I felt underdressed in my striped leggings under a pink flowered dress. I looked for my social life raft but found Josie absent. My heart was heavy at the idea she probably wasn’t here because of me.
Khaba squeezed my elbow, drawing my attention out of my misery. I congratulated him and made small talk. “The principal’s office looks halfway decent now that you can see the desk.”
His eyes swept over the stained-glass windows and on to the paintings of cowboys wrangling small dragons. “I spent some of my raise to hire a professional who specializes in decluttering hoarders’ huts to assist me with this mess. We found a few interesting historical artifacts.” He placed a hand on my back, guiding me over to the bookcase.
I wanted to sink into his touch, but I knew better. I tried to anesthetize my skin so that touch didn’t influence me so acutely. Even so, the warmth of his hand and his Fae magic made me feel languid.
“So far, the accountant I hired to clean up our books has found over a hundred instances of embezzlement over the last twenty-five years. Things like the roof being fixed for leaks in cash, but the leaks have never been repaired.”
I could tell he was deep in thought. Not once did he make a joke.
The glass case of forbidden books was unlocked, a door ajar. He faced the books, staring in as though he could scry something in the depths of volumes that I couldn’t see.
“I can’t believe he tricked me.” Khaba spoke so softly I had to lean in to hear him. “My every memory of him is now tainted with doubt. I thought he was trying to do good.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Me too.” I tried not to think about how he’d wanted to rape me and drain me of my magic. I didn’t know if his true agenda had been to use me to fuel his own power or to carry on his bloodline.
Khaba’s lips turned down. “Do you think he ever cared about saving the school from ruin, or was it only about money?”
“Sometimes people change with power.” Galswintha had said her apprentice had wanted to use Reds to fight Fae. My biological mother had wanted to help Witchkin. Power had corrupted her as well.
Khaba selected a leather-bound book titled Forbidden Affinities. I swallowed.
Khaba winked at me, though there was a nervous edge under his smile. “I thought this ancient relic might be of interest to you.”
I shook my head. The book fell open to a place where a note on yellowing paper had been folded. He placed the book in my hands and walked away, greeting Jackie Frost, who had just walked in.
Dreading what I might find, I opened the note.
The elegant script reminded me of calligraphy more than modern penmanship. Something about the writing was unequivocally feminine. The rust red of the ink reminded me of dried blood. I held the note away from myself, fearing it had been written by the Raven Queen.
Jebediah,
In exchange for your assistance, I have persuaded the school board to hire you as headmaster. As you can see, I am a Fae of her word.
Now I seek your assistance in another matter. Help me find where Alouette Loraline has hidden herself in the Morty Realm. I cannot go there myself, nor can I send my most devoted servants, as there are too many electronics and synthetic materials that weaken our powers. It will take a Witchkin to seek her out. Perhaps one of her most devoted followers will know where she is.
I will use my connections to see to it that Felix Thatch is freed from custody. Use him to lead you to her. Conceal yourself, and follow him. Send word to me the moment you find her. I will see to it that she is disposed of properly from there, and she never returns to your quaint little school to threaten your position.
It will be a victory for both of us if you succeed. With her death, you will remain in power, and my nemesis will be dead. I will send her head on a silver platter to the Raven Queen, and you and I shall both laugh at Morgaine Le Fay’s failure.
With this task complete, I will consider all future debts between us paid.
With the warmest of wishes,
The Princess of Lies and Truth
What had Jeb done in exchange for his rise to power? And who had helped him? Obviously the author hadn’t been the Raven Queen as I’d first feared. I suspected Morgaine le Fay was the Raven Queen because of the mythological association with ravens, but I’d never heard of the Princess of Lies and Truth. This Fae princess was somehow in opposition to the Raven Queen’s alliance with my biological mother.
Had Thatch unwittingly led Jeb to Alouette Loraline and caused her death when he’d found her? Horror crept over me as I reread the note.
Who had Jeb allied himself with?
Vega’s shrill cackle from across the room brought me back to the stuffy warmth of the party. My gaze darted around, wondering who might have seen me reading the note. Vega was turned away, pointing at Pro Ro and Periwinkle, saying something that was lost under the murmur of Grandmother Bluehorse and Ali Keahi between us.
I didn’t want Thatch to ever find that note and blame himself. I folded the paper in half and folded it again. Having no pockets, I stuffed it under the collar of my shirt and into my bra and hugged the book to my chest. This book might help me understand what I was.
I spotted Pinky ducking under the doorway. He stood there, looking as lost as I’d felt the first moment I had walked into the party. He’d taken extra care to comb his fur and wore a bow tie.
“Where’s Josie? Is she coming?” I asked, hoping but not really expecting her to come.
His shoulders were hunched. “Not this time. I promised I’d bring her something to eat, though. You could help me select a plate of her favorites. I bet you know what she likes better than I would.”
I appreciated the way Pinky tried to make me feel included, even though I obviously wasn’t going to see her.
“So how are you feeling? Fully recovered from the effects of the venom?” Pinky asked.
“Um, yeah.” I followed his gaze across the room. Thatch had arrived. He sat at Mrs. Keahi’s desk outside the principal’s office, reading a book he’d probably selected from Jeb’s case of forbidden books.
He hadn’t dressed any different from usual. Then again, there wasn’t much room for improvement. He already dressed impeccably. His hair was styled to perfection, and he was utterly and heartbreakingly beautiful.
“It’s lucky Mr. Thatch is our resident expert in poisons.” Pinky chuckled, his voice even more nasal than usual as he shouted, “Mr. Thatch, get your nose out of that book.”
Thatch closed the book and sighed.
“Get in here, and stop being so antisocial.” Pinky nudged me as though I were in on some joke about Thatch.
“Yes, Mother,” Thatch said. He trudged over so slowly and listlessly one would have thought Pinky was an executioner.
I wanted to talk to him, but not if he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to want to talk to me. I shifted the book under my arm, hiding the title out of sight.
Pinky circled an arm around my shoulder. “I was just telling Clarissa how lucky she is to have gotten away without being injured from the venom. She’s pretty fortunate to have you as a friend looking out for her.”
Thatch looked everywhere in the room except at me. That was probably a bigger tell of his anxiety than if he’d just smiled and looked at me like a normal person would have.
“I feel pretty bad about what happened,” Pinky said. “I was so focused on making sure Josie was all right, I didn’t think to check to see if anyone else was in the room.”
Thatch grimaced, but his tone remained expressionless. “Indeed. Your negligence could have cost Miss Lawrence her life.”
“Fortunately, Clarissa said she was only scratched, so her life wasn’t really in danger, right?” Pinky patted me on the head as though I were his pet.
“Right,” I said, wishing he would stop talking.
Pinky’s smile remained fixed in place, but his eyes narrowed. “Of course, scratches that have been exposed to ven
om can be just as painful as actual bites if left unattended. The longer one waits, the harder it is to use antivenom potions and spells to undo the effects. And if one ingests the venom, well . . . goodbye sanity, and hello sexy delirium!”
I shifted from foot to foot with nervous energy. Parties were not my thing. Small talk and social etiquette at an event like this were torture without Josie to soften the interactions with others. Pinky was friendly, but there was an edge to his words that I didn’t know how to navigate.
Thatch stared off toward the bookcase, as if contemplating whether he would read another book. “As you say, it is fortunate I attended to her quickly before the venom took its full effect.”
Pinky leaned in. “You can cut the crap. There’s only one cure for jorogumo venom, and we both know it.”
Heat flushed to my cheeks. He was seriously onto us.
“How about I make that plate of cheese and veggies for Josie?” I asked. “Now would be a great time for that.”
I started off toward the table of food, but Pinky snagged my arm and turned me back to Thatch. I dropped the book. Thatch stooped to pick it up, eyeing the title on the spine, but saying nothing. He held it out to me. I took it and tucked it back under my arm.
“Don’t let me intrude,” Pinky said. “I’ll just leave you two kids alone. I suspect you have lots to discuss.”
I wasn’t sure what to think about Pinky’s revelation. He was certainly smarter than Vega had ever given him credit for. I hoped he wouldn’t tell Josie about his suspicions.
Thatch turned away.
“Wait,” I said.
He froze. His gaze flickered over the wooden boards of the ceiling.
“Is that it?” I asked. “I mean, after everything? You said you would talk to me.”
“Now really isn’t the time or place to discuss this.” He shifted to the left, intending to sidestep me.
I darted into his path. “When will you talk to me? You’ve been avoiding me.” I lowered my voice. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk, but you said you did, and then you didn’t show up.”
“I had business to attend to.”
“No, you were hiding.”
“I have battled Fae in the Morty Realm and demons in the Unseen. I conduct myself fearlessly and professionally, even in the most dangerous of circumstances.” His face flushed pink, and his voice rose. With effort, he managed to control the volume. “Do you truly think I would hide from the likes of you?”
I studied his expressionless face. He still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Yes.”
He grimaced. He didn’t argue. “Follow me.”
He marched into the former principal’s bedroom, closed the door behind me, and kept walking, past the canopy bed and through the spartan room to the curtains stretched from ceiling to wall. Wind wafted the curtain inward. Thatch grabbed me by the sleeve and tugged me toward the window.
For a moment, I dragged my feet, uncertain what he was doing. Did he want to throw me out the window for insulting him now? He nudged me through the curtains, and I found myself on a balcony. Moonlight painted across the white marble railing beyond a sculpture of a cupid in a cowboy hat. Next to the sculpture, a writhing lump caught my attention.
It took me a second to realize what I was seeing. On the balcony before me, Silas Lupi and his wife, Evita Lupi, sat on a bench making out. Thatch cleared his throat, and they broke apart.
“Just because the principal is dead, it doesn’t mean Mr. Khaba will refrain from enforcing school rules,” Thatch said.
The Lupis stood, looking sheepish.
Thatch pointed to the exit. “Leave and find a room less public if you insist on sucking on each other’s faces.”
The married couple slunk out like chastised teenagers. Thatch waved his wand in the air, a blue wall separating us from them and anyone else.
Finally we had privacy. “Why are you acting all weird?” I asked. “After what happened that night, I thought things might be different between us.”
“Oh, so you think we’re in some kind of relationship now?” His snotty tone cut me to the core.
“Well, there’s something.” Even Pinky had suspected there was something.
“You thought wrong.”
I winced.
“It isn’t anything personal. But you should know what I did was to save you from extreme pain and suffering. I knew the cure. I dispensed it. That was all.”
“Oh.” I swallowed. “I just thought, um. . . .” What had I expected? That him getting me off meant he liked me? “I thought maybe there was chemistry between us.” My face flushed with humiliation.
“Chemistry.” He scowled. “You have ‘chemistry’ with everyone you meet. It’s your nature. You take after her that way, always riling up others with fertility magic, falling into sex pits, and getting yourself into trouble. I will not allow you to make me into your love slave.”
I stepped back. “I didn’t say I wanted to make you my love slave. I was thinking more along the lines of a ‘love equal.’” I tried to smile. It felt like my face was cracking.
“Let’s be practical for a moment. There’s a reason we have a strict policy on fraternization between employees.”
I hugged the book to my chest. “I know. I’m learning how to control myself.”
“Indeed. But you aren’t there yet. Perhaps you would do better to practice your lucid-dreaming techniques, without my assistance since you find my methods unprofessional.”
“No, I didn’t say that. That was Elric and Josie. I told everyone at the staff meeting those rumors were unfounded.” It had been humiliating, but I had done it.
“How selfless of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have papers to correct.” He started past me.
“Was that the special requirement? The thing you require from a woman? She has to have control over her magic?” I’d been making progress, but it still felt like an impossible goal.
He halted, anguish crossing his face. “No. That would simply be . . . logical.”
“Is it my affinity? You need someone who will let you use pain magic on her? Or pain magic on you?” Tears filled my eyes. “I would try if that’s what you needed.”
“No.” His expression turned mournful. “The requirement I have is that a woman loves me as much as I love her.”
“I do love you.”
“No, you don’t. You only think you do.” He started toward the door.
“It’s because I left you in the dungeon at the Silver Court? That’s why you think I don’t love you?”
He halted, turning slowly. “No. It’s because you don’t trust me. You never believe my intentions are to keep you from harm. Time and time again, I bring you unhappiness because you erroneously believe my motivations are to further my agenda, not to protect you. I have no wish to cause you further unhappiness.”
He was being so unfair. I didn’t know whether he truly believed that or it was his way of pushing me away … again.
“I don’t trust anyone anymore. How can I? My affinity affects people even when I don’t try. My best friend just tried to eat me. Every man I’ve ever been with has used me for my affinity or used my affinity against me. Even you.”
“No. I used your affinity to help you. If you didn’t distrust me so deeply, perhaps you would see that.” The gray of his eyes spoke of a thousand hurts, this one just another added to his soul. “You treat me as though I am a soulless, emotionless automaton.”
I shook my head. “I know you’re human. Witchkin. I know you have feelings.” He wasn’t like the Fae. He tried to be, but he couldn’t manage it.
There was an irony to this. Thatch had been raised by Fae and tried to behave as emotionless as one of them so they wouldn’t see his weaknesses and humanity. Elric had been raised by humans and tried to behave as a human, though he often missed the mark. Neither of them quite fit into the worlds where they dwelled.
“Do you?” He lifted his chin
, his haughty expression that of the Merlin-class Celestor exterior when he pretended to be what he wasn’t. “Do you know I have feelings for you? You know I feel affection? Yet you choose to ignore my every attempt to show you how I feel and accuse me of callousness.”
I stared out at the starry sky. “I know I hurt you when I didn’t deny Elric’s allegations against you right away.”
“This isn’t about that. I’m talking about you dating him. You clearly don’t love him, but you’ve promised yourself to him. You claim you want me, but only when I touch you. You do realize if the only time you feel attracted to me is when I’m already touching you, that isn’t love or even lust. It’s your affinity.”
My throat tightened, making it difficult to breathe. “I don’t just want you when you touch me.”
He clenched his jaw.
“You could make me that potion,” I said. “The one you made me after I was free of my bargain with the Silver Court. I could drink it to prove to you that it isn’t magic that is making me love you.”
“Do you wish to drink that potion to prove that to me or to prove it to yourself? Will you have me make that potion every time you think you might want a man to touch you? I don’t need a potion to know when your magic is controlling you.” His voice was a monotone, his face a controlled mask. If it hadn’t been for his balled fists, I wouldn’t have known he was hurting. “I know you don’t love me because every occasion that I have attempted to show you my feelings, you have treated me with indifference.”
Me? Indifference? He was the one who had pretended not to feel.
I didn’t know what occasions he meant. In his dreams? I didn’t think he had been behind that, I suspected I had started them. I tried to guess what he meant.
“You brought me a box of colored pencils once. Is that what you mean by showing me your feelings for me?”
He snorted.
I didn’t know how to read his silence. “The times you brought me home to see my fairy godmother? When you took me to the art supply store? Were you showing me affection?”
Hex Crimes Page 31
