“But he’s right, isn’t he? I have to figure out my magic. I know you and Mr. Thatch are helping me, but it isn’t enough.”
Thatch had always been kind to Imani and worked to protect her. He hadn’t given her scary lessons in the fear chair or used pain magic to teach her to control herself. I didn’t want her magical education to be like mine, but if she needed to ramp up the lessons to defend herself against Fae, I would have to communicate that to him.
Imani lowered her voice. “I try not to talk about my affinity with my friends, mostly so no one else overhears, but I don’t understand how my affinity works. Hailey gave me some books—”
“Oh God! Not Hailey!” Of course Hailey would steal books from the librarian’s office again and try to share what she knew.
“But it doesn’t actually help. I only get little snippets here or there. I read the prophecy. I read about the Lost Red Court. I studied the—”
I held up a finger in warning. “Speak quietly. Someone might overhear.”
Imani rolled her eyes. “Greenie already knows.”
Ugh. One more student. Hailey and Greenie wouldn’t be used for their magic in the same way Imani might, but they weren’t safe from being used for information about Imani. Or me.
I took her shoulders, staring into her eyes. “Do you understand it puts your friends in danger because they know what you are? The Raven Queen might try to torture the truth from them.”
“Come on, Miss Lawrence. The Raven Queen doesn’t go to school here. She doesn’t know about me. It’s the other students and teachers I have to worry about.” Imani wiped at her eyes. “Seriously. Maddy gets all the good information for me from the library. Greenie covers for me when I do weird magic that other people might think is suspicious. Hailey threatens to beat people up when they treat me like I’m a freak, and when that doesn’t work, Maddy . . . well, I know it isn’t allowed, but Miss Periwinkle is teaching her how to use her siren voice to . . . convince people to forget things.”
“That’s illegal! Maddy might get kicked out of school for that!” Plus she might be tried as a criminal. Not that I understood how the court system here worked.
Imani threw up her hands in disgust. “What else am I supposed to do? If it wasn’t for my friends, I wouldn’t be able to survive. We all depend on each other. You were the one who said we needed to help Maddy with her magic when she first came to Womby’s. She isn’t the only one who needs help with stuff.”
“That’s not what I meant!” I stepped away from her, my frustration making me want to lash out and destroy something. I found another clay penis on my desk and smashed it under my fist. “You need to help each other follow the rules and not get in trouble.”
“We need to help each other survive. I tutor Hailey so she can get better at reading and writing, and now she’s passing her classes. She’s taught us defensive spells. Maddy splashes water on Hailey when she gets too angry and she’s going to start a fire. Greenie teaches us all about Fae customs since she’s the only one who was born here. They’re all helping me keep my affinity hidden.”
She just didn’t get it. “That’s so dangerous. All of them know?”
“And Darla from last year. She was helping tutor me, remember? She figured it out pretty quickly.”
I covered my mouth, trying to stifle a gasp. “This is horrible!”
“No, it isn’t. Just because you and Mr. Thatch are all secretive about what you are, doesn’t mean I have to be. Your life would be so much easier if you had a team of people to help you. Have you ever considered telling Miss Kimura or Mr. Khaba?”
“No. And don’t you dare tell them!”
“I won’t. I’m not going to out you before you’re ready. But they’re your friends. They’d understand. They’d help you.”
She was so young and innocent. No one had ever used her magic against her. She didn’t understand.
“I’m in a different situation than you are. The Raven Queen does know about me.” I thought about Derrick and what the queen had done to him to get to me. Tears filled my eyes. “I can’t tell anyone.”
A tentative smile twitched Imani’s mouth upward. “But at least you have Mr. Thatch.”
“Right.” Lucky me.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Witch Demeanors
The first thing I had to deal with was Elric’s attention toward Imani. After all the students arrived for Art Club, I gave them instructions on loading the kiln and left for Khaba’s office. From the window of the door, I found him leaned back in his chair, eyes closed. I hated to interrupt him if he was napping.
The door creaked open.
“Come in,” he said. “That annoying son of a Fae finally left. Please promise me you won’t date any more princes in the future.”
“I thought you liked hot guys,” I teased.
“I do, but ones who play for my team.” He waggled his eyebrows mischievously.
Khaba’s office was like his fashion taste: hot pink and extravagant. The walls matched his fuchsia shirt. Rainbow unicorn magnets stuck papers to the bubblegum-pink cabinet.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” I said.
He leaned forward. “Do tell. Is this about Thatch? Something I can use to prove what a bastard he is?”
“No,” I said quickly. That was the last thing I wanted to tell him about.
He smirked, probably using his Fae magic to sense my panic. Surely he knew there was more there than I was letting on. Or maybe it didn’t take magic when I wore my heart on my sleeve.
I tried to hide myself behind a mask of expressionless calm like Thatch did. That had always been his method for concealing his weaknesses from others. Thinking of him only made the emotions inside me worse. Unbidden, I thought of how his indifference had hurt me. My face flushed with heat as I thought about how Thatch had proven I loved him before the Silver Court, that kiss bending me to his will. It had been more satisfying than the other times I’d kissed him because he’d kissed me back. I had thought he wanted me. It had been the yummiest kiss I’d ever experienced.
No. Yummy and Thatch did not belong in the same sentence. I made myself not think of him.
“It’s about Imani,” I said quickly.
“Oh,” Khaba said in disappointment. “Students. That’s what you want to discuss. All right. Disappoint me, then. Go on.”
“I think Elric has taken an unhealthy interest in her.”
“Like a Julian Thistledown level of interest?”
I didn’t want to accuse Elric of being a pedophile and womanizer. He wasn’t either. His crime was that he was Fae. I considered telling Khaba the information Imani had suggested about myself and my affinity. He was my friend. I wanted to trust him.
Even so, I couldn’t quite let myself. I didn’t trust anyone anymore. Nor would I be confiding just my secrets if I did. It wasn’t my place to tell him about Imani’s affinity.
“I don’t think he’s like Julian, but something is going on. Have you noticed him seeking her out to talk to her?”
“I noticed he talks to the kids in general. I try to discourage it. Jeb, though. . . .” He shook his head. “He would probably sell his soul to the devil—or a djinn—if he thought it could help him get more funding for the school. He tolerates Elric’s eccentricities because he gives us a gift each time he visits.”
“Doesn’t he wonder what Elric’s true motivations are?”
“Jeb just says,” He imitated Jeb’s Texas twang. “‘Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.’” Khaba shook his head. “I wonder enough for the both of us. But I’m not principal, am I now?”
Sometimes I hated Jeb for his shortsighted thinking.
“Will you keep an eye on Elric? He makes Imani uncomfortable.” I considered how I could impress my concern on him without giving away what she was. “She’s an artist. The Silver Court are made up of muses. He might have taken an interest in her for that reason. I don�
�t want him to lure her away and use her.”
“Ah.” He nodded with understanding. “So you think he might be looking for the next Vincent van Gogh? The Silver Court were behind that, just so you know. Vincent would never have cut off his ear if they hadn’t driven him mad.”
Elric had spoken about Vincent van Gogh before, so I suspected it was true. “So you’ll make sure Elric isn’t left alone with her?”
“I never leave him alone.”
“I don’t think he’d do anything. . . .” I didn’t know what I thought he might do. “He isn’t a pervert. He isn’t a bad person. He just. . . .” I sighed.
“He’s in love with you still and might resort to drastic measures. Perhaps he’s being honest when he says he would never put you in harm’s way. But what about the people around you? The Raven Queen isn’t the only Fae who would use those you love most against you.” Khaba gestured to the amulet around my neck that I could use to summon Elric’s assistance. “For all we know, he’s planning on attacking the school, kidnapping students, and rescuing them to make himself look like a hero in the process. Or he’ll trap you into another contract and be clever enough to make you think the idea was your own.”
Khaba was as bad as Thatch.
“That would be . . . diabolical,” I said.
For all I knew, that was what Elric had done when the golem had attacked. All I had to do was call him two more times with the necklace when my life was in danger, and he would own my soul. “Do you really think that’s the kind of thing he’s planning to do? How would you even guess that?”
“Because I know how a Fae mind works.” He tapped his temple. “Now, have I convinced you I’m going to keep watch over Imani Washington and all the other students well enough that you don’t have to worry about Elric doing anything to endanger them?”
Didn’t he know, worry was my middle name?
He leaned back in his chair. “Are you ready to move on? I want to know about Thatch.”
“There isn’t anything to tell.”
Khaba crossed his arms. “Elric gave me an earful after we left your room. I want to know if it’s true.”
“If what’s true?”
“Did Felix Thatch molest you?”
My face burned. “No.”
“According to Elric, Thatch induced you into some kind of meditation, and while you were asleep kissed you and molested you. Elric said he’d glamoured himself invisible and witnessed it himself.”
My throat tightened. “Elric is also a liar. I can’t trust anything he says.”
Khaba leaned forward. “What did Thatch say about this?”
“He was indignant. He denied it.”
“Which liar do you think is lying?” Khaba smiled, but it was more like a sneer than an expression of joy.
My breath hitched in my chest, making it difficult to speak. “Thatch might break my heart, but he wouldn’t do that.”
“Sweetie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t joke.” Khaba left his chair and came around the desk. “You’re better off without either of them.”
“I know.” So why did it hurt so much inside every time I thought about how Thatch had rejected me again?
He sandwiched my fingers between his own, the gesture comforting. “You didn’t sleep with Thatch, did you?”
“No!” I recoiled away from him.
“Good, because I would kill him if he touched you.”
I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“Really. After what he did to Derrick.” He swallowed. “Derrick was my friend too, you know. I don’t want to see him hurt you too.”
Why did he have to bring up Derrick? I didn’t want to keep reliving my past mistakes. Tears filled my eyes.
Khaba handed me a box of tissues from the top of his desk. “What about Thatch making you learn pain magic as part of your education even though it’s forbidden?”
I dropped my head into my hands, unable to believe Elric had told him. “It was healing magic, not pain magic!” If Khaba knew I was learning forbidden magic, it wasn’t just Thatch who was in trouble.
Hadn’t Elric considered the consequences of hinting at my affinity like this?
Khaba sat on his desk across from me. He took my shoulders in his hands, staring into my eyes. “You aren’t just my coworker. You’re also my friend. I would do anything to protect you.”
I couldn’t stand to see his concern, to know his friendship might only extend to someone normal. If he understood what I actually was, he might loathe me. I stared down at my striped leggings.
Khaba lifted my chin to look at him. “Look me in the eyes and tell me Thatch wasn’t bending you to his will using forbidden magic.”
I stared into his eyes, willing myself not to blink. “He didn’t force me to do anything.”
Yet when I thought about the times I’d been meditating and had fantasized about kissing him, what if that hadn’t been a construct of my imagination? Or the sex dreams at night? He might have been invading my subconscious.
I dismissed the thought. Felix Thatch’s bargain with Elric was over. He had no reason to think of me at all now. It wasn’t like he’d ever wanted me in the first place. Making me love him had just been a means to an end.
Khaba brushed a thumb across my cheek, the gesture tender, sensual. The anxiety in me slipped away. “What aren’t you telling me?”
I felt myself being lulled into complacency. My affinity dilated inside me, filling me with wanting. I knew myself well enough by now to recognize what was happening. I jerked my chin back and stood. His expression was surprised, hurt. It was likely he had no idea what he’d been doing.
“Clarissa? What is it?”
“Nothing.” I pushed my chair back and dodged away from him. “I should get back to Art Club. I don’t want to leave students outside with the kiln this long. They might magic another golem or something.”
Khaba frowned but said nothing. Even so, I suspected he knew I was lying. He knew Elric had been speaking the truth about Thatch using forbidden magic. What he intended to do about it, I didn’t know.
CHAPTER NINE
That Dirty Son of a Fae
I prayed Khaba would be too busy writing detentions and meeting with disobedient students to follow up with me about what Elric had said about Thatch magically coercing me to love him. It would be just my luck if he discovered Thatch had taught me forbidden magic. Khaba continued to watch me with concern in his eyes. Worse still, I noticed the way he scrutinized Thatch during staff meetings. Khaba was looking for an opportunity to catch Thatch messing up. No doubt he wanted to discover Thatch doing something wrong and have an excuse to ruin his life and fire him.
Two weeks after the conversation with Khaba, I found a note in a sealed envelope in my staff mailbox on a Monday morning before class.
The note said:
I would like to discuss a serious accusation of misconduct. Please make an appointment with my secretary to meet regarding this matter at your earliest convenience.
Jebediah Ebenezer Bumblebub
Serious misconduct? It sounded like I was in trouble. What could I possibly have done? Maybe someone had overheard Balthasar tell me I could clean up my “pot” myself and thought I did drugs and reported me. Between Maya Briggs’ bong and my supposed “pot” class, someone might have gotten the wrong idea.
Maybe it had something to do with the lightning or being a Red. Or it could be Khaba’s accusation that Thatch was teaching me pain magic. Anxiety percolated through my veins, making me ill at the idea of what might happen. I didn’t like to be in trouble. I was a good person and a good teacher. I didn’t want to lose my job.
I rushed to Mrs. Keahi’s desk in the admin wing and asked to make an appointment with Jeb after school.
She glared at me over the rim of her glasses. “Sorry, he isn’t available after school.”
“Or lunch?” I asked.
“Sorry, he isn’t—”
“Or my prep period? Or before school tomorrow? Or during lunch tomorrow? I can do any time after school or . . . any time before bed.”
She sighed in exasperation. “The principal’s schedule is all booked for the next two days. He’s in meetings.”
“He said to make an appointment at my earliest convenience.”
“Yes, well, it happens your earliest convenience doesn’t coincide with his earliest convenience, so you’ll have to wait. The earliest I can book is Thursday at six thirty in the morning.”
Ugh! I was so not a morning person. I was probably going to have to come up with some kind of elaborate excuse to explain how I hadn’t done something that I probably had done.
“I’ll take the six-thirty slot,” I said dejectedly.
I was going to have to wait another three days before Jeb told me what a horrible teacher I was. Then again, Jeb was forgetful. Maybe by Thursday he would forget about it. Or maybe he wouldn’t be as mad.
If I was unlucky, he would decide to fire me.
I sat in the hard chair before Jeb’s mahogany desk, wiping my clammy hands on my striped leggings and black skirt. Glass clinked behind me at the minibar where Jeb prepared a drink for himself. Unlit candles rested in a row at the front of his desk, stacks of books, a crystal ball, and assorted vials littered the remaining space. The ebb of sunlight filtered in through the Art Deco-style stained glass of the windows to the right, painting the room in the shifting hues of a rainbow.
“Can I offer you a drink?” Jeb held up a tumbler of amber liquid over ice at his minibar.
I wondered whether this was some kind of test or he actually thought drinking in the morning was acceptable for a teacher. “It’s a little early for alcohol for me. And I still have to teach classes.”
Jeb grunted in agreement. He splashed a couple of inches more into his tumbler before shuffling over. I shifted in the wooden chair where I sat, feeling like I was in the hot seat. Any minute now he was going to start questioning me. I’d tried to come up with a reasonable explanation for any possible scenario that he could ask me about. I wondered if I should have asked Thatch for advice.
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