Chapter 1
I’d be damned if I’d touch that soul crystal again. Once again, Tarquin had led me into the depths of hell, and I had no intention of using him to find my way out. Razielle and I would have to figure it out on our own.
Between the two of us, we barely had enough energy and focus to light our path through the forgotten hallways beneath the Manor. Razielle was shaken, to say the least, from her vampire bite. I was nursing a broken arm and haunted by the thought of what the creatures wanted from me.
I seemed to be one of the few with the power to free them—free the plague of Spellcrest and release their darkness upon the school, the town, and the world. I didn’t know what they were ultimately capable of, though I knew they were strong enough to annihilate what remained of Tarquin’s army. Seven against a hundred—if the vampires hadn’t lost anyone—and it seemed to be no contest.
And who was responsible for sending me to them? The only person I could think of wasn’t a person at all, but a fellow vampire. Dawn Carmichael. Perhaps this was why I was chosen to rush Skull & Spells after all. Maybe there was no intention of me ever being initiated—all the talk of me getting the opportunity my mother was denied nothing but a crock.
Now, I knew I needed help—a lot of help—and wasn’t someone who generally liked asking for that type of thing. However, I had to admit I was in way over my head with this problem.
“What are we gonna do?” Razielle asked, her voice still shaky. “Can you teleport us out of here or something? Neither of us is in a condition to navigate this maze again.”
“I agree,” I said, my thoughts turning to my needle. I’d gotten us out of the room with the vampires, which took almost every ounce of strength I had left. But I must have had some reserves to extract my needle, even though this time I knew it would hurt like hell.
“So, what are we gonna do?” Razielle repeated.
Instead of answering, I focused on the need for my needle and soon felt the familiar burn working through my hand and into my extended forefinger. My skin burned as the needle burst through my skin.
A smile spread over Razielle’s lips as I pulled the needle from my finger. “That’s more like it,” she said. “It’s safe though, right?”
“Nothing’s safe right now,” I said, then cried out as I guided my broken arm to hang limply at my side. However, it made no difference how careful I was. It felt like my arm was getting ripped in half. I quickly found myself drenched in sweat as I waited for the pain to ever so slightly subside. “You can’t mend broken bones, can you?” I asked, my voice quivering now.
Razielle shook her head, her smile instantly gone.
“It couldn’t hurt to ask,” I said, took a deep breath, then used my left hand to open a shimmering seam in the musty air of the underground hallway. I retracted the needle before entering the void, not worried about sewing it up once we were through.
Since she was having a hard time seeing it, I guided Razielle into Mom’s office, which was the best place I could think to go. Of course, she wasn’t there when we arrived, but I instructed Razielle to text her while I eased myself down into one of the office chairs, carefully cradling my arm again.
“Did you tell her it was urgent?” I asked.
“No; I asked her to come when she had some free time—of course, I told her it was urgent,” Razielle quipped.
“What’s so urgent?” a male voice asked, and I was almost relieved to find Headmaster Bronze standing near the closed door, another seam open in the corner of the room.
Razielle nearly flew away at the sudden appearance of the headmaster. She seemed to have no idea who he was, which reminded me of the time he’d appeared in our room and scared the shit out of me.
“Headmaster Bronze,” I said to quickly put Razielle at ease. “I hoped you’d come.”
“And I’m hoping this won’t be a visit requiring a reprimand,” he said.
“We had an urgent situation and we’ve contacted my mother—Professor Rainley—to assist. And I think it’s important you are included in the conversation too.”
“Then by all means, please fill me in on the situation. What’s the problem? Wait, is that blood?”
As if on cue, Mom burst through the door, stopping cold, unsure of what to make of the headmaster’s presence.
“Is everyone okay?” she asked, nearly out of breath—then she too noticed the bloody Xs across our chests, not initially recognizing their significance.
“Maeve has a broken arm,” Razielle said. “Perhaps someone can start there?”
“I’m surviving,” I said as Mom rushed over to my chair.
“I’ll try to be careful,” she said, dropping to her knees and laying a hand above and below my elbow like she could somehow see the break. Her hands were icy to the touch, nearly numbing my entire arm within seconds. But the pressure of her hands on my skin still sent lightning bolts of pain shooting up and down my arm.
I winced but tried to conceal the pain as much as possible. However, after another ten seconds, it started to dissipate. The sharp pain was replaced by a dull ache, which steadily dissolved in the tingling numbness enveloping my arm.
The room was silent as Mom worked. Even the headmaster patiently waited for my return to relative health.
“Move your fingers,” Mom instructed as she rose from the floor.
I did as she asked, and even with a heaviness to my movements, my fingers moved pain free. Then I attempted lifting and extending my arm, realizing I’d regained full range of motion.
“Nice work, professor,” Headmaster Bronze said, then turned his attention to me. “Maeve, are you ready to talk now?”
“Yes, but first, I want you both to follow me,” I said, rose shakily from the chair and led everyone to the seam I’d opened.
“Are we in the Manor?” the headmaster asked once the cavernous rocky hallway was illuminated.
I nodded, then pointed to the now glowing crystal still lying on the ground. “This is my crystal, which had been confiscated by Skull & Spells at the beginning of the school year. It’s been hexed with some kind of spell to make it a portal key. It leads to where the plague of Spellcrest is being held. If it hadn’t been for Razielle, I’d still be in there—with them doing God knows what to me.”
“The plague of Spellcrest?” the headmaster asked, which instantly dashed my hopes that he’d be any help to this problem.
“The Xs…” Mom said, the ashen look on her face making it obvious she was returning to that awful night in the clock tower. “Angel blood.”
“Yes,” I said. “Razielle is a Nephilim.”
“Are you saying they’re vampires?” Headmaster Bronze asked.
“The one who bit me wasn’t too happy,” Razielle chimed in. “He couldn’t handle all the bitterness in my blood.”
“I don’t know how she got access to them, but I think your vampire friend is behind this,” I said. “She sent me to them, to—to set them free.”
“I don’t understand,” Headmaster Bronze said. “You mentioned a plague and now you’re talking about vampires. I’m missing the connection.”
“Headmistress Christi told us about a plague locked safely away beneath Spellcrest, which she released when the Academy was under siege from the Kicryrian army last year.”
“The day before her disappearance.”
“Umm… yeah, I guess so,” I said, catching Mom’s gaze out of the corner of my eye. “Whatever they were—she released them when she thought the army was going to break the barrier and storm the Academy. And this plague decimated everyone outside. We were told to put an X of angel blood on our door and the plague would pass over us, which ended up being true. When Razielle came face to face with the vampires down there, they addressed themselves as the plague, so I used the same logic and we X’d ourselves with Razielle’s blood, and they couldn’t seem to touch us after that.”
“There are vampires roaming freely throughout the world. They’re not all powerful,” Mom said. “What’s so special about these?”
“Vampires have an aversion to angel blood, but that doesn’t provide you with a protective barrier,” the headmaster said.
“I don’t know what to tell you, but that’s what happened,” I said.
“And they wanted you to free them?”
“The one who seemed to be in charge said he needed me to open a seam to release them from their cell—the catacombs, I think is what he said.”
“There’s the crypt, and now the catacombs—why is it so morbid below the Manor?” Razielle asked, but no one was interested in acknowledging her question.
“Did Headmistress Christi use her needle to let them out the last time?” Headmaster Bronze asked.
I turned to Mom, wondering if she had more insight than I did.
“I have no idea what she did,” Mom said. “Or how she locked them up again.”
I considered mentioning the staff that I’d seen Headmistress Christi with, but given that Headmaster Bronze knew nothing about the plague, I wanted to hold onto that tidbit for now and bring it up to Mom in private.
“Who do you believe hexed the crystal?” Headmaster Bronze asked, kneeling before its pulsing blue light, looking almost tempted to touch it. “You mentioned a vampire friend.”
“Not my friend,” I said.
“An old acquaintance of mine,” Mom added, obviously trying to limit her exposure too. Neither one of us was very good at being overly forthcoming with information—even when we were trying to get it from others.
“Does this old acquaintance have a name?”
“Dawn Carmichael.”
The headmaster tore his eyes away from the crystal and stared up at Mom. “Dawn Carmichael…”
“You know her?”
“You could say that. I don’t believe she’d be involved in some sinister plot against the Academy. She’s one of the Academy’s biggest advocates. She has many connections in the GBMA. How is it you know her?”
“She was my first-year roommate,” Mom said. “Then we became friends throughout our tenure here. I too wouldn’t think she’d do something like this, but my daughter is skeptical of her.”
“And you know her through…” Headmaster Bronze began, then waited for me to finish his statement.
“Skull & Spells,” I said. “I’d been tapped to rush this trimester. She’s the alumni liaison.”
“Not something I think you should be advertising in mixed company.” The headmaster glanced over at Razielle, which immediately brought out her frustration with the secret society.
“I’m a legacy,” she said with an exasperated sigh.
“I’ll speak with Ms. Carmichael,” Headmaster Bronze said. “It can’t hurt to ask her some questions. And there’s a good chance she can be of valuable assistance.”
“I agree,” Mom said.
I do not. Though I voiced my objection merely in my head.
“In the meantime, I should hold onto this crystal,” the headmaster said. The necklace rose off the floor under its own power. “It seems to be the only current connection we have to these imprisoned vampires, so I don’t want to nullify the hex just yet. We can supply you with a replacement.”
“I’d like it back when you remove the spell,” I said. “It has… sentimental value.”
“I see no problem with that,” Headmaster Bronze said, returning to his full height. The hovering necklace remained at his chest level. “I appreciate you bringing this matter to my attention, which I will diligently look into. To help ensure everyone’s safety, I’d like for all of you to keep what you’ve seen to yourselves while I investigate. The spreading of misinformation and rumors will only compromise my investigation. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, followed by Razielle.
“This information will be considered strictly confidential,” Mom added, but I knew our own investigation into today’s events was only beginning.
Chapter 2
“I wish you hadn’t involved the interim headmaster right off the bat,” Mom said when the two of us got back to her office.
I was given a new crystal while we were still below the Manor, and Razielle headed back to her room once we reached Rainley Hall. I’d stopped by the room too, so I could change out of my bloody clothes, then headed downstairs to meet Mom.
She was too anxious to sit, so she paced behind her desk. I had no problem sitting because my body was completely freakin’ drained.
“He’s not just here as an acting headmaster, but to investigate the disappearance of Meredith Christi and report his findings to the GBMA,” Mom continued. “I don’t know how much we can trust him yet—how impartial he really is. I wish you’d come to me first. And we should further discuss the situation with your father.”
“I needed to open a seam to get out of there, and in doing so, the new headmaster would know and question me,” I said. “He was going to know something was up regardless, so I thought some transparency might be good for a change. He may end up being an asset. And if he finds out stuff about the headmistress, then it was going to happen regardless, and we’ll deal with it when it comes.”
Mom stopped pacing and faced me with concern splashed across her face. “I know you want to do the right thing, and I commend you for it. My primary concern is to keep our family safe.”
“What you did to the head—” I stopped, wondering if these words should be spoken aloud within Academy walls. “What you did to have my needle returned was not for the safety of our family,” I said instead. “It was specifically for me. I don’t know if it was due to guilt from the last decade or what, but—”
“Having a seamstress in the family helps keep us all safe,” Mom said. “We really should move this conversation elsewhere.”
I had to agree. I was afraid of what eyes and ears were potentially within the walls of the Academy buildings. I’d learned firsthand how easy it was to have an unsuspecting spy. Hopefully, I wouldn’t have that problem again, but the thought was never fully removed from my mind.
As we made our way into the village, crystalline flurries floated down from the dark sky. It was nearly dinnertime, so I guessed I wouldn’t be eating with my friends tonight. Family dinners were usually reserved for Sundays, but a midweek exception wasn’t the end of the world.
“Should we invite Finley?” I asked, reaching for my phone in my back pocket—but Mom shook her head.
“He’s been through enough. Let’s not get him involved in this too.”
Even though I didn’t see much of my brother—or half-brother—anymore, I wasn’t heartbroken over the idea. He’d proven himself when I’d lent him my needle not long ago, and thus he was now back in my good graces. But I still wanted time alone to get over everything that had happened between us. Sometimes, a girl needed her space.
“I don’t want to continue with Skull & Spells,” I said after we walked a little farther down the lane, halfway to the family townhouse. “I know it’s supposed to be some great honor and Razielle would give her entire wardrobe to ensure she gets in, but I don’t want it anymore. I mean, even if this thing today hadn’t happened, I was already feeling like I wanted out. I stuck it out to get my crystal back. But even that got screwed up. Now it’s with the headmaster.”
“You’ll get it back,” Mom assured me. “And if you don’t want to continue, then you don’t have to. Yes, it’s supposedly prestigious, but so is just being here at Spellcrest Academy. And we have everything we could ever want and need. We have each other.”
“Did you read that on a card somewhere?” I laughed.
“No, smartass,” Mom chided. “However, I don’t believe that whoever is trying to free the vampires will magically stop if you drop out of your candidacy. In fact, it might actually be beneficial to remain a candidate, giving you more access to information, if it is indeed someone from within the senior society.”
“I was afraid of that,” I said with a sigh.
“But at the same time, I don’t want to put you in harm’s way for the sake of investigation,” Mom continued as we turned to walk up our driveway. “Forget I said anything. If you want out, then I’m behind you one hundred percent.”
“I thought we were going to let Headmaster Bronze handle the investigation?” I said with a smirk spreading across my lips, knowing what her response would be.
“Just because he’s doing an official investigation doesn’t mean we can’t do a little digging of our own,” she said.
Inside, Dad was sitting at the dining room table, typing away on a laptop. When he noticed us, he smiled and promptly closed the screen.
“I wasn’t expecting company this evening,” he said. “I didn’t prepare anything. Are you both staying for dinner? I can start cooking now.”
I wasn’t looking to rush out, and didn’t think Mom was either, so a home-cooked meal sounded amazing. Dad cleared the table and the three of us worked together preparing the meal. I mostly tried to stay out of the way since I didn’t have much cooking experience—and over the past six months of having my family back together, I still wasn’t too inclined to learn. Dad had all four burners blazing for a multi-layered pasta dish while Mom chopped vegetables for a large bowl of salad for us to share.
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