Just as I was about done, Laura entered the dining hall. She wasn’t alone, either—Caitlyn, the girl who had been at the bar that night was with her too. Laura had been rude to me the first night. Caitlyn, however… the jury was out on what I thought of her. On the one hand there was the feminist in me who thought all girls ought to stick together. On the other hand, there was the bitch in me, who had seen Laura steal Dante away in the middle of the night and thought she could go and suck—my phone started buzzing, snapping me out of the moment. At first, I didn’t recognize the name on the screen, but that was because I’d never had a friend called Kyle before.
I answered.
“Hello?” I asked.
“Are you at breakfast?” Kyle asked.
“Uh… yeah? Why aren’t you?”
“Not hungry. You aren’t either.”
“I’m not?”
“No, and you want to come down here and help me for a second.”
“And why’s that?”
“I can’t really explain it over the phone, but it’s an emergency.”
I frowned, concerned. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, just get your polyamorous ass down here, rapido… and bring bacon.”
I scanned the room like I was about ready to commit a crime, then got up and left briskly, carrying my plate of food with me. By the time I had reached the alchemy lab, most of the bacon I had piled onto the plate was gone, but that was no longer of importance. The entire lab was bathed in a shimmering green glow, at the center of which was a light so bright I almost couldn’t look at it directly.
“Shut the damn door!” Kyle yelled, only I couldn’t see him for the radiance in the room.
I kicked it shut behind me, and set the plate I was carrying down on a counter near the door. At first, I thought this was some kind of green bonfire that emitted neither heat nor sound, but when my eyes adjusted to the brilliance, I saw what was really going on. The thing giving off the green light may have been a fire, but it was more like a collection of fiery green stars, each floating together in a cohesive way to create an almost humanoid figure so tall it was hunched over even Kyle’s head.
But that wasn’t even the strangest thing.
Everything not bolted down was floating in the air, moving lazily, and silently, like driftwood following a calm river. Beakers, test tubes, burners, books, cutting utensils, even chairs and a small table were all floating around, circling this tall, green entity, and Kyle who was standing before it, his hand stretched out, making contact with the thing’s ephemeral—chest? —body. Soon enough, the plate I had set down started to float, stray pieces of bacon taking flight independent of the plate they had been set on and floating around the room, pulled along by some invisible current.
“Kyle?” I asked, “What the hell is going on?”
“I think it’s probably better if you don’t ask too many questions.”
“Oh, come on, you’re seriously going to expect me to not ask about the elephant in the room?”
“It’s not an elephant, you farmer, this is a minor spirit I summoned here. Don’t ask me if I summoned it by accident, and don’t ask me to explain why all of this shit is floating around, just assume that I have everything under control.”
I placed a hand on my hip. “If you have everything under control, then why’d you tell me you had an emergency?”
“Because I had to get you down here somehow.”
“Okay, I’m here… now what?”
“Now I want you to come over here and touch this thing.”
“What? No way!”
“It’s perfectly safe.”
I shook my head. “Like hell it is.”
“I’m serious. Do I look like the kind of person who would lie to you?”
“I don’t think I know you well enough to make a decision on that.”
“Will you just come over here and trust me?”
Looking around the room at the objects floating around, I figured I had two choices; leave Kyle to whatever this whole situation was and go back to my day where I didn’t have to deal with immaterial beings, or stay and learn the truth about what Kyle had done and how, and possibly end up having to help him contain the problem. Because no matter what he said, I had no faith that he was entirely in control of the situation.
He may have been at one point, but he wasn’t anymore.
I rolled my eyes and walked toward the center of the room, getting closer to the shimmering being standing in front of Kyle. As I approached, I noticed a pentacle had been drawn into the floor using white chalk. Several points on it had been marked with a symbol I didn’t recognize, some of them were glowing in different colors, as if light was coming up from underneath the symbols themselves.
As I approached, I noticed that same electrical current move through me, causing my skin to vibrate and break into goose bumps.
“Okay,” I said, “What do I, uh… what do I do?”
Kyle turned his head to look at me, half of him bathed in bright, green light. “Like I said, just touch it. Step into the circle, reach out with your hand, and touch it.”
“And then what happens?”
“Who cares what happens?”
“I do. What if this thing steals my soul or something?”
“It’s a minor spirit—it can’t do that.”
“Well, I don’t know what it can and can’t do. All I know is that it’s huge, and I feel like it’s looking at me.”
“And it can hear you, and understand you.”
I turned my eyes up at the creature, saw the balls of fire swirling around inside its mass, and felt a shiver crawl up my spine. Maybe it could understand me, and if it could, then I didn’t want to talk badly about it. “Alright, so… just reach in and touch it?” I asked.
“That’s right. Step into the circle… yes, just like that, now reach out.”
Once I had stepped into the circle, there really was no going back, so I stretched my hand into the swirling, bright spirit creature expecting to feel heat, but encountering a kind of comfortable cold—the kind that reminded me of flipping the pillow over to get the cool side on a hot night. The entity was like mist, like a cloud, but then the cloud took hold of my hand, and I felt myself rooted to the spot. I tried to jerk back, but couldn’t.
“What the hell?” I asked.
Kyle slipped his hand out of the creature’s body and shook it as if it had been cramping up. “Ahhhh, that’s better,” he said.
“What is?”
I watched him walk out of the circle, step around it, and head toward the door, snatching a free-floating piece of bacon from right out of midair. He took a bite out of the bacon and looked at me. “I’ve been stuck there for three hours.”
“Three hours? What are you talking about?”
“I didn’t exactly lie when I said I had things under control. They are. I just needed someone to sub for me.”
“Sub?”
“Yeah, I need to have breakfast, and maybe also go for a piss.”
I tried to pull my hand out of the creature’s midsection, but the green core intensified, as if lightning were roiling inside of it. I got the impression it didn’t want me to let go. “Why is it doing that?” I asked.
“Okay, so, just one rule to follow… don’t step out of the circle.”
“Why not?”
“Because you could die. Probably will die, in fact.”
“So, I’m supposed to just stand here? For how long?”
Kyle grabbed another piece of bacon and stuffed it into his mouth, then headed for the door. “For as long as it takes for me to go to the bathroom and figure out how to send our guest back home.”
“You mean, you have no idea how to send it back.”
“Not in the slightest. I should have been a little worried when it was so easy to bring through, but then I didn’t think that was because he had no intention of going back once he’d gotten here.”
“Dude, do not leave me hang
ing here right now.”
“You’ll be fine,” Kyle said, stepping out of the room.
“Kyle, you come back here right now!”
“I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” The door shut. “Make that thirty!”
I stared at the entity standing in front of me, looming above me. It was like staring into a cluster of stars, each dancing around the other, playing with each other’s gravity. “That was a dirty trick you just pulled,” I said, “You and him. And if I can figure out how to get you both back I will.”
More lightning illuminated the spirit’s core. Somehow, maybe telepathically, I received the mental impression of a sweet, innocent, almost mocking giggle.
Was this thing mocking me?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The chairs, tables, and any big pieces of furniture not bolted down had been salvageable, but sadly, the same couldn’t be said for every single piece of glass that had been in the room prior to the spirit’s banishment. After making me wait almost twenty minutes, Kyle had returned, his mind fresh and clear, with a spell to send the spirit back to wherever it was it had come from, but the spirit’s sudden disappearance had triggered some kind of psychic shockwave that had caused everything that had been floating to come crashing down.
I swept up the last few shards of glass while Kyle set two chairs close to the entrance to the alchemy lab and sat down. When I was done with the spade and the broom, I walked over to where he was sitting, and joined him, sighing deeply and examining the domain. The room looked a lot duller now, without all of those sparkly test tubes and beakers in it.
“So, that wasn’t fun at all,” I said.
“Could have been worse.”
“I guess it could have.”
“Just so you know, that kind of thing doesn’t happen often.”
“What doesn’t happen often?”
He rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you been paying attention?”
“You were speaking while I was cleaning up. I wasn’t always listening to you.”
“Well you should’ve!” Kyle folded his arms.
“Alright, pipe down. Why don’t you just tell me again?”
He gave me a sidelong glance. “I don’t usually mess up a summoning like that,” he said.
“How did you mess it up?”
“I didn’t really mess it up, I guess, but I shouldn’t have taken the bait and let it through in the first place. How was I supposed to know it wouldn’t want to leave after?”
I stared at him as if he had started speaking Chinese. “Haven’t caught a word of that… what are you talking about?”
“The spirit! I was the one who summoned it through to this side and I shouldn’t have. My spell was perfect, it was just a stubborn little bastard and it refused to leave. That’s why I needed to pull an exorcism spell out of the hat.”
“That was an exorcism?”
“Oh, that’s right, you were expecting crucifixes and prayers to God almighty.”
“When you use the word exorcism that’s what comes to mind.”
“Well, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, I just wasn’t in the right mindset to do it until you came in and covered for me.”
“Yeah, thanks, by the way, for doing that. Most awkward twenty minutes of my life.”
“Did you die?”
“No.”
“And you probably learned a thing or two. So, you’re welcome!”
A smile crept across my face. “I’m sure that’s what you want me to think, but you’re actually adorable inside. Loyal. Kind. Generous.”
His face twisted into a scowl. “Who’s been saying that about me? I’ll kill them.”
“No one. I’m just good at reading people once I’ve sat with them for a while.”
“Hm. That’s another succubus thing, isn’t it?”
I shrugged. “Must be. You can summon spirits, I can read people. I think yours is more impressive.”
“I don’t know. Considering the assholes I have to deal with on a near daily basis, I think being able to bang someone to death is a better power.”
“Spirits are assholes?”
“Uh, yeah? How do you think that one managed to get onto this side in the first place? Asshole tricked me. All night I’d sensed its presence, gnawing at the back of my mind. I thought it had something to tell me, something important, but when I brought it over it just latched on and refused to leave. So, yeah, spirits can be opportunistic assholes too.”
“That’s the most awesome sentence I’ve heard all day.”
“You’re welcome to it, and if you ever want to learn more about spirits… ask someone else.”
I laughed at the joke, but the sound of the door opening startled me and caused me to almost stand. It was Tom. He took one look at the place, narrowed his eyes, and then looked at me. “Hey,” he said, “Is… everything okay in here?”
“Of course,” Kyle said, standing, “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Oh, I just… where are all the, uh…”
“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“It is, considering we share the lab. Where is all the equipment?”
“I’m using it.”
“All of it?”
“Yes, all of it! I needed it all, so I took it. If you want more, you’ll have to take it up with Madeline.”
Tom shook his head. “Whatever, I didn’t come up to the lab to work anyway—I came for you.”
“Me?” I asked.
“Yes, I heard you were up here, so I thought I’d come and ask if you’d like to join Elroy and I for tea.”
“Tea?”
“You don’t drink tea?”
“No, I mean, I didn’t.”
“So, you do drink tea now?”
“I do, I’ve just never heard it used like that before. Join us for tea. It sounds so—”
“British? Could be because you’re in London.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Kyle said, heading for the door and pushing past Tom. “You two are hopeless.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“If you have to ask, then you don’t deserve to hear the answer.”
Tom stared at me, awkwardness clearly showing on his face. “Sorry about that,” he said.
“Why are you apologizing for him?”
“I don’t know. Politeness.”
“You don’t have to apologize for him. I like him.”
“Well, good, I guess someone has to… so, will you come for tea, or?”
The thought of going for tea with him and his mentor wasn’t exactly something I was particularly happy to do. I was as certain as the sun rose in the east that this was an invitation to talk with Tom and his mentor, probably about me, and considering how the last time had gone, it wasn’t a situation I wanted to repeat.
“Madeline will be there,” he said, as if to try and ease my apprehension, or sweeten the deal.
“Madeline?” I asked.
“Yes, she’s up with my mentor right now. There’s biscuits and scones, and we can have coffee brought up if you prefer it.”
I shook my head. “No, tea is fine,” I said, conceding.
“Excellent,” Tom said, smiling. He stepped out of the way and let me through, but I fell into step behind him soon after, allowing him to take me to wherever it was we would be having tea with his mentor and with Madeline.
“So, do you want to tell me what happened in there?” Tom asked, “Or do I have to take a guess?”
“I’d like for you to guess, actually—see if you’re on the money.”
“Okay, well, it’s clear that every single one of the instruments smashed somehow because I saw the pile of glass sitting in the corner of the room, I just want to know how it happened.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Does it involve Kyle summoning something?”
“It might… how did you figure that one out?”
“Because he’s always talking to spirits, even though Madelin
e frowns upon him summoning those entities within the Alexandria.”
“Where else is he supposed to go and do it?”
“I don’t know, but spirits are unpredictable. They could cause all kinds of chaos if left to their own devices.
“Then don’t you think it makes sense that he does it here? Better that a spirit breaks a couple of beakers than for one to go on a rampage around London.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Are there many summoners in the school?”
He shook his head as he walked. “Not many, no. Definitely none with his level of skill. He may be a little abrasive, but he knows what he’s doing at least.”
We arrived at the door to a small study overseeing the western side of the Alexandria. In the distance I could see tall buildings, cranes, and helicopters towering over the glittering city that seemed to exist under a mantle of perpetual, grey clouds. Inside the study, a table had been set up with to receive a silver tray on which sat several teacups, a bowl of biscuits, sugar, milk; that sort of thing.
Elroy, Tom’s mentor, stood and smiled. “Lilith,” he said, walking over to me and extending his hand. “Thank you for joining us.”
“Hi,” I said, taking it and shaking his hand. “It’s no problem. Thanks for inviting me. I wasn’t doing much anyway.”
“Brilliant, well, if you’d like to take a seat, we can get started.”
Elroy moved over to where he had been sitting and went to sit down again. As I approached the chairs, I noticed Madeline wasn’t in the room, and a shiver like fingers of ice ran up my spine. I shuddered slightly as I touched the seat I was meant to take, then turned my eyes at Tom, and then at Elroy, then back at Tom.
“Isn’t Madeline joining us?” I asked, and then I saw it—a sudden plume of mist rose up from behind Tom’s shoulders like a halo the color of a sickly, yellow bruise. Fear. He was scared of something. Something I had said, maybe.
“Madeline isn’t joining us today,” Elroy said.
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