Nightworld Academy: Term Five

by LJ Swallow

  Chapter Fifty

  ANDREI

  Maeve yields to me and tucks her arms against my chest as I grip her. Her heart beats faster than I've heard in a long time, intensifying her scent. I hug Maeve tighter in case she changes her mind, then pull her to sit on the stairs with me.

  For a few minutes, Maeve's cheek remains pressed against my chest as I stroke her hair. The rapid breaths don't stop and neither does the muttering about heartbeats. My heart races too, because I don't know what the hell to do next. Onlookers become bored as Maeve's performance is over and they wander away.

  Katherine sits on the step above us and chews her lip. "Is Maeve alright?"

  "Are you actually concerned?" I ask.

  "Well, excuse me if I am," she retorts.

  Okay, the night has moved from surreal to impossible. "I don't know, Katherine."

  "She hasn't been... right since the day I tricked her," she says in a soft voice. "Have I caused all this?"

  Maeve shifts and puts her hands over her ears again.

  "No. This isn't a dumb spell. Yes, what you did triggered visions, but other shit has happened to Maeve since then. Don't stress. Nobody will hold you responsible."

  Katherine watches Maeve cautiously. "I feel sad for Maeve. Is it true people want to kill her?"

  "Who told you that?" I rest a palm over where Maeve covers her ears.

  "Just rumours. I mean, she's associating with you, and people want to kill you." I open my mouth to answer. "I'm not saying that to be a bitch, but because it's true. If I were Maeve, I'd ask the Confederacy to hide me."

  "Confederacy," I scoff.

  Katherine straightens. "Andrei! Don't say the word like that around anybody else."

  Where the hell is the guy fetching Tobias? "You don't understand, Katherine. Everything is more complicated than you can understand. Just go away."

  The door swings open and Tobias storms through. His hair sticks up in places and his black shirt only half fastened as he looks wildly around. "Where is she?"

  He attempts a stern tone but the panic in his voice is clear. His gaze lands on Maeve in my arms—the same way Katherine's has landed on his half-naked chest.

  Tobias swears beneath his breath and crouches down to tentatively reach out and touch Maeve's bare arm. "Maeve. What's happening?"

  She lifts her head and whispers something to him that causes his mouth to thin and he doesn't respond.

  "Could you leave us now, please, Katherine," he says stiffly.

  With a large huff, Katherine flounces away.

  Tobias sits back on his heels and drags a hand down his face. "This is because Jamie told her the story about the patient. She's having a nightmare about the cellars."

  "I need to know the secret," she whispers.

  "There's no secret," says Tobias. He stands again. “Have you ever been in the cellar, Andrei?”

  “No. Students aren’t allowed.” I narrow my eyes. “Why? What’s down there?”

  “The space is used for storage and isn’t large.” He crouches down again. “Do you think the heartbeat is coming from the cellar?”

  Maeve points at the floor and Tobias nods.

  “We’ll take you down,” he says soothingly. “Okay?”

  Brightening, Maeve sits forward. “Yes. Then can you stop the noise?”

  “I think once we look down there, the noise will stop.”

  I exchange a look with Tobias. Maeve may be dreaming—or hallucinating—but that sounded condescending to me.

  She makes to stand, and I help her to her feet. Tobias stands too and pulls a key chain from his pocket, then studies the keys. Selecting one larger than the rest, he holds his arm out to direct us forward.

  Like all students, I’m aware of the locked door to the cellars. All houses have them and they’re filled with spare furniture and school supplies. Katherine had permission to store decorations left over from the Winter Ball down there and never mentioned anything strange.

  The black arched door unlocks easily and opens onto roughly cut stone steps. Tobias and I have no issues with the unlit stairs, but Maeve needs help not to trip. We reach a floor covered in cracked white tiles piled with boxes, tables, and chairs, as expected. Tobias lights a gas lamp in the centre of the left-hand wall and looks to Maeve.

  She stands in the middle of the small cellar with her eyes closed and hands over her ears again.

  “Open your eyes. There’s nothing here,” says Tobias.

  “Can’t you hear the heartbeat?” she says in desperation as she uncovers her ears. “It’s so loud!”

  She grabs the nearest box and pulls items from inside—Katherine’s Winter Ball banner, tablecloths, plastic cups—and drops them to the floor. As she grabs another cardboard box, I catch her arm. “These are decorations for the school dance.”

  She wraps her arms around herself and shivers, crestfallen with tears shining in her eyes. “But I can still hear the heartbeat, Andrei.”

  Tobias subtly moves me to one side. “I thought she'd calm down if she saw the place."

  "Yeah, I don't think that worked, Tobias."

  His lips thin at my sarcasm. "Can you sense anything? A presence?"

  The first thing I did when I stepped in here was to focus my mind on picking up anything unusual. "Nothing."

  "I can’t either. I'm not prepared to empty the cellar to check the floor and walls tonight; Maeve has drawn enough attention. We need to persuade Maeve to leave until tomorrow.”

  “But look at her,” I whisper. “She’s a mess and convinced she can hear something.”

  Tobias flicks a look from place to place in the cellar “Perhaps she can.”

  “You don’t believe her, do you?” I ask in horror.

  “I will never discount anything, Andrei. Not in the current situation.”

  “Can you see them?” Maeve exclaims. “There! Look.”

  My stomach lurches and I turn, ready to defend myself.

  “Them?” I ask. “Nobody’s here.”

  “No. The runes.” She moves to the bare, white-painted wall the boxes rest against and points. “They’re glowing. Can’t you see them?”

  I exchange another confused look with Tobias. “No. We can’t.”

  “They’re Blackwood.”

  My blood ices. “Is she imagining those too?” I whisper to Tobias.

  “I’m unsure how lucid Maeve is. It’s possible only she can see them.”

  Maeve touches a spot on the wall with her fingers and looks at us, eyes dull. “I saw them in the Blackwood house, the day Anastasia touched my mind.”

  “Shit. Can you feel anything from them?” I ask.

  Maeve looks back at the wall and her pale face is covered in more confusion. “Oh. The runes disappeared.”

  “Another traumatic memory,” says Tobias and Maeve scowls. “Has the heartbeat stopped?” His tone is hopeful, but she shakes her head and moves to a different part of the room.

  “What’s through there?” Maeve points at the wall opposite the steps.

  “Nothing,” says Tobias. “Solid stone; not a built wall.”

  Frowning, she approaches and places a hand on the stone. “Are you sure?” she asks and presses her ear against it. "Andrei. Listen."

  I bite my lip and copy her. "I can't hear anything, Maeve," I say gently and take her hands."

  "Under here?" She drops to her knees and holds her ear to the tiles. "Yes. Under here."

  Fuck. I drag a hand through my hair and look at Tobias. He nods and I kneel beside her. The tiles are cool against my cheek, but the only sound is my breathing. Looking up, I shake my head at Tobias.

  Maeve's hair falls to her shoulders as she sits again. "I think this is where the noise is coming from. Can we get down there?"

  "There's no way down," says Tobias.

  "There must be!" she protests and stands.

  As she reaches out to move more boxes, Tobias stands in her way. “I promise we’ll come back tomorrow for a closer look,” he say
s. "If you hear this every night, the noise will still be there tomorrow."

  “Do we take her back to Walcott?” I whisper as Maeve chews her lip, considering his words.

  “No. I don’t want Sofia involved.” He rubs his forehead. “Maeve can’t stay at Petrescu either. I’ll take her back to my quarters.”

  I’m on the verge of retorting how inappropriate that is, but he's stern-faced. “Is that okay with you, Maeve? If Tobias takes you to his rooms?”

  “If the noise stops, I don’t care.” She looks at me with the same desperation and my heart sinks. I take her in my arms again and rest my chin on the top of her head. I am useless. I can’t help her.

  “Look after Maeve,” I warn Tobias.

  Look after Maeve, the girl I love, standing lost and frightened, more vulnerable than I’ve ever seen her.

  His harsh expression drops. “Andrei. I always look after Maeve.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  TOBIAS

  Andrei gives Maeve his boots to cover her bare feet; a touching move from the kid I never thought would care for anybody but himself. I misjudged Andrei; I always likened him to myself at twenty. He couldn’t be more different. If I'd found Maeve when I was his age, would my future have changed the way his will now?

  She stumbles along beside me in his too-big black boots, and almost trips as I walk beside her towards my quarters. I'd put my arms around Maeve and help, but my heightened emotions and her distress make that a bad idea.

  Did the witch who cursed me know how extreme the effects on me would be from meeting Maeve? Did she consider the curse would be as unfair for Maeve as it is for me?

  She's quiet and head bowed, no longer talking about heartbeats. The cellar visit placated her, but I'm as keen as Maeve to look at what's down there. This extreme reaction isn't from a girl having nightmares. Something or somebody has a presence there that she can feel. The runes. Something is wrong.

  We arrive at the staff building, where I half-expect Sofia to spring from nowhere and demand why I'm taking a scantily dressed Maeve into my rooms. She believes I aim to corrupt Maeve; if only she knew the truth. The hallway and stairs are quiet as Maeve clomps upstairs in her boots. Only when I open the door do I question what the hell I'm doing. Should take her back to Walcott? No. If she continues to disrupt the night, Maeve would face questions and whispering in the morning, which she'd hate. The Petrescu kids’ distance from Walcott right now may count in her favour and stop gossip spreading far.

  My study over at the academy is bare, apart from a professor's necessities—books, pens—and the trunk where I lock away books or items I use to teach. Ones that I don't want kids to touch.

  But this place reveals more of who I am. The neat and organised professor with his life held together and organised doesn't live here. His clothes hang in the wardrobe, but that's all. I keep few magical items in here.

  Maeve halts and looks around the room. Unsure how long I'd live here, I refurbished the room to rid the place of the past. I know other professors like the history and expense in the antique furniture, but I hate the old. The few items I have, I bought in the last two years from a flat-packed furniture store, along with a sofa positioned in front of a large TV.

  I immerse myself in the human world in order to remove myself from thoughts about who and what I am. The decay and danger inside Ravenhold's ancient walls pushed me harder into the human world after I left. If I keep focused on that side of my life, I may never come across the cursed witch.

  Now the witch I never wanted to meet is in my life, and I never want to let her go.

  I watch Maeve as she lowers herself onto the plush blue sofa and places her hands in her lap, continuing to stare at her surroundings. My obsession with Maeve grew since the evening in the Blackwood house; keeping away from her emotionally and physically agonises me. Sometimes as I sit in front of the TV with a glass of whisky, I tell myself everything I feel for Maeve is a result of the curse.

  I gave up believing this weeks ago.

  She's pale and her eyes tired, and I attempt not to focus on how her breasts swell against the tight top, obviously naked beneath. The shorts barely covered her, and I can only see her long slender legs now she's sitting. Add in the emotional maelstrom flying from her and dragging me in, and I'm caught in a place I don't want to be.

  Turning from the scene, I head to the shining white kitchen and pour her a glass of water. My hand shakes as I do, with fear for Maeve, and as I fight my encompassing response to her.

  She gratefully takes the glass from me when I return, and her cold fingers brush mine. As suspected, the magic energy between us sparks hotter than the night I almost lost control. I sit in the armchair opposite and wait for her to speak. She’s lost, with a vacant expression and distant look in her eyes; she looks like her old self but unsure.

  Maeve sips the water and licks her lips before staring at my chest. Confused, I look down. I've only half-buttoned my shirt. I hastily fasten the rest and attempt to flatten my bedhead hair.

  "You look different," she says eventually. "Your place isn't what I expected either. It's very... normal.”

  And I’m anything but. "You gave us a shock tonight, Maeve. Can you still hear the noise?"

  She shakes her head and stares into the glass. "I can’t believe I did that. I made an idiot of myself, didn't I?"

  "Your behaviour alarmed everybody. Were you aware what was happening?" I watch her face for signs to indicate her emotions because her thoughts are too tangled for me to read.

  Again, she shakes her head. "Only when I stepped into the cellar. In there, the heartbeat grew louder and stopped.”

  “The runes?”

  “I glimpsed them. They shone in the dark, but now I’m not sure whether I was hallucinating.” She pushes hair from her face. “Thank you for taking me into the cellar. For bringing me here."

  Her eyes meet mine and my heart hurts as it always does when I see into her innermost self, where her innocence and naivety lie. I see the girl who lives in my bones, in my heart, and deep in my soul.

  The one who'll be the death of me.

  "I thought you'd be..." Safer here? No. Never with me, "calmer if away from the academy building."

  "Thank you," she repeats in a small voice.

  The urge to hold Maeve and squeeze away the anguish and confusion drives harder, so I clench my teeth and fight myself. "Do you have any idea what you're hearing?"

  She stares. "I’ve told you all. A heartbeat. Do you think the building has a heart?"

  I blink at her insane theory. "Do you?"

  "Jamie senses history from touching items. Maybe I can feel the building?"

  "Maeve," I say gently. "This never happened before. I don't think you do."

  "Before the Blackwoods took me?" she murmurs. "The pendant attracted Anastasia. Maybe there's something Blackwood in the academy that attracts me and why I saw the runes?"

  There's a strange lucidity about Maeve's demeanour; the girl whose life is filled with strange visions and powers now has another to add to her list. Her strength astounds me.

  I chew on my lip. "You understand there's a dark edge to your magical energy now. You could be attracting the negative energy lingering inside a building with a long and unpleasant history. The heartbeat could be a manifestation in your mind."

  I'm grasping at straws. I have no idea. I'm concerned by the information Jamie discovered too; his story must’ve added to her nightmares.

  “I tasted blood again tonight," she whispers and her eyes brim with fear. "I'm worried he's part of me now."

  "No. That's impossible,” I say gently. "But this may explain why you're attracted to Petrescu. You might be connecting with something he knows about, inside the academy."

  Maeve pushes hair behind her ear as she bows her head, the weight of the evening on her sinking shoulders. "When you take us to the cellars tomorrow, I want to scry with Jamie."

  I straighten. "No."

  Her brow pinches a
s she looks up. "Why? My visions give answers. I might see more in a vision than we'll find searching the space."

  Sinking back in the armchair, I shove a hand through my messy hair. "You're fragile."

  "You know I'm not," she says quietly. "Especially when you're all with me. We'll all be there. Nothing could happen."

  I splutter a laugh and she glares at me. "Maeve. Spells and magic have broken your mind before."

  I'm right and she knows, but we both know that returning to her visions may be the way forward now.

  The Blackwood magic that took hold when Nikolai attacked her worries me. The witches wanted to nourish that inside Maeve. Have they taken steps to allow this to happen—steps that we’re unaware of?

  "We should talk about this tomorrow," I say stiffly and stand.

  It's Maeve's turn to laugh. "You can't be like this with me any longer, Tobias. Now I'm here, we have a lot to talk about."

  "It's four a.m. You need to sleep. We can discuss more tomorrow with the others."

  "Like the curse?"

  “No.”

  Maeve leans forward to take a discarded cushion from the floor, and her top moves, giving me too clear a view of what's beneath. I hide this badly as Maeve takes the red cushion and wraps her arms around it in front of her chest.

  Sorry.

  Speak to me.

  I wipe a hand down my face. "Okay, but I don't want the curse discussed with anybody else.” Her face brightens. “I don't know what else to tell you."

  “I have two questions that keep coming to me.”

  Crap. I nod.

  "Which family cursed you?" she asks. “You never told me the name.”

  I lift my eyes upwards to stare at the ceiling. A name I never wanted to utter again. "Winterfall. The Blackwoods wanted the family eradicated as they were the only witches as pure-bred as their family, and as powerful.”

  “And I don’t understand why you spent time at Ravenhold when you... eradicated them. Why weren’t you killed?”