Chapter Twelve

Somewhere in the far corners of my mind, buried underneath the sound of my dying heartbeat, a door burst open from above.

"Vickie, stop," a voice shouted. A voice that was all wrong.

And then suddenly I was falling. Falling to my death. My feet hit a hard surface, and the impact rolled me to my knees with a splintering crack. Pain. So much pain, but I felt it. Which meant I was alive, for now. I sucked in deep breaths, each one searing my throat and lungs. 

"What the hell were you doing?" the voice demanded. All wrong, because it was male, and it had come from above in the girls’ wing.

"These two stuck-up little shits are running around at night like the rules don't apply to them,” Vickie seethed. “I was teaching them a lesson about respect and obeying their elders. I wasn't going to really kill her."

"Lies," I tried to say, but it came out as a croak. I sagged backward, and my head hit a stone wall. The bannister. I lay slumped on the staircase, breathing and then breathing some more, while trying to unscramble my thoughts from my tangled limbs.

"Leave her alone," the voice said, tinged with a growl.

All wrong, male…and so familiar.

He appeared then in my line of sight, and I almost wanted to laugh, though nothing about this was funny. It was Ramsey, looking at me closely with deep concern etched into the lines of his forehead. His face was ashen, more like a sickly green, and he appeared to have just run a race. Or he was badly shaken. Pretending to be, at least, putting on his golden-boy routine.

"Are you all right?" He reached out.

I shrank back, pulling every inch of my body and cloak away from his touch.

He dropped his hand slowly, as if unsure what to make of my reaction, and then turned toward the bottom of the steps. Toward…

"Oh gods, Seph." I tried to haul myself to my feet, but my legs weren't having it.

Ramsey was already racing toward her. "Seven hells, Vickie, they're freshmen."

Vickie gazed down at me with a horrid mix of cruelty and disdain. "And they'll never cross me again. Never demand anything of me. Ever."

"Did you burn her?" Ramsey knelt next to Seph's crumpled form and touched her shoulder.

“Of course not,” Vickie spat, rubbing the spot where I’d torn out some hair.

I gripped it tightly in my fist, out of sight, and sealed my mouth shut as I watched him closely. He muttered something over her, and I fought to get to my feet again to stop him.

"Don't," I hissed through gritted teeth.

Vickie snapped her fingers at me. Actually, snapped at me. "He's healing her, something I was about to do before he came." She glanced down at him. “Promise.”

Off-white light soaked into Seph from Ramsey's fingertips, quite a bit lighter than mine. I expected it to be blacker. He was a skilled necromancer—with plants anyway—and capable of murder, after all.

"Go to your dorm, Vickie," he said. "I'll clean up your mess."

Vickie stomped off while muttering something about seeing him later. He'd been on the sophomore girls’ floor in the middle of the night, so how many girlfriends did this guy have? And when did he find the time?

Seph sighed awake and fluttered open her eyes, and relief crashed through me. Her gaze focused on Ramsey hovering over her, and she sent him a death glare.

"You," she spat. "Get away from me."

She wasn’t fainting from his presence. So, it really was the gym, not him, that kicked the legs out from underneath her unless she was sleepwalking.

He straightened and raised his hands, an angry twist to his mouth. "You're welcome for healing you."

"Yeah, well…" She stood and cracked her neck, appearing to be back to normal. Even the skin on her face looked better, and her tattoos were less warped. “You're not getting a thank you from me, ever. You don't deserve the spit in my mouth on your shoes."

"That right?" He backed off, clearly unoffended, and then flicked his thunderstorm gaze up to me.

I held it, and something passed over his face as he began to climb toward me. Something I couldn't name because it wasn't his usual disinterested, haughty expression he reserved for me.

"Dawn…" Seph squeezed her fists tightly to her sides and marched up after him. "You all right?"

She wouldn't like the answer. I could feel the bruises forming on my throat, my voice sounded scratchy and raw, my knees felt like I'd cracked bone when I'd landed on them, and I was tired. So tired. Sure, I had several months' worth of rage to fight back, but right now, I was defeated and broken in front of Leo’s killer.

He knelt in front of me, Seph hovering close by, and he reached out to touch me.

I flinched back yet again because I couldn't stand the thought of him touching me. But he had to. I couldn't heal myself right now. The thought of suffering through the pain until my magic reserves were filled set my teeth on edge. I couldn't wait, so I squeezed my eyes shut so I wouldn't have to look at him. 

"Why bother?" I ground out.

Without answering, he touched my knee, and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Why did it feel like I was betraying my brother by having his murderer heal me? My heart twisted around itself as a cooling sensation swept through my body, calmed my throat, and mended my knees. I hated that I needed his help as much as I hated him for giving it.  But even as his magic faded and he pulled away, it didn't change anything.

I would still kill him.

When I opened my eyes again, his gaze tracked a tear sliding down my cheek. His face had gone even greener, and that expression had come back that had no name. It looked foreign on him, like he'd never worn it before tonight.

He rose then and turned away quickly, heading down the stairs. "Go to bed, you two. It’s after the dark hour."

Seph glared after him. "We won't tell anyone you were out if you don't tell anyone we were out." After a few seconds of silence, she called, "Hey, you hear me?"

He ignored her as he crossed the entryway, which sparked fury across Seph's face.

"When you kill him," she said in a low voice, "make sure you kill him a lot."

"That won't be a problem." I raised my hand, so she'd help me up. When I stood on my feet again, only slightly wobbly, I pressed Vickie's hair into Seph's palm. "Think that'll be enough?"

"Oh, you're good. This will work perfectly." She couldn’t quite manage a smile, though, not after everything that had happened tonight.

Not that I blamed her.

We started up the steps and then pushed through our dorm door. No sense in finding the headmistress if she wasn’t even here. The door still had a hole in it, but I bet if I set my trunk on its end and slid it over, it would cover it up as a temporary fix. The floor was back to being a normal floor, and Nebbles sat expectantly on the bed, waiting for us.

"Don't worry about sleepwalking," I told Seph.

"No?" She crossed toward her desk and set Vickie’s hair on top of it.

"No. I'll tie our ankles together if I have to and spell it with a knot only I can break." Something I should’ve done before had I known her sleepwalking wasn’t done.

She looked at me with bright, shining eyes and blew out a breath. "You’d do that for me?"

"Yes." No question, because whatever lay beyond that red door was bad news not just for Seph, but very likely for all of Amaria. Behind that red door might be where the onyx stone was kept.

She nodded and plopped down on her bed next to Nebbles, looking as exhausted as I felt. “Okay. Because I’m going to need sleep if we still plan on getting answers with a séance tomorrow.”

* * *

"Here's what I've learned about séances." Echo shut the door to our room behind her and Morrissey, and the dozens of black candles strewn around highlighted the fear on her face. I could tell already she wasn't a big fan of this idea. "How do I put this delicately? Every single one I've been to, the spirit called wasn't the spirit who came. The evil ones live near spirit doors on purpose, just waiting to torment innocent freshmen girls and drag them through the door to their deaths. You think I'm joking, but I'm not."

"How many séances have you been to?" I asked from my seat on the floor.

"One, and that was plenty." She shivered and adjusted the ornately embroidered sleeves on her cloak. "Swear to the gods, a spirit slid his hand up under my cloak and touched my thigh last time."

"Were your eyes closed?” Seph asked, sitting directly across from me.

Echo shrugged. "Of course."

"Were there guys there?"

"Yeah."

Seph raised her eyebrows and waited for the pieces to click together.

Morrissey grinned as realization suddenly dawned on Echo’s face. Today, which was Sunday, a string of teeth wound through Morrissey’s side braid. If she would talk to me, I would ask what was up with the teeth. I’d have to figure out another way to know what her deal was.

She and Echo settled in on either side of me on the floor. In the middle of the four of us, a “talking board” lay, similar to one we’d found in our Divination textbook, which we’d drawn on a cloth napkin. The book had said it didn’t matter what was used, so we went with that. The alphabet lined the edges, and in the middle, Seph had written Yes, No, and Goodbye. In the exact center, she’d drawn Hecate’s eye, now closed. When it opened, the spirit door would too. A glass tipped on its top sat in the center, which we’d all touch as soon as we began. When I’d tried this myself back home, I’d used Leo’s old talking board.

The truth was, the more and more I thought about doing this, the more I was convinced it was a terrible idea. It could all be for nothing if Leo didn't show up, and it could turn into a nightmare fast if someone else showed up in his place and didn't feel like playing nice.

Another knock sounded at the door. The hole in it had soundlessly been repaired sometime during the night by a maintenance person, I supposed. Seph and I had both been asleep. Thankfully. With the help of a rope literally tying us together.

I got up to open it, and there stood Jon with his blond hair so slicked back that it probably squeaked when he moved. He wore his cloak open, and underneath he wore a simple white tunic and brown pants. A nice spicy smell wafted off of him, not too strong, but enough to notice. Pretty sure as far he was concerned, this was a date with Seph, and the rest of us were just here to make sure it didn’t get awkward.

His gaze skipped right past me as if I were invisible, and his whole being lit up at the sight of Seph on the floor. "I'm here to help."

She scratched her chin with her thumb and glanced at me, her cheeks reddening. It had been my idea to invite him, and it had been her idea to disinvite him. We needed all the help we could get though. Not Nebbles. We’d moved her to Echo and Morrissey’s room so she wouldn’t flip out and distract us.

"Where do you want me?" Jon asked.

"Just stand guard inside the door for now," Seph instructed as I sat down opposite her again.

Echo began tucking her cloak around her. "To run for help when this all goes bad?"

"To relight the candles in case they go out,” Seph said, smoothing the napkin. “Once we get started, we can't break the circle. Even if someone's hand goes up your cloak."

Echo sighed. "I should've worn some chastity armor or something."

Jon raised his hand. "Quick question, how many candles do you need to be kept lit?"

Seph nodded, distracted as she continued fussing with the napkin. "Yes."

"Huh?"

"The candles need to be lit."

"All of them?"

"All of them.” She looked at him, then, clearly exasperated. “Can you handle it?"

"Yes." He grinned, and I swear he thought he was looking into the sun. He had it so bad for the princess that I suspected he annoyed her to get her to notice him. Genius plan since it appeared to be working.

Seph took a deep breath and then held out her hands for Morrissey and Echo to take. "Okay. Ready? Now's the time to back out if you're not."

Morrissey cast her dark gaze around at the three of us and then took Seph’s hand without a second thought.

“This is a great idea. It really is.” Echo finished tucking her cloak tightly around her, swallowed thickly, then took Seph’s hand and held hers out for me.

Was I ready? I bundled every bit of courage I had close to my heart where Leo would always be. I might get to talk to him again, tell him how much I missed him. For that, I was ready. Anything else wouldn't really change a thing.

I grasped Echo and Morrissey’s hands, completing the circle.

"Close your eyes and concentrate on the spirit door," Seph said, her voice low. “You too, Jon.”

We did, and I pictured Leo's face in my mind, the sound of his voice while he taught me his favorite healing spells, asked me silly questions like “What do fish think about?” and genuinely listened when I asked him, “Would you like to hear about my hopes and dreams?”

Seph was silent for a moment, then: "I call to Hecate on this day to open the spirit door and let us communicate with the dead. We're not looking for just any spirit to talk to. We need Leo Cleohold, the older brother of Dawn, who is sitting right in front of your eye. Hecate, will you grant us our wish?”

Silence except for the faint crackle of candlelight.

“Hecate, are you there?" Seph asked.

The air shifted, not so much as a breeze but a presence right in front of me. Hecate herself, opening her eye on the talking board. I didn’t dare peek and make sure, though. I’d never gotten this far on my own.

“Thank you, Hecate,” Seph breathed.

“Thank you, Hecate,” the rest of us repeated.

“Okay, open your eyes, everyone,” Seph said.

We did. The room itself didn’t look any different except for Hecate’s open eye staring up at me from the middle of the talking board, her iris and pupil all black. I shivered.

"We are calling for Leo Cleohold to come through the open spirit door,” Seph said. “Leo, are you there?”

Silence.

“Your sister would like to talk to you. Give us a sign that you're here."

Absolutely nothing.

All sorts of excuses and what-ifs marched through my head, but the one that took root was this: what if he was mad at me for coming to Necromancer Academy to avenge him? He'd always been excited about my white magic, had pushed me toward it, said I had a knack for it. But now…Now I was here throwing petrification spells in the library and shadow-walking through the halls. But he had to know this sharp turn was because of him, was for him. If not, I needed to tell him.

"Leo," I said, my voice too wobbly. I cleared my throat and tried to breathe through the pinch of heartache just saying his name brought on. "It's me, Dawn. If you're mad I'm here, I get it. But I really need to talk to you. Please."

A breeze swirled around me in a comforting embrace. It even smelled like him, like the meadow beyond our backyard and the wild lavender that grew there.

Seph and Echo gasped.

"Hi, Leo." My voice cracked, and a swell of emotions burst from behind a breaking dam. I couldn't wipe my eyes or my nose or I'd break the circle, so I dribbled into a puddle, unable to speak again.

A harder breeze pushed my hair into my face, and smoke wafted from some of the candles.

"Jon?" Seph asked softly.

"I'm getting them," he whispered. He snapped his fingers a few times.

"We need to make sure it’s really him, okay?" Seph said.

I nodded.

"Leo, if it really is you, we'll need you to prove it for our safety,” Seph said. “We have a talking, uh, napkin here in the middle of us. When Dawn can, she'll ask you a question that only you'll know the answer to. If you spell it out for us, we'll know if it's really you or not. Ready when you are, Dawn."

I took several gulps of air to steady myself. Why had I thought the emotional part of this would be easy? Of course, it wouldn't be, no matter how hardened my heart had become. 

"Remember…" I started. "Remember our favorite bench in the meadow behind our house? What did you write on my side with a rock?"

The glass moved almost immediately by itself, sliding over the napkin to the letters. Seph said the letters as it paused on them and then put them into words.

“Biscuit will not move from this…circle?” she said.

I laughed through a fresh onslaught of tears.

"Biscuit?" Echo asked.

"His nickname for me. I…have a thing for bread, and it’s kind of a family joke,” I admitted.

"I hadn’t noticed,” Seph whispered, a smile in her tone. “So, it really is him. Ask away, Dawn, but be quick. The spirit door is open, and anyone can get through."

Too many questions tipped my tongue at once, and not all of them had to do with his murder. Did he have enough to do? Did he miss stuffing our faces with honey-glazed sweet breads in the meadow as much as I did? Had he met any women? All of these were important, but the even more important ones jumbled up in my head and tumbled out in the wrong order.

"Was Ramsey sleepwalking when he killed you?" I blurted.

"Ramsey?" Echo asked.

Seph hushed her sharply.

The glass moved to NO.

I shared a weighted look with Seph. "Was he possessed?"

The glass moved around the napkin and then went back to NO.

"Were you killed because of the onyx stone?"

The candles flickered wildly as a gust of frigid air seemed to lift up from the floor. The glass moved in a slow circle, like Leo was considering how to answer. 

Finally, it moved: YES.

The wind grew stronger. Several candles went out around the room, and Jon set about lighting them again as fast as he could. The glass roamed over the letters frantically, never settling on one as I tried to formulate my next question.

"Was it Ramsey who killed you?"

Morrissey, Echo, and Jon’s gazes bored into me, shock written on their faces.

Then every candle behind Echo extinguished at once. She gasped, peering over her shoulder at the smoke reaching like long, ghostly fingers toward the ceiling. 

The glass flew over the letters and then finally stopped on YES. Then it flew toward NO.

I shook my head, trying to understand. “What? Leo, that doesn’t make any sense.”

The wind whipped into a frenzy. More and more candles went out faster than Jon could light them again.

The glass whipped back and forth between YES and then NO, over and over again.

"I don't understand," I yelled over the howling wind. It blew my hair into my face and eyes, and between that and the growing darkness in the room from the lack of lit candles, it was becoming harder to see. "Was it Ramsey who killed you or not?"

YES. NO. YES. NO.

Echo froze, every muscle clenched tight, a look of pure horror on her face as she stared straight ahead. I didn't see what she saw. I didn't see anything except for my window of opportunity closing.

"No, no, no. Stop this. Stop this." Echo's long blonde hair lifted straight over her head as if caught in someone's fist behind her. But there was no one there. She screamed.

Seph looked at me, her eyes wide. "That's enough, Dawn. We have to close the spirit door now. Someone followed Leo over."

"No, wait. I-I don’t understand what he means by yes and no."

Still, the glass spelled those words, faster than it had before.

Echo jerked hard backward into midair, nearly pulling her from mine and Seph's grasps. She screamed bloody murder, but whatever had her didn't let go.

I stared, slack-jawed, my lungs petrified into stone. Someone was trying to drag her through the spirit door.

"End this now,” Seph yelled over the rising wind. “Say goodbye to close the door."

"Please," Echo shouted, her desperation poking splinters into my heart.

But I couldn't end this. Not yet.

"What do you mean yes and no?” I shouted. “How can it be both?"

The glass zipped into a new pattern: GUARD STONE.

The howling wind slapped against my face like a physical blow. "I will, but did Ryze kill you?"

More candles extinguished, throwing layers of darkness over the room until I had to squint. The glass whipped back and forth between YES and NO over and over.

"Tell me more! Tell me anything more!" I shouted.

Echo's body jerked back yet again, nearly yanking all of us with her in order to hang on. She hung in midair, screaming for her life, all because I was too stubborn to know when to quit.

But I had to keep going. “Why you, Leo? Why were you killed?”

The glass moved toward GOODBYE.

That was it. He was telling me time's up, but I wasn't ready yet.

I opened my mouth to yell out another question when icy cold slipped across my cheek like a caress. But no one was touching me there. No one that I could see. My flesh scurried up and down my bones. My heart knocked around its cage.

The cold touch swept down to my chin and then tightened, tightened some more, so severely I thought for sure the pressure would snap my jaw. I cried out. Or I tried to. But icy fingers I couldn’t see slipped inside my mouth and clamped around my tongue.

To prevent me from saying goodbye back and closing the spirit door.

Instinct jerked me backward, but I sure didn't go far. I squirmed my tongue to free it, but the frigid pressure only squeezed it tighter. I screamed, the effort futile without the use of my tongue. Seph and Echo screamed, too, but I couldn’t turn my head, couldn't hear what they were screaming over the alarms blaring in my head. Panic dashed through my veins. I swept out my legs to the side and kicked even though there was nothing there. 

I had to say goodbye first since Hecate’s open eye stared at me. That was the way séances like this worked. If the door didn't close, more and more spirits could slip over and drag us through the door. Like Echo. Like all of us.

Echo jerked backward with a shriek, wrenching my hand from hers. I curled my fingers around her at the last second and held on for all I was worth.

Jon tossed a handful of black salt all over me. Some got in my mouth, even my eyes. But it worked. I was free.

"G-goodbye," I sputtered, even though it wasn't good. Saying it ripped me up all over again. "I love you, Leo."

"I banish the spirits who've crossed through the spirit door," Seph shouted. "Go back now!"

The howling wind instantly stopped. Echo dropped to the ground. Smoke from all the extinguished candles floated in lacy ribbons around us. We sat there trembling, gasping, none of us daring to say a word.

Then Echo surged to her feet, spittle flying from her lips like she'd gone feral and viciousness in her eyes as she took the two steps toward me. Her fist flew and cracked against my cheekbone. Pain roared through my skull, and my head knocked sideways. I hit the floor.

"I told you to stop," she shouted.

Tears brimmed, more from pain but also because I was a terrible human being. She stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of us in shocked silence.

I lay there with my cheek pressed to the floor while staring at the twirls of smoke still rising from the candles, completely and utterly devastated.  I was more confused now than ever, and I'd lost a potential friend because I was too selfish to stop without answers.

And I still didn't have them.