A Curse of Flames

by Sophia Shade

  “You are not losing your mind,” she says. “You’re stuck in an impossible situation. I just wish I could help you. What do you need me to do?”

  I glance over at the trunk at the foot of my bed, thinking about the faculty interviews I’ve hidden underneath it. That’s why I came back to the room—to read them more thoroughly. There must be something in them I missed before. But if I pull them out, Dannika is going to freak.

  I take a deep breath. “I need you to not be mad when you find out what I’ve done,” I say.

  “Um…okay…” Dannika says with an uneasy smile.

  “I mean it,” I say pleadingly. “You can’t freak out. I need you to be chill and help me.”

  “I’m here for you,” she says, patting my hand comfortingly.

  I hesitate, because I know she’s going to be mad even if she tries to hide it. But I finally get up, pull the interviews out from under the trunk, and then sit next to Dannika on her bed.

  “What is this?” she asks when I hand her the notebook.

  “You’ll see…”

  She flips through a few pages. After a several moments, she slows. She’s probably taking in what the pages say, and what it all means. When she gasps and puts her hand over her mouth, I know I’m right.

  “Oh my God, Imogen!” She shakes the files at me. “What were you thinking? You could get expelled for this. Or worse!”

  “I know,” I say, taking the files back from her and setting them on the bed beside me. “But I’m desperate to find out what is going on. You promised you wouldn’t freak out!”

  Dannika looks at me sharply, enough to make me slightly recoil. Then she purses her lips and rolls her eyes, as if stopping herself from saying something she might regret.

  “I’m not freaking out,” she says. “But I am hurt and angry. If you were this desperate, why didn’t you come to me? I’m your friend, Imogen.”

  I feel a sharp pang in my chest. The hurt in her eyes is visible even though she can barely look me in the face right now.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, trying to remember why I hadn’t trusted her in the first place. The vision, the fact I might be Dark Blessed. My promise to my mom.

  Still, even now, could I trust her with that? I don’t know. And that gives me my answer. If I have any doubt, I need to protect myself. But I have to try to smooth this over. Try to get to a point I can trust her with everything.

  “I…I promised my mom,” I say, hoping this will be enough. “My mom doesn’t trust the Fae. She…there are things about my mom, about me, that I…I still have to keep to myself…for now. I don’t know what else to say, how else to explain it.”

  She’s quiet for a moment, keeping her eyes on the files beside me, as if unable to believe they are there.

  “We will talk about it later,” she finally says. “I promised I will help you, and I keep my promises.”

  I let that little barb go unremarked upon because I deserve it. I only hope I can eventually trust her with everything, and that I can repair our friendship. I don’t have many friends, in this world or the human one. And yeah, I really suck at being a friend. I blame it on not having much prior experience, but I’m dedicated to getting better at it. I will get better at it.

  “Thank you,” I say, hoping I’ll have the chance to fix things between us soon. We both clear our throats and focus on the notebook, ready to divert our attention elsewhere for now. “I’ve looked through the notes before, but I didn’t see anything that seemed important at the time. I’m wondering if there’s something I missed.”

  “These are from quite a while ago,” Dannika observes. “A lot has changed since these interviews were taken. Look, there is even one here for Professor Crowsfly.”

  “What?” I ask, peering more closely. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before. What does she say?”

  “Not much,” Dannika says with a shrug. “She just talks a bit about her classes and students. She didn’t know Myra. She says she was tutoring Erick privately because he was failing Daemonology.”

  “So that’s why he was meeting with her,” I say.

  Dannika’s perfectly shaped eyebrows pull together. “What do you mean he was meeting with her?”

  “The night Professor Crowsfly was killed, I saw him go into the woods,” I say, carrying on with a lie that now rolls off my tongue like the truth. “I didn’t think anything of it until she turned up dead. I suspected for a long time he had something to do with it. I finally confronted him about it. He denied it, of course, and I believed him, but he never explained why he was there that night. But I still don’t understand why they were meeting in the woods of all places. And at night.”

  Dannika giggles. “Trust me, that’s the perfect place to learn Daemonology.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it,” I mumble, staring down at the pages and feeling awful for how I’ve judged Erick all this time. “But it still doesn’t explain why he didn’t just tell me.”

  “I’m sure he was just embarrassed,” Dannika says. “We all have our pride.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I say. “But it sure would have saved a lot of heartache if he just would have told the truth.”

  “You don’t say?” Dannika says, more to herself than to me, but I quickly get her meaning and blush. The irony lands in my lap like a block of concrete, and I can’t help but wince.

  Clearing my throat again, I look back at the book. “Is there anything else here that can help us?”

  Dannika sighs and turns the pages. “I don’t know,” she says. “This is all such mundane stuff.” She flips back to the first page just before closing the book.

  “Wait,” I say, reaching out to the image on that page. “Who is this?”

  “It looks like you stole this book from Minister Lumus Demis,” she says.

  I look more closely at the picture. “I know him from somewhere.”

  “From when you stole the book?” she asks.

  “No,” I say, and I think back for a minute to the night I stole the book. “In fact, this picture wasn’t here before. All the interview books looked the same. I didn’t know whose was whose. If the name and image of the book’s owner had been here, I would have seen it.”

  “Then where did the image come from?” Dannika asks.

  We stare at each other for a minute, unsure of what to think. A coolness creeps up my back, and I shiver.

  “Hello, girls,” a voice from the door says.

  We shriek and nearly jump from the bed.

  “Minister Tempest,” I squeak nervously, tucking the paperwork under my pillow. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was sent to collect everyone,” she says. She doesn’t seem at all interested in whatever I just hid from her. “We believe we have solved the case. Please come to the common area.”

  “What?” I ask, leaping up to follow her. “What do you mean you’ve solved the case?”

  “Was my pronunciation unclear, Miss Flareburn?” she asks.

  “No…” I say with some annoyance. “I just mean the investigation seemed to be going nowhere for so long. I’m just surprised. Can you tell me who the suspect is?”

  “That is why we are meeting in the common area, Miss Flareburn,” she says. “I’m sure you will find the answer…enlightening.”

  I sigh and run back to the room. “Come on,” I tell Dannika. “We need to hear this.”

  Before we leave, I make sure Minister Tempest isn’t still looming nearby and move the notebook from under my pillow back to its hiding place. Then Dannika and I run downstairs. Ella is already there, so we stand next to her. Erick and Caleb are also there, on opposite sides of the room. All the students and professors seem to be present.

  Minister Demis steps up and addresses the crowd. My breath hitches in my throat, and I grip Dannika’s hand.

  “I know where I’ve seen him before,” I whisper. “In the human world. He was one of the men who was chasing us.”

  “What?” Dannika
asks. “Are you sure?”

  I nod, bringing my attention to Erick for confirmation, to see if he realizes the same thing. He isn’t looking at me, but his jaw is tight, and his hand is balled into a fist.

  He’s mad. He recognizes him, too.

  That means Minister Demis tricked us. I was certain the man chasing us was human. He’d been burned by my fire attacks. He’s acted as if my fire cage was a concern to his safety. If he wasn’t human, that means he was using illusions to make us think he was.

  But why?

  Minister Tempest stands near Erick, and I swear she gives me a small smile before turning her head. What’s happening? How is she involved? I feel almost sick with nerves when I start to realize that everything is connected, but I can’t see how.

  “Attention, everyone,” Minister Demis says. “I wanted to announce to everyone that we have arrested a suspect, so you can all rest easy.”

  Everyone starts to murmur, trying to guess who the suspect is. Minister Demis motions with his hands for the room to quiet.

  “You can all rest easy tonight, knowing Damon Clawfire is in our custody.”

  Minister Tempest arches her eyebrow at me, daring me to object.

  Daring me to be next.

  Chapter 23

  “This is crazy,” Ella says. “It can’t be Mr. Clawfire.”

  “No way,” I agree, crossing my arms. “Besides, he’s supposed to be looking for my mom. Who’s looking for her now? I need to get the hell out of here, but Damon put that stupid hex or whatever on me to keep me trapped!”

  “We need to take this one step at a time,” Dannika says. “We need to figure out the most important part of the puzzle we are missing and work on that first. Step by step.”

  I rub my forehead, but my mind is clouded. There is just too much going on. Too much I’m trying to remember. Too many connections, misdirections, distractions. Everyone in the room is talking loudly, making their own observations about we just heard. I look back to where Erick was earlier, but he, and Minister Tempest, are gone. All the ministers are gone.

  Ella and Dannika are talking about the things I told them, putting together their own theories.

  I feel like everything is spinning, like I’m going to faint.

  A pulse churns through the room. Instantly, I feel calmer. If I can get back to the forbidden room, I’m sure I can sort all these things out. I’ll get my two lies and one truth. Like before, I’ll work out which part is the truth. Three possibilities instead of thousands has to be a better start.

  I turn away from my friends. They don’t seem to even notice I’m walking away from them. I go down the hallway where the forbidden room is. The pulse throbs through me again as I get closer. I place my hand on the doorknob and turn.

  Once again, the door is unlocked. I slip inside and close the door behind me. The room is quiet, and I can hear my own thoughts again. I start to relax. This time, instead of perusing the items in the cases, I go straight for the necklace that looks like a flame. I run my hand over the case. It would be so easy to break the glass and take it. No one would miss it. No one ever comes in this room.

  The pulse comes again, and I turn around and see the orb. The orb that told me two lies but one truth. An important truth. A truth I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.

  Touch…touch…touch…

  The orb calls out to me again. I walk toward it. It tells lies, but not always. If it hadn’t been for the orb, I wouldn’t have known to look for Mom. Even now, I wouldn’t know she was gone if it hadn’t been for the orb.

  Damon had said it had nearly caused wars before. That was from people who didn’t know how to use it. But I was different.

  I should touch it again. Even if it does tell me two lies, whatever truths it holds could be worth it. It could give me the answers I’m so desperately seeking.

  Truth…truth…truth…

  I reach my hand out. I’m so desperate for someone to tell me the truth. To find some light at the end of this dark tunnel. I’m so close…

  “Imogen!” Erick grabs my hand just before it lands on the orb. “What are you doing?”

  “You can see what I’m doing,” I say, ripping my hand away. “I need answers, and this orb is going to give them to me.”

  “No, it isn’t,” he says. “You know the orb is treacherous.”

  “Only sixty-six percent of the time,” I say. “That means that a third of what it says could be the answers we need. The answer to where my mom is.”

  “No, Imogen,” he says, gripping my arms. “Listen to yourself. You’re addicted to this thing.”

  I shrug him off. “Addicted?” I laugh. Actually drop my head back and laugh at how ridiculous that statement is. “What are you talking about?”

  “You know the orb is calling to you,” he says. “It wants you to keep coming back. It’s the dark magic. It’s infectious. It makes you a slave to it. That’s why people who use dark magic, like the dark Fae, can’t be trusted. They aren’t in their right minds.”

  “Dark Fae?” I ask.

  Then I remember back to when I first arrived in Aos Sí. Damon had said we were in dark Fae territory. I didn’t ask him what he meant then. Later, I just assumed he meant Unseelie territory. But that isn’t what he was talking about at all.

  “You mean Fae who have been infected by dark magic? Those are the dark Fae?”

  “You are finally understanding,” he says, slowly guiding me away from the orb. “Dark magic is dangerous. It can blacken your mind and your heart if you give into it. All the items in this room are cursed with dark magic. They are all dangerous. That’s why this room is supposed to be locked.”

  “Whatever,” I say. “I’m not addicted. I need to be here because that orb is the only thing that can help me find Mom!”

  “You are addicted,” he says. “And I can prove it.”

  “I am not,” I say, stomping my foot. “Stop saying—”

  He shuts me up with a kiss. A delicious, passionate kiss. Startled but pleased, I wrap my arms around him, pulling him closer. He feels so good. I want him around me, on me, in me. After flipping open the button of his pants, I start to raise the hem of my shirt, intent on pulling it over my head, but he pushes me away.

  A sense of loss, of coldness, goes through me, and I take a deep breath. My cheeks go hot. I can’t believe I just did that.

  “What the hell was that?” I ask hoarsely before wiping his taste from my lips.

  “That’s addiction,” he says. “You are only concerned with getting what you want, when you want it. That’s why you were so turned on. You just wanted the instant gratification, and to hell with the consequences.”

  “You don’t know how I feel,” I say.

  “I know you way better than you give me credit for,” he says. “And I know you never would have kissed me—not this time, and not before—if not for this room.”

  “Hah,” I say, stepping toward him. “You’re wrong!” Tears spring to my eyes. “Because the first time I kissed you, I hadn’t been in this room yet.”

  Erick puts his hands on my shoulders, and a different kind of peace comes over me. “You were addicted to this room from the first time you felt the pulse, Imogen,” he says gently. “I knew that, and I shouldn’t have kissed you. You’re with Caleb, regardless how I feel about that.”

  I shake my head, nearly trembling from heartache. No. I’m not getting out of that kiss so easily. I had feelings for Erick, and I’d ignored them until I ended up kissing him. I can’t blame some stupid room on that.

  “Maybe the room affected my judgement, but it was still me who did those things, Erick. It was still my desires I acted on.”

  “And you think that’s wrong, Imogen? You think it’s wrong to feel things you didn’t plan for? That happens to everyone. The difference is not everyone acts on it. And you are not the kind of person who would—not on your own. Not without some kind of dark influence. It didn’t take me long after we kissed to figure that out, but
I’d hoped you would have, too. And I’d hoped it would have been enough for you to stay away from this room.”

  I take another step back, still shaking my head. “You…you…don’t know that.”

  Erick closes the gap between us again. “But I do, Imogen. Because I know you. I know you were planning on going back to the human world without me. I know you will stop at nothing to find your mom. And I know you will find out who killed Professor Crowsfly. But I also believe in you. I know you can do this without the orb. Without the dark magic.”

  I scoff. “That makes one of us,” I say. “I can’t do it. I tried, and it didn’t work, okay? This is different from last year. I can’t do this alone!”

  “You are not alone,” he says. His eyes encourage me to believe in his convictions, and he takes my hand. “We are all in this together.”

  He leads me to the door. I hesitate. It would be so much easier to get help from the orb. I know it.

  I try to pull away, but he holds my hand fast. “Just one more touch,” I say. “That’s all I need. I just need to find Mom.”

  “If you keep taking in the dark magic,” he says, “you’ll become a dark Fae, too. There’s no coming back from that. What will your mom do then?”

  Mom has been warning me about the dangers of the Fae and Aos Sí the whole time. If I give in and turn into a dark Fae, all her fears will be realized. He’s right. I have to resist. I can’t give in. I must be strong—for her.

  I nod. “Okay,” I say. “Let’s get out of here.”

  We exit the room, and I can’t help but feel a little sad, a little regretful, as we close the door behind us.

  Headmistress Shadowburn is down the hall. When her gaze lands on us, she storms over.

  “What is happening here?” she exclaims. “Were you both just in that room?”

  “Imogen got a little lost,” Erick says, squeezing my hand. “But she’s fine. She’s back now.”

  “But how did the door unlock in the first place?” she asks.

  We both shrug. “It was unlocked when I found it,” I say, leaving out the details about me trying to pick the lock in the first place. “We really don’t know why or how the door actually unlocked.”