Chapter 1
“Who is it?” I asked in response to a knock at my dorm room door. It was still early, yet normally, I’d be getting ready for the first class of the day, Morality of Magic. But this wasn’t a normal morning. I’d just escaped Kicryria after fighting Tarquin and returned with my mother—who’d been brought back to life—and Quin, the girl who’d stolen my blood to make my mother’s resurrection possible. Now, they were both in my room, along with my brother, who still had his lips magically sewn shut. It was anything but a normal morning.
“It’s me,” Devon’s voice said from the other side of the door.
Shit. I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night and was planning to ditch classes today. There were more important things to think about now. I’d thought a lot about finally letting Devon in on the double life I’d been leading, but I hadn’t brought that up to Mom yet. I guess I was stalling, hoping I’d have more time.
Well, with Devon at my door, my time had essentially run out.
“Just a second,” I said. “Let me finish throwing on some clothes.” I cringed at how stupid that sounded. Devon knew my little brother was in the room, and I was no longer in the habit of changing in front of him.
Standing a few feet from the door, I glanced back at Mom and Quin, hoping for a little guidance. Quin referred to my mother as well. Not wasting any more precious seconds, Mom nodded—a clear signal for me to proceed with letting Devon into the room.
Here goes nothing. I took a deep breath and opened the door to a well-rested and beaming Devon.
“Good morning, babe,” he said, leaning in for a kiss before strolling into the room. “Hey, Finley.”
Of course, there was no response because Finley’s lips were sewn shut. I hastily shut the door and turned to see Devon’s reaction to the others in my room, but to my surprise, there was no one else there.
Devon paced the room as if he was looking for something—or someone—too. Then he stopped by my desk and retrieved the smoothie shaker. “I know I’m not needed for this anymore, but I’m more than willing to help if you’re not ready to go yet.”
My eyes darted around the room, curious as to where Mom and Quin had gone, but there wasn’t a trace of them. “What makes you think I’m not ready?” I asked, innocently.
“You look a little disheveled, that’s all. I didn’t know if you still needed to freshen up upstairs.” He was referring to the second-floor girls’ bathroom, which I’d been using since returning at the beginning of the trimester.
“How dare you!” I gasped. “I am totally freakin’ presentable.”
“Of course, you are,” Devon said. “I’d never say you didn’t look presentable.”
“But it’s okay to say I look disheveled?”
“You always look beautiful to me,” Devon said, coming over to me and placing his palms on my cheeks, then pressing his lips to mine again.
I didn’t return the kiss. “Don’t try buttering me up after insulting me.” I glanced over at Finley who looked like he wanted to puke, but obviously had to hold it in unless he wanted to choke on it.
“I wasn’t insulting you,” Devon argued, then kissed me again.
I tried not to return it for a second time, but I was spent and delirious, and my willpower was only so strong.
“That’s better,” Devon said. “All is right with the world again.”
He had no idea how wrong he was, but without talking to Mom first, I wasn’t ready to fill him in just yet.
“Do you want help with your brother?” Devon asked again.
“Finley’s fine,” I said without looking at him for his mime-worthy input. I opened the door of my wardrobe and checked my face in the mirror. I did look like shit, but I wasn’t going to leave Devon there while I fixed my hair and makeup. At least I’d already changed my burnt clothes from last night’s adventure. Since my leather jacket was out of commission, I guessed I was back to the winter coat I’d bought in the village.
I grabbed my phone and slammed the wardrobe door. “Well, I’m off to class,” I said at a volume much higher than my typical talking voice. I wasn’t sure if Mom and Quin were somewhere they could hear me. “I’ll check in before lunch.”
“Finley’s right here,” Devon said with a chuckle. “There’s no need to yell.”
“I’m tired, so sue me.”
“Maybe you should get more sleep at night.” His tone was playful, but still sounded somewhat accusatory.
“We can’t all sleep like babies every night,” I shot back, but paired my comeback with a smirk to hopefully keep a subsequent argument at bay.
Devon whispered into my ear on his way to the door. “Maybe we should discuss the sleeping arrangements again.”
Hot damn… I wish it were that easy.
Devon and I walked hand in hand through the Academy grounds. Just before reaching The Manor, Nym caught up and greeted us warmly.
“Enjoy your classes, ladies,” Devon said, gave me a farewell kiss, then parted ways with Nym and me.
Once Devon was out of a normal person’s earshot, Nym gave me a worried look and asked, “Where’s your leather jacket?”
“Why can’t I change anything up without you getting all concerned?” I asked.
“Because you’re a very habitual person. If you do something different, it’s usually because of a problem.”
“Sometimes your attention to detail is disturbing, little elf.” I laughed, though Nym’s expression didn’t change. “Everything’s fine,” I assured her. “I’m cold and just wanted a warmer coat.”
“If you say so.” She obviously wasn’t buying my explanation, even though it wasn’t a total lie. The morning air was bone-chillingly cold.
Chapter 2
To keep from raising too much suspicion, I attended all my morning classes. This also helped Nym lighten up and return to her usual self—which was only slightly less nervous and concerned.
I texted Finley to make sure Mom and Quin were still around after the earlier disappearing act. He wasn’t able to text back, but he was able to pass the phone to Mom to respond. Just like when I’d tried to get Finley to write answers to my questions in a notebook, texting for him produced the same quality of gibberish. He was about as silenced as one could be.
Luckily, the response I received from Mom was that everyone was fine, which was good enough for me.
I told Nym I’d be skipping lunch and would catch up with her in Combative Casting. My skipping or leaving early from lunch was well within my routine of the past month with Finley stowed away in my room, so Nym left without further inquiry. It still sucked to leave her in the dark, but I was afraid of her sharing the same fate as Razielle. She was my new best friend and I needed to be looking out for her.
I hurried back to my dorm room on the first floor of Windsor Hall but found it empty except for my stuff. Finley was gone. His suitcase was gone. Even his smoothie ingredients and shaker were gone. And Mom and Quin were gone.
My first thought was not that something had happened to them, but that they’d ditched me. I retrieved my phone from my pocket and began typing furiously.
What the hell? I texted, then paced as I awaited a reply.
It wasn’t until several minutes had passed that I entertained the idea something was wrong, and they might actually be in trouble.
We’re just getting set up, someone from Finley’s phone texted back. Finish your classes and we’ll get together this evening.
I stared at the phone for a long time. What the hell were they out doing without me? And they’d taken Finley out in broad daylight, something I hadn’t allowed him to do since he’d been returned to me from Guy and Lisbon.
Lisbon. I needed to talk to her too. Storm hadn’t returned with us, and as far as I knew, Lisbon didn’t know what had happened last night. But now with Mom moving on and making plans without me, I wanted to know what was up before involving more people.
Since I now had no one to conspire with, I figured there was no harm in heading over to the cafeteria to have lunch with the neophyte group. But as I was grabbing my food, I was greeted by a voice from behind.
“What happened last night?” Lisbon asked.
“Do you want the short version or the long version?” I asked, sarcastically.
“Storm didn’t come back.”
“Okay,” I said. She was always so careful about talking with other people around. I took a cue from her and carried my food tray toward the door, so we could continue our conversation outside—in the cold.
Once we were away from students coming and going from the cafeteria, I continued. “He didn’t come back with us. That’s all I know.”
“Us?” Lisbon asked. “Who did you come back with then?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know,” I scoffed. “I’m sure you knew I’d run into my mother over there. A little heads up would have been nice.”
“Well, I didn’t know she’d come back with you. So, is she the only one?”
“No. Quin also came back with us. Is she in your little group, too?”
“I know her. She and Guy are close. But what about Storm? Why didn’t he come back with you? What happened to the seam in our safe house? What the hell happened last night?”
“Well, wherever Guy is, he’s not safe around Tarquin,” I said. “Storm seemed to be holding his cover. He didn’t fight when Tarquin started rampaging, probably trying to show he was still loyal. Quin tried to maintain that too—that is, until Tarquin killed her father.”
“Tarquin killed Otis?” Lisbon looked genuinely shocked. It always felt good to be in the know for something.
“Slit his throat,” I said, remembering the horror etched upon Quin’s face as she’d tried to save her father—not to mention the visceral reaction Mom had had to Otis’s violent demise.
“Why would he do that?” Lisbon seemed to be at a loss for words, not understanding how the dynamics of the group she associated herself with had changed so drastically overnight. “What did you do?”
“What did I do? Why are you making it sound like it’s my fault?”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you over there. I’m probably compromised now, too. Storm could be dead. Guy is most likely dead. And I could be next.”
“For what?”
“For treason!”
“Well, you were hiding my mother from me—so the way I see it is you owed me anyway,” I said.
“This is pretty shitty.”
“You’re telling me. You weren’t there. We were all nearly killed.”
“Otis wouldn’t put his neck out for you. He was loyal to the cause. Why would Tarquin kill him?”
“I don’t know,” I said, exasperated that she thought I had more insider knowledge of their group’s dynamics. But the more I thought about it, the clearer it became. Otis didn’t risk his life for me… he’d done it for my mother. And her reaction to his death was not far off from Quin’s.
“Who was behind bringing my mother back?” I asked.
“I don’t know who initiated it, but Otis made a lot of the arrangements,” Lisbon said. “Your parents were important figures in the Kicryrian cause, or so I’ve been told. It’s not like I knew them or anything.”
At this point, I was willing to bet Otis had initiated it, too. He was the big connection to my parents, and I needed to know why.
“Hey there, Maeve,” the smug voice of Ivanic said. “Too good to sit with us now?”
I turned to find him, Nym, and Bree approaching from the cafeteria exit. “I was just on my way over,” I said, gesturing to my still full tray of food.
Lisbon was about to walk away when I brought my attention back to her. “I’ll be meeting with my mom and Quin later today. I’m sure they’ll want to see you.”
“No,” she said. “Leave me out of it. I think it’s better if I just fade away—remove myself from this mess.”
“Don’t you think Quin will call you?”
“And when she does, I’ll tell her the same thing. I need to look out for myself now. And I suggest you do the same. The lines seem to be blurring.” Lisbon turned and left just as my friends arrived.
“What’s her hurry?” Ivanic asked.
I remembered the guys drooling over her last time. “Trust me,” I said. “You don’t want to get involved with her.”
“You haven’t eaten anything,” Nym said.
I glanced down at my now refrigerated lunch. “Yeah; I guess I got distracted. Is it time for class already?” I’d completely lost track of time.
“In about five minutes,” Bree said.
“Plenty of time,” I said and took a bite of my grilled chicken sandwich. Yeah; it was definitely cold now. And barbecue sauce dripped onto my fingers. Nice.
I walked to the nearest trash can as Ivanic and Bree left for class. I grabbed the rest of my sandwich and some napkins, then asked Nym to hold my bag of chips and root beer. I scarfed down my food on the way to Combative Casting, so I only had the root beer left when we entered the classroom.
Once we were all seated, Professor Windsor informed us we’d become too comfortable with our initial partners. Comfortable was not good for combat, and it was time to shake things up.
I was paired with a pudgy guy named Christopher, the guy who’d hit me in the ass with an energy ball on the day of the outdoor exercise. Before then, I hadn’t really noticed him. But since that afternoon, I’d made it a point to remember him. I wanted to smack him in the ass but was afraid he’d probably like it.
Nym was on the far side of the classroom, partnered with a short brunette with a pixie cut. I thought her name was Yana, but she was someone else I hadn’t paid much attention to.
“Your only objective is knocking your opponent out of the circle,” Professor Windsor instructed as she strolled through the open area, then stopped by me. “That is, without any physical contact. Magical means only.” She looked directly at me when she said it, as if I was the only reason the clarification needed to be made, which was probably true.
“Hi, I’m Christopher,” he said from his seated position on the opposite side of the circle.
“I know who you are,” I said. “We’ve been in the same class for months.”
“It’s just—we’ve never really spoken.”
“We have,” I said. “On the day in the snow when you and—I forgot her name—attacked me and said something about me not being able to dance forever, then you shot me in the ass with an energy ball. Any of that ring a bell?”
Christopher’s cheeks flushed bright red. Okay; maybe I was a little harsh again. In my defense, I was still delirious from lack of sleep.
“Kate,” Christopher said. “She was my old partner. Sorry. I was just trying to win. I didn’t mean to hit you in the… butt. You got me out though, so that should count for something.”
Now I was starting to feel bad for the guy. “As long as it wasn’t intentional. Otherwise, my boyfriend would be very happy to rearrange your face.”
Christopher’s skin turned from red to white like he was a freakin’ candy cane. The confidence he seemed to possess at our encounter in the snow was gone. I was never one to have a boyfriend fight my battles, but I thought the line would strike more fear into him than me saying I wanted to kick his ass.
Professor Windsor didn’t say anything about psychological means.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if Christopher simply gave up and waited for me to push him out of the circle. Even though I still didn’t have a crystal, the extra efforts I’d been putting in to hone my powers had been working. Sure enough—and to my disappointment, without him even resisting—I was able to push Christopher out of the circle in two seconds flat.
Dammit! I’m too good at intimidating freshmen!
“Come on,” I whined. “What happened to that intense desire to win?”
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