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“Keep it,” she says, her voice hushed. “You never know when it might come in handy.”
In an Academy that’s become a magical battlefield, I’m not sure what use I have for steel, but as tonight has proven, you never know. So I nod my thanks and pocket it.
So far so good. The boys are being carried to their rooms. Hopefully, their bodies and minds will survive this ordeal intact. Hopefully, the Headmaster and everyone who saw what happened will swallow the tale of the invading animals—for now. If it happens again, I doubt we can convince anyone that it’s anything other than what it seems.
By then, it may be moot. We have a week left, eight days tops, until the full moon, the Golden Moon of legend.
And I still have so many questions. Who can answer them?
I trudge after the guys carrying the boys, along with the dispersing crowd, kicking at any loose pebble. What about the connection to the boys described in the symbols and according to what the fae elder told Sindri? What about this ritual? How can I stop it? How can I break this enchantment? Who can advise me?
I halt, let the other students pass me by, a river rushing around a boulder. I remember a mirror showing me a scene. A desk issuing dire warnings.
“We have to ask the oracle,” I whisper.
“We have an oracle at the Academy?” Vanessa frowns.
“Of sorts.”
Sindri’s magical furniture. I can’t go into his room now and start asking, as many people will be there, but once he’s up and around… Then that desk will have to answer some hard questions.
“What do you mean I can’t go in?” I’m standing outside Jason’s room, and the door is closed, a tall demon standing guard, one I don’t recall seeing in Emrys’ gang. “I want to check on him.”
“She said not to let anyone else in, except for the Headmaster and the paramedic who’s already tended to them. They now need to rest.”
“Who said that?” I demand.
“The other Miss Apollinari.”
“Ophelia.”
“Yes. She offered to look after them, said they’re close.”
“Of course.” I struggle to control my temper, my impatience. “Are they awake then? Are they all right?”
“They have woken up,” the demon says. His hair is cropped short at the top, long at the back, a dirty blond like Jason’s, his lips pierced with a number of rings. His leather clothes creak slightly as he shifts his weight. “I don’t have information on their state of health.”
“Listen, I’m their friend, also. I brought them back from their animal shape. I need to see them.”
“Ah, fuck, listen. She asked that nobody should disturb the boys. They need their rest and they agreed that only she and the paramedic can attend them.”
This can’t be happening. “But I want to visit them. I have to.”
“I’m sorry, girl.”
Jesus. That frigging enchantment. She made them say this. She found an easier way to keep an eye on them, be close to them whenever she wants to draw on their magic.
I wish I had walked faster, but I’m so tired I dragged my feet all the way to the dormitories, only to find that everyone came and went and I was left locked out of their rooms.
I feel so dumb.
Score: Ophelia.
As I turn to go, something occurs to me and I turn back to the demon guy. “What’s your name?”
“Kiriz. Why?”
“Kiriz, does Ophelia have a schedule? I mean, she can’t be with them all the time, right? There’s four of them.”
