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"Thomas found the books," Daphne answers him.
"Mr Smith," I explain, feeling like I'm not even part of this conversation.
"And you need my help?" Caspian frowns, clearly not understanding what she's getting at.
"It's a ceremony. No sacrifices, or anything weird like that. But we need four people plus Mona, or it won't work." "
"Ah. And you have the four people?"
"Hello? Are you two talking about my future and forgetting I'm stood right here?" I ask, even waving at them to try and get them to understand that I'm not invisible and they do need to include me. "We don't have four people."
"We can get them. Us two, Thomas, and my brother."
"Then I say we go for it."
"I'm sorry, what? You're just deciding that we're going to do a dangerous ceremony that could get us all arrested and I don't get a say in it?"
"No," Daphne says. "You say you don't want to do it, but you need to for your magic. We have to do this."
I look around the room, taking in my kittens. "Will they still be here after?" It's not something I want to truly consider, but there's a chance my kittens are just manifestations of my magic, and if that gets sorted, then maybe they'll go away.
"I doubt they'll disappear," Caspian says, scooping down and picking Ginger up off the floor.
Romeo looks up at her, pining in his eyes. Ryan named him well. That kitten is so in love, it's crazy. I wouldn't even think it's possible for a kitten to feel that way if I couldn't see it with my own eyes.
"I want to be sure of that. I'm not ready to say goodbye to them." Tears start to form unbidden. I'm not sure what's coming over me. I've never been this emotional about kittens before, that's for certain.
"You won't have to," Caspian assures me, stepping forward and tugging me into his arms.
I relax the moment I'm there. I don't want to be that girl, but something about his hug calms the storm raging inside me.
"You keep saying you need to fix what's wrong with you," he says softly. "Maybe this is your chance to do it?"
I nod against his chest.
"Fine." I twist in Caspian's arms so I can face my best friend. "But I want to be the one to ask Ryan." That request is more for Daphne's benefit than Caspian's, but I feel like it's best to get it out there and not have it hanging over us all.
"Deal." Daphne crosses her arms, a look of triumph flitting over her face. As far as she's concerned, she's gotten exactly what she wants, and more than that, she gets to learn about a new branch of magic. She may pretend it's just about helping me, but I know that's probably her real motivation.
Not that I mind, she's entitled to use the opportunity to learn as much as she can. That's why we all came to Grimalkin.
We certainly aren't here to do black magic, and yet that's the direction our lives have taken us. It's probably best I don't think about it too much.
Chapter Ten
"Are you okay? That's the third time you've zoned out," Ryan whispers.
"Yes. Sorry. Where were we?"
"We're trying to pay attention to class." He chuckles so softly, I almost miss it. Which is probably a good thing. I don't think our professor will take it lightly if we're not paying attention.
"Oh, right." I turn my eyes back to the front, to see some kind of presentation about the pyramids and the curses the Ancient Egyptians placed on tombs. Normally, it's the kind of thing that holds a lot of interest for me. At one point in my naive youth, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Specialising in finding magical treasure and making a name for myself. That's before all of my school career advisors pointed out how hard it is to actually follow that path.
Which leaves me with no idea what I want to do when I finish my education.
"Mona, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," I insist, not wanting to admit in the middle of Ancient Charms that I want him to help me with a black magic ritual and risk his freedom. Because that's what's on the line for us. I guess if we get arrested, I won't have to worry about my complicated love life.
