by Leigh Kelsey
Kati didn’t bother to tell them she hadn’t touched anyone, let alone killed them; she didn’t owe them shit. And Naia kept patting Kati’s shoulder in an effort to comfort, Rahmi firing scorching glares at anyone who stared too long or dared to whisper about Kati. Their support made it bearable. Just.
By the end of the assembly, after a lengthy lecture on self-defense as well as the long history of the gentry and their effectiveness at rooting out evil—as evidenced by the stone statue that had once been an evil dictator in the middle of York—Kati had a lump the size of a golf ball in her throat, and she was furious enough to hex someone.
“Breathe,” Rahmi said under her breath, rubbing Kati’s back. “Don’t give them what they want.”
Kati grit her teeth and nodded. Rahmi was right, but it didn’t make the bullshit any more acceptable: the stares, the glares, the whispers, the words said at full volume to her face, and two rows in front Alexandra Chen and her cronies making no secret of their thoughts. Kati wished she was capable of murder; she’d start with them.
“A curfew will be imposed,” Madam Hawkness finished, her sharp eyes cutting into anyone brave enough to meet them. “Anyone outside their dorm beyond six a.m. will be brought directly to me. Understood?”
Kati nodded and mumbled her assent along with the rest of the students.
“Good. Rest assured, I’ll have this killer gone from my academy within the week. I cannot abide non-consent magic, and I will not tolerate violence within these walls.”
Pretty hypocritical for a school that reared killers and soul stealers, but Kati didn’t voice that. She kept her head down and followed the flow of people out of the hall and across the school to the girl’s dorms, Naia’s elbow hooked around hers and Rahmi casually and effectively shutting up anyone who dared speak to her with an impressive catalogue of insults.
Kati was almost proud of some of the vulgar titles Rahmi came up with, and she managed a pathetically weak smile when Gull Llewellyn elbowed a second year who’d called her a ‘pretty little thing, for a psycho.’ Kati nodded her thanks, and Gull nodded back, and suddenly there was another person who didn’t think she was a crazed mass murderer. They were few and far between, but they were there: the people who believed in her.
But then again, there were crazy people writing love letters to serial killers who’d been in jail twenty years for dismembering teenage girls so … maybe she should ignore the warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest.
“Miss Wilson,” a subdued voice halted them as they neared the dorms, the green door with its brass 13 just coming into sight. Kati turned, momentarily stunned to realise the lowered, serious tone had come from Miz Jardin. Gone was her bubbly enthusiasm; instead she looked at Kati with a heavy, disappointed expression. “Madam Hawkness wants to speak with you.”
Kati swallowed the lump in her throat and ignored the flush on her face that preceded tears. “Of course she does.”
Miz Jardin made a fluttering gesture for Kati to follow and she did so with a wave to Rahmi and Naia. It was probably the last time she’d ever see them, unless Madam Hawkness allowed Kati to pack her bags before she left.
The clocktower clanged above them, an ache flaring in Kati’s head and bulldozing through all the walls of strength, sarcasm, and distance she’d thought were built solidly around her. In a rush, she asked, “Why was I even accepted if you were just going to kick me out again? What was the point?”
Miz Jardin slid a sideways look at Kati, leading her through the lobby—thankfully now empty of students, so no one saw her being led to the executioner’s block. “Madam Hawkness doesn’t believe in guilty by association; she wanted to give you a chance.”
“And now someone’s wrecked that chance for me,” Kati muttered bitterly. “Will I be let back in when people keep getting murdered after I’m expelled? Because this isn’t me—I didn’t do this.”
Miz Jardin sighed, a large expulsion of air as she came to a stop outside a tiny office tucked away beside the assembly hall that Kati hadn’t noticed before. Light was sparse here, only a little round window letting in light, a fierce-looking catgoyle perched above it, scars on its stone-fur face. The gloom seemed to be an omen, the catgoyle a warning to all who dared enter.
“We all want to believe you’re innocent, Katriona,” Miz Jardin said softly.
Kati nodded, her mouth twisted. Her stomach knotted until she was sure she was going to be sick. “But…”
“But it’s too big a coincidence.”
“Yep.” Kati nodded again, her voice brittle. Everything inside her was brittle too; when she broke, would she burst into tears or explode with anger? Even she didn’t know.
Miz Jardin’s expression had become slightly more forgiving but only slightly. She rapped on the heavy wooden door right beneath the metal plate that read MADAM ROSALEA HAWKNESS, HEADTEACHER and when a velvety deep voice bade them enter, she gave Kati a sad look and pushed open the door.
With a gulp, Kati entered, her hands twisted together in front of her and her shoulders tenser than they’d ever been. The door shutting sent a jolt of fear through her. She’d be lucky to get through this without puking or crying.
“I didn’t do it,” she said before Madam Hawkness could speak. “I know how it looks, and I know you’re going to kick me out, but I didn’t do this. I’m not a killer.”
Madam Hawkness gave Kati a measuring look, her mouth pursed. She sat behind a heavy desk, sturdy ebony and surprisingly plain. It was everything on the desk that drew the eye; measuring instruments and magical daggers and a register currently writing itself, words appearing by magic to fill its pages. Behind her, filing cabinets rattled and rumbled, organising themselves Kati assumed. The sheer power to be able to perform all that magic, and without even holding her wand … Kati swallowed again, her hands starting to shake.
She’d only thought so far as being expelled. But Theo had gone on the run so they couldn’t throw him in a magically bound jail cell. She was an idiot, a souls-damned idiot. She should have run, but instead she’d walked into the office of the woman who’d defeated Lady LaVoire like a sacrificial lamb offering herself for slaughter.
How would it feel to be bound? To have all the magic stripped from her blood, the air dead and lifeless all around her, her lungs choking on ordinary, mundane air?
Kati was going to hyperventilate.
“Sit,” Madam Hawkness said firmly, gesturing with a ring-clad hand. Her strawberry-blonde hair was twisted into a neat coil on the back of her head, exposing every harsh line of her face, her horn-rimmed glasses and blue cloak bright spots of colour in the otherwise grey and dark purple room. There was no sign of the Angel-Wand that had defeated Lady LaVoire but Kati assumed it would make an appearance, if only to threaten her with.
Kati sat obediently, squeezing her fingers so tight they went bone white. Why hadn’t she run? If she fled now, before they hauled her off to Crestfall Prison, would she be able to find Theo? Could she hide where he’d hidden these past nine months?
“Before you faint from stress,” said Madam Hawkness, fixing Kati with a hard look, “you’re not going to be expelled.”
Kati froze. For a second she just stared at the woman, the words repeating inside her head without meaning. “You’re—you’re not kicking me out?”
“I’m not,” Madam Hawkness confirmed, steepling her hands on the desk in front of her.
“But—”
“But why did I ask to speak with you?” The headteacher kept watching Kati but the very edge of hardness had left her expression. “There’s a murderer loose in my academy,” she said, “and all signs point to it being related to the murder committed by your brother.”
Kati opened her mouth to defend him but Madam Hawkness spoke over her.
“The obvious culprit is you, the only blood relative of Theo Wilson at the school, but you are not the only suspect.”
Kati slammed her mouth shut. “I’m not?”
“No,” Madam Hawkness confir
med, sitting back in her chair with a sigh. “But you’re the suspect our academy has fixated upon, which brings me to why I asked to speak to you. I want you to meet with Mrs Grant for twenty minutes after your classes each night.”
She held up a hand when Kati started to speak. Again. It was starting to get annoying, not being able to get a word in edgeways. “I know you’ll have assignments to complete, and it eats into your spare time between your second class and dinner, but it can’t be helped. You’re being framed, Miss Wilson, and whoever’s doing so wants you out of the academy. Which means SBA is exactly where you’re meant to be.”
Kati wasn’t sure she had words. The runes scrawled in blood on the floor around Williams, the caretaker in the clocktower, were the same as those found around Colen Greensmith in the woods. She’d barely thought about it. But someone wanted the school to think it was Kati. Of course she was being framed. “Why do I need to take extra classes?” she asked after a long silence.
“Mrs Grant will teach you defensive spells in the unlikely case that whoever is framing you decides to take a more bodily approach to removing you from the academy.”
Kati’s eyes flew wide. “Is that likely?” And how was the elderly teacher going to show her how to defend herself against an attack? Mrs Grant looked like she’d snap if a strong wind came along.
“I don’t know.” Madam Hawkness sighed, her fierce warrior expression fading ever so slightly to reveal someone more human, more like the amused woman she’d been in their first assembly. It must be hell for her, Kati realised. She’d fought the Black Brooms, had taken down their cruel leader, and she’d left all that behind to become a headteacher. Yet last year a kid had died, killed by black magic, and this year it was happening again.
“I had a dream,” Kati said, and wasn’t sure why she blurted it out. “Yesterday. It … it led me to that room. Up on the third floor.” She averted her eyes. “It showed me Theo’s name written on a desk. And now tonight, there’s a dead body there.” It was stupid, the stupidest thing she’d ever done, putting ideas in the headmistress’s head, but she had to ask. “Is there a chance … my dream, it couldn’t have killed someone. Right?”
“No,” Madam Hawkness answered softly. She sighed, watching Kati as she dared quick glances up at the imposing woman. “But I appreciate you telling me—there’s definitely a connection there.”
Kati flinched.
“No, you misunderstand me. Had you been to the study hall before your dream?”
“No,” Kati mumbled.
Madam Hawkness nodded, steepling her fingers under her chin again. “There’s a fair chance you’re an augur, Katriona. There’s no way you could have committed the murder in your dreams, but you could certainly have foreseen it.”
“But … I didn’t know someone was gonna die. It was just a sense of urgency and a desk with Theo’s name on it.”
“Hmm.”
Temper sparked in Kati and she grabbed onto it, relieved to feel familiar fire wash out the shivery weakness of fear. “What?”
“Your dream could mean there’s a connection between your brother and the murder. I’ll look into it—it’s an avenue I’d planned to explore anyway, as I did with Williams’ death. For now, meet with Mrs Grant after your lessons, learn defensive spells—I’ll have Mr Worth drop off a defensive theory book for you to read to prepare. And if you have any more dreams, come straight to me.”
Kati swallowed but nodded. She nearly opened her mouth to say I thought it was just a dream but that was a lie. She’d known it was something else, hadn’t she? She’d just thought it was a message from Theo. But augury, seeing the future … she hadn’t seen that coming.
Kati took a shuddery breath. “So you’re not kicking me out?”
“I’m not. I’ve also assigned someone to watch over you, just in case whoever is framing you becomes a more immediate threat.”
“Great,” Kati muttered. “That’s just what I need, a guard following me around. Everyone already thinks I’m a psycho killer, they’ll think the guard’s to stop me killing anyone else.”
Madam Hawkness’s mouth quirked to one side, amusement sparkling in her eyes. “I assure you, they’re subtle. He’s the best spell caster and most accomplished gentry to graduate since I did. If you haven’t noticed him so far, you won’t notice him going forward.”
Kati inhaled a stuttering breath. “You brought in a gentry to watch over me?” Her stomach flipped but she didn’t let her nerves show. “Oh yeah, that’s bound to convince everyone I’m innocent.”
Madam Hawkness’s smirk grew. “That’ll be all, Miss Wilson.”
“Right.” Kati got to her feet, her head spinning with everything she’d learned but especially because she was allowed to stay at SBA. “Um,” she said on the threshold, ignoring the weakness in her knees, “Thanks. For not kicking me out. And for not assuming I’m evil.”
Madam Hawkness nodded, already reaching for a stack of papers in clear dismissal.
Kati exhaled slowly and left, repeating the words to herself over and over until they sank in.
I get to stay, I get to stay.
THE INEVITABLE OUTCOME
Kati couldn’t face the dining room after her summons to Madam Hawkness’s office, so Rahmi and Naia smuggled a mini feast of burgers, chips, nachos, and cheesecake back to their dorm for tea, and though her friends chattered and did their best to cheer and reassure her, Kati sank into a low mood. She stayed in it even after the food was demolished and Rahmi flicked her wand, bringing a superhero show onto the TV. She was just as low when she crawled into bed, the sun rising and pushing its obnoxious rays through the green-trimmed gold curtains ringed around her four-poster bed.
She hadn’t seen the second body, but her imagination provided her with an image, cobbled together from the sight of Williams and from artistic reconstructions she’d seen in the paper and blasted all over her old Facebook page—she’d closed her account two days after the first story ran. She couldn’t close her eyes without seeing the gruesome sight.
Twenty-one students had been pulled from the academy overnight, parents not fucking about when it came to murders in their kids’ school. The attendance had already been at a record low this year after whatever Theo and his friend had done to Colen Greensmith last December, but now the reputation of Second Breath Academy was taking a serious hit. They’d be lucky to have a dozen students by the end of term, the way they were jumping ship.
So far, the news of the murders had been contained to the school, but how long before the news got hold of it? How long before connections were made once again to Kati? It would be better to leave now, before the hate and chaos descended on her again—like it had ever really stopped—but where else would she go? Home, where reporters still camped out across the road? At least here, the press wouldn’t be able to find the academy grounds because they didn’t possess moonstone keys like the students and staff did.
A weight jumped up onto the bed, and Kati shot upright, her wand snapping out in a simple hex pattern—she hadn’t let go of her wand for one minute since Madam Hawkness put the idea of an attack in her head. She halted the movement mid-spell when she realised it was Dolly, silently shuffling closer until she was curled up against Kati’s hip.
It won’t be as bad as you think it will, Dolly said in Kati’s head.
Even though she’d barely known her familiar a day, she knew it was rare for her to strip all the sarcasm and bullshit from her tone and offer something genuine.
“Thanks,” Kati whispered.
It’s nine a.m., Dolly replied, huffing through her nose as she settled her head on her front paws, a warm weight against Kati’s side. Go to sleep, Kati.
Kati didn’t bother replying. If she closed her eyes, she’d see runes scrawled in blood and lifeless eyes staring up at her in judgement of sins she’d never committed. If she slept, she might dream again.
She kept her eyes open for a long time despite Dolly sleeping soundly pressed up agai
nst her, her gentle snores the only sound in Kati’s room, but eventually her body’s needs took over and she fell asleep. She didn’t dream for a single second, but it was a scant relief when she woke up to the relentless vibrating of her phone.
She didn’t need to look to know it was her mum, who only ever texted, who never called.
She knew.
THE LIBRARY ALWAYS KNOWS … HOW TO CREEP YOU OUT
Kati didn’t bother with breakfast in the dining hall; she stole an apple from a fruit bowl she assumed Naia was responsible for and snuck out early after a few hours of sleep, the conversation with her mum beating against the back of her skull like a migraine.
Of course, her mum wanted to pull her out of SBA as soon as possible. Right this minute were her exact words. Kati huffed a frustrated breath, savaging the apple with her teeth, not that her gums thanked her for it when the apple skin ripped into them. Why the souls didn’t her mum get it? The gates, the enchantments, the valley … those things all protected Kati. She needed to stay at Second Breath Academy.
Even if it was full of assholes who thought she was going around killing people, they stuck to quick taunts and whispers behind her back, not persistent, relentless questioning. It ground Kati down, not being able to step out of her front door without dealing with the accusations.
Hadn’t she known Theo was involved in black magic?
How could she not have known?
Good fucking question.
That was what haunted Kati, what made their aggressive questions so much worse. How did she miss that Theo was dabbling in dark shit? She still wasn’t convinced they were right, but he’d done something. The day before she and her family had found out what happened that December, Kati would have laughed in the face of anyone who told her Theo would be part of a non-consent magic and ritual murder scandal. Theo? Total nerd, video game playing, obsessive comic reader—that Theo, a black magician?
