by LJ Swallow
Ash appears at my shoulder. "They'd better not cause trouble."
My stomach sinks when Maeve switches her attention to him. She strokes his arm. Yes, through his jacket, but it's still a gesture that fills my stomach with jealousy.
"If they do, stay away, Ash."
He shoves a hand into his hair. "Me? Jamie is the one you need to worry about."
"I have control, Ash," I retort.
"So do I. I have to, and you know why."
I squeeze my eyes closed at my big mouth. Ash struggles with the fear he'll drop his control for a moment too long, and the shift will start. When I open them again, Maeve has his hand between both of hers and talks to him at a volume I can't hear.
He touches her face, and I'm on the verge of stepping away, so I don't see them kiss.
Would they kiss?
I turn my head.
"We'll keep an eye on the pair together and diffuse the situation if we need to," he says.
Ash still has his hand in Maeve's, her face a picture of concern. I stare down in surprise as she links fingers with me too. "The kids want to cause trouble, obviously. We don't play into their hands. Promise?"
She looks between us and I glance at Ash.
I don't need to be the centre of her world, but she's the centre of ours. Our unspoken pledge to protect Maeve, to give her what she needs to make us all stronger, tightens as her fingers do.
Something more exists than a mere friendship. The bond strengthens if we let it, and each day the feeling grows that we'll need to.
Chapter Forty-Five
MAEVE
I need space and to cool down and head out to the bathrooms alone. Amelia is busy organising the king and queen results, so I’m keeping away in case they’re not falling in Katherine’s favour.
As if. She’ll have the vote rigged.
On the way, I pass Tobias reprimanding the sullen-faced Petrescu guy—Oliver. He gives me a sly wink on the way past, and Tobias glances at me before telling Oliver to pay attention. Amused at Tobias in ‘professor’ mode, I walk to the bathrooms.
Do I talk to him about his lie? I mull this over as I wash my hands. If Tobias is still there when I’m done, yes.
I walk out, and the hallway is quiet, save for Tobias’s loud voice. Wow, he’s really going at Oliver. I loiter a few feet away, determined to catch Tobias before he returns to the hall.
Eventually, Oliver strides away, hunched over, towards the dance hall. Tobias turns to walk back in.
“Tobias.” He halts but doesn’t turn. “Professor Whitlock. I need to talk to you.”
He lifts his head but doesn’t look back at me. “I’m busy. Catch me before class tomorrow.”
“I know your secret,” I blurt.
Tobias spins around and in seconds he’s in front of me, looking down and eyes glittering in anger. “Oh, really? Which secret would that be?”
“Do you have more than one?” I ask, and step back.
He blinks at me. “Miss Foster, I suggest you return to the dance.”
“Why are you like this?” I ask. “What did I do?”
I study him closely. Is he hybrid? Born of blood? The attraction to him—a pull as his energy seeks mine—existed from the first time he stood close. Does this happen to all students, or do I feel the effect more keenly than some? Amelia claims Tobias never deliberately uses his power. Then why on me? Or is this accidental?
With each second that he doesn’t speak, my chest tightens more.
“It’s complicated,” Tobias says eventually. “The situation is me and not you.”
I splutter a laugh at him. “’It’s not me, it’s you?’ Way to sound like a boyfriend.”
His mouth hardens. “This conversation is over.”
Tobias spins on his heel but I catch his hand before he can move. “Why do you lie about your age?” Tobias’s whole body stiffens as he turns back to me. “Some people in the academy know you’re younger than you say.”
“Which people?”
“Does that matter? There’s a reason, and I need to know.”
He scoffs. “You need to know? No. There’s much you still don’t understand about the world you’re in, Maeve.”
He’s wary, darting a look around as if somebody might appear at any moment. “You’re not a real teacher, are you?”
Tobias seizes my arm and pulls me further down the hallway. He yanks on a door handle and half-shoves me into a dark room. As he closes the door, my pulse rate goes into overdrive.
No. He can't hurt me. Tobias wouldn't threaten his life by harming a student.
The door bangs closed, and he crosses to me as I back up. My legs hit the edge of a desk and I’m trapped between him and the exit. A small arched window lets in moonlight which crosses the floor and highlights his furious expression.
Crap.
“I teach at the academy; therefore, I am a teacher. Do you have a complaint about my class?” His authoritative tone continues but I sense his hesitancy. His guilt.
I glance at the door. “No. Theodora chose to employ you. She must have her reasons.”
“Are you insinuating the headmistress is involved in something underhanded?”
“No.” I stare up at him. “I don’t know.”
“I’m here because the Confederacy told me to watch you and Andrei, you know that.”
“Why lie about your age?”
With a sigh, he trains his gaze on me. “I think you should walk away and forget this conversation.” He’s close. Too close. Deliberately trying to affect me with his powers?
“I know why you were angry with me the day you broke the glass. I saw how you looked at me, Tobias. Is that the reason you stay away from me now?”
His mouth falls open as if about to protest, but his stern manner doesn't drop. “Don’t accuse me of inappropriate behaviour.”
“You’re using your pneuma power on me now. That’s wrong,” I whisper. “I know the truth—you can’t tutor me in private because you feel more than a professor should.”
“You’re delusional, Maeve.” His energy-sucking intensity snaps away from me. “I’ve dealt with girls like you before. This teenage crush you have could lead to serious consequences for me.”
“Then why have you brought me into a darkened room, alone?”
Tobias places his arms either side of me, palms down on the desk. He’s closer than he’s ever been, the energy between us meeting head on. “Is that what you want, Maeve? A taste of something forbidden? Because I sense this every time I’m around you.”
My body responds, but not with fear, as I hold his dark gaze. Tobias’s breathing speeds to match mine and he’s no longer radiating the pneuma power. This is something hidden. Something more.
“If I wasn’t a professor, would you give yourself over to a vampire?” he whispers. “Do you know how much danger that puts you in? Vampires can lose control if they taste a witch.”
He drops his gaze to my lips, my neck, the bare skin above my dress’s neckline, now flushed with heat.
Tobias moves his mouth to my ear. “I was at Ravenhold, Maeve, and if you knew why, you’d stay far, far away from me.”
I reel. Tobias’s secrets spread further than I could ever imagine. I intended to force Tobias to admit he’s not a real teacher, but instead I’ve met a dangerous man head on. My instinct tells me to do as he says, to run, but I need to know more.
“Who knows you were at Ravenhold?”
“Those who need to. And if you tell anybody, you can bet there’ll be consequences.”
“Then why tell me?”
His mouth moves back to my ear. “Because I’m tempted, Maeve, and so are you. You’ll keep pushing. Wanting to know more. Desiring more. I need to frighten you enough to stay the fuck away from me. There’s no way in hell I’m going back to Ravenhold.”
“Why would...” I pull my head back. Tobias’s expression has a hunger that sends a shiver from my scalp to my fingertips and to my toes. Is he about to let
go of the control he’s talking about? The control that’s dragging my energy to him and weakening me.
His clothes smell of the cloying incense he burns in his room, but there’s another scent that dives into my memory—like cinnamon and cloves. Tobias stood close to me once before. He held my face. Whispered away my control.
My stomach flips over. “What did you do to me when we found the hunters, Tobias? You touched my mind, didn’t you?”
The door to the room slams open and somebody charges across the room, flies at Tobias and knocks him sideways. Tobias staggers, his face transforming into a mask I’ve seen on Katherine before—a touch of something inhuman in his eyes.
Andrei. He sprawls on the floor as soon as Tobias knocks him down with one backhanded slap across the face.
“I won’t let you do this to Maeve again,” Andrei snarls up at him.
I break free from Tobias’s thrall. Is Andrei insane, attacking a teacher?
“Tell her what you did,” he continues. “Tell Maeve what really happened the night we found the hunters.”
Tobias sneers. “Who do you think you are, Andrei? Her knight in shining armour? If you cared that much about Maeve, you would’ve told her by now.”
“You threatened me!” he snaps and leaps to his feet. “You told me you’d inform the Confederacy that I killed a human.”
“Don’t even think about touching me, Andrei,” he snarls, “you have a lot to lose here.”
My head spins like a whirlpool dragging me under and into a surreal nightmare. “What did you do to me, Tobias?”
“Tobias blanked your mind. I saw, but he can’t use his power on me. I wanted to tell you, but what the hell can I do? Tobias knows he could end my life like that.” Andrei snaps his fingers. “But I’m not staying quiet anymore. Tell them what you want about me, Tobias, but this is too big. You’re hurting Maeve again, and you need to be stopped.”
“Did you see him kill hunters?” I ask Andrei breathlessly. “I heard him tell one guy to kill the other.”
“What the fuck?” asks Andrei. “This is insane. No way do you get away with this, Tobias. Maeve. Go. Now.”
The two guys stand together, Andrei in challenge, so I step towards the door. Tobias’s figure blurs as he slams it closed and stands in front.
“Stop!” Raking a hand through his hair, Tobias’s shoulders slump. “You want to know secrets? I’ll give you secrets. They weren’t hunters. Not normal ones. Those men worked for the Dominion and were moving closer to the academy. And yes, I was instructed to kill them.”
“By who?” asks Andrei.
“By the people who freed me from Ravenhold.”
His jaw drops. “What the fuck?” Andrei pushes between us. “Maeve. You need to get out of here.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he snaps. “I’m not stupid. I have a role here and you need to help me keep it.”
Tobias shoves Andrei to one side.
“A role to watch us?” I ask.
“No. Somebody in this academy is working with the Dominion. There are books and artefacts hidden around the Nightworld academies the Dominion need, but also something more. I need to find why the Dominion are specifically targeting this academy and who’s helping them.”
“A student?” asks Andrei.
“We think a professor.”
Andrei slumps onto a chair. “Who?”
Tobias makes a derisive sound. “If I knew that, I’d expose them and leave. I don’t want to be stuck here with no life. I might have more freedom than at Ravenhold, but this shit gets old after a while.” He laughs. “Dealing with arrogant teens who’ve no respect.”
“Trying to keep your hands off a witch?” asks Andrei pointedly.
“Why were you at Ravenhold?” I ask.
“I’ve told you enough.” He steps forward. “The Dominion are planning something big specific to this academy. This involves Maeve too, and Ash for a reason I can’t fathom.” He points between us. “All of you. There’s a connection.”
Andrei continues to stare at him, face ashen. “Does Theodora know?”
“Yes. You’re welcome to ask her. But nobody else does, apart from the people I work for in the Confederacy.”
“Those who ask you to break the basic rule not to kill humans?” I ask.
He takes a deep breath. “Yes. Consider how bad the alternative is for me, if I’m prepared to risk killing. You think the rumours about Ravenhold are true? Wrong. The place is beyond hell.”
I glance at Andrei. What do we do? We’re pulled into this and told secrets we’ll be forced to keep. In Tobias, there’s a strange vulnerability behind his words, as if he needed to open up to somebody. If he spends his days suspicious of the people he works with, never letting his guard down, does he have anybody he can trust?
No. And he’s reaching out to us but why?
A menacing, deceptive man, and one whose mutual attraction is more dangerous than the desire for something forbidden. His barrier created to hold the two of us apart crumbled tonight.
If Theodora confirms Tobias’s story, I’m prepared to trust him. But what that means for us scares me.
Chapter Forty-Six
ASH
Maeve walks away, and I keep one eye on the Petrescu dickheads and one eye on Amelia. Jamie stands on the dance floor beside me, hands in pockets as he watches Maeve walk away.
"Lucky," I say with a genuine smile.
"Why?"
"Maeve danced with you."
Jamie chews his lip with a hint of smugness in his smile. "I'm sure she'll dance with you later. She doesn't have favourites."
Does she? I worry I'm not spending a lot of time with her in the last two weeks, but I'm wrapped up in the fear for my future and the end of term exams and matches. She nagged me about taking potions, but there's no way in hell I'm ending up life as a Mid. Looking at the unfolding scene around me, I'm glad I drank one tonight. If tonight doesn't end in a brawl, I'll be shocked.
"I'm sure she will." I place a hand on his shoulder. "You know things are going to get rough, don't you? Look at the Petrescu."
"Is that your way of saying 'keep calm, Jamie'?"
"Correct."
He tightens his mouth. "I intend to."
The morons continue their dancing, taunting some into retaliation. No punches have been thrown, but the tension in the room grows. I chew my lip. Sofia won't be able to deal with this alone, now Tobias left. The Petrescu kids become rowdier, loudly mocking shifters and witches and leaping high into the air to land close to dancers and frighten them.
I drag Jamie from the dance floor to the nearest wall, intending to watch from the side lines. Leaving Jamie in the crowd isn't a great idea.
I'm open-mouthed as the Petrescu pair climb the walls the way vamps can, and land on top of the stage's lighting rigs, whooping like animals.
Katherine loses her shit with them in a loud and spectacular fashion that brings the band to a halt. There'd be no point trying to play over her screeching anyway. She stands on the stage and yells, but they laugh at her. Katherine looks around at the gathered crowd focused on her.
"Everybody have a good time!" she demands. "I will not let these dickheads spoil my night."
"Where's Clive?" asks Jamie.
I shrug. "Last I saw he was asleep at the shifters' table. Katherine hasn't noticed yet."
Amelia approaches and stands beside us, ramrod straight. "The group planned to do this. I bet they took Clive out."
"Took him out how?"
"Potions. Charms, who the hell knows but they've sabotaged the dance. Why do people have to ruin things for others?"
There's a loud crack as one of the vampires slices at a statues head which topples and smashes to the floor.
"Where the hell is Tobias?" I ask. "Sofia can't deal with this alone."
A vamp jumps on a table in the middle of the floor and starts yelling obscenities at shifters, telling them to come at him.
The shifters don't need asking twi
ce.
I fight the urge to follow but heave in calming breaths. The guys can deal with this. Jamie steps forward, and I snatch his jacket sleeve. "They want to cause trouble. Don't get involved."
"Stay here, Jamie," Amelia adds.
I turn to thank her for agreeing we should keep a cool head, but her small figure pushes through the crowds towards the table Katherine stands by.
Amelia's voice reaches a similar pitch to Katherine's as she shouts how they've ruined something people have worked hard for. The Petrescu kid's height dwarves Amelia and he steps towards her.
Sofia looks around in confusion. Why the hell isn't the professor casting a spell?
There's a spectacular crash that reverberates around the room, and ice splinters are thrown from the stage into the crowd. Somebody screams, but not from pain at being pierced by a shard.
Katherine's figure blurs and appears on stage, tearing at her hair as she stands in a pile of crushed ice.
In the place, her thrones once stood.
"You fucking arseholes!" Her voice echoes around the room, and I'm paralysed by shock as the girl launches herself at the Petrescu kid, who’s sitting on the lighting rig laughing. She lands and hits him with a force I never expected her to have, sending the guy downwards to land in the ruins of her thrones.
The dance descends into screaming and confusion, the Petrescu achieving their aim.
I need to find other professors. Security. Somebody. Turning away from the battle, I itch to throw myself into, I charge from the room.
Sofia screams out, "Enough," as a bright light floods the room behind, and everything drops to silence.
Ahead of me, Jamie drags one of the Petrescu kids from the room.
I stop. Oh, crap. Is Jamie insane?
Oliver picks Jamie up by the lapels and holds him, so their faces meet, and Jamie goads him in quiet tones. The vamp is facing me, and I can see the growing darkness in his expression. Features transforming.
No. No. No.
I charge across the hallway, but I'm too late as the vamp throws Jamie forcefully across the room, several metres high against the wall.
I push both hands into my hair and look on in horror as Jamie hits the wall and slides to the floor. Oliver screams out, then wails in pain and collapses. I twist my head to look at him as he lies on his back, screaming obscenities.
