by Sarina Dorie
When I thought back to the drawings I had tried to do from memory a few days before, I had accidentally drawn him with a black eye. Could that have been a prophetic drawing? I wasn’t sure.
He woke once asking for water. He cringed as he sat up and touched a hand to his ribs. The fact that he was sitting up was a slight improvement. He gulped the water and drank the cold soup, leaving chunks of potatoes and carrots in the bowl.
“Do you want more?” I asked. “Something hot?”
He lay down and didn’t answer. He was already asleep. Even his good eye was dark. I didn’t want to leave him, but I knew he would eventually wake and want more food.
I didn’t know what time it was. The skylight overhead was dark, so it was probably dinnertime, maybe later. If I left now, I could bring food, go back to my classroom and grab lesson plans, and prep while I sat at his bedside.
I left him a note in case he woke and wrote that I would be right back. I took his empty bowl with me and the tray. Students ran down the main corridor outside the great hall that housed our cafeteria. I shouted at the students to stop running inside. I supposed the lockdown was having its toll on them.
A boy from my sixth-period sculpture class whose name I hadn’t yet learned, stopped in front of me, out of breath. “Is it true? I can’t believe it.”
“Is what true?”
A girl wailed as she came out of the cafeteria. She leaned heavily on one of her friends.
I rushed over to her. “Are you hurt? What’s wrong?”
She sobbed, her words almost incoherent. “He was my favorite teacher. Why would anyone do that to him?”
I looked to Becca Harmon, one of the students I’d had last semester. “What happened? What is she talking about?”
“There’s a rumor… .” Becca swallowed. “Is it true? Is Mr. Reade dead?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Dead as a Doornail
Sebastian Reade was our foreign language teacher. This couldn’t be true. I gaped in horror.
“Who told you that?” I asked. “Why would you think he’s dead?”
“You mean it isn’t true?” the first girl asked, wiping her eyes.
Becca fidgeted with the hem of her pleated skirt. “Jaimie McCarthy heard Jill Anderson tell her boyfriend that she heard Mrs. Keahi tell Mr. Puck he was going to have to figure out what to do with Mr. Reade’s classes. And my best friend’s cousin said Pro Ro covered for him this afternoon. And I heard Mr. Pinky tell Principal Bumblebub he found someone facedown in the stairwell, and they sectioned the area off and wouldn’t let kids use those stairs. It must have been Mr. Reade.”
News traveled fast in a small school. Gossip even faster.
“I don’t know if it’s true,” I said. But I intended to find out. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the day Derrick returned, injured, another staff member may have been found dead.
“And some new kid said he saw Mr. Reade’s ghost!” Olivia Spencer said.
Another wail came from the cafeteria. I carried the tray, my knuckles bone white. Students stopped me along the way, peppering me with questions. I spotted Trevor sitting with Imani and the other students from Art Club.
Trevor chattered away with his mouth full, basking in the attention. “The ghost was covered in blood. Miss Lawrence tried to save him, but it was too late. It was the first time I’d seen a dead person. Well, the second time. I peeked in my grandma’s casket at the funeral home.”
Students ran and yelled, rowdier than usual.
Vega stood on the dais, her voice thundering across the expanse of students. “Settle down, the lot of you, or there will be no dinner at all.”
The nearest students quieted, but the tables farthest away continued to shout. Students ran in the aisles.
I approached the dais, setting the tray on the table. “What’s going on? Did Sebastian really die?”
Vega pointed a finger at me. “You were supposed to be here for dinner duty.” She waved a hand at the chaos of the cafeteria. “This is what they’re like unattended for twenty minutes.”
Craptacular. Another duty I had forgotten. “I’m sorry. I really am. An emergency came up.”
“Like what?”
There was no way I could tell her the truth. I opted for my old standby technique of avoidance. “Do you know what happened to Sebastian Reade?”
She crossed her arms and snorted. “Like I’m going to do you any favors and tell you.” She nodded to the students. “You can deal with this for the rest of dinner. And I’m adding one more hour to our deal for this. I’m out of here.” She strode off, leaving me to deal with the zoo of the cafeteria.
I ate dinner in the rowdy cafeteria, did my best to manage students, and brought Derrick food afterward. His chest rose and fell peacefully under the covers. Seeing he was all right, I ran to my classroom and retrieved my lesson-planning book. Along the way I stopped by Josie’s room, but she wasn’t in. I heard her voice on the way to my room as I passed the student dormitories.
She chided two boys in the hallway outside the girls’ dorms.
“We weren’t going in to spy on the girls—promise,” Balthasar said. “We just wanted to talk to Hailey. We heard she saw Mr. Reade’s ghost.”
This was how rumors started.
“I don’t care what your excuse is,” Josie said. “No boys are allowed up here. Period. You both have detentions tomorrow.”
They trudged away.
She ran to me and hugged me. “How’s Derrick? Was he drained too?”
“Drained? Is that what happened to Sebastian Reade?”
“Yeah, Pinky found him. He told me all about it.” She adjusted her lacy hat to keep it from falling off her head. “His face was all dried, and his veins had turned black. It was super creepy. Probably the work of some Fae.”
“Are you saying there was a Fae on the school grounds?” I asked.
“I don’t know. That’s what the big uproar is about. Everyone is afraid the Raven Court got him.”
I wouldn’t put it past the Raven Court to find a way onto our school grounds to leave a message for me. I shivered. It was only a matter of time before they got me. I had thought the school was safe, but what if Thatch had let them in?
I hurried up to my room and packed a bag to stay overnight in Derrick’s room. I didn’t want anyone to see me carrying a bag through the hallway and ask questions, so I went outside around the back of the school. It was only seven but dark enough I couldn’t see the path around the school and kept stumbling off it. Someone carried a glowing wand up near the woods. It was too far to tell who it was, but as the figure held the wand, I thought I detected a witch hat silhouetted against the light.
The figure slipped into the forest and disappeared. Was that Miss Periwinkle again? Curiosity prickled inside me. If I followed, I could see if that was Miss Periwinkle and where she was off to. The day a dead body turned up at the school, she just happened to venture into the woods? I doubted she intended to go skinny-dipping.
I could follow, or I could go to my boyfriend. I couldn’t do both. The choice battled inside me.
I chose Derrick.
He was sleeping soundly as I tiptoed in. He didn’t stir as I sat beside him and worked on my lessons. Several times he grew so still I wasn’t sure he was breathing. I placed my hand on his chest. The beating was fast, not a heart at rest. He inhaled and exhaled, his breathing was shallow.
More green paste had been left in a terra-cotta bowl next to the bed. The salve smelled of mint and comfrey and the herbs of Grandma Bluehorse’s greenhouses. When I closed my eyes and inhaled, I tasted her magic in the air. I applied more of the paste to his wounds.
Derrick’s bulky frame took up most of the space in the little bed, but there was just enough room for me to curl up beside him on the edge of the bed. I set my alarm on my forbidden battery-operated alarm clock, and placed it on the floor so it wouldn’t drain his powers.
; At nine p.m. I fell asleep, an hour earlier than my usual. It had been a long day.
I don’t know how long I slept before I felt him stir. I used the incantation for the flashlight spell. A sphere of light hovered above my open palm.
“Are you all right? Do you need anything? Water?” I asked. One-handed, I fumbled for the water bottle on the table and held it out to him.
He shielded his eyes from the light and blindly groped for the water. He drank, turning away from me. I dimmed the light in my palm so that it didn’t hurt his eyes.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Only hungry for you.”
I laughed. That was Derrick, always the tease. I took the empty water bottle from his hand. “Do you want more?” I flashed my light over the pitcher containing more water. I scooted to the edge of the bed.
He caught my wrist as I started to stand. “Don’t leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I was just going to get you water from the table.”
He shielded his eyes. “I don’t need water. I just need you.” His voice was rough, deeper than usual. “I need your touch.”
I let the magic flashlight fade away. He pulled me closer, squeezing me so tightly against him I could barely breathe. I tried to set the water bottle down, but instead dropped it on the floor with a clatter.
“Derrick, you’re crushing me.”
He didn’t apologize or make a joke like he usually would have. But I supposed these weren’t normal circumstances. I didn’t know what he’d been through. He released me only to capture my face in his hands and kiss me. He drank me in as though I were the last drop of water on earth. There was no tentativeness or hesitation in this kiss. He probed my mouth with his tongue and tugged at my lower lip with his teeth.
When he released me, I gasped for breath. I was light-headed after that kiss.
He scooped me up and sat me on his lap. “Take off your clothes. I want to feel your skin against mine.”
The words sent a flush of warmth through me. His fingers explored under the edge of my pajama top, sending a shiver of longing into my core. I fumbled with the buttons as he nibbled on my neck. He pulled the shirt off over my head. His every touch was urgent and hungry. He reminded me of a wild animal about to devour its prey.
He kneaded my hips, massaging my muscles. It felt good, but it was on the verge of being painful.
His mouth tasted sweet and salty. Something bitter and minty touched my lips, and I wiped it away. Already I was feeling sticky from his medicine. Maybe the medicine had helped. And the sleep. He had more energy now at least.
He dipped his head down and tasted the skin of my neck, nibbling his way down to my belly. All thoughts of salve or sleep left my mind. Desire swelled inside me and along with it, my affinity awakened. It grew harder to control the magic inside me, harder to focus on anything other than the urges of my body, but I knew I would have to contain my affinity to channel it with intention rather than letting it run wild. I didn’t want it to explode. I never knew if what resulted would be good or bad.
He bit my neck, the pleasant sensation blurring into a spike of pain. I didn’t enjoy the sharp sting of his teeth, yet part of me did. I was wet with longing and moaned as his mouth grazed my flesh. My fingers instinctively clutched his back. His skin was sweaty and slick.
His breath was hot against my neck. “Take off all your clothes.”
I kneeled next to him as I pulled down my pajama bottoms and panties, then shifted onto my bottom to finish the rest of the work. He tugged the pants away and dropped them on the floor.
He took hold of my hips and dragged me lower on the bed. This was so different from before, his passion burning through him like a fever.
His breath was ragged, and he sounded pained.
“Are you all right?” I asked. “Are you sure you should—?”
He claimed my lips with his, silencing my words. “Spread your legs for me.”
He positioned between my knees and plunged into me. I cried out, startled by the suddenness of it. It hurt, but not like last time after I’d still felt raw inside.
He grunted and gasped and sank against me. He dropped his head onto the pillow, nuzzled his face against mine.
That was it? Well, that wasn’t so bad. I didn’t even have to visualize my affinity getting smaller. It was over.
Only I couldn’t breathe.
I shook his shoulder. “Crushing me.”
He rolled off me onto his back. Fluid trickled out of me. This was exactly what I had imagined sex would be like. Sweaty and messy. Rushed and unsatisfying.
Guilt followed up my initial assessment. Two out of three with Derrick had been great. And the last time he’d been so patient and considerate. I’d hurt too much to satisfy him, and he hadn’t complained. He’d been completely indulgent. Why shouldn’t I satiate him this time? I didn’t know what he’d been through. Maybe he needed physical contact to ground him and slake his desire to feel whole again.
He lay beside me, panting.
I placed a hand on his arm, and he twitched. “Derrick? What happened to you?”
He closed his eyes and didn’t answer.
“Derrick? Where were you? Who attacked you? You said Thatch had something to do with this.”
He drew me to his side. “Just hold me. That’s what I need right now.”
Perhaps he would feel up for talking the next morning. I had questions. He had answers.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Secrets and Staff Meetings
It was a good thing I set my alarm to rise extra early to get the shower before Vega was awake because I found one more thing to do in the morning before class. We had an emergency staff meeting at seven thirty. Vega didn’t chew me out about not being in bed by teacher curfew, so I hoped that meant she didn’t care.
Everyone was in the staff meeting except Mrs. Keahi, the secretary, who I learned was serving Pinky’s cafeteria duty. The room was more full than usual with some of the certified staff there in addition to the teachers. I was fortunate I arrived early with Josie.
Teachers crowded around the table and the perimeter of the room. Pro Ro shamelessly flirted with Miss Periwinkle, and if I wasn’t mistaken, it looked like she flirted back. Silas Lupi and Jasper Jang couldn’t take their eyes off her.
At seven thirty sharp Jeb started the meeting. Thatch was absent. I was kind of relieved, but also suspicious.
“I reckon y’all may have heard the rumors that somethin’ happened to our dear teacher, Sebastian Reade, bless his heart. His time of death occurred sometime between lunch and eighth period. Mr. John—err—Pinky found him in the stairwell to the men’s dormitories.”
I shuddered thinking of how often I used that stairwell to go visit Josie in her room.
Jackie Frost raised her hand, but she didn’t wait to be called upon. “Is it true he was drained?”
“By Fae?” Jasper Jang asked. “The Raven Court?”
“First, let me put your minds at ease.” Khaba stepped forward. “My defensive wards haven’t been tampered with, and my alarms haven’t been triggered by intruders. As far as I can tell, there is no indication Fae are, or were, on campus.”
“Except for you, Mr. Khaba,” Pinky said, eyes narrowing.
Coach Kutchi and Jasper Jang whispered something to each other, glancing at Khaba with suspicion now.
I looked to Pinky in horror. Khaba may have been a full-blooded djinn, but he didn’t count as Fae. He was loyal to our school. I understood Pinky’s concern, him being new to the school and not knowing Khaba. When my biological mother had hired him—or indentured him—Khaba’s presence had been controversial. But he’d been here for years now.
Jeb tugged at one of the curls of his mustache. “No, Mr. Johnson. Mr. Khaba isn’t—wouldn’t—ahem.”
Khaba stood before us, his eyes rimmed with dark circles from lack of sleep. “Thank you, Mr. Pinky. Point acknowledged.”
“Julian Thistledown,” Vega said loud enough to be heard. “Your precious wards didn’t detect his Fae presence.”
Heads turned to look at her.
“What?” Vega sat taller, nose lifted into the air. “I’m correct, aren’t I? Julian Thistledown was Fae. He killed people all the time and went undetected.”
Gasps came from all around the table.
“Aw, hell,” Jeb said.
The cat was out of the bag now. Jeb wasn’t going to be able to keep denying Julian had preyed on students.
“Who did he kill?” Grandmother Bluehorse asked.
Vega glanced at me. “Besides the previous art teachers?”
“Ahem, getting back to business.” Jeb cleared his throat. “Mr. Khaba, you wanna explain security for these folks?”
Khaba ran a hand over his bald head. “When we hire teachers, we do a background check and a few preliminary spells to make sure we aren’t hiring anyone dangerous. As far we could tell, Julian Thistledown was Amni Plandai. What we couldn’t see with how well he masked himself, was how powerful he was. His Fae magic went undetected.
“Our wards are constructed to allow all staff and students to go about without setting off alarms. Unless it’s after curfew. Then I have alarms in place to detect a student leaving the premises. As you can see, the system isn’t perfect.”
Evita Lupi stood against the wall with her husband, their fingers intertwined. “So that means someone here killed Sebastian?”
“Here’s what we know,” Khaba said. “The Raven Court have made their presence known just outside our school’s boundaries. The same day we found Sebastian Reade, one of our classified staff was attacked, possibly off campus.”
“One of the brownies?” Grandmother Bluehorse asked, her brow crinkling up in concern.
