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She cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to know where it went?”
I shook my head. “Not really. It sounds complicated and like it was a long time ago.”
“You are unusual, Raven,” she said. “I’m glad Dr. Green called me when they brought you to him and I’m happy I can repay my friend’s kindness through you.”
“I really appreciate it,” I said. “I am glad I’m here.”
“So am I,” she said. “Want to see the secret passage I found with your mom?”
I perked up. “That sounds awesome.”
She smiled and started walking across the ballroom. I followed her, watching as she dragged her fingertips along the wallpaper covered wall.
She stopped and turned to look at me. “Right here. See this?”
I looked where she was pointing. There was a tiny star in the floral pattern that wasn’t on the rest of the wall. “How did you find that?”
“We used to study in this room since it’s almost always empty. Practice spells and such. It’s a good space for it. Found it on accident one day and then spent weeks trying to figure out how we opened it.”
She took my hand and moved it over the tiny star. “Here. Press down.”
I did and then I gasped as a door slid open in the wall. “How many people know about this?”
“I doubt anyone here does anymore. Your mom and I never told anyone. Not even your dad. I haven’t even told my sons.”
“How come?” I asked, feeling guilty.
“Well, after what you just went through, I figured it might come in handy for you to have a safe place to hide.”
“I sure hope not,” I said. “I’d really like this semester to be normal.”
“Nothing is ever normal here,” she said, leading the way down a hallway.
The door closed behind us and it suddenly got very dark. My heart raced and suddenly, I worried that I’d walked into some kind of trap. What if this wasn’t even Ms. Obscura? What if the thief wasn’t really dead and she’d transformed into her likeness?
A light flickered on in front of me and I saw a few magical torches light on the wall.
“You coming?” Ms. Obscura was ahead of me now.
I tried to push the thoughts away. I saw the thief dead. I watched as security carried her body away. She wasn’t coming back.
Taking a few deep breaths, I followed behind Ms. Obscura until we came to a room filled with bookshelves and a few very dusty chairs.
“Looks like nobody’s been here in a while,” I said.
“I’d guess it’s still a secret, then.” She turned in a slow circle, taking in the room. “It’s not glamorous, but it was a good place to get away from everyone when needed.”
“What do you think it was originally?” I asked.
“I’m guessing it was some professor’s office.” She pointed to two doors in the back of the room. “One of those takes you to the Spellcasting auditorium. The other to the creature den.”
I’d been to the creature den a few times. It was full of cats, and mice, and birds. Mostly animals we worked with in ourTraining Your Familiarsclass. It was an uneventful class for me. Turns out, I’m not very good with animals. Apparently, that skill skips a generation. Though, I hadn’t had any magic for most of the class, so it was hard to say if it was me or just shit timing.
“Thanks for showing me this,” I said.
“I know I come across as harsh,” she said. “But I’m a woman in a position of power. I fight every day for my company and for my place in this world. And I want a woman like that keeping my sons in check. I think that could be you.”
“I appreciate your vote of confidence,” I said.
“I may be old fashioned, but I’m not inflexible. Keep that in mind.” She walked past me toward the tunnel that led out of the room.
I followed her, grateful that our chat was over. Tea with Ms. Obscura hadn’t been what I expected, but it was still a pretty intense morning. I wondered if I’d have time for a nap before I met Luka’s mom.
I also wondered what a princess of hell had in store for me.
