by LJ Swallow
The attacker releases my hair and I reach to the side and steady myself on the bottom edge of the arch. The pathway rumbles below my feet and for a moment I'm worried the ground will collapse. My legs buckle as somebody slams into the back of my knees, until I fall forwards onto the shaking ground.
Somebody jumps onto my back and pushes my face into the pavers that move below me. The wind circles around my head and my face stings as the wind whips my hair against the skin.
"You don't belong here," a voice whispers in my ear.
Yvette.
"Let me go," I say, voice muffled by the stone.
"Someone told me that you're screwing the vamp, you disgusting cow. Is that why you want him free?" Her breath is hot against the side of my face, hand still holding my face into the ground. "How long before people realise you're working with him and the Dominion?"
"I'm not. Let me go, Yvette, before you get into trouble."
The wind intensifies until I can barely hear what's happening around me. How is this happening inside the cloisters?
Elemental magic. Pain splits across my forehead as she pulls back my head and smacks it into the ground.
"Yvette. Don't. She's not worth it," says Becci through the wind.
"You let him into the house last night. It's your fault Lorna died." She drags my head back again and I look into her furious eyes.
My heart pounds in fear at what will happen next as the girl with Yvette urges her to stop. If she can control the elements, Yvette can easily organise an accident. My mind flashes back to when I controlled Remi in the woods, and I take a ragged breath, suppressing the magic she's triggering. No. Not this time. That would be a disaster. I tear my eyes away before I'm tempted. But my magic has hold, growing stronger with each moment she hurts me.
The need to defend myself nudges the magic closer to the surface; the temptation to take control and make Yvette hurt herself instead rises. No. I won't sink to her level.
I can control her for a moment—just long enough for her to step away from me. I reach out, ready to shove my way into her head.
Stop. The word in my mind comes from elsewhere and startles me into stopping.
"What is happening here?" Tobias's voice interrupts Yvette and slaps away the magic in my mind.
The wind and shaking ground stop as Yvette jumps up and offers me her hand. Rejecting it, I unsteadily stand.
Yvette wraps her arms around herself and backs off. "Maeve fell."
I'm too dizzy to meet her eyes again; I'm shaking with shock and now anger trembles through me at her lies. I choke out an indignant sound.
"And hit her head," adds Becci. "We were helping her up."
Tobias steps forward, face darkening. "Do you think I'm stupid, Ms Grant? Fighting is a serious offence."
"I'm not—" Her eyes grow wider and she falters. I glance at Tobias, whose gaze is trained on her. Don't lie to the academy's mental magic teacher, Yvette. Yvette purses her lips. "Okay. Punish me, then."
Wow. I continue to take ragged breaths as I watch through watering eyes.
"Are you alright, Ms Foster?" he asks sternly.
"I'm fine. Misunderstanding"
His eyes narrow. "You're bleeding."
I touch my forehead and the blood on my fingers turns my stomach over.
"It's a good thing your blood-crazy boyfriend is locked up," retorts Yvette. "He might kill another witch."
Her behaviour stings as much as the cut to my head. I know people in Walcott don't like me, but this reaction is intense.
"Can we just leave this, Tobias?" I ask. "Please."
He looks alarmed at me using his first name and Yvette cocks her head. "Tobias? Is he involved in your plot against the academy?"
"Don't be ridiculous," I mumble. "Everybody calls him Tobias."
Her eyes become slits. "Something wrong is happening here."
"Yes—you, attacking a fellow student. I suggest you walk away before I take this further." Tobias pulls himself straight. "I will report you and you can face severe consequences."
Yvette's face crumples and she sucks in a huge breath before letting out a wail that echoes around us as the wind did before.
"Lorna's dead," she calls out, voice thick. "My best friend. I loved her so much."
Tears instantly streak her face and I stare at her in alarm. The speechless Becci envelops her friend in a hug, but Yvette pushes her away.
Ordinarily, I'd suspect this was somebody turning on hysterics to avoid trouble, but her genuine upset flows across the space between us. I'm sick with dizziness and shock, but part of me feels for this girl.
Tobias's expression remains unmoved.
"I don't want to cause trouble," I say.
He regards me in silence for a moment before turning back to the girls. "Yvette. I suggest you leave before Maeve changes her mind."
Yvette nods and wipes at her nose with a blazer sleeve, while I stand with whiplash from her attack and change in attitude.
Without another word, the two girls walk away, and if it weren't for the pain in my body, I'd question whether anything happened.
"Thanks," I say and slump against the wall.
"I wanted to find you before you returned to Walcott. I'm glad I looked." For a moment I think he's about to hug me, until he holds his hands behind his back. "What happened?"
I describe the attack and as he listens, his brow furrows. "This is unacceptable."
"I can look after myself."
"You were about to take control of her and I stopped you. That course of action isn't taking control, that's losing it."
I take a shuddery breath. "Don't lecture me, Tobias. Not now."
Glancing around at the grass beside the cloisters and the few pupils walking between the two buildings, Tobias lowers his voice. "We can't leave yet. I didn't consider my position. I'm house head of Petrescu and my movements are scrutinised by the investigators. I've been repeatedly questioned about Andrei and there's suspicion I'm involved."
"They won't arrest you too, will they?" I ask, heart leaping in my chest.
"No. But I can't run." Tobias scratches his nose. "Although, now we have another reason for you to leave the academy."
"Because someone hit me? I'm fine. I can deal with that. Things will settle down."
He blinks at me. "No, Maeve. That was a knee-jerk reaction from a traumatised girl lashing out. These students are witches. You are at a magic school. Yvette attacked you with magic she can easily use—next time things could be different."
I shake my head in confusion.
"Katherine may've made a mistake when she tried to influence you at the competition, but these girls are powerful witches and are planning something more. I caught a glimpse."
"A glimpse of what?"
He shakes his head. "Strong emotions that will lead to stronger reactions, Maeve."
"I'll deal with it." I say the words but a sense of dread at his words fills me. A worse magic attack.
Tobias places a hand on my shoulder, a gesture of comfort, and I step back in a reflex action as his magical energy tingles along my arm. "I came to find you because I need to talk to you about something else. Could you come to my office and we can speak further?"
"How? Nobody is allowed away from their houses."
"In my capacity as a professor, I'm taking a distressed girl away from a difficult situation until I can find your house head."
"You won't find Sofia in your office, Professor Whitlock."
His lips curve into a half-smile. "Indeed."
Chapter Thirteen
MAEVE
I sit with Tobias in his office, with my sore head in hands, the pair of us silent. I hear him stand and cross his small room but don't look up. I'm lost what our next move is, as I think he is too.
I've one question bursting from me. "How's Andrei? Have you seen him?"
"He's incarcerated in his room in Petrescu under guard. I was allowed a few minutes with him last night but no more." He ca
tches my thoughts. "He's uninjured, Maeve. Andrei is still here; we have a chance to intervene."
Heart sick, I picture his room from last night, the place with touches of Andrei everywhere; his sanctuary now a prison. How scared is he? In the past, Andrei seemed resigned to his future, but facing reality may be different. Was I wrong to give him hope things could be different?
No. I hope he takes strength from me and believes we'll save him—that he's worth saving. "How's he coping?"
"Oh, he's Andrei about this. Nonchalant. Accepting. But he's scared and he's aware I know how scared."
"This isn't fair. Who would do this to him? Who would kill?" I ask.
"I've started my own investigations into whether this was an attack by another Petrescu student, but so far I've detected nothing. The Confederacy investigators refuse to waste resources on bringing in a skilled mindreader at this point."
"I know," I mutter. "The men interviewing me said. It's as if nobody wants to consider someone else is responsible."
Tobias's shoulders drop. "I know. This is the excuse they need to take Andrei out of the picture. The Confederacy often finds excuses to place certain teens into Ravenhold. They're jittery and want to remove anybody who could be a threat."
I balk. "Kids who've done nothing wrong? That's horrific."
Tobias nods. "I saw this happen to Matt—if he hadn't been as powerful a witch, the academy would've dealt with his stupidity. Instead, the authorities took him and ticked another potential Dominion recruit off the list. Political power is a ruthless game, Maeve."
With each new piece of information I hear about those who oversee this society, the more the situation scares me. Are we banging our heads against a wall by trying to help Andrei? "Then what do we do? When are you going to help?"
Tobias' straightens and frowns at me. "I hope you're not angry with me, Maeve. I'm in a difficult situation."
I wince at my unthinking outburst. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. There's no point in anger; that won't help Andrei. I'm worried that you don't have a plan."
"I do, but the plan involves your powers and your willingness. I need you to allow me to connect more closely." Tobias sits in a nearby armchair. "We haven't discussed what I told you about my past, and I'm concerned this has changed our relationship. I need to know if you trust me."
I swallow. "If I allow you to, will we have more chance of helping Andrei?"
"I think so."
"Then I'll need to trust you."
He massages his temples. "Even if that involves allowing our minds to connect deeply, in order to teach you how to fully access and control your powers?"
My heart stutters and I turn my face to the window. Do I trust Tobias enough to allow a connection that could weaken me? If I save Andrei, then yes.
I look back to Tobias. In all the stress, I forget how striking he is. His sculpted face and dark eyes held my attention from the first time I met him, even though this isn't the only reason for the attraction.
An attraction that confuses the hell out of me.
He's the gentle Tobias, his pneuma energy in check, but there's the familiar energy between us. His arms are folded tightly across his chest as if guarded against me, but I know he's guarding me from him.
Usually, I take heart at his stoic confidence whenever our minds unconsciously join. Not this time. He's worried.
"Tobias, you're the only person who's truly helped develop my magic. I owe it to my friends to try. In the future, my magic could help us all—Andrei. Jamie. Ash. Amelia, too. Each of them could need my help in the future. And I need them in my future."
"Then please have patience. I promise I'm spending every spare moment figuring out how to fix the situation, but I'm being blocked. Yes, I have Confederacy links, but that doesn't lift me above suspicion."
"I don't understand why they'd suspect you. You're not hemia and this is a confirmed hemia attack."
Tobias blinks rapidly and I tense as his mind spins away from mine. "My situation is complicated."
"No more secrets, Tobias. You promised."
He watches me, eyes keen as he rubs his lips with forefingers, the way he does when he's battling within himself. As I wait, I glance around the room. The place is sparse, few personal touches to hint at the personality of the room's occupant. Books he uses in class are piled on the desk; the shelves empty. Only a small round table with three glasses and a bottle of whisky are close to an individual touch.
Once, there were four glasses, and the fourth shattered on the floor the last time we allowed each other close.
Who is the real Tobias Whitlock? He's powerful, that's always been clear to me, sparking attraction from more people than he should as a professor. Like most vampires, the flawless features and beauty draws people in. Tobias holds me in a grip I couldn't break if I tried.
But beneath all this, the times he's accidentally unguarded himself, I've sensed more.
Loneliness.
Tobias sits in the armchair opposite me, mirroring the time the glass broke. "I'm hybrid, Maeve."
Chapter Fourteen
MAEVE
"A hybrid?" I ask in shock. "Half vampire and half something else? Are you a witch too?"
He splutters. "Absolutely not. There's only one vampire-witch hybrid in this world, and when they sent him to Ravenhold, they threw away the key. I wouldn't be walking around the world if I were one too."
"Then what?" I grasp at my limited knowledge. "Shifter?"
"No. I'm pure vampire, predominantly pneuma, but I have hemia and lamia... elements."
The puzzle pieces snap together in mind as Tobias lays out the reasons he's as overpowering as he is. A vampire who can seduce, control minds, and drink blood. A triple hit.
A triple danger.
"Maeve?" He leans forward to study my face.
"Does this make you more dangerous than a normal vampire?" Tobias rubs his lips together. He doesn't need to answer that.
"Do you know how many people in my life know this?"
"Theodora must?"
"No. Only you."
My stomach lurches. "Me? Someone else must know."
"Only the people who locked me up and let me go."
"They let you out to walk in the world knowing how dangerous you are? After you'd..."
"Killed?" His eyes sadden. "I'm more valuable out here, but they took a risk. If I were an ordinary vampire, I'd be dead for my crimes. Instead, everything was covered up."
"This is insane," I mumble. "How?"
He leans back again. "Again, because this benefits the powerful. They've sealed parts of my mind to stop me going rogue, and I'm not dangerous. I'm aware I've a second chance and have no desire to screw up. I'm now of the age I'd face an adult prison and that's a deterrent alone."
"By watching Andrei?"
"For now. I think they have other plans for me." He pauses and catches my softening look. "I don't want sympathy. I'm only telling you because if you discover I've held this back, you'd never trust me again."
The biggest shock isn't his admission, but the spin it puts on our relationship. Whether deliberately or not, Tobias draws out an intense physical desire for him that flows to him with my energy. Tobias feeds on that desire too. Lamia.
Does he want my blood too?
"No, Maeve. I don't." I blink at him. "You know I catch your thoughts, like Andrei can. I hope now you understand why I'm physically distant."
I swallow and nod. "How many more secrets, Tobias?"
"From me? None. From others? I think we're only getting started."
The silence drops again and I stare at the side of his head, willing him to offer me a reassurance. Instead his handsome profile remains still. No show of emotion. As I struggle to decipher what his new confessions means, he pushes on. "I have identified one option available to us, Maeve."
"To help Andrei?" He nods. "We take him and leave?"
Tobias gives a wry smile. "If only. No. Rupert awaits papers to allow him to remo
ve Andrei from the academy. If we get hold of the papers before he has a chance to sign them, he'll need to wait for more, which gives us more time."
"Does he have the papers yet?"
"I'm unsure. But if he aims to move Andrei as soon as he can, then he'll receive them and sign today, ready for Andrei to travel tonight."
"That won't happen," I whisper to myself as much as to him.
"And if he needs to wait for another set of papers, we have more time to investigate who really killed Lorna." I bite my lip. Is another day enough? "How did your interview with the Confederacy go?" he asks.
"Them?" I look up and blow hair from my face. "They behaved like I was interrupting their day, not like investigators."
Tobias taps his lips. "Then this is a pretence. Andrei's fate is sealed."
"Why wouldn't you let me tell the investigators that I had an alibi?"
"What you did is against society rules, Maeve. I agree you should tell somebody, but not low-ranking Confederacy drones."
I widen my eyes. "But Katherine and Clive? Everybody knows about them. She flaunts their relationship."
"The authorities worry less about witches and shifters. Witches and vampires are a bigger issue—the hybrid I mentioned, Dorian Blackwood, is a powerful creature, and the authorities are scared another will be created if a blood born hemia and a witch join forces." He rubs a hand down his face. "Andrei isn't immortal yet. His body functions like a witch or shifter." He pauses as I look in confusion. "His hemia side is in his genes waiting to trigger his immortality, but his living, biological side exists too. "
Biological? I choke as I catch his meaning. "Are you asking me if I might be pregnant?" He blinks. "No!"
"Is that guaranteed?" asks Tobias quietly.
Omigod, is he questioning my safe sex practices? I'm unsure whether to be embarrassed or annoyed. I straighten and look Tobias dead in the eyes. "I had sex ed classes at school. I know what to do to stop getting pregnant. What matters now is that without me, Andrei has no alibi."
"Precisely. But this is precarious and another reason the authorities may not believe you. What you did isn't illegal, but it's borderline."
