“And what would that be?” Headmistress Berens asked.
“If Maeve is alive and hunting students, then you need the right bait to catch her. I can be that bait if the pattern holds.”
“No way!” Cameron shouted. “You didn’t say anything about that.”
The headmistress closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened her eyes. “Sending another student into danger doesn’t strike me as wise or advisable.”
“But if you’re watching me, you can use spells to protect me. It won’t be like the other players. I won’t be by myself, not really.”
“I’ll be honest. There’s still a lot we don’t understand about what’s going on. I can’t in good conscience risk another student when there are so many unknown factors.”
“But I’ve volunteered. I can help.” Raine looked at Cameron. He scowled, still very clearly against the plan.
Headmistress Berens shook her head. “No, I can’t allow this. Right now, we have four students in comas, and I don’t want five. I appreciate your desire and willingness to help your fellow students, but I have to say no. You’ve been impressive in the past, Raine, but I have to prioritize your safety.”
She sighed and looked down. “I understand. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
Cameron didn’t say anything for several minutes as they walked away from the headmistress’s office.
“Communication,” finally came out of his mouth, but it was more a growl than words.
Raine stopped and looked at him. “What?”
He pointed down the hallway. “I didn’t know you planned to do that when we walked in there. Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked away. “I didn’t try to surprise you or make you worry. It all made sense once I was in there telling her. This isn’t me sticking my nose into something. I’ve seen Maeve. This could really work. I could save the others.”
“Yeah, and it could end up with you in a coma.” Cameron ran a hand through his hair. His instincts told him to run off with Raine and hide in Charlottesville before she did something irreversible. “Raine, part of protecting people is also making sure you protect yourself. Kind of like on a plane where they tell you to put your oxygen mask on first.”
Raine folded her arms and gave him the most-dreaded “Stubborn Raine” face. “Using the glasses with Headmistress Berens around would mean I was protected. Or Professor Powell or Librarian Decker.”
“I don’t like this. You heard her. Even they don’t know what’s going on. You might be walking into a trap.”
“It’s not like I’ll always know what’s going on when I’m an FBI agent. It’s like with Hap. If I can do something to help someone out, I won’t stand by. I won’t go against the headmistress, but if she asks me to put them on, I will.”
Cameron sighed and nodded. “Then I’ll support you. I might not be able to play the game, but at least I can watch you from outside.”
She placed a hand on his cheek. “Don’t worry, Cameron. If they end up letting me help, I’ll be safe. I believe in the professors.”
The shifter forced a smile onto his face, even if he wasn’t so sure. He would have preferred the crazy wizard or Raven cultists. At least he understood how to defeat them.
Mara stared at the four unconscious students in the nurse’s office. Sweat covered their faces and their bodies glowed from the heavy stabilization magic used to keep them from slipping away. They were out of time.
Xander, Bruce, and Leo all stood near the door, grim-faced.
“How could they have gotten so much worse in one day?” Mara murmured. “If we drop the spells, they’ll die.”
Xander glanced at the others. “I know you won’t want to hear this, but we have only one option left. It’s not like if the PDA sends someone, they’ll be able to do something we can’t do ourselves. We’ve scoured the vaults and checked the wards. Nothing’s wrong or out of place except for those glasses, and the problem they caused has only occurred at this school.”
Mara placed her hand against Kayla’s sweat-covered forehead. “You can’t ask me to tell that girl to risk her life. It’s not appropriate.”
“You don’t have to tell her. She already volunteered. I’ve already tried to use the glasses. I couldn’t find this Maeve they mentioned, only the gnome Ichabod. If there is something hunting the students, it’s hiding from me and we simply don’t have any time. I wish there was another way, Mara, but there isn’t. We can minimize the risks, but we still have to take some. Otherwise, four students might die.”
“Or five if we do this.”
Leo pulled his bowler hat off and held it over his chest. “When I helped Raine and her friends before, I knew it’d be dangerous, but also I knew there was no time to waste. They might be young, but they aren’t stupid. They understand danger, and they understand what it means to risk your life for something important. They’ve learned well while here, and that girl has a good head on her shoulders. If it were any other student, I wouldn’t be so sure, but I believe in Raine.”
Mara turned to Bruce. “And what do you have to say about this?”
The FBI agent frowned. “I’m not crazy about the idea, but I also know how it’ll tear her apart if these four kids die and she thinks she could have done something to save them. If you all monitor and help her, at least she’ll have a fighting chance and escape if things get out of control.”
“And if something goes wrong?”
“I’ll take full responsibility.”
Mara chuckled, but it sounded pained. “You’re ultimately a guest here, Bruce. This is my school, and these are my students. When one of them is hurt, it’s always my responsibility. Before I agree to this, I want you to talk to her. I want to make sure she understands exactly how dangerous this is.”
“I will.” He headed toward the door.
She turned back to the students on the beds. Kayla and Emily began to convulse, and she pulled her wand out to cast another stabilization spell. “Xander, help me. Leo, get the nurse. I won’t lose any students.”
Agent Connor looked around Raine’s room and his gaze settled on one of Sara’s paintings. Raine sat in a chair near her desk and her heart pounded. He’d asked her friends to leave so he could speak to her alone. She half-worried that he would suggest to Uncle Jerry that they pull her out of the school because of the danger. Her offer of help to Headmistress Berens might have been too much. Sometimes, it was better to simply ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
The FBI agent turned away from the painting and toward her. “I have one question for you, only one. I don’t want you to think about it. I simply want you to answer with the first thing that comes to mind. Understand?”
“Why?” she frowned. “Isn’t it better to think about something important before you answer?”
“Normally, but this is a kind of test. I believe I already know the answer, but I need to make sure it’s a deep part of you.” He stared at her in complete silence for several seconds before he finally spoke. “Why do you want to risk your life to help those students? It’s not your responsibility to save them. There are plenty of adults here, from me to Headmistress Berens. It’s our responsibility.”
Raine shook her head vigorously. “No, it’s all our responsibility. I don’t know what you think about me, Agent Connor, but I don’t go looking for trouble. I don’t like fighting people. I don’t like the idea of hurting people.” She stood and looked him in the eye with all the courage she could muster. “But I can’t stand by when innocent people suffer, no matter what. I want to help people. That’s why I’ll join the FBI. Right now, I might be the only person who can help the others.”
Agent Connor snorted, but a smile appeared a moment later. “You’ll be one of the most dedicated agents ever when you finally join the bureau.” He motioned toward the door. “Let’s go. There’s no time to waste but let me be clear. If we think you’re in trouble, we’ll end this immediately.”
Raine
grabbed her wand. “All I want is a chance to save them.”
Chapter Forty
Twenty minutes later, Headmistress Berens, Agent Connor, and Professor Powell all stood near the edge of the woods, along with Raine and her friends. The other students insisted that they accompany her, if only for moral support, and Agent Connor and the headmistress didn’t want to waste time arguing with them. They’d decided to have Raine enter the game away from the main building in case something went wrong. Despite everyone being prepared to help her, they still couldn’t be sure what would happen.
Professor Powell held out a pair of Arc Eighty-Eight glasses. “I don’t know which student we got these from, but my understanding is the glasses themselves don’t matter much. Don’t enter the game until we’ve had time to set up our spells on you.”
Cameron was a rigid statue, his eyes yellow. Philip patted him on the shoulder in a feeble attempt to calm him but he, along with everyone else, was clearly worried.
Evie stepped forward. “Remember, Raine, after this is all over, I’ll make some sense-blend cupcakes for you.”
“It’s not fair,” Sara said, her arms folded. “We should all go in. Even if Raine is the bait, we can back her up.”
“That will absolutely not happen,” the headmistress replied. “Professor Powell and I will protect Raine from a variety of magical attacks, but we wouldn’t be able to protect others, not without a better understanding of the threat. The last thing we need to do is complicate this situation with more variables.”
“It’s fine.” Raine grabbed the glasses out of Professor Powell’s hand. “Just having you all here makes me feel a lot better. Thanks.”
She couldn’t help but notice that Sara and Evie carried satchels. They hadn’t had them earlier in the day.
The headmistress and Professor Powell spent several minutes layering spells over Raine. She waited, the glasses in hand, and took slow, deep breaths as she tried to steel herself for what she might find. There was also the possibility that Maeve wouldn’t show up at all and the whole mission would be a waste of time.
“You should be ready,” Headmistress Berens explained. “If you need to leave, Raine, then leave immediately, even if you think there’s only a minor risk of you getting hurt.”
“I will. Here goes nothing.” Raine slipped on the glasses. “Ludamus.”
She barely noticed the magic flowing from the glasses given all the other spells on her at that moment, but it was hard not to see the complete change in the environment around her.
The first time she’d activated Arc Eighty-Eight, the only thing different was Maeve. Now, the entire world around her was twisted and corrupted. Gnarled, cracked trees devoid of leaves replaced the healthy forest. The main building became a dark castle with a localized thunderstorm over it. The sun had gone and only a dull, red haze battled the darkness.
Dozens of huge dragons in a variety of colors filled one portion of the sky. A massive octopus, easily larger than the main building itself, scuttled along the far edge of the forest and knocked trees down as it emitted alien bellows.
“I guess that’s a land Kraken.”
“You see a land Kraken?” Cameron asked, worry in his voice.
The adults and her friends were all there, but they were blurry and indistinct.
“Yeah,” Raine replied, her voice barely a whisper. “A bunch of dragons and the land Kraken. I don’t see anything else. And I don’t see Maeve yet, either.”
Leaves swirled out of nowhere and formed into a rough female shape. A few seconds later, the leaves peeled away to reveal the jade-skinned tutorial fairy.
“I see her now.”
“Be careful,” Headmistress Berens said. “Remember what I said.”
Maeve stepped forward, a huge smile on her face. “You came back, Raine. The others tried to abandon me, and I had to keep them here with effort, but you came back. This is better. Things get…difficult when I have to keep you here.”
Raine wondered if any of her magic would work against Maeve. She pointed at her. “You admit you did something to the others.”
The others present listened in silence while the headmistress and Professor Powell continued to maintain their spells, but everyone was forced to watch a one-way conversation from their perspective.
“I had to.” Maeve sashayed forward and her dress threads changed color even faster than the first time they’d met. “They would have left me. They tried to leave me. After everything I’ve done for them. Such ingrates. But you’re not an ingrate, are you, Raine?”
“You put them in a coma. That’s a big punishment for being ingrates.”
“I saved them. Kept them with me.” Maeve clasped her hands together. “But I don’t have to do that with you. You chose to come back to be with me. We can be together.” She gestured around her. “We can make a perfect world. A better world. No dark wizards. No thieving little animals in hats and coats.” Her eyes widened and she lowered her hands. “Be with me, Raine. Not out there. There’s nothing out there for you but pain.”
Raine took a few steps back and her heart raced. “None of this is real. You might be real, but I don’t know what you are, and I won’t leave the real world. Tell me how to help the other students. If they didn’t want to be with you, respect that. Please. I’m begging you, Maeve.”
The fairy snorted and her expression darkened. “So, you’re like the others in the end. Nothing more than an ingrate.”
“She’s getting kind of angry.” Raine looked over her shoulder and gasped. The blurry outlines of the other people had all gone. She was alone with Maeve.
“Are you trying to talk to someone?” Maeve chuckled darkly. “Do you think I couldn’t feel them out there?” She inhaled deeply through her nose. “I can smell it, you know. All those connections and friendships. It’s…harder, though. I could see it easier the last time you were here, but now, something clouded it—blocked it. Only the smell’s left, so I’m trying to get rid of them.”
“Then you get it, don’t you? I don’t know who you are and why you’ve done all this, but I have friends. People I care about. Adults I respect. A boyfriend. Playing a game is one thing, but I don’t want to live in a game permanently. Kayla, Emily, and the others don’t, either. They want real friends.”
“Friends? But those friends will betray you. Leave you behind. Their friendship is as fake as the game you say you disdain.”
Raine shook her head. “If you’re not going to tell me how to help the other students, then I’m leaving. There’s nothing you can do or say to convince me to stay, but it’s not too late for you to do the right thing.”
Maeve raised her hands and spread her fingers. A spinning blue-black vortex appeared in front of her. Rocks and the few darkened leaves still left in the area flowed into the vortex.
Raine dug her heels in and fought to stay in place as the vortex dragged her forward. “What are you doing?”
“I’m giving you what you want—a perfect world with the people who care about you so much. I can feel it now. The others, those cursed adults, trying to take you from me. I won’t let them. You’ll be with me forever.”
Raine reached up to pull her glasses off. She yelped when they burned at the touch.
She hissed and reached for her wand, but it was too late. Her body left the ground and she tumbled into the dark vortex.
Chapter Forty-One
A verdant flower-covered field replaced the darkened wasteland. Thick-trunked trees rose into the sky and disappeared into a layer of clouds. Two bright yellow suns hung in different corners of the heavens. Colorful birds flew in massive flocks, sometimes obscuring one or the other of the suns.
Cameron lay beside Raine and groaned. Philip, William, Evie, Adrien, and Sara were there as well, all equally disoriented.
Raine looked around. “Are you real?”
“Real enough.” Cameron pushed himself up. “I knew this was a bad idea. The headmistress and Professor Powell freaked out. They
sent Agent Connor to get more professors to help. They said you were cut off from them somehow, and they tried to get you to pull your glasses off.”
“I tried, but it hurt too much.” She touched the glasses. They were cool to the touch now.
Philip dusted his pants off and pointed to a tree in this distance. “How can we see this? We’re not wearing the glasses.”
Raine removed hers, but it didn’t change anything. “Did you see a portal before you came?”
“Yeah. A dark spinning thing.”
“I think she pulled us somewhere that’s not a game.”
“But where? This isn’t Oriceran, right?”
“I don’t think so.” Raine readied her wand. She didn’t want to get taken by surprise next time. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. She only sucked you in here because you’re important to me. She said so.”
Cameron grunted. “Good. Now we’re all together. This is the way I wanted it anyway.”
Adrien summoned a shield and a sword. “Our magic works, it seems. That’s convenient.”
Evie concentrated with her wand held in both hands and sent out a pulse of magic. “This isn’t an illusion, or if it is, it’s impossible to see through it.”
Maeve’s voice came from all around them. “This is very real. This is New Arcadia, and I, Maeve, am its queen. You’ve been chosen to join me in this new, perfect world.”
“We don’t want to join you,” Raine shouted. “Don’t you understand that? Can you get that through your head?”
“Ingrate. I brought you your friends, yet still you complain?”
Sara put her hands on her hips and looked up in an effort to find something to focus on as she yelled. “Don’t we have a right to our own freedom? If Arc Eighty-Eight is a game and you’re part of that, how do we win the game?”
Maeve cackled. “Win the game? Oh, how delicious you all are. Fine. You want to play a game? I’ll give you a game to play.”
Oath Of The Witch: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (School of Necessary Magic Raine Campbell Book 4) Page 18