“You’re just trying to be nice,” I said, sighing. “I just don’t have it and that’s that.”
He frowned at me. “Megan, you’re a Latimer.”
“You keep saying that,” I protested. “But I don’t even know what it means!”
“It means you’re a member of one of the first families—that you can trace your lineage back to one of the Elder Sisters. To the Elder Sister,” he told me. “Don’t you know that in her time, your ancestress, Corinne Latimer was the most powerful witch in the entire country? Maybe in the entire world?”
I shook my head.
“Honestly, I don’t know much of anything about my mom’s family. She once told me she had a falling out with them back when she was in college and that was why she moved to Seattle to get away from them. We didn’t even come back to Florida to go to my grandmother’s funeral.” I sighed. “I think the only person we kept in touch with on her side was my Aunt Dellie, who was her older sister. She’s who I live with now since my mom…” I swallowed hard. “Since she passed two years ago and my dad decided he had better things to do than be a single parent.”
“I’m so sorry, Megan,” Kaitlyn said quietly. “That’s really tough.”
I shrugged. “I survived. But the point is, I don’t know much about my mom’s family. Also, if all the Latimer witches are so powerful, then what happened to my Aunt Dellie? I mean, I love her and she was willing to take me in when my Dad opted out of the whole fatherhood thing, but she’s, uh, kind of kooky, you know? I mean, she teaches belly-dancing and herb lore and she wears these muumuus with kittens printed all over them and well…she strikes me as more of a free-spirited hippie love child than a great and powerful witch.”
“Sometimes the magic skips a generation,” Avery said. “Or sometimes when there are two sisters born close together, the magic chooses one of them and leaves the other as a Null—or close to a Null. That’s what happened to my mom. My Aunt Gertrude is as powerful as they come—she’s even a member of the Windermere Coven and they only take the very best.”
“So maybe your mother was the powerful one—the one with magic,” Emma suggested to me.
I shook my head. “No way—I never saw my mom do anything at all out of the ordinary. Also…” My throat wanted to lock up but I forced myself to say it. “Also, she died of lung cancer. If she had some kind of wonderful, super-witch powers, don’t you think she would have cured herself?”
“Maybe she couldn’t,” Avery said doubtfully. “Healing magic is considered to be the hardest magical discipline to master. It takes years and a really strong magical aptitude to even begin to be able to heal small things—let alone life-threatening injuries or illnesses.” He frowned. “I think your great-great grandmother Corinne was a Healer, actually.”
“Well she clearly didn’t pass any of that down to my mom,” I said bitterly. “You know she wasn’t even a smoker? She hadn’t ever touched a cigarette in her life. And still she…” I broke off, shaking my head. It was still too hard to talk about.
“We’re so sorry, Megan,” Emma said softly.
“Losing someone you love is the worst.” Kaitlyn’s voice was so low I could barely hear it.
“I’m sorry,” Avery said soberly. “I don’t have any answers about what happened to your mother, Megan. All I know is that magic—incredibly strong magic—runs in your family. Do you know when Corinne Latimer founded the Windermere Coven it was said they could even control the weather? I mean, in a big way—they once stopped a major hurricane in its tracks—caused it to dissipate on the spot. And that’s something down here in Florida!”
“I thought you said only Warlocks could do that kind of magic?” I said, frowning.
Avery lifted his eyebrows. “Making a hurricane dissipate and just…poof, go away?” He blew on his open palm as though to show the hurricane in question vanishing. “Not even the strongest warlock can manage that. You know a Category 5 hurricane can have the strength of twenty megaton bombs? And your Grandma Corinne and her coven got rid of one like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“What else could Megan’s great-great-grandmother do?” Emma sounded awed.
“Well, it was also said the Windermere coven at full strength could lay curses that would last for generations and make rules all the Others had to obey,” Avery said. “They’re the ones who cast the Edict, you know.”
“The what?” I asked, frowning.
“The Edict—the Law that Others of different species can’t mix,” Kaitlyn said. “It was in my History of Magic class,” she said, shrugging, when Emma and Avery gave her a surprised look.
“Are you allowed to take magic classes—er, Other Studies—if you’re a Norm?” I asked.
Emma nodded. “Oh sure, if you want to. Not the ones that require any kind of magical skill, of course—you’d just flunk out. But history courses and that kind of thing are okay for Norms to take.”
“But aren’t they—the administration of the Academy, I mean—afraid you’ll run out and tell everything you learned?” I asked, frowning.
Avery snorted. “Hardly. All the Norms who come here—teachers and students alike—have to agree to be bound by non-disclosure magic.”
“Which means you basically can’t tell anything you’ve seen or learned here—or even the location of the Academy itself,” Kaitlyn put in.
“Like anyone would believe you if you did,” Avery said dryly. “If you go running around shouting that there’s a magical Academy in the middle of an orange grove and it’s filled with witches and vampires and fairies and were-dragons, Norms are more likely to lock you up than listen to you.”
Well, that was true, I had to concede. But I had other questions.
“Why is Nocturne Academy located in the middle of an orange grove in Florida, anyway?” I asked curiously. “I would have thought a secret school for magical creatures would be someplace…I don’t know, more prestigious. More scenic. Like in upstate New York or in the mountains of Scotland—someplace like that.”
“Two reasons, actually,” Avery said, ticking them off on his fingers. “First, it’s way easier to hide a big-ass magic Academy from the Norms in the middle of Podunk Florida than it would be someplace more interesting and scenic where you’d get tons of sight-seers. Second, lots of Others are cold-blooded and they like it warm. Nocturnes, for instance, are always chilly—just touch one and you’ll see what I mean.”
“Um, okay,” I murmured, thinking of the coolness that seemed to radiate off Griffin’s lean, muscular frame when I got too near to him.
“And the dragons that live inside the Drakes need warm weather too,” Kaitlyn said. “Some of them breathe fire but most are cold-blooded—like lizards or dinosaurs.” She shivered, as though the thought made her uncomfortable.
“So that’s why Nocturne Academy is located in Frostproof,” Emma finished for them. “And thank goodness or Kaitlyn and I would have been stuck at Frostproof High!”
I was interested in the history of the school and why it happened to be here, but I wanted to go back to something else we had talked about.
“So this Edict,” I said, frowning. “What did you guys mean when you said it keeps Others of different species from mixing? I mean, they all take classes together, right?”
“We’re not talking about going to classes together,” Avery said dryly. “The Edict keeps Others of different species from mixing romantically. That means no Drakes playing kissy-face with Faes and no Nocturnes doing the nasty with Sisters.” He wagged one finger back and forth. “Dating and cohabitation among dissimilar Others is strictly a no-no. A place for everyone and everyone in their place—that’s the idea and the Edict makes sure it stays that way.”
“But how?” I asked, puzzled. “I mean, how does it work? How does it keep Others of different species from dating?”
Avery shrugged. “It just does. Mainly by keeping them from even being attracted to each other. Of course, the magic is over a century old now and some people
say it’s breaking down, but it won’t matter even if it does.”
“What? Why not?” I asked.
“Well because, newbie—the precedent has been set,” Avery explained patiently. “Even if the spell cast by Corinne and the Windermere Coven dissolves completely, Others still won’t mix with each other because by now it’s considered completely taboo. I mean, think of it this way—my father would rather I bring home a warlock or even a male Norm as my date than if I brought home say…a female Fae. And let me tell you…” He narrowed his eyes for emphasis. “That is saying something. He does not like the idea that I bat for the other team—not that we’ve ever really discussed it—but he has a pretty clear idea.”
“So he’d rather you be gay with a male witch or Norm than straight and have a thing for a different kind of Other?” I said, sorting it out.
“Yes. Even though he is the biggest homophobe that ever walked the Goddess’s green earth.” Avery nodded emphatically. “And that’s how ingrained the idea that Others don’t mix has become since the Windermere Coven cast that damn spell.”
I shook my head. “But why? I mean, why would my great-great-grandmother and her coven want to cast a spell like the Edict anyway?”
“I think it’s because many of Others mixed marriages result in sterility,” Kaitlyn said. “Maybe she was afraid the different species of Others would die out all together if they were allowed to mix. And they’re already outnumbered by us Norms so that would be bad.”
“Or maybe it was because when two Others of different species bind their hearts together, they double their powers,” Avery offered. “Or so it’s said, anyway.”
“I guess if you got enough of those kind of, uh, ‘power couples’ together, it could disrupt the balance of the current establishment,” I said, thoughtfully.
Avery nodded. “Possibly. But because of the Edict—and its lasting effects—we modern Others will never know.” He pouted. “Which means I’m never going to date one of those hunky Drakes on our football team.”
Emma snorted. “Like you were going to anyway. Those guys are as straight as they come—plus they’re all testosterone-crazy jerks.”
Remembering Sanchez and his friends in my English class, I had to agree with her.
“But they’re muscular jerks,” Avery said wistfully. “Ah well, what can you do?”
“Stay away from them,” Kaitlyn said emphatically. “They’re nasty when you get too close. Drakes have terrible personalities because their dragons are always really close to the surface—it’s like they have ‘roid rage all the time,” she explained to me.
“Yeah,” Emma agreed and yawned hugely. Glancing at her watch, she made a face. “Guys, I have got to get to bed. Tomorrow is one of my long days.”
“Long days?” I asked, frowning.
“Oh, I have to do all my classes and then I leave and go work a shift at the I Scream,” Emma explained. “I work until about ten and then I still have to come back to campus and do all my homework. It makes for a really long day.”
“I bet,” I said sympathetically. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you do it?”
“It’s the only way my mom and I can make ends meet,” Emma said a bit stiffly. “My dad was never really in the picture—he left when I was born. So it’s just me and my mom and the landlord just raised the rent on our crappy apartment.” She made a face. “So I’m actually trying to work more shifts lately.”
“Sorry,” I said. “That’s rough.” I couldn’t help thinking that I was lucky in a way. Even though Aunt Dellie couldn’t afford to pay my tuition and had to get me into the Academy on scholarship, she at least owned her home and had a pretty secure income from all the classes that she taught.
“It’s life.” Emma shrugged. “At least I was able to get special permission to leave campus during the week to work or I never would have been able to attend Nocturne Academy at all.”
I bit my lip. “So…you need special permission to leave? You can’t just wander off campus any time you want?”
“My Goddess, no.” Avery sounded shocked. “That’s an expulsion offense. Headmistress Nightworthy does not allow sneaking out. Plus the Guardian would probably eat you if it caught you going off grounds without permission.”
“The Guardian?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The sea-monster in the lake,” Kaitlyn supplied. “Some people say it’s related to the Drakes in some way but who knows?”
I remembered the huge scaly head and the dinner plate-sized golden eye I had seen peering at me from the opaque black waters of the lake that morning. God, had it really only been that morning I’d first seen the Academy? It seemed like a lifetime ago!
“Why do you ask about sneaking out?” Avery asked, breaking my concentration. “Were you planning to leave yourself?”
“Me? Oh, no,” I said frowning. “It’s just that I saw…” I put a hand to my throat, where the key was quivering threateningly. “I thought I saw someone sneaking out tonight.”
“Really? Who?” Avery leaned forward, clearly excited for some juicy gossip.
“It was…was…” The key tightened, not allowing me to say Griffin’s name. “It was a really tall Nocturne who’s in my English class,” I said at last.
“Well that narrows it down.” Avery sounded disappointed. “All Nocturnes are tall and lean and perfect—that’s what a diet of pure blood will do to you.”
“Do they really drink human blood?” I asked, frowning.
“Goodness no—not except for special occasions when they buy it from the blood bank,” Kaitlyn said firmly. She sounded like she knew what she was talking about and I remembered she lived with a family of Nocturnes on the weekends.
“They mostly subsist on animal blood,” Avery said. “Though I have heard some scintillating rumors about how they like to bite their lovers when they get, shall we say, intimate.”
“I don’t think the act of biting and taking blood is only sexual,” Kaitlyn objected. “Sometimes it’s an act of comfort or healing. It’s the intention behind it that counts.”
“The way you can get a hug from your parents or a hug from your boyfriend—if you have one, which none of us does,” Emma said dryly. “It can mean two different things even though it’s the same physical gesture.”
“Exactly.” Kaitlyn nodded.
“But all this talk about Nocturnes taking blood still doesn’t tell us who the mystery man Megan saw sneaking out after curfew was,” Avery complained. “I need to know!”
“Honestly, Avery—you’re so nosy,” Kaitlyn scolded. “How could Megan know who it is? She only got here today—she barely knows us.”
“That’s not true,” Emma objected. “Megan belongs with us. I can’t explain it but…it’s almost like we’ve been waiting for her. Waiting for you,” she said to me, and ducked her head, as though she’d embarrassed herself. “I mean, I know that sounds weird…”
“Not really,” I said honestly. “I feel the same way. I mean…I’ve never fit in anywhere before. But with you guys I just…”
“Clicked,” we all four said together at the exact same time.
Emma and Kaitlyn looked at each other with round eyes and Avery was quiet for once.
“Did that just happen?” Emma asked at last, in a low voice. “Because it was kind of spooky.”
“No, it’s not—it just means that Megan is meant to be here,” Avery said with deep certainty. “She completes our little coven in some way.”
“But we can’t be part of a coven—Emma and I are Norms,” Kaitlyn protested.
“Are you really, though?” Avery asked mysteriously. “I mean, are you sure? Kaitlyn, you’re being sponsored by the Breedloves—Frostproof’s oldest and most prestigious Nocturne family. And Emma, you don’t even know who’s sponsoring you.”
Emma shifted on the couch uncomfortably.
“The Headmistress said it’s a generous benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. She said I was picked at random from a
lot of high achieving, low income kids.”
“Right. Picked at random.” The sarcasm in Avery’s voice made it clear what he thought of that idea.
“Look, I have to get to bed,” Emma said, frowning. “I don’t think Kaitlyn and I are qualified to be in a coven no matter who’s sponsoring us for the Academy.”
“Think what you want.” Avery waved one hand airily. “But we still don’t know the identity of Megan’s mystery Nocturne.” He frowned at me. “Can you describe him at least?”
“Well,” I said cautiously, keeping one hand to the key at my throat. So far it seemed willing to let me talk as long as I didn’t mention Griffin by name. “He’s got black hair and really intense eyes—pale gray with a ring of black all around them.”
“Hmm…go on.” Avery was frowning.
“He’s gorgeous,” I admitted, feeling a little quiver in the pit of my stomach when I thought of exactly how gorgeous the tall Nocturne was. “He’s extremely sarcastic. Oh, and he has a thick piece of black tape running down the middle of his red card—the one he has hanging from his lanyard,” I added for clarification.
From their reaction, you would have thought I’d said I saw the Devil himself sneaking out of the castle.
Emma and Kaitlyn’s eyes went big and frightened and Avery jumped back suddenly as though someone had pinched him and cursed in a low voice.
“What?” I asked uncertainly.
“Griffin,” Avery said at last and I was relieved that the key at my throat didn’t tighten when someone else said his name. “You’re talking about Griffin Darkheart.”
“Is that his name?” I asked, pretending ignorance as well as I could. “Well anyway, I saw him sneaking out tonight and I just wondered—”
“No,” Avery cut me off firmly. “No, Megan—you don’t ‘wonder’ about Griffin Darkheart. You don’t look at him, you don’t sit near him, and you sure as hell don’t talk to him. Just leave him strictly alone.”
“What? But…why?” I was surprised and a little upset by their extreme reactions.
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