No.
She wanted more.
So much more.
Maddison wanted to save her granddaughter from the vampires who were undoubtedly on their way to Hybrid Academy. If they weren’t already there, they would be soon. As soon as they realized where Erin had stashed Maxine, all bets would be off. They would be quiet about their attack, and discreet. If they worked carefully, then most of the students and teachers would never even know there had been vampires on campus.
When she’d left the vampires’ lair, she had done so quietly and without much fuss. Prius’ car had gotten her farther than she’d thought it would. Determination had brought her the rest of the way. Maybe Maddison should have gone to see Erin before visiting Hybrid Academy, but she’d been gone from her granddaughter for so long. All she wanted to do was see Max.
And Boo, although she’d never admit that she thought of the little cat as a sort of pseudo-grandson.
That was just silly.
Now she was there.
She was just outside of the academy.
She was in the mountains and she could see the top of the castle from her spot at the cabin.
There was more to Hybrid Academy than met the eye, however, and Maddison couldn’t be too hasty. When she revealed herself to Maxine, she had to be ready for what would happen next. She assumed that her granddaughter had her powers by now, but there was always a chance that she didn’t.
There was always a chance that Maxine had chosen to continue living a normal life and hadn’t actually shown any interest in magic.
But Maddison didn’t think that was the reality she was facing.
She walked up to the cabin and pushed the door open. She didn’t bother knocking because whoever had used this place was long gone. She would be, too, if she had been up to no good out here in the mountains. Maddison had never understood the draw of dark magic. There was enough powerful magic in the world to last any witch a dozen lifetimes.
She didn’t need to go evil to enjoy it.
She didn’t need to live in darkness in order to make a name for herself.
That was the problem with magic users these days. They were all obsessed with fame. Maddison shook her head and closed the door behind her. When she had been a young witch, her coven had looked for ways to make the world a better place. They hadn’t wanted to make things darker or meaner or crueler.
No, they had wanted light.
They had wanted beauty.
They had wanted freedom.
Things were very different than when Maddison was a girl. The world was harsher and less patient. There was little room for error, especially now.
Especially for Maxine, and especially for herself.
She looked around the room.
It was an ordinary cabin, to be honest. It was a single room with a small bed, a nightstand, a dresser, and a table. There was a rug in the center of the room and a couple of chairs around a small fireplace. There wasn’t really a kitchen, but there was a box next to the table. Maybe it held food.
Maybe it held something else.
Maddison looked around, but a feeling of discomfort started to grow in the pit of her belly. She didn’t want to admit how much that scared her. Why was she suddenly feeling afraid? She reached up and wiped her brow. Sweat. She was sweating. That’s how uncomfortable she suddenly was.
Maddison was a lot of things, but weak?
No, she was not weak.
Never weak.
Never scared.
She searched the room quickly. Aside from dust, there was nothing of note. The bed was made neatly and every blanket and sheet was in place. There was nothing beneath the mattress. The nightstand was empty. In fact, she guessed it had never even actually been used. The dresser was also empty. Even the table was barren.
But she hadn’t checked the box yet.
She approached it and looked at it. If she had to guess, there was magic within it. The box was more like a small trunk. It was nearly two feet long and a foot deep. It appeared to be locked with some sort of padlock, but that didn’t matter. Maddison knew more than enough spells to disarm a little padlock.
She moved her hand over the box before she touched it, waving it through the air. Sure enough, the space was thick above the box, almost muggy. There was something inside of it, but she didn’t know what. She ran her fingers over the metal of the lock and whispered an incantation.
Nothing.
She tried again.
Still nothing.
Maddison tried one more spell and the lock popped open. With a sigh and a general feeling of anxiousness, she pushed the lid off the box and looked inside.
Chapter 11
The snow continued all through winter break. Aunt Erin came to see me on the last day of the break. She tumbled into the female dormitory looking tired, disheveled, and cold. Kiera, Boo, and I were waiting in the lobby when she arrived. We hurried over to her and helped her out of her heavy coat. Kiera moved to hang it on a coat rack and I quickly gave her a hug.
“You’re ice,” I said, stating the obvious.
“It’s a little chilly, yes,” Erin rubbed her hands against her shoulders.
“How was the trip?” Kiera asked.
“About as could be expected,” Erin said. “Good to see you, dear.”
She hugged Kiera, wrapping her arms around her, and the two of them chatted for a few minutes about school and break and Kiera’s family. Then Aunt Erin looked at me.
“Can we talk?” She asked. “Privately?”
“Of course,” I said. Kiera waved to me, unbothered by the fact that my aunt wanted to be alone with me. “I’ll catch you later,” I said.
“No problem. I’ll just be studying.” Kiera looked at Boo. “You want to come with me, little guy?”
Boo actually shook his head, which made Kiera laugh. He hurried over to me and wrapped his body around my legs. Kiera shrugged.
“Guess we know who the favorite is,” she said. “Oh well, I guess that’s why I’ve got my own familiar. I don’t need to be mooching on yours.”
“He’s so cute though,” I said, squatting down. I scratched his chin a little, which made him purr loudly. Even though I knew that Boo was really a boy called Henry, old habits stuck with me. I’d spent years scratching his chin like this. I wasn’t about to stop now. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
Besides, he liked it.
Aunt Erin cleared her throat, reminding me that she was on a schedule, and I stood up and hurried after her. We went upstairs, trekking silently up staircase after staircase until we finally reached the top floor.
“I’m going to tell Alicia to put in an elevator,” my aunt grumbled.
“I’m a little surprised she hasn’t already,” I said.
“Well, she’s old school,” Erin shrugged.
“So, she hates her knees?”
“People like Alicia just think that the way things used to be was better.”
“What do you mean?” Alicia Gregory was the headmistress at my school, but I didn’t really know her that well, obviously. She mostly spent time in her office or with the other teachers. It’s not like she was buddy-buddy with the students. None of us really had time to hang out, anyway.
All of the students were completely overloaded with classes, books, and magical homework, and Alicia?
Well, she had a school to run.
“She’s just a bit of a traditionalist.”
“So, she thinks old magic is better?”
“In some ways,” Erin said, lowering her voice. We were almost to my room, but it would do no one any good for us to be overheard. Not when Erin seemed to be criticizing her old friend. I was a little bit surprised since Erin always seemed like she really got along with Alicia. Besides, Alicia had been the one who permitted me to attend Hybrid Academy after all.
“And in others?”
Erin shrugged. She spoke the spell to open my bedroom door. Each dorm room at Hybrid Academy had its own special spell. The
spells were designed to act as a locking mechanism. Unlike traditional locks that could be picked, these required the user to speak carefully, quietly, and precisely in order to get into the room.
It made for an interesting time during finals week when everyone was feeling stressed and anxious.
Yelling kaimen at your door might come out in entirely the wrong voice, which meant you’d be stuck sitting in the hallway until you could calm down enough to open the door properly. It made for an interesting week, especially when all you wanted to do was study for exams.
Not being able to study was almost worse than being forced to study.
We walked into the room and I closed the door behind us. Boo instantly ran and hopped onto my bed. He curled up on my pillow, closed his eyes, and promptly fell asleep.
“Weird cat,” my aunt murmured. She liked Boo a lot, but always thought there was something a little bit “off” about him. Obviously, that was because he wasn’t a cat at all. He was a boy. Eventually, I’d have to tell my aunt the truth, but I wasn’t ready for that. Besides, she was already focused on something else.
“Where’s your roommate?” She asked.
I shrugged.
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve never actually met her,” I said.
“What? Why not?”
“She just hasn’t been around, I guess.”
“That’s odd. Has anyone confirmed that you actually have a roommate?” Aunt Erin asked, walking around the room. She paced back and forth. She walked from one wall to the opposite wall and then back again. She pulled out her wand and waved it over my roommate’s side of the room, as though that would give her answers as to where my mysterious roommate actually was.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m checking something.”
“Uh, yeah, I’ve confirmed I have a roommate, and I know that she comes here all the time.”
“How do you know?”
“Her things are always in different places than where she left them.”
“What kind of things?”
“Hairbrushes, trinkets, clothes. Her bed is pretty much always made, and I’ve never been here when she’s been sleeping or studying or anything at all. Somehow, we always seem to miss each other.”
“Peculiar.”
“You keep saying that,” I say. “Is something actually wrong?”
“Maybe,” Erin said. “But it’s a bit of a strange situation and if I’ve learned one thing from being a witch, it’s that strange is rarely good.”
“What are you talking about?” I sat on the bed and pet Boo’s head. He purred in his sleep. “Everything about being a witch is strange.”
“This goes a little beyond strange,” Erin said. “Now tell me,” she was still waving her wand around, looking for something. “Has anything weird happened this semester?”
“Yep.”
“Weird like last year?”
“Yep.”
“Tell me.”
“It all started the first week,” I said. “Someone turned a bunch of kids into colorful hamsters. Then there was an incident where someone got turned into a frog. Basically, students are randomly being turned into other animals.”
“Without their consent?”
“Yep.”
“And what are the teachers doing to stop this?”
“Nothing, I suppose,” I shrug. “Anytime it happens, Alicia Gregory and her team come and take the affected students away so they can heal them. A day or two later, the students come back, and they don’t remember anything about what happened.”
“They don’t remember anything?”
“Nope,” I shake my head.
“Seems a bit odd. Even when you were converted into a hamster, you remembered what had happened to you.”
It does seem a little strange, but I suppose I hadn’t really thought too much about it.
“Isn’t memory loss part of some spells?”
“I mean, it’s not impossible, but it’s also not a common side effect.”
“So, what would cause that?” I asked. “We all assumed this was just some student causing a ruckus.”
“It could be,” she said, but something about Erin’s tone made me think that she knew something more than she was saying. I could see the wheels turning in her head. Perhaps I’d spent years away from my aunt, but living with her for the summer had given me a pretty solid understanding of what was going through her mind.
She was suspicious, and she probably had a theory, but she wasn’t ready to share it.
Well, too bad.
The time for playing coy had come and gone.
“Erin,” I said. “What aren’t you telling me? Is it about Grandma?”
We still hadn’t found her.
There were no leads.
I felt bad staying at Hybrid Academy during this time because I wanted to go out and hunt for my grandmother, but how? Erin had convinced me – and I agreed – that the best place for me to be was in magical training. Once I learned how to use my powers, how to cast spells, and how to perform enchantments, I’d be better able to help find her.
But Erin had promised to keep looking.
“No,” she said. “I haven’t found her yet.”
“But you have a clue.”
Erin sighed. She moved and sat down on my roommate’s bed. The pink blanket bobbed up and down as Erin wiggled around and made herself comfortable. My aunt brushed back her bleached blonde hair and looked over at me.
“I have a clue.”
“Tell me.”
“You won’t like it.”
“Try me.”
“I’ve been doing research.”
“Good.”
“A lot of research,” she said. “And I know that the man who took your grandmother fancies himself as King of the Vampires.”
“Is that even a real thing?”
“Apparently,” she shrugged. “Who knew?”
“Why her?” I asked. “Why would he take my grandmother?”
“Maxine, you have to understand.”
“What?” I snapped, standing up.
Boo squealed and jumped off the bed. He ran underneath my bed to hide. Even in his human form, Henry hated confrontation and yelling. In his cat form, he was even more sensitive to noise.
“What do I have to understand, Erin? It’s my fault she was taken, you know. If I had never told anyone I had a grandma, they wouldn’t have followed me home from work.”
Grandma hadn’t even wanted me to work.
I knew that now.
I knew now that she’d been protecting me for years. All of the times I thought she just didn’t understand me, she’d actually been looking after me. She’d been doing her best to keep me safe and protected, and she’d tried so very hard to make sure I was okay. I suppose I hadn’t realized the depth of the danger I could potentially be in. I didn’t realize just how much people wanted my grandmother’s magic book or her knowledge.
“Max,” Erin shook her head. “We’ve had this conversation a million times. I don’t think I should have to keep telling you not to blame yourself.”
“It’s easier said than done.”
“I know,” she said. “I know.”
Erin looked at her hands for a long time. Then she looked back up at me. There were tears in her eyes and I knew that I was probably to blame for those.
“I miss her, too, Max.”
“Every day,” I agreed.
“We’re going to find her.”
“I thought we’d have found her by now, Erin.”
“I’ve learned something,” she said.
“About the vampire dude?”
“The king? Yeah.”
“What about him?”
“He’s a bit of a loner,” she said. “He keeps to himself, but he’s an evil man, Maxine. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
“I suppose you’d have to be evil if you were a vampire, being soulless and all.”
; “That’s a myth.”
“That vampires are evil?”
“That they don’t have souls.”
“Either way,” I shrugged. “All of the vampires I’ve known have been pretty damn awful to deal with.”
I didn’t say that the only vampire I’d ever met was my former boss. He’s the one who kidnapped my grandmother. Even before that entire incident went down, he was a bit of a jerk. You learned a lot about a person when you worked with them every day. Usually workplace experiences were supposed to be good and overall pretty positive.
Mine hadn’t been.
“He’s the one, Max. He’s the one trying to find the potion your parents were after.”
“How do you know?”
“I’ve been spending a lot of time in the library.”
“The library?” I raised an eyebrow. “What did Rita have to say about that?”
Erin rolled her eyes. “You don’t want to know.”
Only, I did.
I wanted all of the details.
I wanted all of the information.
“What did you find out? Erin, come on. Just spit it out.”
“I think one of your teachers is working for the vampires.”
“What? Who? Melanie is gone. Long gone.”
A teacher last year had tried to ruin things for me at Hybrid Academy as a way to get back at my aunt. They’d been old friends, but their relationship had drifted apart, and the teacher hadn’t been able to accept that.
Change was never an easy experience, but lashing out wasn’t usually the best way to deal with your anxiety or frustration.
“Someone else. Someone new.”
Erin searched my face, waiting to see if I’d figure out who she had in mind, but I was coming up blank.
“There are a few new professors, but honestly, Erin, all of my classes kind of run together at this point.” I stood up and walked over to the mirror. The person staring back at me was tired. Worn out. Weak. She was ready for a break. A big one.
I just wanted this whole thing to be over.
“What do you think of Professor Elkridge?” She finally asked.
“Casper?” I spun around.
“He has a class on potions and shifters, Max.”
“Yeah,” I nodded. “He does. It’s not what I thought, though. The class isn’t about how to use potions to shift at all.”
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