Chapter Eleven
As the semester wound down, the students wound up. Papers and projects were coming due right after the Thanksgiving break, grades were suddenly a big concern, and it seemed like every student in every class was showing up in Zoe’s office for her office hours, asking for help. She congratulated herself multiple times a day for not once asking a student “Where have you been all semester??”
On the coven front, it was a stalemate. Rowantree had told her that the cloud around Shelby had not grown or changed in the last couple of weeks, although the squirrels still wouldn’t venture across campus and risk running into the poisonous air. Sarah had told Zoe she was on the hunt for a different job within the college, but that would take a while. It was clear that the atmosphere in Shelby was taking a toll on her; she looked like she hadn’t slept well in weeks and had large, dark circles under her eyes. Zoe told herself she would make sure to get together with Sarah once the semester ended and grades were in.
Slogging through mountains of grading before going to class the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, she was interrupted by a light tapping at the window. She spun around. Rowantree was sitting on the windowsill. She hurried over to the door to check for any students or, even worse, Meredith, in the hall and sent up a quick prayer of gratitude for an empty hallway. She closed her door and opened the window to let the squirrel into the office.
Rowantree limped through the window and on to her desk.
“What happened? Why are you limping?” she asked.
“I was foolish. I wanted to climb up onto the roof of the Big Building. I got as far as a tree branch over the roof when a wave of dark energy came out of the window below me. It was so strong that I lost my balance and fell off the branch.” He looked and sounded offended. “Squirrels do not fall off tree limbs. This is embarrassing.”
“Well, let me look at it and make sure you didn’t break anything.” Squirrel anatomy was a complete mystery to her, and she had no idea what she could do about his leg, but she had to at least try.
Rowantree waved a dismissive paw. “Please do not worry. It is not broken, just twisted. I will be fine in a day or so. More importantly, I have information for you. I was climbing that tree for a reason. You said your two students saw strange lights coming from the third floor about two weeks ago.”
“Yes, they said it was late at night. They saw the lights and the air around Shelby got worse and pushed out towards them. Josh pushed the air back and they ran for the dorms. They haven’t seen those lights since then.”
“Those lights were back last night; that’s why I was in the tree.” Rowantree bared his teeth. “Somebody in that building is trying to summon a demon. They did not complete the ritual last night, but they were able to speak with one through the small portal they opened. If they are not stopped, this will not end well for any of us.”
Zoe swore. “Were you able to see who it was?”
“No. But there were several people in the room.”
Zoe’s heart started to race, and her hands were shaking. “What the hell are they doing? Don’t they understand what a demon can do?”
Her research had included demons and their powers. At a conference this past summer she had discussed belief in demons using religious hysteria, finding scapegoats, explaining natural phenomena, and all things intellectual and academic that explained such outmoded and ignorant beliefs. The attendees all agreed that these were the best explanations for how anybody could possibly believe demons existed.
Now though? Now, she had the power to control the four Elements. Magic was real. Witches were real and currently creating a cloud of poisonous air in and around the main administration building on campus. Logic suggested that with all these phenomena turning out to be true, demons were also very (and frighteningly) real. And, if even half of what she had read was true, she had no desire to encounter any demons face-to-face. She vowed to return to her research and analyze it with her newfound perspective.
She looked at Rowantree sitting on her desk. He was rubbing his injured leg.
“All right. I’m talking to George before my next class. You stay out of the area around Shelby until your leg is better. And, don’t let Meredith Cruickshank spot you or any other squirrel. I’m sure she’s a member of the coven and that means she knows that squirrels are Watchers and she will be looking to take you out. Injured, you make an easier target.” Zoe’s pulse was still racing. She took a deep breath and slowed it down to a normal rate.
Rowantree grimaced. “You are correct and, unfortunately, I must agree with your assessment of my ability to run. I will stay in the trees for the time being.”
Zoe nodded. “Okay, good. If you need me, send Alder.” She went to the window, opened it and lifted the screen. Turning back to her desk, she held out her hand. Rowantree sighed and stepped on to her hand. She carried him to the window and gently set him down on the outside ledge.
Standing on the window ledge, he turned to her.
“I do not believe there is much time left to stop whatever is planned. Please tell Wardmaster that is my thought.” Rowantree lifted a paw and slowly made his way back down the roof.
Once he was gone and the window closed, Zoe grabbed her class materials, turned off her computer, and ran out the door. Acting on an impulse that was quickly becoming a habit, she briefly paused before shutting her door and manipulated the threads of Air in the hallway, listening for any conversations coming from Meredith’s office. The enormous level of background chatter was a clear indication that she was not the only professor getting swarmed by worried and stressed out students. There were no sounds from Meredith’s office, though, which was odd. Zoe had seen her on campus today, presumably she too had desperate students. Where was she?
She couldn’t worry about that just now. Zoe closed her door and made sure it was locked. Witches probably had ways to pick locks but she should at least make them go to some effort to get into her office. Besides there was the other more prosaic risk of ordinary theft. Leaving Cooper Hall she simultaneously searched for squirrels and texted Mark telling him to meet her in George Wardmaster’s office. Hopefully she could catch George before she had to get to class.
Speed-walking across campus, she caught sight of Meredith leading a couple of students along the path that passed closest to the front door of Shelby. Abandoning her texting attempts, Zoe paid close attention as Meredith walked past Shelby, seemingly uncaring that she was one of only three people passing directly in front of the building.
In contrast to Meredith’s posture and just like Zoe on her visit to Shelby Hall, the two students walked hunched over, heads bowed, clutching their arms around their waists. Meredith’s posture never changed. She seemed unaffected by Shelby’s noxious aura.
The unlikely trio crossed paths with Zoe at the top end of the quad and she got a closer look at the students. She bit back an exclamation. One of the students was Declan Jin. The faces of both boys were pale and drawn as if they were ill and hadn’t slept well in several days. In contrast, Meredith looked, if not happy, at least satisfied and weirdly anticipatory as she smirked at Zoe.
“Hi Zoe,” she said, but didn’t stop to talk, instead now herding the students in front of her while admonishing them to hurry up. Alarmed, Zoe dropped the hand she had reached out to Declan. Meredith shoved the two students in front of her into Davis Hall where presumably they all had class. What was going on? Declan looked back at her with a mute pleading in his eyes. He turned at Meredith’s sharp comment and shuffled into the building.
The look from Declan troubled Zoe. She stopped herself from running after Meredith, grabbing both students and getting them as far away from Meredith as possible. How many more students had Meredith and the others co-opted or controlled for their purposes? She texted Mark again asking if he knew whether Meredith had a class in Davis Hall.
Mark’s response was instant. “No, she doesn’t teach in here. I’ll walk through the building and see if I can find them.”
Abandoning her idea of finding George, Zoe immediately changed course away from Harrison Hall and hurried into Davis. She reached her classroom, pulled a piece of paper out of her bag, and scribbled a note cancelling class. She stuck it to the door of the room and glanced in. Josh and four or five other students were already in the room and glanced up as she entered.
“Hi, Dr. O’Brien. What’s up?” Josh asked as she taped the note to the door.
“Slight emergency. Can you come with me?” She looked at the other students. “It’s your lucky day, guys. I’m cancelling class today. Check your email tonight for more information.” They all grinned and started stuffing books and notebooks back into their backpacks and bags.
Josh put out a hand to stop one of the other students. “Hey, Geoff. Can you hang out a sec?”
The remaining students left, and Geoff Bradley and Josh walked up to her.
“Geoff is a Fire mage. He’s one of the mages that Annmarie and I contacted. Whatever’s going on, he can probably help us,” Josh said.
“Great. Dr. Cruickshank just came into this building with two students, one of them is Declan Jin. They looked sick and pale like your friend who withdrew for medical reasons. Dr. Davis says that Dr. Cruickshank does not teach in here now, so he’s already out looking for them. We’re going to help with that.” Zoe did her best to keep her growing fear out of her voice.
Geoff gave a sharp intake of breath. “There’s a basement in this building. I don’t think many people know that. I think we should head down there first. If the coven has anything in this building, it will be down there.”
Zoe eyes widened. There was a basement in Davis Hall? She immediately texted Mark and told him where they were going. As the three of them left the classroom, Mark appeared at the end of the hall looking at his phone and then up at them.
“I didn’t know that. “Okay, let’s all go down there. Where’s the stairs?” he said as he approached them.
Geoff pointed back down the hall to a door marked “Emergency Exit.” The four of them set off half walking, half running, weaving among the groups of students wandering to and from classes. The sense of urgency had grown, and Zoe tamped down her rising panic. They would reach the students in time to stop whatever was going on. They had to. Their little group reached the door Geoff had identified and Mark slowly pushed it open revealing a stairwell that obviously went between the three main floors of Davis Hall. It also went down, into a basement.
Zoe touched Geoff’s arm. “Do you know if there is another exit from the basement?” she whispered.
“Yes, there’s another one at the far end of the building. I think there’s just the two,” he whispered back.
Mark held up a hand. “Wait. We need some sort of idea on what we’re going to do once we get down there.” He stepped out of the doorway back into the hall and held the door almost completely closed.
“We have two Air mages, a Fire mage, and an Elemental mage.” He pointed to each person as he said it. Geoff looked at Zoe with respect. She felt her ears turning red.
Mark continued. “I think I should go first, then you two,” he indicated Josh and Geoff, “and then Zoe, you bring up the rear.” He held up a hand as Zoe started to protest. “Let’s keep you in sort of reserve. I don’t think Meredith really knows how powerful you are, and I’d like to surprise her.”
Surprising Meredith was probably the best plan. Besides, she couldn’t think of anything better on the spur of the moment. She really wanted to shock Meredith as much as possible. Mark slowly pushed the door open again and the four of them stepped into the stairwell on tiptoe. In the controlled chaos of students shifting between classes, the small group of faculty and student mages went through the door unnoticed. Zoe eased the door closed behind them. Shifting her vision over to magesight, she examined at the air currents around them and saw air moving up from the basement. Concentrating, she listened for any sounds coming from below. Mark and Josh did the same thing. They didn’t have to listen very carefully.
“You two, sit over there,” Meredith’s sharp voice rose up out of the basement.
“They look ill, are you sure they are strong enough?” Mark and Zoe looked at each other with raised eyebrows as Susan Barker’s voice came back to them. The provost’s secretary appeared to be deeply involved in the coven.
Mark gestured at the others and they lined up behind him in order. The four of them crept down the stairs into the basement. A small knot formed in Zoe’s stomach as she frantically went through possible scenarios for who and what they might encounter in the basement. If it were only Susan and Meredith down there, she was confident that the group of mages could successfully take them on. Witches needed time and preparation for casting spells; consequently, they did not do well with surprises. On the off chance that the coven had laid traps around the basement, she scanned the surrounding area for anything out of the ordinary. I really do need to pay more attention to what covens claim they can do. If there were anything there, she figured it would look and feel like the cloud that surrounded Shelby Hall. At the same time, Zoe was betting that Meredith, in her arrogance, had not prepared anything believing others to be far less intelligent and capable than herself.
They arrived at the bottom of the stairs to find the door from the stairwell into the basement itself propped open. Mark gave a thumbs-up; they could enter the basement without giving themselves away. Mark slowly pulled the door the rest of the way open and paused to listen again.
“Stop whining!” Meredith’s voice was sharp and followed immediately by a slap. Somebody let out a short gasp.
Mark turned to the group and held up three fingers. As he folded the third finger into his fist the four mages walked into the basement with no pretense of stealth.
“Meredith, Susan, what the hell is going on?” Mark’s voice took on a threatening note and he pulled himself up to his full six-foot-four height.
Susan Barker and Meredith spun around to stare at Mark, only noticing the others behind him after a short, startled pause. Behind the two witches were Declan and the other student Zoe had seen earlier along with two more students, another boy and a girl. The boy had an angry red mark on his face. He must have been the one who got slapped before the mages entered the basement. Zoe strained to see around Mark, fearful that Declan would vanish under stress. All four students stood with their heads down, staring at the floor, clutching their arms around their waists. Susan glared at the mages and rounded on Meredith.
“I thought you said this basement was virtually unknown!” she hissed.
Meredith stammered in panic. “It…it was! It is! I didn’t tell anybody about it! I have no idea how they found us!” She whirled to confront the students behind her.
“Which one of you idiots told Davis about this basement?!” She slapped the girl, who happened to be standing closest to her. The girl reeled back holding her face.
“I didn’t say anything to anybody!” Tears streamed down her face.
The boy next to her turned to the girl and put an arm around her waist, holding her close to him. Meredith raised her hand to strike him again, but Mark quickly dropped a wall of air in front of the students. Meredith’s hand made a heavy, painful thunk as it hit Mark’s shield instead of the boy’s face. She scowled at Mark, cradling her bruised hand.
Susan recovered her composure. “Well, this was unexpected, Dr. Davis. I didn’t think you would intervene. I guess I’ll have to take you into account now as well. Complicates things a bit but does not change my plans. I have hair and blood from these students, so even if you take them from me now, I have the means to regain control of them.” Her smile was grim.
Mark’s smile was equally grim. “I’m as surprised to find you here as you are to find me. But there are pain-free ways of breaking a witch’s control, although you might find it painful.”
Meredith’s head swiveled back and forth as if she was at a tennis match. Understanding washed over Zoe. Susan Barker, the provos
t’s secretary, was the one in charge, or at least further up in the hierarchy of the coven, not Meredith Cruickshank, Ph.D. This did put a new twist on things.
While Mark and Susan had been exchanging barbs, Josh and Geoff had moved quickly around Mark’s barrier to Declan and the others standing behind the two witches. Josh reinforced and lengthened Mark’s wall of air while Geoff added a ring of fire around the six of them. Susan glared at the two new arrivals but did not move to stop them. Josh and Geoff’s movement revealed Zoe, who came up to stand next to Mark. Catching sight of Zoe, Meredith’s expression shifted from shock to puzzlement to envy tinged with fear. She turned to stare at the students, and then back at Zoe. Following Mark’s lead, Zoe just smiled at her. It was nice to know that Meredith was jealous and a little afraid of her. She caught Declan’s eye and gave him a small nod. He gradually stopped shaking.
“What the hell??” Meredith gasped.
“Hello, Meredith. How’s the grading going?” Zoe said in a sweet tone.
Susan eyed Zoe. “I thought I knew all the faculty mages. I did not know about you. What’s your Element?”
Zoe turned her deliberately saccharine smile on Susan. “As we used to say as kids, that’s for me to know and you to find out. But you’re leaving here now, and these students are coming with us.” The feeling of power and control was very new and somewhat intoxicating.
Susan snarled and turned to Meredith. “We’re leaving. This is done.”
She glared at Mark and Zoe. “For now.”
Meredith hastily rearranged her expression in a bid to appear commanding and followed Susan out of the basement. But now that the true pecking order had been revealed, she just looked rather pathetic.
Once the footsteps indicated that the two witches had left the basement, Mark pulled out his phone.
“I’m going to have Kieran see where those two are going; his office looks out over the quad,” he said as he texted.
Zoe moved towards the small group of students as Josh and Mark dispersed their wall and Geoff let the ring of flames die. Zoe recognized the girl, and the boy who had comforted her, as freshmen in her introductory Western civ class along with Declan.
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