"Don’t be harsh to him,” I say. "He wants to protect me too."
"I know." Tobias walks towards the door. "So many protectors, Maeve. Perhaps one day, we'll learn why. Hopefully before the Dominion do."
Chapter Twenty-Four
MAEVE
I return to my room, still wearing my sports clothes and ready to collapse into bed. Our dorm room door opens onto a scene I didn't expect. Jamie sits on my bed with his head in his hands, and Amelia crouches at his feet with a small, brown, glass pot in her hand. Her face is still pale, eyes surrounded by dark circles.
One simple academy team challenge turned into a disaster.
And again, this is my fault.
"Is everything alright?" I quietly close the door behind me. "Jamie?"
"He threw up." Amelia wrinkles her nose. "I've told him, he needs checking out."
"I'm fine," he mumbles."
"Jamie! You could have a concussion." I sit and pull a hand from his face. His clammy skin is slicked by a sheen of sweat and he's pale.
"I told Amelia to fetch something stronger. I can't go to the infirmary, can I? They’ll ask questions."
I rub a tired eye. "Is there anything stronger, Amelia?"
"I could mix some lavender with dragon’s balm—the salve stops the pain, but the tincture should heal the wound and stop any swelling."
"Great! Where's that?" I glance around the room.
Amelia stands. "Nicole has some. She's our ‘go to’ for stronger potions and such. She’s the only one with the skill to make them."
"Which is why it costs a lot, Amelia," groans Jamie, and he blows hair from his face.
"And you're one of my best friends. I don't care."
"I'll pay you back," he calls after Amelia, who's out of the door before he can protest any further.
Jamie slides from the bed to the floor, swearing. His hair is thick with the salve Amelia smeared on the back of his head.
"Can I persuade you to get checked out properly?" I ask and slide next to him.
"I'll be fine."
"Arseholes," I mutter and stroke Jamie's hair from his face for a closer look at his eyes. Again, my rudimentary first aid skills help—his pupils are normal-sized. He isn't seriously injured.
"I shouldn't be proud of you, but I am." Jamie touches my cheek. "You and your mad mind control skills."
I smile back at his teasing. "Using them is a bad move for me, though."
"Ash and Andrei sorted the situation. It's cool." He pauses. "Or not? What did Tobias say."
I chew a nail. So much, Jamie. "Not much. I think he’ll tell Theodora, but nobody else."
Jamie reaches out for a cloth filled with ice discarded on the floor and holds it on the back his head. "This didn't need to happen."
"I know," I whisper. "I was stupid."
"No. This." He points at the wound on his head. "I had a way to protect myself, which Tobias took away."
I slump back against the wall by the side of the bed. "Don't talk about the pendant again."
"But the pendant worked and I felt safer. More in control. The most confident I’ve ever been."
And that's the problem. But I don’t voice this. Amelia told me how Matt became obsessed with Blackwood magic, and how good this made him feel. Jamie claimed he stopped at the pendant—and I believe him—but was the short time he wore the necklace enough for magic to take hold of his soul?
"I understand."
"Do you?" He blinks at me. "I stand by everything I originally said. For all I know, I've a death mark on me. Someone may be planning to kill me, Maeve."
"Jamie." I gently turn his face to mine and the fear hidden in his eyes delves into my heart. "Magic isn't the answer."
He snorts. "You have magic that protects you."
His hand trembles where he holds the ice and he shifts the pack to a different part of his head. "Tobias told me he'd destroyed the pendant, so there's nothing I can do without the book."
"Good. I don't think Amelia would cope if she lost you to Ravenhold too."
"That would never happen."
"And Amelia told me that's what Matt thought." I stroke his face. "I would blame myself if we lost you."
"What? Why?"
"If I’d never told you about the event I saw, you'd never touch Blackwood magic. You’re making bad decisions because of me." Like Ash's brother made decisions based on a future-sighted witch's vision. "I need to stop what happens, not you." I choke up as I say the words.
"Maeve..." He touches my face too, and I'm startled when he runs his thumb below my eye to catch a tear I'm trying hard not to shed. "Life in the paranormal world is complicated, that's why we need to do what we can to help. It's better that I know."
"Is it?"
"There's a reason, I’m sure." He sets down the ice pack and his cool fingers tip my chin. "A reason you saw me. That you felt a connection before we met."
I swipe my eyes with a hand. I sense what he means, deeply. "I think so."
Jamie rests his forehead on mine and his clammy skin sticks against mine. "I struggle, Maeve. I thought we'd be more when I felt the spark between us, but you were always out of reach. Now, Ash..."
"Ash is struggling, Jamie."
"He's a bloody idiot."
I slide a hand around to the back of Jamie's head and he takes a sharp intake of breath. "Crap. Sorry." I drop my hand.
He moves his face away and takes my hand, moving his fingertips lightly across my palm. "I'll let you keep me safe, if you let me keep you safe too."
The light touch leaves tiny buzzes on my skin and I close my palm around his fingers. If we sit here with thoughts and hands joined, are we risking a vision? Neither of us has the strength right now.
What exists in this moment is a desire to care for each other, to stay connected. This started as a friendship forged by a frightening vision, but he now holds a place for me in his heart—and he has a place in mine too.
The room door slams open. "She drives a hard bargain," mutters Amelia. "Twice as much as I paid last time."
She pauses and stares at where our hands are joined. What's worse is I spring away from Jamie as if caught doing something I shouldn't. "Anyway, come on Jamie, let's get this on your head." She deftly unscrews the lid and scoops gloopy white cream from the jar. "Before you pass out and Maeve has to give you the kiss of life."
"Ha ha," he mumbles as she smears the cream on him, biting her lip in amusement. "Ouch! Be gentle."
I watch the two friends, smiling at their antics again, relieved I have such good people around me. Is Tobias right? Is somebody coming between us? Because keeping strong will be difficult when secrets are hidden and we walk the precipice between truth and lies.
Chapter Twenty-Five
MAEVE
The last couple of mornings I’ve met Ash outside the Gilgamesh building, but he texted me this morning to say he’d meet me at breakfast instead.
Confused and a little hurt, I wait for him in the main hall, promising Amelia that I’d meet her in class.
He steps in with Vincent, and when I walk over, my happiness at seeing him plummets. Ash doesn’t smile but glances at his brother, who looks between us before arching a brow at Ash.
Ash barely spoke to me at last night’s games. Has Vincent won?
"Maeve, isn’t it?" asks Vincent.
He knows damn well who I am. "Yes."
"Bad luck on the performance in last night’s challenge. I’m sure your team will improve with practice."
"I’m sure."
"What happened to Jamie? His face looked a little worse for wear." Vincent chuckles and my hackles rise. "Ash told me he walked into a tree in the dark."
I expected Ash to tell Vincent a story that lowers Vincent’s suspicion, but seriously? He could’ve chosen something less obviously a lie.
"We were banned from using witchlight magic, and Jamie couldn’t see where he was walking in the dark," I say with a sweet smile.
"Poor kid." Vincent
doesn’t return my smile.
Ash mirrors Vincent’s stance with arms crossed and chin tipped, a miniature version of his brother. A strange tension hangs between the three of us. Ash denied his brother disliked me, and I thought his attitude was to witches in general, but I can feel his displeasure at my closeness to Ash.
Hell, I saw how he feels.
"Are you coming to class?" I ask.
"Soon. Vincent needs my help with something."
"Oh."
Vincent blows air into his cheeks. "We’re in a hurry, Ashley. Now."
Ash darts a look between us and mouths ‘sorry’. I step forward to give him a hug before he leaves, but he turns to follow Vincent.
Amelia and Jamie are already in class when I arrive, and I glance over to where Andrei sits with his Petrescu group. His eyes linger on mine longer than usual and he gives a small smile to acknowledge me. I hesitantly smile back.
Class starts and I keep one eye on the door as we pull out our potions books. Mine and Amelia’s are stained in places from spilled potions and notes in the margin. Jamie’s brow creases as he runs through the list.
"Where’s Ash?" asks Amelia
"With Vincent."
Jamie makes a humph noise and stands. "I’ll grab some ingredients. Light the burner, Amelia."
Amelia watches Jamie as he wanders across the classroom then pulls out a match to light the flame. "Do you have the glasses for the potion?"
I bend down and pull three cylindrical glass containers from the cupboard, along with the spoons and scales.
"He doesn’t trust Vincent," says Amelia. "They’re going to come to blows if this continues."
"Do you trust him?" I ask.
She shrugs. "I’ve hardly spoken to him."
"Do you think Vincent knows about last night?" I whisper.
"Andrei dealt with the situation, as you know." Amelia chews her lip. "He’s a different guy around you."
I glance back at Andrei. His dark fringe sweeps into his eyes as he looks intently at a book Katherine shows her group. His long fingers spin his phone around on the table and heat fills my body as I look at his hands.
Since we sat together, I’ve daydreamed about more. The strange promise we’ve made to see each other again, as two people who hide in the dark. Each time he helps us, Andrei moves closer to the centre of our group, and each time he holds himself back.
What will it take for Andrei to relent and trust us?
Ash slides into the seat and apologises to Professor Turlington for his tardiness. I place my hand on his leg. "Is everything okay?"
He moves my hand. "Vince needs extra support."
"Oh?"
Ash purses his lips and pulls out his potions book. Jamie rejoins us and sets bottles of dried herbs and red and blue liquids in containers on the workbench, then shuffles onto his stool.
"Hey, Ash."
"Hey."
There’s a stiff formality between them and I hope to hell this isn’t a shift in his attitude to Jamie too.
Ash moves so his face is close to my ear. "I need to talk to you later."
The words could mean anything, but my mind leaps to the worst conclusion. This isn’t good. "Everything alright?"
"Mostly."
"Thanks for helping last night," I say and look pointedly at Jamie.
Ash shrugs. "One thing I hate is a cheater. Plus, I don’t want any of us in trouble. We need to stick together."
I relax a little at his encouraging words: ‘stick together’.
"Andrei put his neck on the line for us again," I say and indicate him with my head.
"For you." Jamie sprinkles herbs into the bowl and begins counting heads of dried flowers.
"For us," I insist. "We need to avoid situations like that again."
"Why are you mixing that?" Amelia picks up Jamie’s small ceramic bowl and sniffs the contents. "This isn’t wyrmroot and nightshade."
He gestures around him. "This is a lesson where we create potions to aid us. Therefore, I’m making something to help in the games. I’ve found new recipes."
He taps the leather-bound book on the desk beside him and Ash flicks open to the first page.
Snatching the book from him, Amelia flicks over more pages. "These potions heighten normal human powers to a magical level, Jamie. Only witches can use these and that’s an unfair advantage. You can’t cheat."
Jamie closes the book. "Everybody has advantages. Vampires, speed and night sight, shifters, stamina and strength. Witches can use magic to match that."
I chew my lip as I listen to the conversation. Jamie’s right—we’ve already proved Walcott will come behind in purely physical challenges and we need some help.
"Is this a superhero potion?" I ask in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Ash snorts. "Don’t worry. Advanced potion making. Jamie would need to practice all term to perfect one."
"How do you know?" retorts Jamie. "Or are you worried Walcott will win?"
There’s a friendly rivalry between the pair, but Jamie’s attitude edges towards hostility, not helped by Ash’s mood today.
"Sure. Like that happened… never."
"I guess with some more cheating from teams, you might," Jamie continues.
Ash leans across the desk. "And using potions isn’t cheating?"
"Well, according to you, I can’t successfully make one," he snaps back.
I absentmindedly stir the liquid in the jug on my desk, watching the blue swirl into the yellow. I understand academies and schools have competitions, but with such division already in the school, is this wise?
"The games are only a small part of the school," says Amelia, and she places a hand on each guy’s arm, where she sits between them. "Let’s work together when we’re not competing in any challenges."
Ash pulls a face and continues to measure out the red tincture from the small bottle while Jamie continues mashing herbs together.
Clive sits with Remi and a couple of other shifters, every student in their regular place. His and Remi’s cheeks are still discoloured, and Remi’s eye has swollen to twice the size.
I curse myself again, something I’ve done over and over since yesterday. Amelia tells me not to worry, that everything is fixed, but that doesn’t stop the possibility it could happen again.
I told Theodora about my slip up this morning and waited for her to give me a dressing down, but she responded with quiet awe that I can control people at will. But she and Sofia are right—when I’m emotional is when my powers are closer to the surface.
Controlling my emotions matters as much as my controlling my powers. And that will take a lot of practice.
Chapter Twenty-Six
MAEVE
Andrei joins us at dinner and Katherine glares at him across the room. But there's little she can do. We're interlinked. The games last night proved again how working together is the way forward.
Clive sits with Katherine, but as usual she studies Ash and me too, a silent warning in her displeased eyes. She knows there's something between us, but would be overjoyed to know Vincent has similar plans to split us.
Ash tells me I'm paranoid, but since the night in his room and the party, he touches me less. In normal circumstances, I'd put that down to not going far enough with him, but this is different.
Andrei sits with his back to her, quietly listening to our conversations.
"Where is Amelia?" I ask.
"Matt." Jamie sips his coffee.
"Matt's here?" That can't be possible.
"No. He has phone privileges this weekend. Ten minutes. She won't be long."
The table drops into silence at the mention of Matt's name. We never speak about him in front of Amelia, just as Vincent is a taboo topic.
"Amelia is dreaming if she thinks she'll see him again," remarks Andrei.
"I disagree," says Jamie. "Some Ravenhold kids are freed. Only the really nasty ones stay. He'll be fine."
Tobias. I don't understand why he was the
re, or why he was freed, but I intend to find out.
"You know Dorian Blackwood is still out there somewhere?" asks Andrei. "He's one person who should be locked up for life."
"Who's he?" I ask. "I thought the Blackwoods were in hiding."
"Most of them are dead," says Ash. "And he’s not a witch. He’s worse."
Jamie drops into silence and unease seeps in when his hand goes to his chest. He'd know all about the Blackwoods.
"He's a hybrid. People like him would destroy Matt if he were still there." Andrei spins the plate around in front of him. "I know what Matt's like. He wouldn't take shit from people, and he isn't as strong as the hybrids."
"But Matt is okay. Amelia says he's—"
Andrei jerks his chin up and I look to where Amelia stands behind.
Her face clouds. "Are you talking about me?"
"Yeah." I kick Andrei under the table. "What? Isn't the gang motto 'tell no lies'?"
Amelia scowls and sits. Her face is red and eyes puffy from tears, so I reach out and give her a hug. "Don't," she mumbles. "I don't want to cry again. I only came here because Andrei says he has something urgent to tell us."
Andrei enjoys his moment, hands behind his head. For somebody still hovering at the very edge of the group, he can be too cocky sometimes.
"Spill, Andrei," says Ash.
Andrei shakes his head. "Let's enjoy our meal first."
"Andrei..." I warn.
He leans forward, his face too close to mine for my body's comfort. "I can't say anything because a certain someone is close by."
"Oh." I fight looking over at Katherine.
"But I have a suggestion for some bonding time."
"Go on," says Ash, voice heavy with suspicion.
He smirks. "How long has it been since you guys went into the city? I reckon we should plan a night out."
"We’re not allowed off campus, remember?" asks Amelia.
He pulls a disappointed face. "Oh, come on. Students head out all the time and nobody says anything."
"That's not a good idea." Amelia looks around warily. "Who'll be there?"
"Us." Andrei scratches his head. "Don't you want a night away from campus? A little bonding time now we’re all in this shit together."
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