by Sarina Dorie
I had failed. My heart lurched and went still. All went dark.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead
Death was a peaceful, painless respite after all I had been through. The blackness was a dreamless sanctuary. Nothing mattered any longer.
Almost nothing mattered.
A string tethered me to the shell of a body where I had once dwelled. A man’s voice shouted my name, his voice urgent and full of panic, but muffled through the barrier of worlds. I couldn’t see him. I almost couldn’t hear him.
Then all at once my soul yo-yoed back into my body, jolting me awake. My heart lurched, and I choked. I was blind in the darkness of the chamber.
A hand pressed against my chest, hot with electric magic. I tried to draw in a breath, but I found I couldn’t. I clawed at my throat, trying to remove the crushing weight that had been there moments ago, but there was none. Stabs of pain throbbed in my neck. The hand shifted from my heart to my throat. The tingle of magic washed over me in hot and cold waves.
He leaned closer, his breath becoming my own. Wind pushed down my throat and into my lungs.
It was Derrick’s wind affinity.
The numbing shock of death dissipated from my limbs, leaving me aching and cold. Arms enveloped me, comforting me with warmth. He held me in his lap, cradling me against his chest as he rocked back and forth. I sank into his embrace, comforted by his touch. I clung to his coat as though it were my anchor to this world. I choked in another breath, coughing and gasping.
I had almost died. Derrick had almost killed me. But it was all right now. I had stopped him with my magic. He had saved me just in time. Love had conquered the evil Raven Queen.
I trembled uncontrollably. Hot tears spilled from my eyes. I nuzzled against his shirt. That should have been the moment I had known.
Derrick hadn’t been wearing a shirt or a tweed jacket.
“Hush. You’re all right. You’re safe.” Felix Thatch’s British accent raked against my ears.
“No!” My voice came out unrecognizable as my own.
This couldn’t be right. I tried to examine his face as my eyes adjusted to the dark. His midnight hair flowed over his shoulders into the shadows. Surely my eyes were deceiving me. The person who had saved my life couldn’t be Thatch.
A sob shook my chest. I didn’t want him. I wanted Derrick.
Or at least, I wanted the person Derrick used to be, the best friend who would never have hurt me. But Derrick had betrayed me.
Thatch drew my coat around my shoulders and stroked my back. His hand shifted over my arm, rhythmically, his movements calming. He spoke in a flat unaffected tone, the monotone more soothing than I remembered. “You’re alive. Keep breathing. Living people do that.”
I sagged against him, my strength leaving me. I was so tired. My chest ached, empty and raw as though my heart had just been torn out.
My grief bubbled out of me in uncontrolled blubbery wails. “I thought he loved me. He tried to kill me. How could he do that to me?”
It was a wonder Thatch could understand anything I said.
He hugged me like a friend would do. “I know,” he said. “Life isn’t fair. Fae play dirty.”
I couldn’t tell if he was patronizing me or being nice. He found my hand under my coat and squeezed it.
“You saved my life?” I already knew the answer.
“Indeed.” He rested his chin on my head.
“Even though I blamed you for everything bad that happened? Even though I accused you of torturing Derrick and working for the Raven Queen? I accused you of lying and—”
“Clarissa, I do work for the Raven Queen. I have no choice.” He exhaled, deflating, his façade of stoic indifference gone. “I simply don’t permit her to control me. I do everything I can to thwart her attempts to hurt the students and staff at this school. I tried to save Derrick in the only way I knew how, but I had to make my act convincing to her. I didn’t want to hurt him. Derrick was … a nice kid. He was a good person. After I took him into my care, I did everything I could to suppress her spells.” He cupped my face in his hand, lifting my chin so that I met his eyes. “I watched over him and did everything in my power to keep him safe from himself and safe from you.”
I had been so angry at Thatch. I had loathed him. I had cost him his job, almost cost him his girlfriend—conniving bitch that she was, she did make him happy—and he had saved my life anyway.
“Why couldn’t you have just told me?” I asked.
“Would you have stayed away from Derrick if I had? Would you have listened to me and believed me?”
I didn’t answer. We both knew the answer was no. I would have done anything to be with Derrick.
I had done everything I could think of, no matter what the cost. I had shirked my teacher duties, taken advantage of people, and manipulated Vega and Gertrude Periwinkle. If I had needed to, I would have blackmailed Pro Ro. I didn’t like that person I’d become.
The wicked witch.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Shame coiled around my chest and tethered me to my many misdeeds. Intending to do good, I had failed and hurt the people I cared about. I had become my mother.
His brow crinkled. Only now as I gazed at him did I notice the red blisters across one side of his face. One of his eyes was red and swollen, dripping blood down his cheek.
“What happened to you?” I asked.
“Khaba. I’m lucky this was all he managed to do to me before I banished him. I’m afraid to see what he did in his reign of destruction upon leaving the school.”
“Banished? You banished Khaba? Why? For how long?”
“It’s easier to send a demon away than to contain one. If we’re fortunate, he won’t come back.”
Khaba was gone. I had lost yet another friend. In my attempt to help, I had made him evil, and now he was banished. No good deed went unpunished. Misery barbed into my heart and lodged itself there.
“Can I do anything to … help?” I asked.
One side of his mouth lifted into a smirk. “Miss Lawrence, haven’t you done enough helping for the day?”
I laughed, sounding like a strangled mouse.
We sat in silence, the sound occasionally broken by one of my sniffles. He handed me a handkerchief. I leaned my head against his chest. Every part of my body ached. My hands were no longer spiderwebbed with broken blood vessels, but my skin hurt. I couldn’t feel my affinity. All I could feel was my sorrow.
“Do I have any magic left?” I asked.
The storm clouds of his eyes were so full of sorrow, he didn’t even attempt to mask it. “Think of your affinity like a battery. You depleted yourself trying to give your magic to Derrick. It’s best that you refrain from using magic so you’ll have time to recharge. If you don’t give yourself a rest, you’ll drain yourself permanently and will never be able to recharge.”
So I had succumbed to the same fate as Dox Woodruff when he had pushed his magic into someone he’d loved, hoping to resurrect her but dying in the process. Only he hadn’t had Thatch to revive him.
I hadn’t thought my heart could hurt any worse, but I was wrong. It felt like death had claimed me and I’d woken up in hell.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
I had lost everything I’d ever wanted. If only I had listened to Felix Thatch. He patted my shoulder awkwardly, like he didn’t know what else to do.
I shifted and groaned as I realized how much I hurt. My gaze fell on my leggings and underpants, half off and dangling from one knee. No wonder Thatch had covered me with my coat. How embarrassing.
“I’d like to put my underwear back on now,” I said. “Before Miss Periwinkle walks in and accuses us of being naughty.”
He snorted. “That would be my luck.”
He lent me his hand to stand and turned away while I pulled up my underwear and leggings.
“I think… .” I didn’t know how to say
it. The wound was still too fresh. “I think Derrick killed Brogan McLean and Sebastian Reade.”
“You are correct. You owe Gertrude an apology.”
Like that was going to happen after she’d pushed me into the pit. “She was kissing Sebastian Reade when he died.”
“Yes, Gertrude came to me and told me about it immediately after it happened. Derrick would have drained her too if he hadn’t been intent on finishing Sebastian off.” Thatch strode around the slab, waving his wand light into the shadows as if searching for something. “He was out of his mind—driven mad by what the Raven Queen did to him. He wasn’t the same boy you knew.”
I couldn’t think about what he was saying. I didn’t want to. It was easier to focus on his relationship than mine.
I hopped around, searching for my shoe. “You know about her cheating on you?”
He crossed his arms, staring off into the darkness. “My relationship with Gertrude Periwinkle is none of your concern.”
“It is if she uses her siren magic to put a spell on you and every other man in this school.”
He sighed in exasperation. “How could I not know about her infidelity? She was born a siren. She may have successfully worked to become a Celestor affinity, but my affinity draws out her suppressed powers. Every time I touch her, my magic causes hers to swell, and it becomes difficult for her to control.”
Just like I had done to Maddy.
I found something that I thought was a shoe. I lifted it, realizing too late it was a broken bone. I dropped it and continued prodding the ground with my foot.
“It doesn’t bother you that she does that?” I asked.
“Of course it bothers me,” he snapped. “But what am I supposed to do about it? Am I going to be jealous and blame her for my magic? Any relationship I have will result in the same problem. I’m just lucky she isn’t a fire Elementia.”
Thatch waited on the other side of the stone slab. I found my shoe on the ground on the other side and slipped it on. Thatch’s brow was furrowed. He scanned the shadows.
It occurred to me that Derrick wasn’t there. I patted the stone slab where he’d rested. He was gone.
“Where is Derrick?” I asked.
Thatch held up his hand, starlight swirling from his fingertips. The prickles danced around the room. His expression remained grim. We were alone. Did that mean Derrick was alive?
“The room was empty when I found you. I expect he left after he saw what he did,” Thatch said.
I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or afraid. I wanted him to be alive. Even if he was under the Raven Queen’s influence and had tried to kill me, it still meant there was a chance he might be able to be fixed someday. I wouldn’t try to save him by myself again. If I asked Thatch, he would help me. Derrick was still a good person deep down.
“How can we save him?” I asked. “That spell? The ingredients we were collecting?”
“No. Derrick is permanently damaged. You cost him any chance he had for recovery.” Thatch pointed a finger at me, all gentleness gone from him. “You aren’t going to be helping him or anyone else. You have no magic and you’ll need months to recharge. Don’t get it in your head you can try to fix the world. Do you understand me?”
A scream echoed from far off.
I had a bad feeling about this.
“Oh, bother,” Thatch said. “Let’s go see who died now.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
A Smoking-Hot Boyfriend
Thatch flung the door open and hobbled out. I ran after him. I was only able to keep up with his long legs because he was limping. He kept a hand against the wall to hold himself up. I slipped an arm around him to help him.
The secret vault led to the old crypt and beyond that was the newer crypt. All the bodies we passed were black and charred, their clothes now cinders. Some had turned to dust. Smoke still rose from the bodies, and embers smoldered from the remains of a few. When Khaba had exploded into a demon, he had left a trail of fiery destruction in his wake.
Yet, not all were burned. A woman in a white wedding dress sat in the cinders. It took me a moment to realize she was alive. She sobbed into the ashes, her hands covering her face. It looked like Millie, the preserved corpse Vega had been drawn to. She kneeled before one of the alcoves of charred bodies. I stared in shock, unable to fathom how she’d been resurrected.
Realization crept over me. Vega had used the spell from the book.
“My future husband!” the woman wailed. “Not again.”
Hearing her voice, it became clear this wasn’t Millie. It was Vega.
“What are you talking about?” Thatch asked sharply.
Vega hurriedly wiped her eyes with a lacy white sleeve, smearing it with black eye makeup.
“You did this, didn’t you?” She rose, her gaze fixed on me. Murder laced her voice. “You released a demon from under the school just like your mother did! You destroyed and desecrated the graves of my friends.”
I shook my head, wanting to be as far from here as possible. “Khaba did it.”
“You’re lying,” Vega said.
“Vega, get ahold of yourself,” Thatch said sternly. “Go upstairs and check on the status of the school. We need to see if anyone is injured or if Khaba damaged school property.”
“Go check on your precious school yourself, you fucktards.”
I tugged him toward the door. He didn’t know how Vega could be. If Vega needed time alone to mourn, it was best to leave her. Thatch and I kept walking.
“What are we going to do about Khaba?” I asked. “Is he really evil? He can’t be evil.” I remembered what Khaba had told me about his days of unrivaled power.
“A free djinn makes the Raven Court look … friendly. There’s nothing to be done about him. If my banishing worked, he’s gone.” Thatch’s mouth remained a flat line.
I didn’t want Khaba to be gone. I didn’t want Derrick to be gone.
When we came to the stairwell cluttered with charred stone, Thatch limped faster. He cursed under his breath.
The upstairs floors were chaos. Smoke filled the air, stinging my eyes and making me cough. Students ran in every direction. Soot covered their pajamas.
A giant hole had exploded from the floor of the great hall, stone scattered across tables and benches. The avocado-green paint on the walls had blistered and turned black, and one of the stone archways from the hall was now in rubble. Pro Ro and Pinky directed a group of students in a bucket brigade. Jackie Frost and Jasper Jang worked to clean the smoke with wind magic. Water affinities doused flames. A group of Celestors wove magic with earth affinities to rebuild a stone wall that had toppled over.
I leapt back as a student shouted at me. “Excuse me!” The young man rode a white domesticated unicorn down the hall, carrying buckets of water on a broom like a yoke across his shoulders.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Khaba, apparently, didn’t leave quietly,” Thatch said. “We’d best hope he never returns.”
He was talking about Khaba, but he might as well have been speaking about Derrick.
Miss Periwinkle stood at the edge of a small crowd. She shouted and pointed to a burning wall. Apparently she had regained her voice. She directed Maddy and two water Elementia from my classes, Jessica and a boy named Anatole, to douse the flames. They used their affinities to draw water out of the nearest bathroom and directed it at the fire. I had never imagined Miss Periwinkle to be a take-charge type, much less someone who would care about the school, but there she was.
One of the students pointed to Thatch and me. Miss Periwinkle turned, looking stricken.
“Felix! Are you all right? What happened?” She ran to him, shoving me out of her way. She hugged him around the waist. “We need to get you to see Grandmother Bluehorse and Sam. They’re treating the injured.”
“I’m well enough to help.”
“We have everything under control. You need to
rest.” She waved her arm, flagging down one of the students. “Someone, get a healer.”
“That can wait,” he said. “The fires can’t.”
Her eyes narrowed as she noticed me. “You,” she said.
Thatch groaned. “Gertrude, don’t start.”
She pointed at me. “She did this, didn’t she?”
“Now isn’t the time.”
“It’s never the time. Because of her, I’ve lost my job, half the library was destroyed, the dungeon is in ruins, and people I know are dead. Students have been injured all because of her.”
The last words were like a sucker punch to my gut. Who had died now?
“The students?” I asked. “Are they all right? Who’s hurt?” What if it was Imani or Greenie or Hailey? My throat tightened with fear, cutting off further questions.
Periwinkle’s voice was a growl. “She released a demon under the school just like her mother, didn’t she? She’s the one who should get fired, not us.”
I had. I was just like my mother. My actions had led to the destruction of the school. I was the reason my friends were now gone. Tears filled my eyes.
“No one is going to be fired,” Thatch said calmly. “The school can be rebuilt. Books can be replaced.” He didn’t add dead people could be resurrected. That was probably for the best.
“I hope you’re happy.” Periwinkle jabbed a finger at me. “The least you could do is leave like you promised me. You found your dead boyfriend, didn’t you? Well, get out of here.”
“No one is leaving.” Thatch leaned against a wall, looking weary.
“No, not until she promises to sign a new statement attesting to my innocence for those crimes she accused me of.” She glared at me. “And I want you to sign a new one for Felix. You probably thought that clever, destroying my office in the fire. You aren’t going to get away with this.”
Another student rushed by on a unicorn, and we had to smash ourselves against a sooty wall to avoid getting run over.
“What are you talking about?” Thatch asked.
Periwinkle took in a breath and choked on the smoke. It was the first time she’d stopped ranting long enough for me to get a word in edgewise.
