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“And your wounds?” I ask, my heart pinching slightly as I remembered Brom and I rubbing the poultice down her front and back before we left the circle. I applied a bit of my healing magic but not enough, since I was already in a state of exhaustion.
“They hurt a little,” she says, and that pinch increases.
“If you close the door and lock it I can help heal you more,” I tell her, handing her the key to the classroom. “I can do a lot of things to make you feel better.”
She plucks the key from my hand. “I have to be honest with you, Crane, I’m a little worn out from last night.” Then she grimaces. “And I just, uh…”
“Uh what?” I coax.
She wiggles her lips. “I am experiencing that woman’s time of the month.”
“You’re menstruating?” I ask bluntly.
She nods shyly, averting her eyes. “Yes.”
“But that’s good news, Kat. It means, well…” It means she’s not pregnant with my child, but she’s certainly not pregnant with Brom’s, “it means you’re in the clear, for now.”
“Which is a relief. It’s just a hindrance when it comes to…”
I grin at her. “If you think I’ll find a little blood a hindrance, clearly you weren’t paying attention last night.” I nod at the key. “Now, be a good girl and go lock that door.”
Kat gives me a quiet smile and turns, walking toward the door in time for loud footsteps to ring out from the hall. She freezes just as Brom appears in the doorway, then she sighs with relief.
“I need to talk to you,” Brom says, looking at me, then at Kat. He walks over to her first, puts his arm around her and kisses the top of her head, and then comes over to my desk. “I learned something in class today.”
“You mean to tell me you’ve been learning in everyone else’s class except mine?” I ask, leaning back in my chair and folding my hands across my chest.
He fixes me with his glare. God, I love my moody boy.
“What is it?” Kat asks him.
He breaks his stare to look at her. “In history, my teacher was talking about the Salem Witch Trials. She had said that there were two covens that had escaped and might have settled in Sleepy Hollow, the…Devotus? And the…I can’t remember the other one. Starts with an E. She said they were enemies, but they had made a bargain with a demon to get them out, if they gave the demon one of their heirs. Meaning, the child of the two covens. That demon would bring about the end of the world while the covens would be granted immortality.”
I stare at him grimly, a sinking feeling in my chest. It’s not that what he’s saying doesn’t make sense. It’s that it makes perfect sense. And I wasn’t able to figure it out. A damn history teacher at the school did instead.
“Who is your teacher?” I ask.
How does she know more than I do?
“I don’t know her name, I never pay attention,” Brom says.
“I need to speak to her,” I tell him, getting to my feet. “I need to find out where she’s heard this, where she’s read this.”
“Do you think it’s true?” Kat asks, wringing her hands together.
“It could be,” I tell her.
“She kept saying it was a rumor,” Brom says. “She didn’t seem to believe it herself. Said it was…”
“Was what?” Kat asks.
“Another legend,” he says, his voice growing quiet.
“Well, the only way to figure out the truth is to do my own research, after I talk to the teacher. Brom, can you take me to your classroom? Perhaps she’s still there.”
“Sure,” he nods.
“I’m coming too,” Kat says.
“Of course you are,” I tell her, putting my hand at her lower back. “This involves you more than anyone.”
We leave the classroom and head out the doors of the building and into the damp afternoon when Daniels passes me heading inside.
“Crane,” Daniels says, looking bothered, his mustache bristling. “Have you heard the news?”
“What news?” I ask.
“Another body has been found in Sleepy Hollow. Head sliced clean off, hasn’t been found yet. It’s said to be Constable Kirkbride.”
Both Kat and I look immediately at Brom.
He doesn’t say anything, just looks down, shadows casting over his eyes and making them unreadable. My blood goes cold.
“That’s terrible,” I manage to say to Daniels. “Hey, listen, while I have you here, what’s the name of the history teacher here?”
“Joy,” he says. “Ms. Joy Wiltern. And don’t bother making any advances on her, she’s not interested,” he says with a huff, walking into the building.
The door closes behind him, and I spin around to face Brom.
“What did you do?” I ask him.
He holds up his hands. “I didn’t do anything. It was the horseman.”
“When? Last night when you weren’t in chains? Is that when you snuck out and did it?”
