by Rain Oxford
“You’ve told me about that before. Both tribes get one of the twins and the alliance remains as long as the twins live.”
“Right. Only these two weren’t able to conceive. Anasha really wanted that land, so she married her youngest daughter to Kanuna instead.”
“How does that get Canostrof more land?”
“It created an alliance so that Canostrof could use Alaska. See, fae need enough space to survive.”
“They wanted to drive Shikta out,” I surmised.
“Exactly. What they weren’t counting on was that Kanuna’s new wife, Gola, knew what her mother’s plan was, and she was devoted to her new husband.”
“She told Kanuna?”
“Not just that. She took over the tribe and invaded Canada, doing absolutely everything except breaking the treaty. Shikta was a lot more adaptive than Canostrof. My mother told me their biggest advantage was that all of Shikta loved Kanuna, because he was a kind ruler.”
“Wars are not won by kindness,” Henry said.
“It was a combination of Gola’s ferociousness and Kanuna’s kindness that defeated Canostrof,” Darwin argued. “Everyone and anyone would have died for Kanuna because he never asked that they kill for him. No one who knew him would betray him for all of the gold in the world. Kanuna and Gola loved each other. Canostrof outnumbered Shikta a hundred to one, but Shikta obliterated them. None of it would have been possible without Gola.”
“I get it. The ‘stronger’ tribe is giving up one of their people.”
“Right. If a weaker fae is given to a stronger tribe, then he or she is weakening the tribe.”
“Are there any Canostrof left?” Henry asked.
“Yes. Kanuna and Gola took mercy on Anasha and moved into the rest of the United States, allying themselves with more tribes. They got so powerful, in fact, that other tribes merged into them.”
“How does that happen?”
“If one tribe leader kills another. Or, since Kanuna didn’t believe in killing, the other tribe leader had to renounce his or her name and take his. That ended in 1855 when he died and his son, Waya, took over. Kanuna was the only tribe leader in Shikta history who has never been challenged.”
“You should be teaching history.”
“My parents should be. I like teaching math.”
* * *
When we arrived, Drake was waiting by the door. He was ecstatic to have Kevin back. The others, not so much. It made me think of someone with their lost dogs.
“Oh! I made that list of people who are pissed at me,” Drake said, handing it over.
The list was about a tenth of the size it should have been, and neither Hotreo nor Zondel was on it.
We were invited by Pitch to stay with him and his sister for the weekend. Although I insisted we couldn’t stay all weekend, I did want to get a little sleep before heading back to the school. Henry agreed to this. We took a nap and woke to find Darwin and Tanja watching a documentary on Ancient Egypt.
We left at sunset and reached the school well after everyone was in bed, so we went our separate ways. I was glad that Darwin came with me. It gave me a new perspective to my problem.
I was relying on magic too much, but that was because I was a wizard. It was the best way for me to help people, so it was actually irresponsible for me not to use it. If I were a shifter, I wouldn’t refuse to shift. Everyone had a part to play. Mine just involved magic.
When I opened the door to my bedroom, I was surprised to see Hunt sitting on my chair, reading an ancient book.
“Are you ready for another lesson?” he asked.
“I suppose so.” I set down my stuff, put my gun away, and sat on my bed. As I did, Hunt never looked up from his book. “Same as last time?”
“Last time, you rejected what you saw. This time, I want you to focus on it. Acknowledge it. Analyze it.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
“You cannot accept it if you fear it.”
I leaned back, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. Once again, I relaxed and calmed my mind. I was expecting to sense John Cross’s darkness, but I had an idea what to do with it. I felt my power. It was calm, yet ready. My wizard magic wasn’t amazing in anyway. My best magic was my mind control, mind reading, and visions. This power wasn’t dark or light; my soul was.
What gave me the advantage in my investigations was not my power but my mind. I could use my magic to be anything I wanted. The magic I got from John was stained with his cruelty, but it wasn’t him. I hadn’t taken his soul into me. I could use him as an example of what not to do and use his power to help people.
I didn’t have to escape from him. I didn’t have to reject his power or the fact that he was probably my father. He was dead. Everything I did was my own doing, whether it was hurting someone or helping someone. It wasn’t John’s power influencing me.
Power corrupted. I had to be stronger than my magic. I had to be emotionally and mentally in control, instead of letting it control me. That was how I would stop myself from hurting people. I had to control myself.
* * *
I was having a vision in a dream and seeing through someone’s eyes. This time, however, the person was facing Remington.
“I will not have you undermining my authority, Joe,” Remy said. “I am in charge of the school and when you tell students they don’t have to---”
“Just because your father got tired of your attitude and sent you here to get you out of his hair, doesn’t mean you know how to run a school,” the man whose eyes I was seeing through responded.
“You are dangerously close to being shot in the face.”
Chapter 7
Sunday, August 28
I woke to insistent knocking on my door. That was the worst kind of knocking. “It’s Sunday!” I yelled.
“Kat Padgett was found this morning in a coma!” Remington yelled back.
“Fuck.” I got up and dressed quickly. Remington was gone by the time I left my room, so I went down to the infirmary. There, she was talking to Dr. Martin and Kat was with the other two comatose students.
I poured my magic into her mind and saw nothing at all. This time, I was certain something other than the chain was blocking me from her mind. “Is there any change?” I asked.
“No,” Dr. Martin said.
“Is there anything different about Kat?”
“No,” Remy said. “She was found this morning by another student who was worried when she didn’t show up to breakfast.”
“They have no fever or signs of health issues,” Dr. Martin said. “They’re just asleep. That definitely makes me think they’re cursed.”
“I agree,” Remy said. “I just don’t know a curse that will do this. We need Langril. If it’s a potion that did this, he would know what it is and how to break it.”
“If it were a potion, they would have had to ingest it,” I said. “I doubt they’d take a potion from a stranger.”
“Someone could have snuck into their room at night and gave them a potion,” Remy said.
“Isn’t there some kind of defense against that?”
“My father’s ward is supposed to prevent that, but his wards have been overcome before, as you well know.”
“I think you should call your father and get his---”
“Absolutely not.”
“Okay. I will get Darwin started on listening for rumors and researching sleep curses. Make sure the staff are being diligent with attendance and guarding the students. I need to talk to her group again. I think they have been targeted, but I don’t know why. When Rhonda gets here, please send her to my office. I want her to examine the other students in Kat’s group in case there are any clues.”
“Send who?” Remy asked. Dr. Martin’s eyes widened dramatically.
“Rhonda Brown,” I said. “The nurse who works here.”
Remington glanced at Dr. Martin for a second before frowning at me. “There’s no Rhonda Brown here.”
“
Yes, there is. I’ve seen her. Dr. Martin was even talking to her.”
“Yes, but that’s because I’m a necromancer,” Dr. Martin said. “I thought you knew. I don’t know how you could not know.”
“Rhonda Brown was a nurse when I was a student here,” Remy added. “She’s dead. She died fifteen years ago.”
* * *
“Go away!” Darwin shouted through the door. “It’s Sunday!”
I opened the door, not at all surprised that it wasn’t locked. “We have another case. Get up.”
He sat up. His severe bed-head and the puppies on his baby-blue pajamas made him look even younger than he was. “Is it fae again?”
“I don’t think so. A third wizard student just went into a coma. We suspect it’s a curse, because there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with them except that they’re not waking up. I need you to look up possible curses and how to break them.”
“Have you tried true love’s kiss?”
“They’re fifteen.”
“You’re ageist.”
As he got up and dressed with the enthusiasm and speed of a depressed sloth, I told him that it was Kat Padgett.
“So three students fell into comas, and those three students happen to be orphans, wizards, and in the same study group. That’s not suspicious at all. I want cameras installed in the West hallways and the library by August 25th,” he said.
“The twenty-fifth was three days ago.”
“And if you had put them there when I requested it, we would have some evidence now. I don’t get why you let the kids lie to you.”
“It’s complicated.”
He frowned. “You know you can trust me.”
“I do. Let me know if you find out anything. I’m going to go talk to the other members of the study group.”
I went to the West, where most of the students were eating breakfast. I scanned the room and didn’t see any members of the study group. As I was about to go to the other dining room, a teacher approached me. “Did you get lost?” she asked. She was a strict-looking woman in her early sixties with white hair and narrowed brown eyes.
I’d seen her, but I hadn’t been introduced, because she worked in the South with the ten-through-fourteen-year-olds. “No, I work here. I’m Devon Sanders, the---”
“Yes, I know. You’re the newbie that Headmaster Hunt’s daughter brought with her,” she said snidely. “You have no business being in this building.”
I laughed. At Quintessence, I was one of the oldest students. At this school, I was one of the youngest staff members. The reason I found her scorn amusing was because I could imagine how Remy would handle it if the teacher said anything directly to her face. I could be sympathetic to the woman’s insecurities, as she did work many years here, but that didn’t mean I was going to let her use me to make herself feel better. I took it for what it was; she felt threatened by newcomers and that really had nothing to do with me. Remington, however, was perfectly willing to tear apart anyone who challenged her. What she lacked in years, she more than made up for in determination.
“I’m looking for Leon Raymo, Jasmine Pryor, and Jessica Connolly. Either point me in their direction or leave me alone.” I felt my magic automatically try to control her, but instead, I got a sharp sting in my arm. That was really getting old. On the flipside, the negative reinforcement was probably helping.
“How dare you speak to a professor that way?”
“If you don’t like it, don’t act like a---”
“Mrs. Konwerski, can we go to the lake to swim?” a ten-year-old boy interrupted.
“No, you cannot!” the teacher snapped.
The boy left, disappointed.
At that point, I spotted Leon and approached him as he sat at a table with some other kids. When he spotted me, he jumped up, fear on his face. “We need to talk in my office. Bring Jasmine and Jessica.”
“I’m sorry we lied!”
“Not here. In my office. Ten minutes or you’re expelled.” I wasn’t actually going to expel them, but I didn’t want to wait until sometime a few weeks from now before they showed up. He nodded and I left.
I walked to my office leisurely, aware that someone or something was watching me. Since my instincts weren’t warning me of danger, I didn’t worry about it. When I got to my office, I found a stack of discipline notices and a list of books that the librarian ordered.
I skimmed the list of books, seeing no problem, and then got some of the discipline notices out of the way.
Brianna arrived early in classroom and yelled “You shall not pass!” to the teacher.
Nurnabi arrived late and said “Why do you want to know where I was? You ain’t my wife!”
Jill threw a fireball at the pile of tests, burning them and forcing the teacher to print more off.
Kalani told another student to kiss her “ethnically-hard-to-determine” ass.
“Mr. Sanders?” The timid announcement drew my attention from the notices and I looked up to see Leon, Jasmine, and Jessica standing in the doorway.
Jasmine was a pretty Indian girl with red streaks in her black hair. Jessica had died blue hair and a tiny paw print tattoo on her right ear. I didn’t think the orphanage allowed tattoos, so I suspected it was fake.
“Come on in and take a seat.” Jessica and Jasmine sat on the couch and Leon sat on one of the chairs in front of my desk. “Where were you on Sunday night?”
“We were in the library,” Jasmine said instantly.
I tried to see the truth in her mind, but I only got a wall around that memory. “I know you weren’t,” I said. “Three of your friends are in comas. Whether it’s a curse, a drug, or a poison, we don’t know. We may never know in time unless you tell me where you were.”
“We were in the library,” Jessica insisted.
Leon’s eyes were getting watery and he looked terrified. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I spoke with the librarian. I know you weren’t there.”
“It was after she left,” Jasmine said.
“You three are the only ones left who know where you were, and you are probably next. If you go into comas before giving me the answer, we might never be able to save you.” Tears ran down Leon’s cheeks. “Leon. Where were you?”
Both Jessica and Jasmine glared at him, but he wasn’t looking at them. “We were in the library.”
I sat back in my seat with an irritated sigh. If I wasn’t wearing the chain, I could have had the truth out of them in ten seconds.
“We were in the library…” he repeated. “We got there when the librarian left, before Cy snuck back in.”
That made me pause. If he knew Cy snuck in there, that meant they had to have at least gone by the library.
“Why didn’t Cy know you were in there?”
“The library is big, Mr. Sanders.”
“Not that big.”
“We don’t know what happened to them.”
“Shut up, stupid,” Jessica snarled at him.
Leon continued crying. “I don’t want to die and I don’t want to be the reason they die. I don’t know what happened to them. We didn’t do anything to them.”
Whatever they did, Jessica and Jasmine knew it was wrong, but weren’t willing to tell me. Leon seemed honest that he didn’t think whatever they did caused the comas. If they inadvertently angered someone, they wouldn’t necessarily know that.
“Alright. Go back to the West.” The girls stood, but Leon didn’t believe he was out of the fire yet. “I will be talking to all of you again.” Jessica rolled her eyes as they left. Leon got up and left without a word.
Shadows moved behind me and my instincts warned me I was being watched, but when I turned, I was alone.
I gently pressed my power against Rocky’s presence, like a mental tap on the arm. A moment later, she appeared before me. “You had better not be asking me to send a message,” she warned in my mind.
“I need you to watch some kids. They might be involved with three children falling
into comas. I need you to let me know if they go anywhere alone… aside from the bathroom, or if they talk to each other. Basically, tell me if they do anything suspicious. Will you do it?” I sent her the mental pictures of all three kids, knowing that was enough for her to track them.
“Yes.” She vanished.
With that done, I went to the library. Not to my surprise, I found Cy with his head in a book. He reminded me a lot of Darwin. He was muttering to himself, though, which I thought was strange. “How are you doing, Cy?” I asked.
He flinched and looked up at me. “Oh, hi, Mr. Sanders. I’m fine. How are you?”
“I’m good. Who are you talking to?”
“Misaki.” He stretched out the neck of his shirt to show me a fox tattoo on his shoulder. “She’s always with me. Did you need me for anything?”
“No.”
He went back to work and I found the librarian shelving books. “When do you get the new books in?” I asked.
“Should be this weekend. How can I help you?”
“Is there a restricted, staff, or janitorial room off the library?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. We’re not fancy like the university.”
“Oh. Then do you have any books on curses?”
“Yes. At the end of the aisle, turn right, and go all the way down. All books on curses are in the corner.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Just let me know if you want to take any out.”
“Will do.” I found the books easily and started looking for anything useful.
“Hey, Cy, did you take any books and forget to let me know?” Ms. Sommerfeld asked.
“No, ma’am.”
“What’s missing?” I asked.
