by D. D. Chance
We breached the door to the ballroom of Guild Hall.
“Gentlemen, Ms. Cross,” Mr. Symmes called out as we stepped into the room, making everyone turn our way—never mind the sparkling pyre of energy in the center of the room. His gaze went to Commander Frost. “Mr. Lockton?” he asked.
“On his way,” Frost informed him staunchly. “There’s no need to delay for him. What do we have?”
Mr. Symmes nodded. “We’re looking at an infiltration of our defenses that comes from within, but more than that, we’re looking at a flagrant violation of everything that Wellington Academy holds sacred.”
“Oh for God’s sake,” Dean Robbins scoffed. “You’re not giving an election speech, Symmes. There’s no need for the dramatics.”
“And may I remind you that you are here at our behest, Dean Robbins, not the other way around,” Symmes lashed back at him. “This breach of our wards is happening on your watch. Don’t think you won’t be held to account for it.”
Robbins rolled his eyes, but Symmes didn’t back down. He pinned us all with a sweeping glance.
“These many years, we’ve been laboring under the assumption that monster outbreaks have been diminishing. There was a reason for our confidence in that assessment. It was given to us by the Hallowells as part of their agreement with the academy arranged a century ago. They became our first line of defense against our enemies, and our most important avenue of monster management. In return, they had greater latitude in exercising magic within the private sector than any other family wanted to explore. We took the decline of the monster population in stride and made adjustments accordingly, reducing the number of resources allocated to the monster hunter minor. We accepted new students as they arrived, but we didn’t do anything to grow the minor itself. It seemed the most prudent course.”
“It was the most prudent course,” Robbins put in. Nobody paid any attention to him.
As Symmes continued, there was a slight rustle of movement at the doorway, and I saw Grim enter the room. I sighed out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. It made me happy that he was here, part of the team. It hadn’t felt right without him.
Symmes soldiered on. “Our most sensitive information regarding the state of monsters among us for the past thirty years has come to us from perhaps the strongest member of the Hallowell clan, Elaine Hallowell. She was the unofficial spokesperson for the family and proved to be their most consistent liaison. We have been gratified to work with her over the years, which makes this newest development particularly troubling.”
Without any further fanfare, Symmes turned to Claudia Graham, who lifted her hands and made an expansive cutting gesture. The lit-up pyre in the middle of the room flashed white—and then the light winked out, and there in the center of the room stood Elaine Hallowell, bound with magic, her face shifting every three seconds to a new image—spider, wasp, succubus, Elaine, and a dozen more in between. Every monster I’d ever encountered, and quite a few I hadn’t.
When the image settled on her own beautiful face with its icy-gray eyes, she stared daggers at Symmes and Claudia, while I could only gape.
“Based on her own confession, Elaine Hallowell is the magician behind the attacks of the Boston Brahmin, behind the unusual vigor of the demon assault on Wellington Academy, and she herself was the illusionist with such strong magic that she was able to dismantle the finest wards this academy could mount. However, despite every apparent effort, she was not able to dismantle the academy itself,” Symmes said.
“The Hallowells would never—” Robbins began, but Symmes merely waved a hand to shut him up.
“The Hallowells didn’t,” he confirmed. “We have been in contact with them, and they are every bit as horrified as we are at this turn of events. Their daughter has gone rogue, and this is not the first time. She’s the most powerful magician in the Hallowell clan, but behaved herself well enough until a little-known distant family relation entered the net around Wellington Academy some twenty-five years ago. Elaine took issue with that relative, and turned on her with murderous intent.”
He drew in a heavy breath, and my heart almost stopped. A chill raced along my arms as Symmes turned to me. “Elaine, we now realize, tried to get this young woman killed. She didn’t succeed, and the family hushed it up. However, Elaine did manage to tip her hand enough to Rose McKinley—a local teacher and botanist who’d stumbled on her potential connection with Hallowells and then found herself unduly harassed—that the young woman left town when she realized she was pregnant. She later gave birth to a baby girl, a girl who also managed to find her way back to Wellington Academy after her mother died more than twenty years later.”
“Rose should never have been born,” Elaine said now, her voice low and dangerous. Her eyes bored through me. “Better for you that you’d never been either.”
I stared at her. Rose McKinley? I’d never heard the name. Could this possibly be who my mother was? “So what now?” I heard myself ask.
“Now we need to return Elaine Hallowell to her family and begin to unravel what she has wrought,” Symmes said heavily. “They’ve asked to see Nina as well.”
“But they can’t go by themselves,” Theodore Perkins declared. “I don’t care how advanced the Hallowell magic is. We can’t trust them.”
“We’ll all go,” Tyler chimed in.
“No.” Symmes and, surprisingly, Grim barked this response at the same time, startling me.
Grim looked mutinous as Symmes continued. “There’s work to be done here, to contain the monster outbreak we believe has nearly reached our walls without us even realizing it, that even now hovers, waiting to break loose. Elaine Hallowell has been contained within a dead zone, but as a result of the strength of that ward, anyone with innate magic needs to steer clear. That means everyone but Grim, whose skills don’t rest in his abilities to wrangle magic. He is the strongest nonmagical hunter we have. He goes.”
Grim nodded as Symmes turned to me. “Nina, whether you go is up to you. The Hallowells now believe they’re your family through this McKinley relative. They would like to meet you. And, I understand, you have the letter of your mother’s to share.”
“I burned your stupid letter,” Elaine sneered. “Your mother knew enough to make it so that once it was destroyed, it couldn’t be recreated.
“Au contraire,” Liam piped up. He tapped his temple. “I’m here to inform you that I memorized the first ten pages—and I’ve already transcribed them, thank you very much. More to the point, we also have the last two pages that you conveniently missed. We’ll be able to recreate the letter completely for the Hallowells, if Nina wants that.”
Elaine cast a malevolent glare at him, and he offered her a cheeky grin. I kept my gaze on Symmes.
“I’ll go,” I said. Grim would protect me, I knew, but more to the point—I needed to do this, once and for all. I needed to meet my mother’s family, to understand who she truly was. Who I was, too.
“We won’t be long behind you,” Tyler said. “And if you need us, we’ll be right there.”
He stepped toward me, and the other guys shifted too, drawing closer. I could feel the strength of their solidarity in that subtle movement—Tyler’s charisma as our leader; Zach’s psychic reassurance; Liam’s quivering, electric energy; Grim’s solid power. “I know,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. Because they would be there, without a shadow of a doubt. Forget who my mother’s family was. This team was my family.
I turned to Elaine Hallowell, who glared at me and all the guys with hatred in her cool gray eyes. I stared right back, unflinching. So this was the truth of things, the real enemy my mother had tried to protect me from. Not the monster hunters of Wellington Academy…but the monsters within the school’s most storied family.
But I didn’t need my mother’s protection any longer. It was well past time for me to meet my fate.
“I’ll go,” I said again.
33
I sat alone in my beautiful
dorm at Fowlers Hall for a few minutes longer than I technically should have, delaying the moment when I would leave with Grim and Elaine Hallowell to drive to New York. Frost had told me we’d be going by limo. Probably a good thing, since I wasn’t sure Grim could drive.
Despite my anxiety, I knew I’d be in safe hands. I could vaguely sense Zach’s mental touch, waiting patiently for me to access it more fully. Beyond that, I could feel a faint flare of electricity from Liam, the two of us remaining connected no matter how far away we were from each other physically, at least while we remained on campus.
I didn’t think that connection would last across the miles, but Liam had given me options for that situation as well. I smiled down at the small pouch I held in my hand. My Protector Zoo of tiny animals was now outfitted with a new addition, one that looked distressingly like a tiny cuttlefish with legs. Nothing said love like my very own miniature Tarken land worm.
Liam had also given me a flash drive with a digital copy of my letter, which now lay tucked into a pouch that hung beneath my shirt. A second paper copy of the letter was in my pack. Liam had me covered. Because of course he did.
Tyler hadn’t been without his offer of protection either, giving me a bracelet that had been inscribed with a long line of Latin, the words so tiny that I didn’t even try to read them, let alone decipher them.
The spell that bracelet contained only needed to touch my skin for a short while before the words were inscribed into my flesh, Tyler had told me. A few hours, no more, would be all that was needed. Grim would keep me more than safe until then. Still, I didn’t want to leave quite yet. I especially didn’t want to leave this room. I’d only been here when I was distracted or exhausted, and now, with the sun streaming through the large windows, I felt strangely melancholy to be abandoning the beautiful canopied bedstead, the ornate framed pictures on the wall, the rich carpeting, the majestic fireplace. Like everything else in Fowlers Hall, it was like something out of a fairy tale, and I wanted to be its princess for just a little while—
My phone blared, an insistent text coming from Frost. We have everything set up, waiting for you out front. Take your time.
I snorted. He might as well have ordered me to report on the double, but I understood his urgency. Elaine Hallowell might be in a portable dead zone of magic, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous. I needed to get this over with.
When I reached the front steps of Fowlers Hall, I was surprised to see the guys there. They stood at the ready, pride and genuine affection flowing out from them like its own magical force field.
“Guys, it’s not like I’m going off to war,” I said, and Liam grinned.
“We’re not allowed to touch you, per Frost’s express command,” he confided. “Apparently, we’ve got eyes on us, and we should get used to that, at least until we get through the graduation protocol. But we couldn’t just not see you.”
I looked beyond them to the limo that now sat in front of Fowlers Hall, its motor idling quietly.
“I don’t suppose it’s too much to ask if Elaine’s in a box in the trunk?”
Tyler snorted. “That certainly was discussed, but no dice. She’s wrapped in a cloak of invisibility, sitting in the main cabin of the limo, but she’s tranqued on top of being in a magical dead zone. It’s only a few hours to New York, though. She shouldn’t bother you.”
I nodded and stepped forward, not trusting myself to look back at any of them. Frost stood at the door of the limo, and as I approached, he opened it wide. The door to Fowlers Hall opened at the same time, and I watched as a middle-aged woman I’d never seen before trotted out of the building with a case, which she carried toward the back of the limo.
“What…?” I began, and Frost harrumphed.
“I had her get your things—everything you had in your room that wasn’t a weapon,” he said. “Just in case you want to change clothes overnight. I figured you wouldn’t think to do that.”
“Oh.” I frowned. I hadn’t thought about staying the night, but Frost continued.
“The car is bugged, and so is Grim. You’ll be fine. We’ll be watching you the whole way, and we’ve got friends of the academy who live in New York who are also connected with the Hallowells. Everyone is well aware how important this meeting is. We’re following all the protocols to the letter.”
“Protocols I know nothing about,” I pointed out, and Frost’s mouth kicked up in the corner.
“Probably the most important protocol is that Grim has never lost a fight he didn’t want to lose,” he said. “I’d put my money on him.”
I grinned back at him, even managing a soft laugh. Then, with nothing more to say, I ducked into the car.
The first person I saw was Grim, mainly because there was nobody else immediately present. I looked around the spacious interior of the limo, then met his pale-gold eyes.
“Where is she?” I asked, and he pointed at the back bench seat.
“The dead zone enacted by the board makes her invisible to us. An illusionist is most successful if she can distract you. If you can’t see her, you can’t be distracted.”
I nodded. Well, that at least made sense. The limo set off, and I glanced toward the front. “Who’s driving?”
At this, Grim tightened his jaw. It was good to know he was still playing the hard guy. “There are two drivers. One commissioned by the Hallowells, one by the academy. Practically every member of the board wanted to ride shotgun. Their excitement is good, though. It’s right. They need to be prepared for war on every front.”
I thought I heard a hissing breath, almost a laugh, emanate from the back bench seat of the limo. Could Elaine hear us? What was the purpose of a dead zone if people could sneer at you from the other side of the veil?
I shot a glance to Grim, and he shrugged, still looking stern. He didn’t like Elaine Hallowell either, I knew instinctively. Then again, he didn’t like most people.
The car rumbled on, and I watched the tree-lined streets of Boston give way to the suburbs of industry and middle-class America. I wasn’t familiar with the main thoroughfares into New York, but I got the sense we were driving vaguely west, which was where we should be going, heading into the setting sun. It was only when we turned onto a major highway that I allowed myself to relax a little, settling back into the cushioned leather seats. I blew out a long sigh, finally ready to focus on what awaited me in New York and what my new family had in store.
A low, breathy laugh was my first indication of trouble.
“Are you going to tell her,” Elaine’s voice floated through the cabin, “or should I? Oh please, let me.”
I pressed back into my seat in alarm as Elaine Hallowell flickered into full and resplendent reality, fully at her ease on the back bench seat of the limo.
Instead of her formal gown from the night of the presentation or her full regalia as the mad illusionist, she was dressed in a crisply pressed black suit buttoned over a blood-red silk shell, a jet-black stone hanging at her neck. Her hair was swept back from her coldly elegant features, and her gray eyes assessed me with gleaming interest.
My heart beginning to hammer, I shot a worried glance at Grim. He stared directly back at me.
“So I’m not really sure how this dead zone thing goes,” I began uneasily. “But it seems to me if the bad guy’s supposed to be invisible and she’s not, that’s maybe not a good first sign.”
“It’s not,” Elaine confirmed. “And since Grim is gracious enough to allow me to continue, I’m delighted to share that I’m no longer in a dead zone. Of course neither are you, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. Furthermore, there are two limos diverging in the wood right now, and one is taking a road, shall we say, less traveled by, and that will make all the difference. The vehicle containing a gorgeous Grim-like brute, an insipid little girl, and a rather unprepossessing strong box will head into the family stronghold in upstate New York, carefully monitored by your well-meaning team. We, however, are going somewhere el
se quite different. You really should have stayed lost, Nina Cross.”
I turned to Grim again, adrenaline jacking through me. “What is she talking about? What’s going on here?”
“Oh, I wouldn’t waste your time turning to him for protection,” Elaine answered for him. “He’s been working for our family for quite a long time. In fact, you could say you were his number one assignment. You have been for many, many years.”
Elaine glanced at Grim. “I have to hand it to you, when you failed in your mission, what was that now, nineteen years ago? When you came back without Rose’s head on a plate, telling us you’d never found her, we believed you. We still believe you. You see, good help is hard to find, particularly the kind of help a monster can bring you. Happily, you did finally snag a better target in the end.”
I widened my eyes, fixing Grim with a horrified stare as Elaine studied us both.
“Oh, come now. You had no idea? I guess bait never does in the end. Such a shame that all the power you supposedly have was wasted on a fool.” Elaine settled back in her own seat, clearly delighted to continue her story. “Your mother was right to hide you from us. But pride always gets you in the end, doesn’t it? Rose McKinley was a pitiful wreck of a woman. She believed, much like some members of your precious academy, that monsters could be reasoned with—befriended. Even loved. Idiot. Monsters have only a few uses. Properly motivated, however, they are quite effective.”
She leaned forward. “What happened to her in the end, Nina? What made you come to Boston? She’d done her job so well, secreting you away. The letter she never sent was never supposed to be sent now, was it? Yet here you are. It’s rather an odd thing, isn’t it?”
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” I offered stiffly, surprised I could even get the words past my throat.
“Oh no, well, you certainly don’t,” Elaine agreed. “In fact, there isn’t very much you could say that would matter at this point. Your mother tried her level best to raise you for the role to which you were uniquely born, but she, as usual, wanted to reach a little too high above her station. There’s a reason why we stamped out harbingers anytime they came along, and that’s because they weren’t good for the family business. Fortunately, it seems you do have some skills we could leverage, or at least that’s what Grim here thinks, and we have valued his opinions for long enough that we’re willing to at least entertain them. After all, we’re about to witness the end of Wellington Academy. It seems like it’s only fitting we give it a proper send-off, no?”