by Eva Chase
The other woman stiffened again. For a second, I thought she was going to make me drag the acknowledgement out of her. Then she sighed.
“I don’t believe you can’t figure that out. Why don’t we cut that bullshit too? Or are you not really here to talk, just to create an excuse to knock me down like you’re in the habit of doing?”
The accusation came out so flat and plainly stated that it rankled me even more than our comments over the phone had. “I am here to talk,” I said. “And I really don’t know. Yes, I told my mother what Lillian did to me. Why the hell would I want someone around who tried to sabotage my entire life? If anything, it was self-defense. Other than that, I can’t think of anyone I’ve ‘knocked’ around. And you’ve been kind of weird with me since before Lillian’s arrest.”
Maggie sniffed, a dismissive sound. “If it was really about self-defense, then why didn’t you complain to the other blacksuits about her, or even to your mother right away? Don’t tell me that timing wasn’t strategic.”
It had been, in so much as I’d been willing to take the risk of bringing it up with my mother if it’d interrupt plans I didn’t agree with. I’d been protecting myself with that caution, not waiting to hurt Lillian more. I got the sense Maggie meant something beyond that. Did she really think my position had been so simple I could have made the accusation at the drop of the hat with no consequences?
“I didn’t have any direct proof,” I said. “And the blacksuits had only just cleared me of a murder they’d wrongly arrested me for. I didn’t think they’d take my word over Lillian’s to conduct whatever kind of invasive magic it’d have taken to get the truth out of her. As for telling my mother, in case you missed the many times Lillian mentioned it, the two of them were best friends. I assumed that Lillian had explained it in some way that my mother had accepted. As soon as I realized my mother didn’t know, I told her.”
Maggie didn’t answer for a moment, but her expression stayed wary. “That was the biggest problem, though, wasn’t it?” she said finally. “You didn’t really want your mom to come back and take the position you were so close to getting for yourself.”
“Why would you say that?” I asked, but a chill touched my skin at the same time. I could guess. Maggie had watched the rituals the blacksuits used to locate my mother from the sidelines rather than participating directly. She could easily have noticed something they hadn’t about my reactions.
She fixed me with a look sharp enough to rival Lillian’s now, the cheerful kitten-y persona she normally put forward falling away completely. “You disrupted the locating spells purposefully at least once, didn’t you? You were hoping they’d give up or think they were wrong that she was out there at all.”
The first part, at least, was true. And I had in fact lied about it to the blacksuits afterward, pretending I didn’t know what had gone wrong, which must have convinced Maggie my intentions had been malicious. The full truth was I’d been overwhelmed by the spell and the sense I’d gotten of how viciously angry my mother was, and I’d jerked away from her presence instinctively.
I couldn’t explain that to Maggie without admitting I’d ruined the one spell, and I didn’t trust her not to spin even a partial admission against me, no matter what else I said. So I stuck to other truths that contradicted her second claim.
“The last thing I’d have wanted to do is leave my mother to be locked up by our enemies for even longer than the ordeal she’d already been through. I was there helping every step of the way. If I wanted to sabotage the efforts, I was really bad at it.”
“You probably realized Lillian and the others would catch on if you tried any harder,” Maggie shot back.
I held up my hands. “Look, all I can tell is you’re determined to see everything I’ve done in the worst possible light. I don’t know how I can defend myself if you’re going to refuse to listen no matter what I say.”
Maggie raised her chin defiantly. “You’ve been putting yourself in that light from the moment you turned up. Do you think word didn’t get around about how your first move on campus was to challenge the scions from the other families? I’m going by your actions, that’s all.”
Maybe I couldn’t totally blame her for interpreting events through such a negative lens. Professor Viceport had seen a lot of my early actions at Blood U in the same way, filtered through her understanding of how barony families usually behaved and the history of the Bloodstones, and she’d been able to observe me firsthand. Of course, my mentor had been worried that I was following in my mother’s footsteps, not that I was out to usurp her. This whole situation still didn’t quite add up.
“Why are you so focused on what I’m doing and who gets to be Baron Bloodstone anyway?” I asked abruptly. “There are all kinds of conflicts going on in the other families, way more obvious than anything I’ve done or you think I’m doing. Unless you’re a lot older than you look, you can’t have been more than a kid when my mother went missing, so it’s not like you could have been so close to her.”
“I’ve heard and seen plenty through my work with Lillian,” Maggie started.
“But you’re not working with her anymore. Haven’t you got better things to do now than make up reasons to hate me? Why is anything I’ve done so awful compared to the barons or the rest of the families?”
Maggie’s lips pressed into a tight line. “I think I’m in a position to judge that. Deflecting isn’t going to do you any good.”
As I stood there, taking in the resistance in her pose, weariness washed over me. None of this talk was getting me anywhere. I could have tried to force an answer with magic, but Maggie would be focusing most of her energy on her mental defenses right now. While I could probably break through those defenses, I wasn’t sure I could do it before she called a whole bunch of her colleagues down on me and accused me, rightfully, of attacking her.
I exhaled slowly. “Is there anything I could say or do that would change your judgment? Or are you going to see me as some kind of evil mastermind no matter what?”
Maggie’s eyes flashed. “Unless you prove I’m right by destroying my life too, I’m just going to keep working toward what I think is right.”
Fine then. I pushed myself away from the table. “Then there’s no point in talking any further. I’m not interested in ‘destroying’ you or anyone else, so you’re not going to trick some kind of evidence out of me. I hope you can find real crimes to go after people for.”
“We’ll see.”
I left the building with my stomach in a tangle. She wouldn’t discover any evidence of power grabs and glory-hunting if she kept poking around in my life—but she might catch on to the fact that I did have an agenda that clashed with my mother’s. I had no idea what Maggie would make of my Nary sympathies. Considering how most fearmancers felt about them, it seemed likely she’d consider that just a different sort of mark against me. And one that could turn all four of the older barons against me in an instant.
I’d just have to proceed with the same caution I’d already been using. Maggie wasn’t likely to pick up on much that even my mother didn’t notice. I probably could have come up with a story that would get the blacksuit assistant sanctioned, but then I’d only be confirming her assumptions. That could backfire in a bad way.
And honestly, I didn’t want to be any more of an underhanded schemer than I’d already had to become.
It was a simple drive back to the university, country highways with only a few turns along the way. As I came up on the town just off campus, though, I eased up on the gas.
A couple of the dark sedans the blacksuits favored were parked on the shoulder about a hundred feet from the town’s first buildings, after the stretch of farmland ended. Several figures in black slacks and jackets were moving across the fields on both sides of the road. A faint tingle of magical energy brushed over my skin.
I drew up behind the sedans and stepped out beside my Lexus. A few of the blacksuits had looked over at the sight of the posh
car, and at my emergence, one of them drifted toward me.
“What’s going on?” I asked the woman. They weren’t barricading the road, but their presence unnerved me anyway. “Is there a problem in town or on campus?”
The woman gave me a smile that was all deference. “No problems, Miss Bloodstone. Just a little scouting work. There’s nothing to worry about.”
The way she said that reminded me of the many times in the last few weeks when my mother had told me I had no need to worry, even though I clearly did. My body balked against getting back in the car. “Scouting for what?”
She let out a polite laugh. “Oh, ensuring the wards are performing at full capacity and that sort of thing. We can’t be too careful.”
Ah, this might be in response to the attack on Jude, then. Maybe it’d even provide him with a little protection, despite his attacker’s standing.
“Okay,” I said. “Sorry I interrupted!”
She bobbed her head. “That’s quite all right, Miss Bloodstone. Have a good day.”
I drove off somewhat reassured, but when I glanced at my rearview mirror, I couldn’t help noticing that the blacksuit had lingered by the side of the road where she’d spoken to me, watching until I turned out of view.
Chapter Ten
Rory
I knew something was up outside my dorm bedroom before I even opened the door to leave. The walls were thin, and the girls who’d been using the common room had been keeping up a steady chatter for the last several minutes. All at once, their voices fell silent.
I peeked out into the larger room, still in the process of pulling on my jacket. Cressida was sitting at the dining table, and three girls I hadn’t really talked with were lounging on one of the sofas. They were all studying a girl I’d never seen before, who’d come to a stop with one of the maintenance staff by my friend Shelby’s former bedroom. Like Shelby, the new girl had a gold leaf pin on her shirt—she was a Nary.
“This will be your room for as long as you’re with us,” the staff person was saying. “You’ll share the kitchen and bathroom areas with the other girls, but the bedroom is just for you.”
“That sounds great.” The girl glanced around at us through thick-framed glasses, her heavy black hair falling to her shoulders. She must have been eighteen, just starting college, thinking Bloodstone University was simply a quirky, exclusive one of those. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Morgan.”
I offered a smile back and a raise of my hand in greeting, even though my gut had clenched with trepidation. “Rory. Nice to meet you.”
Cressida nodded without speaking. The other girls just kept watching her impassively. The girl’s smile faltered, and she ducked into her bedroom, dragging her wheeled suitcase behind her. The maintenance woman wiped her hands together and headed off. Not quite the thorough introduction to campus life the fearmancer students appeared to get.
I shut my door behind me and murmured a few words under my breath to ward off any attempts to enter it. None of the bedrooms came with locks. Part of our training here at Blood U was learning how to protect our own space and possessions. Of course, the Naries had no protection at all.
When I turned back to the wider room, the girls on the sofa were exchanging sly smirks. One of them waved her hand toward our new dormmate’s bedroom and mouthed a few words. I braced myself.
A second later, a shriek split the air, barely muffled by the walls. Something clattered on the floor. One of the other girls spoke a casting word, and a yelp rang out, followed by a choked breath.
The door swung open, and the new girl dashed out. Her face was white, her shoulders trembling. My heart wrenched, but before I could say anything, the third of my dormmates curled her lips with a sneer.
“Welcome to Blood U,” she said, and flicked her fingers with another murmur. A swarm of wasps, presumably an illusion, appeared out of thin air and descended on the Nary girl in a cloud.
“What the hell?” the girl gasped out, stumbling away from them, her arms flailing in an effort to fend the insects off. She tripped over the edge of the rug and sprawled on her ass. Another cry leapt from her throat as those illusionary stingers provoked a pain that would hurt plenty now even if it’d fade as soon as the illusion did. “What are you doing to me? Please, stop it.”
The girls just giggled, their faces giddily bright with all the fear their spells had provoked for them. Assholes.
I took a step toward the girl, and she flinched, a waft of panic rushing from her into me. She was terrified that I’d give her the exact same treatment. With a shudder, she scrambled to her feet and fled out the door. A wave of laughter followed her.
Anger prickled through me in the wake of the girl’s fear. I bit it back with a queasy sensation. If I told off my dormmates, how long would it take for word about that to get back to my mother? I didn’t think she’d appreciate me defending my dormmate any more than she’d liked me standing up for Naries in general with my classmates before. I hadn’t figured out enough to really protect them yet.
That didn’t mean I was helpless, though. I just had to find the right angle. No way in hell was I going to stand by through that kind of torment right here where I lived.
“Very funny,” I said in the same cool tone I imagined my mother would have used. “Now that you’ve gotten your kicks, maybe we can keep the terrorizing to outside the dorms?”
The girl who’d cast the first spell tensed in her seat. “Why should we? The Naries are all fair game now.”
I shrugged. “Sure. But I don’t want to have to listen to someone screaming and crying every time I’m in here trying to study or sleep or whatever. A little consideration for the rest of us?”
The girls hesitated, none of them obviously wanting to say they weren’t interested in considering a scion’s feelings. One glanced toward Cressida, who just gazed mildly back at them, not lending support to either position.
“You managed to have enough self-control not to use any magic around the Naries for years,” I added. “I assume you haven’t lost all of that in just a couple weeks.”
The first girl looked as if she’d restrained a glower. I definitely wasn’t making any friends with the attitude I was giving them, but then, with the attitude they’d shown the Naries, they’d never have really been on my side anyway.
“I’m sure we can handle that,” one of the other girls said icily. “No need to bring all their freaking out in here.”
“Exactly. I’m glad you agree.” I gave her a tight smile that showed I noticed her unspoken annoyance and headed out. It wasn’t much, not anywhere near as much as I’d have liked to offer, but at least I’d spared our new Nary dormmate a little torment.
I’d gotten ready early enough that even with the short delay, I made it to the fourth floor hall just as Jude was leaving his dorm.
He raised his eyebrows at me with a crooked grin. “You could have met me at the garage. I think I can manage to find my way there unescorted.”
Maybe, but evening was descending outside, and I didn’t totally trust that someone dangerous wouldn’t find him on the way there. I’d rather not sting his pride by putting it like that, though. I sauntered closer and rested my hand on his chest. “I’m sure you could. But then I wouldn’t get the pleasure of walking with you.”
A happy gleam came into his dark green eyes. He made a humming sound and touched my waist, turning us so he could nudge me against the wall. “I can do better than simply walking with you.”
The teasing remark and the way he kissed me afterward, heated and deliberate and without any care that our classmates might wander out and see us, was so much like his usual self that my spirits lifted. I curled my fingers into the fabric of his shirt and kissed him back hard. He’d been putting on a show of being typically carefree since the infirmary had released him, but there’d been something brittle about the performance that’d told me not to believe it. This moment felt totally genuine.
He slipped his hand around mine as we descen
ded the stairs and ambled along the path to the garage. Technically we could have walked to town for the dinner I’d suggested—it was only about a mile down the road—but Jude loved driving us around in his Mercedes, and I’d rather not linger in an isolated stretch where I’d be his only line of defense. In town, there’d be witnesses preventing a major attack; here on campus, I could call for immediate help.
“I know what you and the guys are doing,” Jude said as we came into the glow of the garage’s outer lights.
I glanced at him. He was looking straight ahead rather than at me. His tone had been mild, but his mouth had a bittersweet twist to it. “What do you mean?”
“As incredibly charming as I know I am, my company has never been in quite this high demand before. You’re making sure I’m never alone after dark, unless it’s to sleep.”
I couldn’t tell if he was annoyed by the observation or simply putting it out there. “Jude,” I said, squeezing his hand. “It’s not like— We aren’t trying to—”
He turned to me then, on the way through the garage doorway, his smile going softer. “You’re trying to keep me alive. I’m not complaining. I—I appreciate it.” He swiped his free hand over his face and into his hair. “I just wish I didn’t need the protection.”
“Hopefully it won’t be for too long.” I paused, and then asked tentatively, “Have you noticed any improvement so far?”
“Barely. I’m still leaky as a wrecked ship. It doesn’t all pour out, but the little magic I can hold onto at a time isn’t enough to do anything all that useful.”
“It’s only been a few days. The doctor said it could take a while.”
He dipped his head. “Or my situation might not improve much at all. It’s almost fitting, in a way. My ‘father’ arranged for me to have a life as if I was some spectacular mage for four and a half years, and now it’s like all that extra talent I pretended to have has been siphoned away from what was really mine.”