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I open it a crack and peer out.
Daniels is dressed in his pajamas, wearing a nightcap and holding a flickering candle.
“Crane,” he says in a gruff voice, eyes sleepy. “What the devil is going on in there?”
I clear my throat, trying not to grimace at the pain. “Nightmare,” I tell him hoarsely.
His brow crooks up. “A nightmare? You mean to tell me all the thumping around and screaming is because of a nightmare?”
“This school plays tricks on you,” I say by way of explanation.
Realization comes across his face. “Ah. Don’t tell me you think you’re being haunted by Vivienne Henry. Or Desi, now that he’s nowhere to be found.”
I need to play into this, though Vivienne Henry has become the least of my concerns tonight. “I have a susceptible mind,” I tell him, tapping my temple.
“I can tell,” he says gruffly. “I know your types, always ready to believe in anything.”
“Well, we are witches, Daniels.” I plaster an uneasy smile on my face.
“Harrumph,” he says, squinting at me. “We are witches for sure, but we’re also men. Try and keep your nightmares to yourself. I need my sleep.”
He turns and I call out to him. “Daniels?”
He makes another disgruntled sound and looks at me.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any chains, would you?” I ask. I’m not kidding. Chains would help immensely with keeping Brom properly restrained.
Daniels narrows his eyes at me again and gives me a dismissive wave before plodding back down the hall to his room. How I envy that man, able to sleep through the night without any headless horsemen or ghosts of dead teachers and dead wives haunting him.
I close the door behind me and turn around. Brom is sitting up now, his head in his hands, and for once his cock has subsided, though it’s still delightful to look at even when flaccid. Kat is sitting up too, the blanket pulled up to her chin, covering her nudity.
I sigh and come over to her, picking up her discarded nightgown along the way.
“Here,” I say to her. “Or would you rather take a bath first?”
Her eyes go wide. “Oh no, the bath!” she exclaims. She throws the covers back but I stop her, keeping her in bed with a firm grip of her arm.
“Stay,” I tell her. “You need to rest. I’ll go check the bath.”
I get up and go to the bathroom only to see the water just about to spill over the edge of the tub. I quickly turn it off, surprised at the heat wafting off it. I gingerly brush my fingertips over the water and marvel. I’ve never been able to get a hot bath since I arrived. I haven’t complained about it because it’s a wonder that the school has running water as it is, let alone in private bathrooms for the faculty, but it’s been an annoyance on these increasingly cold days.
“Did you do that?” I ask Kat as I come back in the bedroom. Brom is still on the floor looking sorry for himself. “Did you heat up the water?”
She nods, a tiny smile on her lips. “I thought I would try and see what happened.”
Brom snorts and we both look at him.
He lifts his head and eyes her warily. “Seems you now know what happens when you try.”
She swallows, pain creased on her delicate brow. “I’m sorry,” she whispers to him. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“You meant to hurt me, daffy,” he says and the use of his pet name for her is like a knife to the gut. “You don’t need to lie about it. Don’t need to pretend. The both of you wanted to hurt me.” He glances at me now but his eyes look terribly empty. “The both of you did.”
I let out a heavy exhale and go to my wardrobe, pulling out a shirt.
“Put this on,” I say to him as I bring it over. “I can’t take you seriously when you’re naked.”
He scowls at me, those dark brows knitting together, but swipes the shirt from my hand. “I’ll only rip the seams,” he notes.
“Most likely,” I say but still feel strange pride when he puts it on, keeping it unbuttoned. Both he and Kat look great in my clothes.
“So what do we do now?” Kat asks. “Will the horseman return tonight?”
Brom shrugs and leans back, the back of his head thudding against the wall. “I couldn’t tell you.”
“It would be rather helpful if you could,” I tell him, pulling the chair from the desk out into the middle of the room, keeping myself between Brom and Kat. She may be able to protect herself—and me—from the horseman, but I don’t want to put her in that position again, especially if her magic doesn’t last for long.
Brom closes his eyes and swallows. “Try being nice to me for a while, even if I don’t deserve it.” His voice is so low, so broken and sad that I feel something fundamental inside me tear open.
