“I don’t know,” Lillian said. “I just know Dionne thinks they can.”
Emily frowned. It didn’t seem likely. The school’s wards were tough. Emily wasn’t sure she could get out, if the headmistress wanted to keep her in. Dionne shouldn’t be so much as able to scratch the wards. And yet... she’d lose face if she tried in front of her friends and failed. Getting punished for being out of bed after Lights Out and trying to leave the school would be nothing, compared to the embarrassment she’d suffer if she failed to live up to her boasting. A year’s worth of detentions paled, next to a lifetime of humiliation.
Dionne might be planning something else, Emily thought. Was the whole conversation put on for Lillian’s benefit?
Her mind raced. Dionne might be trying to expose Lillian as a sneak. Except... why would she think Lillian was a sneak in the first place? Or... was she trying to rub Lillian’s face in her outcast status? It was a little too subtle for that... Emily’s lips quirked. Dionne was not remotely subtle. Maybe she just thought they could get down to Pendle, buy some sweets and get back before anyone noticed they’d gone. Emily snorted at the thought. No one would open their doors after dark, not even for a witch. Dionne had to know that, too.
“It makes no sense,” she mused. “What do they want to do?”
“I don’t know,” Lillian said. “But...”
Emily speared her with a look. “Why did you tell me?”
Lillian’s face twisted. “They’ve got us in enough trouble already,” she said. “I can’t walk down a corridor without someone hurling a hex at me, just because of them. I have double detention because they started a food fight at breakfast. And... I can’t even go to the library without getting hexed or cursed or anything!”
“I see,” Emily said. “Is that all?”
“I hate them.” Lillian’s face reddened, as if she was about to start crying. “I hate them!”
“I don’t blame you,” Emily said. She plucked a handkerchief out of her sleeve and handed it to Lillian, then pretended not to see the younger girl crying. “It does get better.”
“Really?” Lillian blew her nose. “They’re going to be sneering at me for the rest of my life.”
“They’ll have their own problems, after they graduate,” Emily said. “You can move away, change your name... they’ll forget you the moment they go home. You can have a long and happy life that doesn’t include them.”
Lillian shook her head. “You don’t know what it’s like.”
“I met dozens of girls” - and older magicians, her thoughts added silently - “who tried to pick on me, just to show they weren’t scared of me,” Emily told her. “I had to deal with them, Lillian. I couldn’t just ignore them completely. And now, most of them are out of my life.”
“That’s you,” Lillian said. “Not me.”
“Take my word for it,” Emily said. “Walk away. Don’t let them break your heart and soul.”
“Thanks,” Lillian said, dryly. “Why doesn’t it make me feel any better?”
“Because words are cheap,” Emily said. “Just ask any aristocrat.”
She sighed, dismissing the younger girl with a wave. Lillian had dropped one hell of a hot potato in her lap. Emily knew she couldn’t simply report Dionne... she wasn’t even sure Lillian was right. If the whole affair was Dionne’s idea of a joke, or a trap, Lillian would be in hot water. Very hot water.
And if there’s something more to this, Emily thought, there might be no way to find out if I nip it in the bud.
Chapter Thirty-Two
EMILY MUTTERED A CURSE UNDER HER breath as she slipped through the corridor, silently thanking the fates that she’d been assigned to patrol duties. This late at night, the girls should be in their dorms and fast asleep. She hadn’t caught so much as a single girl raiding the kitchens or trying to sneak into another dorm. It was curious, despite everything that had happened. She’d been told students had been sneaking out of their dorms even when their school was under attack.
She found herself wondering, as she cast a handful of obscurification charms to hide her presence from prying eyes, if Lillian had lied. It seemed unlikely - Lillian really didn’t want a reputation as a sneak - but the school was as dark and quiet as the grave. Perhaps Dionne and her friends had been trying to uncover a spy, or simply bragging about their plans to anyone who would listen. They would hardly be the first magician to vastly overestimate their capabilities. Void had told her enough horror stories about magicians who moved too far too fast for her to understand it was a very real possibility.
The doorway into the dorm was closed and warded. Emily stopped outside and settled into an alcove to wait. Tomorrow was not going to be fun, whatever else happened. She would be short on sleep and expected to take four classes... she scowled inwardly, remembering how much she’d enjoyed teaching magic to a single student. It had been much more rewarding, she admitted, than trying to teach an entire class. But then, Frieda had been a better student. She wondered, idly, if Karalee would make a good apprentice. It wasn’t something she’d given any real thought to...
Her eyes narrowed as she sensed a handful of charms bulging out of the wards. Someone - Dionne, perhaps - knew what they were doing. The charms were surprisingly subtle, intended to make it difficult for anyone to notice the door swinging open. Emily was morbidly impressed. Whoever had cast the spells was good. She might not have noticed if she hadn’t been on the alert, watching and waiting for something to happen. She drew her own magic around her as the door swung open, allowing the girls to emerge. Their faces were concealed behind obscurification charms of their own.
Emily tensed as they walked past her, moving in eerie silence. They didn’t seem to notice her. Emily stood and slipped after them, moving from shadow to shadow as they made their way down the stairs and along the corridors. Her heart started to race as she realized they weren’t taking the long way to the kitchens. They were trying to get out of the school. Emily wondered, grimly, if she should raise the alarm. The girls would be in real trouble if they were caught, but... she needed to know where they were going. And why.
The girls stopped next to a statue. Emily’s eyes narrowed as the leader - Dionne, she assumed - touched the statue in a delicate place. A click echoed through the air, loud enough to make her jump. The girls seemed unsurprised as a dark passageway slowly revealed itself in front of them. Emily bit off a curse as they started to enter the passage, then hurried forward to slip in behind them. The secret entrance looked mundane, rather than magical, but it didn’t bypass the wards. And yet... her eyes narrowed as the wards parted, allowing the girls to leave the school. It shouldn’t have been possible. Laughter’s staff were hardly incompetent. There was no way a bunch of students should have been able to sneak out of the castle without setting off any alarms.
Someone in the school told them how to do it, Emily thought. Her blood ran cold. A traitor? Or an unwitting ally? It hardly mattered. The secret passageway wouldn’t have been left untouched unless the teachers were sure it couldn’t be used to sneak someone into the school. There was no way in hell they didn’t know it existed. The teachers had all studied at Laughter themselves. Jens? Or someone else?
The passageway narrowed as the girls kept moving downwards. Emily followed, struggling to move quietly. The air was dank and clammy, oddly warm even though they were in the mountains. The girls relaxed slightly, giggling and chattering in low voices as they moved further and further from the school. An air of dark anticipation hung in the air. Emily shivered, wondering - again - if she should raise the alarm. The girls weren’t sneaking out for a prank, risking everything just for bragging rights. They had something else in mind.
Moonlight flickered ahead of her as the passageway came to an end. A full moon hung in the sky, casting an eerie radiance over the mountains. Emily frowned as she followed the girls into the moonlight. Smart people knew not to be out after dark, particularly during a full moon. There were worse things in the woods than
werewolves. And yet, the girls kept walking down a half-hidden trail. Emily carefully noted where to find the secret passage, then moved after them. The night was eerily quiet. She couldn’t hear anything, not even an owl.
We’re on the lower mountainside, she thought, as she glanced around. The castle loomed above her, Pendle rested within the valley below. Where are they going?
She kept her distance as the girls passed through the trees and entered a clearing. Emily’s eyes narrowed. It looked natural and yet... there were hints someone had designed it for dark purposes. A handful of stones marked the edge of the clearing, glowing with subtle magic that made it hard to look into the clearing. Whoever had set it up had done good work, she thought, as she hung on the edge and peered inside. The girls were gathering in a circle, their leader standing on a rock to address the gang. Her voice was low, concealed by privacy charms. Emily scowled in frustration. She couldn’t make out the words.
And if I step into the clearing, they’ll know I’m here, Emily thought. Stalemate.
Her mind raced. Void and Lady Barb had both told her about would-be magicians - the precise term they’d used was idiots - who pranced around in the darkness, experimenting with rites and rituals made up by fantasists, con artists and teenagers who wanted an excuse to get naked. Most of the time, it was harmless... but, sometimes, they managed to do something really dangerous. Void’s horror stories had chilled her to the bone. She shivered, wondering if she should intervene. Dionne and her gang should know better than to perform anything of the sort, but...
They think they can get away with anything, Emily thought. And they’re about to cross the line.
She watched, numbly, as Dionne turned and walked towards the edge of the clearing, stepping past the stones. Emily’s eyes followed her... a small pool rested within the shadows, barely larger than a goldfish pond. Emily frowned. She’d seen hedge witches breeding fish - and other creatures - for supplies, but Dionne and her friends would hardly need to resort to such measures. They could buy whatever they needed from the merchants in Pendle. Unless they wanted something forbidden even to them... Emily shook her head. She couldn’t think of anything that fitted the bill. Dionne certainly wouldn’t dip her hands into the water if there was something dangerous in there.
Dionne returned, carrying a wriggling shape in her hands. Emily stared. A fish? No, a frog... her blood ran cold as she realized what the little brat had done. Dionne tossed the frog to the ground and waved a hand, casting a spell. The frog grew taller, tiny limbs becoming human... Dionne hastily cast a charm as the teenage boy screamed in pain. Emily felt sick. Being transfigured was discomforting at any time, but it didn’t have to hurt. The poor boy had to feel as though his bones were being systematically snapped and rebuilt and...
Emily braced herself. Dionne had kidnapped someone from the town... why? A sacrifice? Emily’s blood ran cold. Dionne wasn’t stupid enough to mess around with necromancy, was she? There was no way she and her friends would survive that. If they didn’t kill themselves... they’d be killed. Emily might have to kill them. Or... her mind raced. Shadye had intended to sacrifice her, once upon a time. There were a handful of rituals that required sacrifice. Void had told her that anything that required an unwilling victim was flatly forbidden.
The boy was naked. He knelt, one hand covering his groin. He was shaking in fear, his eyes firmly fixed on the ground as if he didn’t want to risk looking at the witches. Emily understood, all too well. There’d been a time when she’d been terrified of magic too, even though she’d known she had magic. She wondered, suddenly, just how long the boy had been trapped as a frog. The spell might have damaged his mind. If he’d been a frog for a week or two... Emily didn’t want to think about it. Nadine had been a fish for nearly two months and she thought she belonged in the water.
Dionne spoke, her words breaking through the charm. “Run,” she said. “Stay ahead of us ‘til dawn and you get to live. If we catch you...”
She cast a spell. The naked boy rose into the air and spun around. Dionne stepped forward and met his eyes. “If we catch you, you’re ours.”
Emily shuddered. The girls had shed their charms. In the moonlight, their faces looked twisted with sick anticipation. She’d seen aristocrats hunting commoners, as though they were lower than animals... her stomach clenched. The aristocrats who’d hunted foxes and wild boars had had the same sickening lust for blood on their faces, although they’d had the excuse of hunting beasts that threatened crops and farm animals alike. She swallowed, tasting bile in her throat. The girls thought they had the right to hunt mundanes...?
Dionne cast a stinging hex. The boy yelped as it struck his naked backside. He landed on the ground and ran for his life. Emily knew he didn’t stand a chance. Dionne and her gang would have no trouble catching him, not if they flew. His only real hope was to head up to the school and trigger the wards, alerting the teachers... she shook her head. He wasn’t going to risk it, not when he had no way to know how the teachers would react. He’d probably expect them to turn him into a mouse and feed him to the school cat.
Emily gathered her magic and stepped into the clearing. “Enough,” she said. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The girls seemed to waver, as if they were suddenly unsure of themselves. Emily could see doubt and fear cross their faces, the sudden sense they’d been caught with their pants down or their hands in the till. It was easy to think one was righteous until the outside world broke into one’s bubble and begged to differ. She heard the boy race away, running for the undergrowth as the girls stared at her. She hoped he’d be able to get back to town and... and then what? He might never recover from what they’d done. He’d certainly never be able to look at the witches in the same way again.
“You...” Dionne stepped forward. “You have no right to be here. This is our place of power.”
Emily felt her temper snap. “You are meant to be in bed,” she said. “You’re not meant to be out here, tormenting innocent young men. What were you going to do to that poor boy?”
“He is ours,” Dionne said. Her eyes gleamed. “The world will be ours, when Pendle rises again.”
“Really.” Emily glared from girl to girl. “Back to the school. Now.”
She sensed the flash of magic an instant before it manifested, and she threw herself to one side. A powerful curse, one she didn’t recognize, flashed past her and slammed into a tree. She heard a crashing sound and glanced at it, just in time to realize that part of the trunk had been instantly transfigured to dust and then crushed under the rest of the tree. Dionne had meant to kill her! She reached out with her magic, hastily strengthening her wards as the rest of the girls started hurling hexes and curses at her. They’d crossed the line... they’d crossed the line so completely that their only hope was to kill her, destroy the body and swear blind they’d spent the entire night in their dorm. Emily gritted her teeth, then closed her eyes and cast the brightest lightspell she could. Night turned to day as the spell took effect, the light so bright she could see it through her eyelids. She heard the girls scream as their spells shattered. They hadn’t thought to protect themselves against light.
“Get her!” Dionne was running forwards, sickly green light dancing around her hand. “Get her, quickly...”
Emily stepped to one side and stuck out a foot. Dionne tripped, hitting the ground in a flash of green light. Emily winced as the wave of tainted magic brushed against her mind. Dionne was lucky the curse had largely been grounded, although... she moaned in pain. Emily rolled her over, trying not to wince at the burning scars. It looked as if someone had taken a cattle prod to Dionne’s face.
“Stay still and I’ll get you medical attention,” Emily said. She wasn’t sure Dionne could hear her. Hell, she wasn’t sure even a full-fledged healer could do much for the younger girl. The curse had been nasty. There was so much tainted magic woven into the spell that she didn’t think she could put Dionne into stasis. “Don’t move.�
�
She turned to face the rest of the girls. The entire dorm was there, save for Lillian. Emily scowled as she saw Karalee, her would-be apprentice trying to avoid her gaze. What the hell had she been thinking? Emily understood the desire to fit in, although it had never been part of her life, but there was a difference between wearing the same clothes and following the social queens on the path to hell. There was no way they’d be allowed to get away with their string of crimes. Trying to murder a teacher wasn’t a harmless little prank.
“We are going back to the school,” Emily said, keeping her voice under tight control. She had no idea how Lady Barb had coped, when she’d been a teacher. “And if any of you give me any trouble at all...”
She left the sentence unfinished, allowing their imaginations to fill in the blanks. She honestly wasn’t sure what she could threaten them with, not now they were staring expulsion and charges of attempted murder in the face. They might have gotten away with hurting a common-born mundane - the boy had clearly made a clean break, while Emily had grabbed the witches - but attacking a teacher was unforgivable. And... Emily smiled, grimly. They thought she was Void’s daughter, as well as his apprentice. If they’d killed her, they would have picked a fight with one of the most powerful magicians in the world. Their families would hardly have protected them after that.
“Hands on your heads,” she ordered. “March.”
She checked Dionne’s scars, then cast a painkilling spell and levitated her into the air. Dionne said nothing as Emily steered her to the road and started up towards the castle. There was no point in using the secret passageway, not when she didn’t want to risk banging Dionne into the walls. Besides, appearing outside the castle gates would send alarms ringing through the entire school. Duchene and her staff might take it a little more seriously... she wondered, suddenly, how the wards hadn’t noticed that the students were no longer in their dorms. Dionne and her gang shouldn’t have been able to get out of the dorm, let alone the school, without setting off alarms. How had they fooled the wards?
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