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With the revelation about my parentage fresh in my mind, the mirror fiasco made a lot more sense. The headmistress had been expecting a young, inexperienced witch, not a half-breed with powerful but unpredictable Fae abilities. If I’d been half-human, like I’d always assumed, I probably would have arrived sweaty and panicked like every other witch at the start of term.
“I know,” Oleander sighed. “But Rook is going to be an unholy terror when he finds out.”
“Let me handle Chesley,” Morgana said with a smirk, cracking her knuckles for emphasis. “If he tries anything, I’ll hex his pompous ass so it ends up around his ears.”
I winced at the choice of words. Here was hoping that was metaphorical. I liked Rook’s ass. And his ears. And the rest of him, really, even if he didn’t feel the same way about me.
“Calling him a ‘butthead’ would have a totally different meaning,” Oleander said on a laugh while Morgana joined him. Clearly, Rook was the most unpopular of their group.
“Can you both stop talking in circles and tell me what the spell you mean?” I asked.
Oleander cast an uneasy glance around the library. The nearest group of witches was several tables away, pointedly ignoring us. Or maybe just ignoring Morgana. For once, I wasn’t the only pariah at the table.
He gathered up his stack of books with a muttered, “Not here. Let me check these out, and we’ll find a quiet place to talk about this.”
“Don’t take long,” Morgana warned. “I want this done before her next class. Goddess knows I hate repeating myself.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“We’ll meet you by the usual spot.” Then she turned to me, extending a hand. Her smile was sharp and felt somehow illicit. “Welcome to the club, Depraysie. And don’t let Chesley bully you into leaving. I have a feeling you’re exactly what this investigation needs.”
Investigation.
Missing Fae.
Sneaking around, trying to shake their respective tails. I had a moment to wonder just what I was getting myself into. But in the end, it didn’t really matter. Someone was in trouble, and I wanted to help. So, I took Morgana’s hand, offering her a smile of my own.
“Happy to be your newest recruit.”
***
“Four missing faeries?” I managed after a beat of silence. “And... no one noticed?”
Suddenly the conversation I’d eavesdropped on between Rook and Professor Valserak made more sense. Rook had been trying to get Valserak to look into the disappearances without success. It also explained Oleander’s cryptic remark during our first day in class. The faeries were grouping together because some of their number had disappeared, and they were afraid they’d be next. There was strength in numbers.
“Oh, they noticed alright,” Morgana said, nibbling the end of her jam-laden toast. “Aurea and Abraham did an obligatory investigation into the disappearances, but nothing came of it.”
“Abraham?” I repeated, frowning.
“Abraham Thorne,” Oleander filled in for me. “The headmaster?”
“Don’t make me regret bringing you into this, Astrid,” Morgana said.
“Hey, no one ever mentioned his first name!” I nearly yelled in defense.
“Anyway,” Oleander said, frowning at Morgana who just shrugged back at him. “Their working theory is that the students dropped out without doing the proper paperwork, or otherwise ran away. Goddess forbid that they look for an answer that would require them to actually work toward a solution. If it had been one of the precious vampires or a witch in good standing, you can bet your ass they’d be turning every stone in this place to locate them. But since they’re Fae, and three out of the four were legacy staff, no one gave a damn.”
“So Headmaster Thorne looked into it?” I asked, returning to that point because I was surprised to hear he hadn’t followed up. He’d seemed like a nice enough guy the day I’d met him. I hadn’t seen him since.
“Looked into it is about all he did,” Oleander responded.
“And just FYI,” Morgana said. “Since you don’t seem to know anything else, Headmaster Thorne is Chesley’s father and his sire, which sounds a little weird, but they’re vampires so whatever.”
“Oh,” I answered, deciding to ignore her previous comment about me not knowing anything.
She gave me a quick smile and then offered me the other half of her toast, and I all but snatched it out of her hand. I’d fallen into a routine over the past couple of weeks but being hungry was something I hadn’t gotten used to. I’d had three square meals a day when I lived in Haven Hollow. Being short one or two of them a day now was really messing with me. I’d always wondered how Oleander coped and figured he’d simply gotten used to it. Apparently, he’d been splitting breakfast with Morgana every morning since the start of term. Maybe even before that. According to him, he’d begun working in the summer, and met Morgana by chance, when he’d gotten turned around on his way back to the kitchens. He’d overheard Rook and Morgana conspiring in a dark hallway, and the rest was history. They’d gotten lucky. Oleander’s shortcut had made sneaking off a hell of a lot simpler.
“I hate to play devil’s advocate here,” I started. “But... is there any chance Thorne and Grimsbane are right and the students just decided to leave on their own?”
