Anne have gone. They've become Exiles. "They're Exiles." I blurt out. "Jon and Anne. They were captured and made Exiles."

"How do you know? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Positive." I say. "They kept talking about recruiting, and that two of my friends were targeted. I'm sure now they were talking about Anne and Jon."

Kieran looks at Russell. "Can you one-way scry them?"

"Already on it." The familiar screen appears in the air. I see Anne-really see her-for the first time. She's got the makeup off and her hair is showing its real dark red roots. The real Annabelle still looks older than fourteen, mature for her age, with a slight dash of freckles I hadn't noticed under the foundation, naturally tan skin and hazel eyes. Her red-and-brown hair tumbles over her shoulders.