“Good point. I need to find that out.” I probed my tongue over my fake tooth. “Morrissey told me I need to go to the familiars’ cemetery after the dark hour. Maybe there will be answers there? I don’t know.”
Seph gasped. “Morrissey...”
“What?”
She hooked her finger in her mouth and tapped on one of her teeth in the back. “She took my tooth too. She told me something that didn’t make a lick of sense.”
“Yeah? What was that?”
“She said my tooth saw me in here with you. Both of us were sleeping, but...there were two of me, one sleeping and one...not.”
Unease prickled up my back. Someone had been in here with us? I’d often wondered that, especially when I’d once woken to find the floor frozen over and my boots moved out of reach so I couldn’t chase after Seph. “What were you—it—doing?”
“Watching,” Seph said, wringing her hands together.
My swallow stuck in my throat, and a shudder raced across my shoulders. “Watching what? Watching you?”
“No.” She winced. “Watching you.”
Chapter Three
My brain might as well have been dripping out of my ears. As Seph and I made our way to breakfast in the Gathering Room the next morning, students couldn't fling themselves away from me fast enough. I’d even had a proper bath, the first one in months without just a bucket and a sponge, and fresh coal dying my hair instead of smeared all over my face.
"Killer," one spat.
"She killed Vickie to get her out of the way so she could get to Ramsey, you know," a brunette said, loud enough so I'd be sure to hear.
Their voices and glares chased after me and flamed my cheeks hotter, but I refused to break in front of them. I stared at each one with my head held high. It didn't matter what they thought of me, because part of what they thought was true. I'd come to this academy to kill someone, and even though I hadn’t, the darkness they saw inside of me was real.
Seph leaned in as we neared the Gathering Room doors. "We can take breakfast back to our room, if you want."
I shook my head, sweeping my gaze to the left side of the room toward the junior and senior tables. A few Diabolicals glanced up and then went right back to eating. The rest of the room quieted, all eyes on me.
"I won't cower anymore. Let them stare. Let them think what they want."
Students scattered as we entered, and half the freshmen table surged to their feet and got out before we sat down. Which left more food for me. I drooled at the platters full of glazed breads and vats of butter, jellies, and honeys. The carbs in the dungeon had been stale, usually with just one slice of bread to sop up stews and no butter. Not nearly enough to fill the dark pit in my soul.
"Well, I don't mind an audience,” Seph said, “but let me know if you change your mind."
“I won’t.” Frowning, I looked around the large room with glittering mica walls and skull chandeliers. “Where is everyone? It’s so empty in here.”
Seph froze as all the color sapped from her face. “You don’t know. Of course you don’t know.”
I blinked, unease digging sharply into my stomach. “Know what?”
“Five stones have been activated,” she said, her voice low. “Remember Professor Woolery at the pub said she’d heard rumors of some of them being activated? Well, now it’s been confirmed. The onyx is the only one that hasn’t been, and people everywhere are panicking.”
Guard the stone, Leo had said during the séance. The last stone. If it was activated, Ryze would return and bring terror to all of Amaria. He’d ruled once. He could do it again and torture and enslave us all.
I shivered, suddenly overcome by goose bumps. “This is terrible.”
“I know. But the headmistress told us there are guards who come every night to protect the gate’s perimeter.”
“That won’t help if the skin-walker is already inside though,” I murmured.
I’d told the headmistress about my parents’ letter and a possible skin-walker, as well as the strange voice I’d heard in the gym with Seph. She’d paled and left the dungeon with a hurried goodbye. I only hoped she and other mages had some kind of plan, because how long would we last on the defensive?
Just then, Ramsey strolled in, and he immediately swiveled his head to the freshmen table, his eyebrows squeezed together. His gaze connected with mine and held there, and the anger I always felt upon seeing him sparked and caught fire, but some of the fuel it needed to rage had been doused with uncertainty. I had an easy solution in my pocket, but I still couldn’t bring myself to look at it. When he turned toward the Diabolicals, the tense line of his shoulders relaxed some, and he crossed the room to join them.
"Well,” Seph said with her chin propped in her hand, elbow on the table. “That was interesting. You know, right after what happened between you two, he told me he’d ordered the Diabolicals to back down, and that they’d leave me alone."
"And did they?”
“Surprisingly, they did.” She rolled two coins onto the table, and they instantly vanished. “I’ve been eating in here with Morrissey, Echo, and Jon. Hey, Jon.” She waved at the blond guy sitting down from us a ways who’d been pretending not to notice Seph.
At the sound of his name, he smiled and waved, but when his gaze landed on me, he got up and sped past.
I sighed. “And now you’re stuck sitting with me.”
“And now I’m stuck sitting with you.” She grinned as she loaded her plate with waffles and sliced melon. "Ramsey tried to talk to me a few more times after that, see how I was doing, but I shut him down and ignored him. He asked about you and seemed...very concerned."
"Yeah, because"—I propped my elbow on the table to half cover my mouth with my hand—"I tried to kill him. Wouldn't you be concerned?"
"Oh, absolutely,” she said, reaching for the cauldron full of creamy butter. “Especially now that your punishment involves spending so much time together shoveling snow."
I’d told her about that since we’d talked late into the night, and then when she drifted off to sleep with Nebbles curled up half on her face, I stayed awake. All night. Even though Seph had learned a door-locking spell, I looked out for Seph and made sure no one sneaked into our room to watch me. A tremor ripped down my back at the thought. Why was the skin-walker watching me? There had to be a way to find out who it was. A trip to the library would be necessary, as was usually the case even on normal days. I’d missed its magic and its promise for answers.
I piled my plate with every bread product on the table so I could drown my worries with the only food that mattered.
“Quarum sacra fero revelare,” Seph murmured, and then dug in when her breakfast stayed breakfast. She glanced at me. “Oh yes. Just because I eat in here now doesn’t mean I trust anyone. I’m forever scarred by moving food.”
“I get it,” I said, and repeated the spell.
She leaned in. “How was the food in the dungeon?”
“Not enough bread.” I tore into a honey-glazed biscuit, taking as big a bite as possible.
She chuckled. “I figured.”
“Murderer,” a rusty voice said from above.
Seph and I looked up at the skull chandelier hanging above our heads, and one skull’s empty sockets aimed down toward us.
“Do you take requests, murderer?” it asked, its jaw flapping crazily.
Laughter erupted from the sophomore table. One of them must’ve been using magic to control it.
“It just so happens that I have a spot open today,” I told it, my voice rising, my temper rising even more.
“Dawn,” Seph muttered and put her hand on my arm. “You’re not helping the situation any.”
“Did you kill Professor Wadluck too?” the skull asked.
“Better check your timeline on that. He was already missing by the time I arrived here.” I rose from the table slowly and gave them the darkest look I could muster. “But let’s go back to my open spots for the day.”
Seph dug her fingers into my flesh. “Not. Helping.”
Behind the snickering table next to us, Ramsey looked up. His expression turned to stone at the laughing sophomores, and then his flinty gaze ticked up to meet mine briefly.
“Malak,” he snapped, and the sophomore by that name jumped.
What was Ramsey doing? I was doing just fine on my own.
“See?” Seph released her grip on me, seeming to trust I’d behave myself. “He’s concerned.”
“Concerned that I’ll try to kill him again, maybe,” I said, but after that, the skull and the sophomores stayed quiet.
Later in Death, Dying, and Reliving, I learned that Professor Margo Woolery had bogged the class down with two research papers on top of the semester exam in two weeks. One paper arguing why plants, animals, and humans should stay dead, the other making the case why each should relive.
While reviewing some of the particulars, she said, "Most of the books you use will make both points anyway, so you can write your papers at the same time. You all have two hands, right?"
No one seemed to know if she was joking or not, but no one laughed either.
Instead of bothering with the months of work I’d missed, I quickly wrote a note for my dad on a roll of parchment.
Dear Dad,
Have you been getting my letters? Also, at Parents’ Weekend in the fall, did I seem okay to you? Did I do or say anything strange? This is for a project I’m doing on self-reflection regarding big life changes. Thanks!
Love,
Dawn
Seph read over my shoulder and nodded. “I’d believe it.”
When the class ended, Professor Woolery said, "Dawn, can I see you for a moment?"
I bit back a frown, already assuming the worst. "Sure."
"It's probably just about what you've missed." Seph touched my shoulder. "I'll let Professor Pain know that you might be late."
"Thanks," I muttered. “Wait, that’s his real name?”
Our Symbology professor had never mentioned it my first week of class, so I’d just called him Professor Turtle for obvious reasons.
She nodded and then rolled her eyes as she collected her stacks of parchment filled with notes. “The name fits, believe me.”
“Lovely.” I stepped out into the aisle between tables.
From one table up and to the right, Morrissey turned and grinned, then waved her hand in a dramatic loop at the teeth-lined combs she wore in her hair. I couldn’t help but smile back. Obviously I didn’t share her excitement, but I assumed that one of those teeth was mine.
You’re welcome, Morrissey. You’re a lovable weirdo.
Echo, on the other hand, wasn’t as happy to see me. She loomed behind Morrissey, her hands balling into fists while she glared at me.
Yeah, I was about done with the I-wish-you-were-dead looks. I strode past them, waving at Morrissey, and ignoring Echo, toward Professor Woolery at the front of the room.
She was young—probably not much older than me—and so pretty. Today, she wore a long-sleeved red dress with smaller buttons than usual decorating her sleeves and down her front. Her glossy chestnut waves had grown some in the months since I’d seen her. My chest tightened. I hated how everything was a reminder of how much time had passed, how much time had been wasted.
She flashed a smile that didn't reach her eyes as she finished stacking homework parchment. "I just wanted to say, Dawn, that I know I don't have all the details about your involvement in recent events, but I...I would imagine it has a lot to do with the loss of your brother. I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he... Well, that he died."
"You knew him?"
She nodded. "I... We dated for a time. I often wonder if the reason he didn't accept a position at this school was because of me. Sorry, I...I shouldn't have said that. It's just...learning about his death really struck me, and I can't even imagine what you and your family must be going through. I'm so sorry."
My heart pinched and my throat clamped up, which was fine because I didn't know what to say. Or how to feel. I'd held my fury for Ramsey for so long, had relied on it to get me through the next day and the next. Now that there was this strange mix of hollowness and doubt inside me, there was a lot more room for the grief I hadn't really allowed myself to feel. And it hurt. Badly. Even after all these months. When would it get better so I could at least talk about him without breaking inside?
Also, she knew Leo? Why hadn't he ever mentioned her? What else did I not know about my own brother?
"Anyway,” she said, “I have a feeling that these recent events were because, in part, your loss. If I'm right, you can talk to me. If I'm wrong, you can still talk to me."
"Okay," I choked out, and then left because I couldn't talk about it.
IT WAS TIME FOR PUNISHMENT.
After classes and before dinner, Headmistress Millington met Ramsey and me at the front doors with two snow shovels, two pairs of gloves, and a no-nonsense look. "I expect you both to work together without any problems or magic. This is work. Remember dinner in one hour."
With a wave of her hand, the locks and gears disengaged and turned, and the huge doors opened to a wintery nightmare tinged with the salty sea. The sky rippled with heavy clouds, and several feet of blinding-white snow lay on the ground—with more falling. This was the first daylight I'd seen in months and quite a while before that since the academy had no windows. The glaring light watered my eyes and speared to the back of my skull.
"Haaaate," I hissed, throwing my hood over my head.
Ramsey chuckled as the headmistress swept back inside and closed the door behind her.
I spun around to face him. "Something funny?"
"A few things, actually." His voice was deep and silky as a spiderweb trap, and his usual intensity faded the longer he grinned down at me. He nodded at my snow shovel, several falling flakes catching in his dark windblown hair. "Like how you're holding that like a weapon. Thinking of attacking me again?"
"Always,” I fired back. “But you'll probably just turn this into a rubber shovel, right?"
"Well." He took the stairs two at a time down to the snowy path below. "Maybe we'll find out. Can't spoil the surprise by telling you, now, can I?"
I stared after him as his long, powerful strides took him down the path toward the front gate, his black cloak billowing out behind him. How did he make it seem like he didn't have a care in the world? Even our punishment didn't seem to bother him. Or that I'd basically threatened him. Again.
Throwing my confusion into my shovel, I made quick work of the steps and then worked my way down the path as I cleared it. I didn’t mind shoveling since I was actually doing something that had a clear result. My muscles strained but welcomed the freedom of movement after the months in the dungeon. Even the bitter cold air felt nice as it burned its way down my lungs and bit its way through my layers to my skin.
A flutter came from above, and a snow-covered raven landed on the cleared path in front of me with a rolled scroll in its beak.
“For me?” I squeaked, and the raven squawked at how dumb a question that was.
I’d sent my letter to Dad right after P.P.E., so this might be from him since no one else had any reason to write me.
My heartbeat stuttering, I bent to retrieve it.
Dear Dawn,
The only letter we’ve received from you is the one telling us not to come to Parents’ Weekend, which we promptly ignored to surprise you.
You seemed distracted and worried about your studies, but still our loving, bright daughter. You spent a lot of time in the library while we roamed the academy grounds, which are truly spectacular. I hope that helps with your project.
It’s a shame about the magic dampener charm. I hope it’s found soon since I hear it’s very old and powerful.
We’ll see you soon for the winter holiday. I have new bongo drums! Your mother is so excited.
Love,
Dad
I read the part about the
magic dampener again and again. I hope it’s found soon... So it was missing, then. Was that what the skin-walker had been after at White Magic Academy? I’d have to mention this to Headmistress Millington and see if she knew anything about it. Since the onyx was the only stone that hadn’t been activated, a rogue magic dampener could be very bad. It could weaken all the spells and magic protecting the stone.
With my mind churning, I stuffed the note in my pocket and went back to work. Before too long, the sound of Ramsey's shovel scraping the snow reached my ears, and then the sight of his cloak swirling around him as we worked our way toward each other. Sweat trickled down my sides despite the frigid air, and I stopped to wipe a drip from my temple—then froze.
Movement blurred through the twisted black trees on my right. Too fast that I couldn't make out any details.
"This would go a lot faster if, you know, you shoveled?" he called from about ten feet away.
I whirled on him. "Can you just not talk...ever?" I pointed toward the trees. "I thought I saw something, is all."
"What did you see?"
"Movement."
"Where?"
Exasperation boiled inside me. "Between the trees. You’re not even looking where I pointed."
He shrugged as he glanced sort of in that direction. "Probably an animal."
"Definitely not an animal.” The truth was I didn’t know. I just wanted him to shut up.
A long, familiar shiver trailed down my back, the same one I'd had when I followed Seph through those same trees when she’d been sleepwalking. She couldn't be there now. Could she? It was still daylight, though it was fading quickly, and it could’ve been anyone, which didn’t make me feel any better.
We went back to shoveling, but I kept my hackles raised while I searched between the trees for more movement. I wondered if there were any murderers buried in that little graveyard I’d seen over there. I wanted another dead man's hand for shadow-walking, and for a weird sort of comfort, if I was being honest. I just needed to hold hands with someone, apparently. The deader, the better.
Necromancer Unleashed: Book 2 Page 3