by Sarina Dorie
Maddy nudged Hailey. “See. Miss Lawrence cares about us. You should be thankful she sneaks in here to try to bust your butt for cell phones and stuff.”
“Whatever,” Hailey said. “What do you want now?”
I hesitated. Was I so obvious? I felt like all I did was use people these days.
“Is it Miss Periwinkle?” Maddy asked.
“No, I need to know about where the answer keys are stored.” I looked to Hailey.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Hailey said quickly. “If Balthasar and Ben have been acting like morons and trying to break in—”
I held up a hand to stop her. “This doesn’t have anything to do with them. I need to know about the room where the answer keys are hidden. You broke in last year, so I thought you could tell me.” That was what she had once boasted anyway. I glanced over my shoulder. No one seemed to be paying attention to us, but I lifted the hood to cover my head anyway.
Hailey crossed her arms. “You told me I needed to turn over a new leaf. I have to try to be good so I can graduate, and you know, not die. I could get in a lot of trouble if I tell you where the answer keys are.”
“It’s a matter of life or death,” I said. “I’m not going to get you in trouble. I’m the only one who will get in trouble. I need to know what the dangerous creatures are, about the booby traps, and how to get into the room.”
Hailey looked unconvinced. “Why do you want the answer keys?”
“I don’t. I want to find something else in the same room.”
“The Ruby of Knowledge?” Her voice went up an octave in excitement.
“No. A person.”
“Your boyfriend?” Maddy squealed.
I put a finger to my lips. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“Why would a person be down there?” Hailey shifted on her bed, leaning closer to me. “Did he try to steal the answer keys?”
“No. He got put down there by someone.” Asking for help from students had been a mistake. It led to too many questions.
Maddy bit her lip. “Your boyfriend is the one who was with you that time you caught us in the secret passage? The security guard? He was the one Mr. Thatch … zapped in the cafeteria. He looked like he was going to attack you with his sword.”
“He wasn’t going to attack me. He wanted to attack Mr. Thatch.”
“Did Mr. Thatch put him down there?” Maddy asked.
“Beeswax,” I said, using the magic word to remind them of their manners that my fairy godmother had taught them.
It didn’t work.
“Why did Mr. Thatch zap him?” Maddy asked.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Hailey said. “If Mr. Thatch put him down there, he probably did it for a reason.”
“Mr. Thatch isn’t himself,” I said firmly. “Think about how he’s been . . . behaving lately.”
Maddy whispered something in Hailey’s ear. Hailey’s scowl turned to shock. “No fucking way. I thought he was … you know, inhuman and heartless.”
“Language,” I said.
Had she been completely blind lately? Either her surprise was triggered by the idea that Thatch was in love or that he had been weakened and seduced by siren magic.
“Will you help me?” I asked.
“I guess,” Hailey said. “But only because I don’t have anything better to do right now.”
I knew from drawing class not to trust Hailey’s skills in depicting accurate reproductions. Her map wouldn’t be to scale, and a year had elapsed since she’d been under the school searching for answer keys, so she probably didn’t remember where the booby traps were. Some of them might have changed since she’d been down there anyway.
The more I thought about this plan to venture into some unknown part of the school armed with an appropriated wand, an invisibility Snuggie, and a couple paltry magic spells—which included lighting a wand like a flashlight, cleaning tables, and taping posters to walls—the more I suspected this might be a bad idea.
Vega certainly was capable of helping me, but more likely she would turn me in to use me as a stepping stone in her quest for success. Even if I managed to entice her with the secret of necromancy or resurrect her future ex-boyfriend from her past life, she was too much of a wild card. I had no idea what she would do. Anything that served her best interests would always come first. I couldn’t trust Vega to help me.
Khaba always followed the rules. Josie wasn’t a strong witch. I dismissed the other powerful Witchkin, Thatch and Periwinkle, for obvious reasons. Unless … the price was right.
With Thatch I couldn’t figure out his intentions, when he was sincere, or what he wanted.
Miss Periwinkle wasn’t a great mystery. She loathed me. She would kill me rather than allow Thatch to be with me. It was possible she was in cahoots with the Raven Court. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had joined up with the Raven Queen to try to get rid of me. If she hated me that much, there was the possibility she would do anything to ensure I didn’t interfere with her relationship with Thatch.
Every solicitation for assistance was always met with a price. A bargain. If I could entice Periwinkle using her weakness, perhaps she would willingly help me.
I knocked on the library door. It was after hours. I didn’t expect it to be unlocked. I pounded harder. No one answered. I needed a key.
Maddy probably had one since she closed the library on those occasions Periwinkle was out strengthening her siren magic and seducing men. I returned to the girls’ dormitory. By that point, all lights were out, and I had to use my flashlight spell to guide me. Maddy cringed away from the light as I held it over her face.
She opened one eye. “Miss L, we have school tomorrow.”
“No, you don’t. It’s Saturday,” I whispered.
I had turned into the worst teacher ever. My guilt didn’t stop me, though. “How can I get into the library after hours? Do you have a key?”
“No. There’s a code.”
Hailey covered her eyes with her arm.
“What do you mean by a code?” I asked.
“Insert your wand into the keyhole. The door will ask you a question that can only be answered by an adult who would be allowed in after hours. If you get the question right, the door will let you in.”
“What’s the question?”
She rolled over and mumbled into her pillow. “It changes all the time. Last week the question was, ‘Who’s the author of the Count of Monte Cristo?’ This week it asked, ‘Who is the cantankerous enemy and love interest of Elizabeth Bennet?’”
“But anyone could answer that,” I said.
“Come on, Miss L, think about it? How many students do you think actually read those books?”
Hailey yawned. “What does cantankerous mean?”
I could see her point.
“But you only get one chance to answer,” Maddy said. “If you guess wrong, the door stays locked.”
I could do this! I knew my literature. I rushed down to the library. I jabbed my appropriated wand into the keyhole. The door spoke in a library-appropriate whisper. “What is the first book in The Lord of the Rings, written by J. R. R. Tolkien?”
This was an easy one. Then I hesitated. Was this a trick question? Did it mean the series or the trilogy? What if I got it wrong? I didn’t want to get locked out.
“If you mean, the Lord of the Rings series, the answer is The Hobbit.” I quickly went on, hoping it would allow me to continue. “But if you mean The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the first book is The Fellowship of the Ring.”
The door creaked open.
The library was dark. I jabbed my wand into the keyhole of Miss Periwinkle’s office door.
The door asked in an androgynous whisper, “What author wrote the fairy tale The Little Mermaid?”
Oh no! Was it the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen? I could do this. I just had to use the trick I’d learned a long time ago about fairy tales.
Grimm fairy tales were usually grim. The Danish fairy tales were moralistic and Christian. The mermaid sacrificed her happiness for the prince’s happiness because she loved him so much. I’d always hated that story. I wanted the mermaid to have her happy ending with her prince like in the Disney movie. Though grim, it wasn’t gory; I concluded the ending was a religious morality tale.
“Hans Christian Andersen,” I said.
The office door creaked open. Yes!
There was no door in the wall that led from the office to the hallway to Periwinkle’s room. I tried it anyway. I poked my wand at the wall. Nothing happened. I tried a different spot. I kept guessing where a keyhole might be. Finally, the wand sank in.
“What was Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous poem?”
A chill settled over my spine. I didn’t have to guess this one. Was it a coincidence the secret door to Periwinkle’s chamber was guarded with a riddle so ominous? This had to be yet another indication of her alliances.
“The Raven,” Miss Periwinkle whispered from behind me.
CHAPTER FORTY
Quoth the Raven
I whirled in surprise, my heart galloping in my chest at Gertrude Periwinkle’s proximity. The light of my wand illuminated her grumpy expression.
“What are you doing here?” Miss Periwinkle asked.
I couldn’t tell if Miss Periwinkle was whispering because Khaba still had possession of her voice or because this was a library and people were expected to be quiet here.
“Hi. I was just dropping in. I wanted to talk to you,” I said.
She crossed her arms.
Yeah, it did sound lame. “So, um, I know you hate me and think I want to steal your boyfriend and ruin your life. But I promise I’m not trying to.”
Her nostrils flared.
“I wanted to try to make things not as horrible for you by—”
“Dying?” she asked.
“No. I thought I would find my boyfriend and leave you alone for the rest of my life so you and Thatch can live happily ever after. And my boyfriend and I can live happily ever after. I just need to rescue him.”
The loathing in her eyes turned to uncertainty.
“His name is Derrick, but you might know him as Invismo. He’s a security guard who works for Mr. Khaba. Thatch hid him in the school—under the school. I have a map. But I can’t get him because of the booby traps and secret passages, and I’m not very good at magic. I thought you might help me if I left the school after I retrieved Derrick.” That was what Derrick had originally suggested anyway.
Her voice came out a raspy hiss. “What good will that do me if I’m already fired?”
Good point. “Maybe I could sign a paper or something attesting to your innocence?” Even though she wasn’t innocent and should be punished for her crimes, I wasn’t above lying about it if it helped me get what we both wanted.
I wanted Derrick alive and safe so badly I was willing to cover for a murderer working for the Raven Court.
Her smile turned smug. “I’ll do it if you attest to my innocence. And Felix’s.”
“Okay.” I would be covering for two murderers. This just got better and better.
She opened a drawer to her desk and retrieved a pad of paper. She sat in her chair and brought the quill closer.
“I’m not going to sign it now,” I said. “What if you push me into one of the booby traps and I die?”
She lifted her chin. “What if you push me and I die? I’m not going to take that risk for nothing. Either you agree to this or you can leave and find your boyfriend on your own.”
I needed her, but I didn’t trust her. Witchkin bargains were all about negotiating. “I’ll sign something to say I don’t think you tried to kill me and I was wrong about you killing people. I’ll attest to Thatch’s innocence after I find Derrick.”
“No.” She stabbed the pointed end of the quill into the air in front of me. “We both know Felix is innocent. Clear his name now. You can clear mine afterward.”
I hesitated. This had to be a trick. It couldn’t be that she wanted his name cleared because she cared about him, could it?
She shoved the quill at me. “You cost him his job and sullied his name. You need to make it right.”
I leaned over the desk, trying to think of words that would sound plausible for mistaking him as a murderer. Slowly I wrote, hating myself for making up these excuses for him. When I was finished, and Miss Periwinkle was satisfied, she finally looked at the map I had brought down.
Hailey had correctly identified the first booby traps. They were the same ones Vega had told me about on our way to the crypt. I wasn’t sure about the rest, and I needed Periwinkle’s help with those. The two of us walked toward my classroom. I was surprised Khaba hadn’t confined her to the library with magic, but he did have his magical limits.
We used the back stairwell in my classroom and the secret passage that went past the closet to get to the dungeon. Periwinkle hesitated at the hallway past Thatch’s rooms, her eyes filled with longing.
For all her cheating, she did look like someone in love.
She led me down the steps. “Be careful. There’s a booby trap on the twelfth step down,” she whispered.
“No, it’s on the thirteenth step,” I said.
“No, it’s the twelfth.”
“You’re trying to trick me. You just want me to die.”
“You’re trying to trick me!” She jabbed me in the side. “And I’ve lost count now.”
By that point I had lost count as well. I trudged back up the stairs. She followed me.
“One. Two,” she said.
Oh, I saw what she was doing. She didn’t count the top of the landing as a step like Vega had. Her twelfth was my thirteenth. Maybe she hadn’t been trying to kill me. She pointed out the stone tile at the bottom that would transport me to Khaba’s office. She jabbed her wand into the keyhole of the iron door at the bottom. Something scrabbled in the darkness beyond, sounding like a rat.
She leaned closer to the closed door, listening. “Can you make your wand brighter?” she asked.
I held my wand in both my hands and focused. She held hers out. As the door creaked open, she thrust her wand forward.
“Hold yours out,” she said.
We held our light out in front of us. Scratching and scrabbling came from the pit below. I couldn’t tell what was in the room, only that the sea below undulated with movement. I hoped it was only the hands I had encountered before.
“This is one of the most dangerous traps,” Periwinkle said.
“We’re okay. There’s a ledge.” I scooted to the side of the door where the narrow passage waited for us.
“The Pit of Lost Souls will sense your fear and multiply any emotion from you threefold,” she whispered.
“Yeah, I know. Vega told me about it. I survived last time.” I had tamed the hands using my affinity.
“Was that before or after Jeb and Mr. Khaba reinforced the lost souls with more magic?” she asked.
I hesitated. The scrabbling grew louder.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Periwinkle cackled, the sound hoarse and hissing without her voice. I tried to dart to the side and push past her.
I wasn’t fast enough.
She shoved me into the pit. I dropped my wand. The door closed with a slam.
I landed into the mosh pit, hands swarming over me. One of them pulled my hair.
Craptacular. I didn’t have time to die right now.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
The Brad Pitt of Horrors
Just as the first time I’d fallen into the Pit of Hand Jobs, I had to focus on calming myself despite the distractions of my surroundings. Miss Periwinkle’s attempt to kill me and ruin my plans for coming to Derrick’s rescue were thwarted by my friendship with the lost souls. It took about ten minutes of clearing my mind, coming up with handy puns, and manifesting friendliness threefold to convince
them to help me climb out.
Once on the landing, one of the supposed demons handed me my wand and patted me on the back, as if in a gesture for good luck.
The real problem was the door on the other side of the chamber. I jabbed my wand into the keyhole, visualizing my affinity swelling with power as I pushed my will into the door. I didn’t know any magic spells for opening doors so I cheated and said, “Alohomora.”
I didn’t expect a spell for Harry Potter to work. It never had before.
Unexpectedly, the door creaked open.
Unlike the time I’d gone this way with Vega, the passage before me was filled with mist. Or maybe it was smoke.
A tall figure strode out of the shadows toward me.
I backed away, afraid it was Thatch. The light of my wand illuminated something bright pink.
A cheery voice greeted me. “There you are, Clarissa. I’ve been looking all over for you!” Khaba continued toward me, a smile on his face. His pink shirt and pants were now visible through the gloom.
My momentary elation turned to frustration. “I’m not going back. I’m here to rescue Derrick.” I tried to close the door between us before he could magic me back to my room.
He put up a hand and grabbed the door. “Well, fancy that! So am I. What a coincidence.” He grinned. “As it happens, I need you to help me rescue Derrick.”
He wasn’t going to make me go back? And he was going to break into the vault? “But the rules … I thought you were bound by school rules.”
“I’m obliged to go where necessity dictates. Right now I’m on the clock, and this is official school business. Derrick is classified staff, my employee. I need to rescue the best invisible man I’ve ever hired.” He swallowed, his usual confidence faltering. “You know I’m not free to use my powers for my own personal gain.”
There was something he wasn’t saying, but I didn’t quite understand what. “This is official school business, right? So you can use your magic for saving Derrick?”
He stared into my eyes, his own mirrors of sorrow. “Yes, but I can’t do it alone. I can’t do any magic by myself. Ever.”