Chapter Eight

Morning classes passed in a blur of more defensive lessons, good-luck-with-being-a-necromancer lectures, and cramps in my hand from taking so many notes.

And then it was time for Psycho-Physical Education with Ramsey. This should go well. We hadn’t officially cancelled our training session today, but because of what had happened this morning, that was pretty much a given.

His threat in the library flared sharply in some of the upperclassmen we passed in the hallway between classes, their glares hard, but no one tried anything. Yet. A good thing since my magic reserves were near empty after this morning. If I used up all of it, I ran the risk of mage’s oblivion, which was a deep coma.

My heart ricocheted against my ribs as we neared the gym. "Anything?" I asked Seph.

"Not yet." She didn’t look pale or close to fainting. Of course, she hadn’t fainted near Ramsey in the library this morning, but I wanted to make sure.

We stopped along the opposite wall several paces back from the gym’s entrance.

"I'll poke my head in and see if he's there,” I said. “If he is, fake like you’re sick."

Seph stared at me with wide eyes. "And you too? I don't know the story between you, but after this morning, I really don't think you should be anywhere around him." She leaned in and lowered her voice. "What is the story anyway? Were you trying to take off his head?"

I pushed my lips together tightly. It had been stupid to attack him like that, right out in the open in front of Seph. Of course, I'd needed to protect her, but still. I hadn’t meant for my petrification spell to be quite so powerful and nearly blow a hole through his head. I needed to get control over my rage when he was around, or otherwise this could turn out much messier than it needed to be. I'd been reckless when I'd needed to be smart.

"I'll see if he's in there." I strode across the rapidly emptying hallway as sweat rolled down my back. I could picture him in there with his smug smile as he chose Seph and me to stand before the entire class and punish us.

But he wasn't in there. Some woman I'd never seen before stood behind the desk, her hair a patchwork of different shades of purple spiraling in perfect curls past her shoulders. No older than her forties, she wore a long fitted black dress with a high collar. Still not the missing Professor Wadluck unless he'd undergone a gender-changing spell. Unlikely, which meant he was still missing.

I gestured for Seph to follow me. "We’re clear."

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and marched forward. Then slammed to a stop. Instantly, the ebony color of her skin drained at least three shades paler.

"Nope." Her mouth parted, and she clenched her middle and doubled over like she'd been struck. "Nope, nope, nope."

"Okay. Just breathe." I rushed to her side and pushed her firmly away from the gym toward the direction of our dorm.

"It’s the gym, isn’t it?" she asked, her voice—all of her—trembling. She wiped at the sweat running down her face with the corner of her cloak.

I gazed over my shoulder. "I guess so." 

But why? No one else seemed to be affected but her. No one else had been sleepwalking last night, at least that I'd seen. When Leo was here for his interview, had he reacted this same way if he’d gone anywhere near the gym? It was about to drive me mad that I only had more questions instead of answers.

"I'll go in and tell her that I'm taking you to our room." I leaned her against the hallway wall. "Promise not to pass out?"

"Uh, sure?" She squeezed her eyes shut, her breaths too rough.

I popped into the gym again as the professor—or whoever she was—circled around the desk to address the class. "Excuse me, Professor," I whispered.

She turned, her pretty hazel eyes dancing in the torchlight. "Yes?"

"My roommate isn’t feeling well. Can I take her to the infirmary, please?"

Not where we were going, but she didn’t need to know that.

She gave me a sympathetic smile. "Of course. I'll catch you up as soon as you come back, Dawn."

"Thank you." I spun around and then realized halfway to the door that she knew my name without my ever giving it.

"Hello, class,” she said, her voice drifting behind me. “I'm the librarian, Mrs. Tentorville, and I'm filling in today for Professor Wadluck."

Ah, so that's why I hadn't been able to find her in the library. She didn't appear to know what had happened in there earlier this morning. Yet anyway. Hopefully she didn't have a spell to make the ravens speak about attempted murders, strange cloth dolls, and outright threats.

Outside the classroom, I found Seph still conscious and led her to our room.

"So, tell me," she said as we pushed into the entryway.

"Tell you what?"

"What happened between you and Ramsey."

"It's…long and complicated."

"Have you seen how slow I'm walking?” She smiled, though it was faint and wobbly. “I've got time for long and complicated."

"Not now. Not out in the open like this…" My gaze flitted up the steps to our room, and unease slithered through my chest.

Seph tensed next to me.

An older guy—a senior, I thought—sat casually on the banister. Just sitting, waiting, and staring expectantly at us.

I pulled Seph to a stop, angling myself in front of her the best I could.

"Ladies," he said, flicking his blond bangs to the side of his face.

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe he was sitting on the girls' steps during classes for a perfectly good reason, but Ramsey's threat rattled inside my skull. Was this guy a member of the Diabolicals? Was he a murderer like Ramsey? If we slipped by him up the stairs, would he shove us down them? Or worse?

We could head to the infirmary instead, but that felt like running away. I lifted my chin and stared him dead in the eyes, pulling Seph along behind me.

"Something we can help you with?" Seph straightened and pulled away from me, settling her boot on the bottom step.

"I've always liked the stillness at this time of day, the quiet." He pinned us with a dark, menacing look. "The lack of nosy freshmen girls with sticks up their asses and something to prove."

I started up the steps with Seph, keeping close to her side, but she was positioned so she'd brush right past him. "We don't need to prove anything."

"Is that right?” he said, his voice dripping with hostility. “Even when there's no one around to hear you scream?"

I nodded, wiping my sweaty palms on my cloak. "Even then."

My knife was tucked inside my boot. Its weight gave me a hint of comfort as we glided closer and hardened my resolve to steel. I’d slash his throat if I had to, if he so much as blinked wrong.

"Especially then," Seph added.

From the corner of my eye, I saw her dip her hand into her cloak pocket. For her cloth doll, I guessed, but she’d need his hair. I had my knife and the fury burning way down deep that Ramsey still drew breath while Leo didn’t.

We neared the guy, were just about to him, and he only stared, a sneer curling his mouth. My muscles coiled, ready to spring at the slightest movement. Awareness skidded along every tight nerve as we passed him, and he quickly turned to follow, his presence lifting every hair on the back of my neck.

"We don't need an escort," I told him. "You may go now."

He gave a low chuckle as we pushed through the door that led to our dorm. "We're not going anywhere."

My heart dropped like a stone. “We” was right. Ten feet in front of us stood several large, cloaked figures, their hoods drawn up over their heads. They blocked us from going any farther, and now we were surrounded. By Diabolicals? It sure seemed that way. 

With Seph’s doll as our only source of defense, no hair, and my dagger, we didn't stand a chance against all of them.

Time for another approach.

"Gentlemen," I said, taking an educated guess. None of them appeared to be women, anyway. "If you'll just step aside, you can stop this embarrassing display of vagina envy and go about your business in a more manly fashion."

The Diabolical in front swirled his hand, and a bright red, pulsing orb enveloped his fingers. Smoky black sparks shot out of it that smelled like sulfur and rot and seemed to ooze with a slimy feeling that coated my tongue. The power radiating from it kicked the breath from my lungs, but I refused to let it show.

Heat flared behind us, no doubt from the blond Diabolical from the stairs who’d followed us.

I called on my magic, searched for every last spark, but there was hardly anything left.

I didn’t want to use more and risk mage’s oblivion and go into a coma at a time like this.

Sonofawitch.