It’s the same woman I saw outside the school during our last session—frizzy hair pulled into a bun over her broad shoulders.
She bobs her head apologetically at Ross, but her gaze darts to me for just an instant. Her fingers flex in a shooing gesture.
She dropped the bucket on purpose—to give me a chance to escape his interrogation?
I don’t have time to figure out why. As she babbles out an apology, I dash past him and hustle onward.
No more than the slightest flutter of relief passes through me. I’m only delaying the inevitable fallout.
Thirty-Three
Elodie
Isit stiffly in the chair across from the headmaster’s desk, the ticking of his stately grandfather clock pinging through my nerves. My face aches from the mild, innocent smile I’ve been holding in place like a folk dancer’s mask.
I wish it could literally transform me into someone—preferably somewhere—else.
After my first couple of classes, I started to think the academy administration might drop the issue. Then I got the official request to report to Headmaster Pembrooke’s office at the end of the school day.
Not only that, but he called in my dad. Like I’m a kid whose misbehavior needs to be reported to her parents.
As irritating as that treatment is, it’s been a bit of a relief to let Dad do most of the talking. At least he seems to find the situation as insulting as I do.
“Elodie is twenty years old,” he’s saying to Pembrooke now. “Any concerns you have about her conduct can be addressed to her directly, and she can tell me whatever she thinks I need to know.”
The headmaster gives a slight cough. “Given recent traumatic events… andyourconcerns about how Luminary has ensured your daughter’s safety… we thought you’d prefer to be included in the conversation.”
His posture goes a little more rigid, as if he thinks Dad might sock him for his impertinence, but Dad just grimaces. Even I have to admit the guy has a point.
I can’t just sit quietly. “These rumors have nothing to do with the poisoning. Salvatore Cosgrave hasn’t been harassing me—I’ve barely spoken to him.”At school, I add silently, to make it true. “You should probably look into whoever’s spreading the made-up story.”
Feel free to tar and feather Cadance for running her mouth. I won’t complain.
Pembrooke shifts in his chair. “I’m sure the schoolmate who spoke up did so for your own well-being, and if the account is untrue, it’s a misunderstanding.”
Right. One of my supposed friends “misunderstood” me into a torrid affair with the academy’s most notorious student.
I mean, I am technically hooking up with him, but she doesn’t know more than a fraction of the truth.
The headmaster presses on. “Other students have mentioned seeing Mr. Cosgrave taunt you rather… aggressively in recent weeks. If you’ve agitated the syndicates he represents, however inadvertently, you’ll be much safer reaching out for help than keeping it to yourself.”
Salvatore will kick himself if he finds out his initial hassling of me and his pretended hostility since has given the rumors more fuel. I swallow a sigh.
Even if I was in trouble with one of the lucent mafias, I don’t think Headmaster Pembrooke is right about whatwould be “safe.” But I also don’t think either of Salvatore’s families gives two shits about me.
I go with more polite phrasing. “As far as I know, no one in the Cosgrave or Morelli families who doesn’t attend Luminary has given me a second thought. I haven’t talked to or seen any of them. Didn’t the police already investigate them in the poisoning, just because of their reputation?”
“We still need to take current reports into consideration, given the potential threat?—”
Dad speaks up again, in a warm even tone. A faint current of energy runs through it, just enough to prick at my awareness. “Nigel, you know my family and I have supported Luminary from the start. We want to see the academy flourishing and our next generation thriving there. I don’t want recent troubles to harm our long-standing partnership, and I’m sure Elodie doesn’t either. She says she has nothing else to tell you. I think we should believe her.”
A tingle races over my skin. Am I seeing his glim in action for the first time?
Mom never explained Dad’s innate power in detail, but I know it has something to do with smoothing problems over.
Whether through magic or simply social leverage, his strategy works. Headmaster Pembrooke appears to preen a bit before dipping his head apologetically. “Of course, you’re right. We’ll continue to monitor the school for any potential peril and see that Miss Devine can carry out her studies in peace.”
“Perfect.” Dad stands, so I do too. I follow him out of the office, exhaling slow and long.
