Josie snorted. “Plus, I doubt Vega has ever used a scanner or a computer in her life.”
“I could do it,” I offered. “I know how to use a scanner—and I’m an artist. I can use Photoshop or whatever program they have on the computers. I don’t care if it affects my magic. I don’t have much to lose anyway.” I laughed self-consciously, wondering if they would see through the lie.
Vega looked me up and down, trying to figure me out. I didn’t doubt altruism was a difficult concept for her to grasp.
“You shouldn’t leave the school to go into town.” Josie adjusted her purple witch hat. “Not after what happened recently with a Fae hacking our wards.”
“Maybe I can get Thatch to chaperone me,” I said. “He might let me go if—”
“Fuck that moron. I’ll take you,” Vega said.
Gertrude crossed her arms. “You watch your mouth, Miss Bloodmire. We are in a library.”
“I don’t know if he’d let you chaperone me,” I said.
Vega lowered her voice to a whisper. “You don’t have to do everything that fuckwad tells you. He isn’t the only Merlin-class Celestor at this school.”
Maybe she was right. I didn’t always have to listen to him.
“You would put up with Thatch just to make some photocopies for Vega?” Josie hugged me around the shoulder. “Clarissa, you are way too nice a person.”
“But that’s why you like me, right?” I poked her in one of her dimpled cheeks.
Gertrude met my eyes, a little smile on her lips.
The library door opened, but I didn’t bother to look. I was too busy trying to gauge Gertrude Periwinkle’s reaction, to feel the sincerity in her body, and determine whether she would give away my secrets to Josie. I had trusted her with the truth. If I was lucky, it wouldn’t come back to bite me later.
“Speak of the devil,” Vega said.
That’s when I looked over.
Thatch froze just inside the doorway. He scanned our faces. I could only imagine what he imagined we were talking about.
“Were your ears burning, Thatch?” Vega called. “Because someone was just talking about you.”
“If you do not lower your voice in the library, Miss Bloodmire, I will remove you,” Gertrude whispered.
I expected Thatch’s face to flush and for him to become indignant when he saw I’d gone to Gertrude, even though he’d told me not to. I could lie and say I’d just been there with Josie to get a book. Then again, I wanted to boast that he’d been completely wrong about his hex-girlfriend wanting to kill me. Which made me . . . right. I had a hard time keeping that satisfied smile inside myself.
I planned on rubbing it in mercilessly later.
Instead, his complexion paled. His gaze settled on Josie’s face, then moved to Gertrude, to Vega, and last to me. He drew himself a little taller and lifted his chin, attempting imperiousness but failing. His eyes were too wide and panicked.
He backed out the library door and left without saying a word.
A small part of me felt joy that a room full of women had unnerved him after all his blustering and bossing. Did that make me evil? Is that what Alouette Loraline would have done?
Sometimes if felt so good to be wicked.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Best Defense is Avoidance
I went to find Thatch at lunch. He wasn’t in his classroom, but several students worked in their seats on essays. Imani collaborated at the counter with Greenie, stirring ingredients in a cauldron. The room smelled like chocolate.
“What kind of alchemy experiment is that?” I asked.
Imani’s dark brown eyes danced. She tried to hide her smile. “Chocolate pudding.”
“Is Professor Thatch aware you’re using his class cauldrons for food?”
“It’s magical chocolate pudding,” Greenie said.
“Yeah? What’s it do?” I asked.
“It will make you not hungry,” Hailey said from where she sat working at a seat.
“Has anyone seen Mr. Thatch?” I asked.
Imani and Greenie exchanged secretive glances. “He rushed off. He didn’t say where he was going or when he’d be back.”
There was something about that look they gave each other that told me they were holding back.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. Mr. Thatch was just . . . acting strange. He seemed distracted today.” Imani lowered her voice. “Do you think it’s because of Grandpa Elric?”
I blinked at her term for the Fae prince. Technically he was her great-grandfather, but she’d never called him that before.
“He put in a request with Mr. Khaba to have a visitation with me. Grandpa Elric thought I should work on my four-year goals or something, but Dean—Principal—Khaba vetoed that unless another staff member was present. I thought about asking you, but I know you two broke up and that would be awkward, so I asked Mr. Thatch. Then he started acting all weird and—”
“You should have asked Miss Bloodmire.” Hailey wagged her eyebrows. “I hear they’re dating.”
Greenie shook her head at Hailey and looked to me. As if I didn’t know.
I cleared my throat. “I wouldn’t ask Mr. Thatch to chaperone anymore. It puts him in an awkward situation. I can chaperone when the Prince of the Silver Court visits. Or you can see if Mr. Khaba will assign Miss Bloodmire.”
Elric hadn’t answered my letters. I wondered if he would tell me in person who the Princess of Lies and Truth was. Or if he would tell me the truth if he knew.
Thatch hadn’t returned after school or after dinner. It was possible he might have been out recruiting. Or he was avoiding me.
I had the key Gertrude had given me, but I didn’t feel that it was right to use it. I didn’t want to invade his privacy. I considered checking to see if he was even in his room from the hallway of mirrors but decided not to. Based on his response last time, he might find that even more intrusive.
When I went to my dorm room, Vega was already in bed, reading a book in another language. She didn’t look up, but her voice dripped with saccharine. “So, Clarissa, how are you this evening?”
I wasn’t fooled for a minute, but I played along because I valued civility. “Fine. So kind of you to ask. And you?”
“When can you photo-scan that book for me?” Her eyes glittered with excitement.
That was the Vega I knew—self-serving and to the point.
I stepped behind the dressing screen in the corner to change into my pajamas. “It depends how many photos you want me to scan. If it’s one book, we could do it after school sometime this week. If it’s more—”
“Tomorrow. I want you to scan them tomorrow.”
“Sure. And you’ll come with me to Happy Hal’s and pay for my computer time?” I knew Vega well enough to assume she wouldn’t take care of courteous details like that unless we set the parameters first.
“I won’t go down into that seedy computer dungeon. It’s beneath me. I’ll pay and grade papers as I wait upstairs. And I’ve decided that it would be more than generous if I purchase dinner for you afterward. Or before. Unless you don’t like the food in that greasy establishment. I know I don’t. They fry everything in lard, even the breaded tofu.”
From her generosity, she must have wanted these photos badly. That meant I had some leverage with her. I might be able to get that book on Fae peerage from her.
I yawned. “Sure. That’s fine. But while we’re there, I want to borrow one of your books to scan a couple of pages of my own. Will you let me look through your library books tonight?”
“Sure. Whatever.” Her indifference returned to excitement. “Did you see Thatch’s face today when he came into the library this morning, and he saw all four of us there? It must have been his worst nightmare to see every woman he’s fucked in the last ten years all in the same room talking about him.”
It didn’t surprise me Vega and Thatch had slept together—
she’d mentioned it before. Gertrude, I already knew about. But she was wrong about Josie.
“Thatch and Josie never slept together.” I was so tired I didn’t realize until too late I should have said I hadn’t slept with Thatch. Belatedly, I added, “Thatch and I aren’t . . . you know. We haven’t. . . .”
“Oh please! It isn’t like I didn’t get an eyeful when I walked in on you two after your little debauchery with Josephine Kimura. He was putting his wand to a very good use.”
My cheeks flushed with heat. “We didn’t do anything. He just . . . used his wand for. . . . He was very professional.” I tried to think of a logical explanation. The truth was probably the best policy. “It was to cure me of the jorogumo venom. He couldn’t use magic. It was the only antidote.” I was done changing into my pajamas, but I wanted to remain behind the shield of the screen.
“Sweet, innocent Clarissa, that is the best antidote I’ve ever heard of.” She shifted, the bed creaking. “I wonder what Elric would say if I told him. . . .”
“I don’t care what he’d say. He isn’t my boyfriend anymore. It isn’t any of his business.” Then again, I did care if he made a scene. I peeked out at her.
She smiled slyly. “It isn’t any of his business, which means it will make for juicy gossip.”
“Seriously? Do you have no soul?” I left the protection of the screen behind and strode out. “Do you poke a puppy with a stick to get one to bite you? Consider what you’re doing to Elric. You’re poking him in a sore spot. He hates Thatch, and he was always afraid I’d end up in the arms of his enemy.” Which I had. “If you tell him that story, it’ll just humiliate him.”
“Humility is good for a Fae. It brings them down to our level.”
Fury sparked inside me. I wanted to reach out and slap her. “It isn’t going to make him love you being cruel to him.”
“I don’t need his love. I don’t need anyone’s love.” She lifted her nose in the air.
Great. Now I had to worry about Elric’s reaction to Vega in addition to Thatch’s emo attitude.
I could feel my consciousness wanting to extend out of my body and shove her. I restrained myself. “Look. I’m doing a favor for you. I’m going to be spending my afternoon tomorrow and probably several more days scanning and fixing photos for you. Out of the kindness of my heart. The least you could do is make my life not miserable. Is that remotely possible? Would you please keep what happened with Thatch and me under wraps? Elric doesn’t need to know, and Josie doesn’t need to find out. It will make her feel bad on so many different levels.”
She crossed her arms. “Very well. I’ll make your life ‘not miserable’ if you insist. I won’t tell Elric or Josephine Kimura. But I can’t help you not make your own life miserable with all your own failings.”
That I could accept. “Now, give me the library books you want me to scan. We’ll put bookmarks in the pages so I’ll know which ones you want.”
It didn’t surprise me that when I asked Vega about the book on the Silver Court’s peerage, she claimed she didn’t have it. I didn’t know if she was trying to be irritating or she truly didn’t have it.
“You told me I could scan any of your books when I scanned the yearbooks. Do you want me to do this favor for you or not?” I demanded. “Don’t try to deny having this book. It was last checked out in your name.”
“I know it was! That’s why I have all those fucking library fines. But I already told Gertrude Periwinkle I returned her stupid book. I don’t have it anymore.” She stood, looming over me. “Don’t you dare try to back out of this deal now. You are going to scan those books, or I’m going to invite Elric on campus and make a scene tomorrow at dinner in front of Josephine Kimura so they both know about you and Thatch.”
Craparoni. I could never outdo her.
Thatch wasn’t around in the morning for my usual tutoring session or in the dungeon at lunch. I was fairly certain he was avoiding me now. He probably thought I had confessed to Josie. I told myself I was perfectly capable of giving him the space he needed so he wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. When he was ready to see me, I would explain that I hadn’t told Josie. Yet.
On the other hand, he might have been irritated I had talked to Gertrude, even though he hadn’t wanted me to. He might have decided to break up with me, and this was his uncommunicative way of telling me. Worry festered inside me, multiplying the longer I went without seeing him. I left him a note on his desk asking if I could talk to him. He didn’t reply. I scanned books for two days in a row with Vega at Happy Hal’s. She didn’t even complain how long it took, or that she had to pay me back for using my credit card to order prints online and have them shipped to the school.
I didn’t find a note from Thatch in my mailbox, but I found one from Gertrude. On a piece of paper, she had handwritten a spell in elegant cursive letters. I didn’t know what half the ingredients on the list were. It wasn’t so much the spell or the magic itself that was difficult but the prep work involved: placing a stone under the waxing moon, infusing devil’s claw with starlight, and gathering a virgin’s tears blessed by a Fae.
There was no time like the present to get started. It might take me a month, but I would make myself a flame-resistant-condom spell. If I was lucky, I would even have a boyfriend to use it with.
No one’s genitals would be ignited on fire in this relationship.
I went another day without finding Thatch in his classroom. He’d answered one of my notes about lessons with a terse reply.
I’m busy recruiting this week. There will be no lessons scheduled.
That was something, at least, but hardly satisfying. After school, as Imani and Greenie sat in my classroom making art projects in Wednesday Art Club, Maddy and Hailey ran through the door, flushed in the face and panting.
“Miss Lawrence! Come quick!” Maddy said.
“What’s wrong?” I sat up from my desk where I was doing a watercolor. One of the things about watercolors was that an artist couldn’t stop spreading the paint while it was wet or else it would leave a hard edge.
From the agitation in Maddy’s tone, I didn’t know what emergency I was facing now, but I knew my watercolor was about to be ruined.
“It’s Mr. Thatch. We saw him out front with his familiar,” Hailey said.
Apparently I’d been obvious in my attempts to find him in the dungeon every day after school. And before school. And at lunch.
I snatched up my coat. “No one is allowed to do magic while I’m gone. I don’t want another fire in my classroom.”
“Maddy put the last one out,” Hailey said.
I raced down the stairs, into the main corridor, and out the front door of the school. I hoped my pining for Thatch wasn’t obvious if my students were spying for me and trying to help me. It also occurred to me Thatch might not actually want me to find him and talk to him if he’d been making himself scarce all week.
Neither detail stopped me.
I spotted him sitting at a bench along the path of trees, his back turned away from the school. I forced myself to breathe slowly and smoothed my hair. As I approached, Priscilla hopped from one spindly black branch to another above him, eyeing me with a beady eye. She made a croaking caw sound. Thatch didn’t look up from the book he read.
I sat down on the bench, not exactly beside him, but with plenty of room between us so that he wouldn’t scoot away. He continued to read.
I waited to see if he was going to acknowledge me. His eyes remained on the same page for too long. Nervousness built in me until I couldn’t stand it any longer.
My breath came out in a white cloud in the cold air. “You’re avoiding me.”
He sighed, a little puff clouding around his face.
I tucked my cold fingers into my pockets. “And apparently not talking to me either.”
The low rumble of his voice was monotone. “I don’t know what to say.”
My voice came out sounding raw and h
urt, mirroring what I felt inside. “Have you decided to break up with me, and you think it would be easier to do so by not talking to me?”
“Not exactly. I think it would be easier for you to break up with me.” He closed his book and tucked it under his arm. Any minute I expected him to stand and walk away.
“Hold on a minute, buster.” Fury chased away my apprehension. “Are you saying you’ve been avoiding me to get me to break up with you?”
He wet his lips. “That wasn’t my intention. Not precisely. One must see, it would be easier that way. For you, that is. I’m not equipped to manage all this relationship rubbish. You want to announce your happiness to the world and tell everyone about us. I don’t. If you left me to my own devices, I would stay in the dungeon, reading books and practicing magic. I would never leave except when duty required it.”
Priscilla croaked and fluttered down from the trees into the grass before us.
Thatch amended that with a sad smile. “And take Priscilla outside on excursions that we both find enjoyable.”
“And remain perfectly miserable?” I asked. “You want to be alone and grouchy and want to make me just as unhappy as you are?”
“I want you to be happy.” He turned to me. Sorrow seeped through the storm-cloud gray of his eyes. “I have been giving it quite a bit of thought. I detest Elric, and always will, but you were better suited for each other. He doted on you, spent time with your friends, and made your happiness his first priority. If you went to him, he would take you back in an instant.”
It wasn’t like Thatch to utter one kind word about Elric. I wondered if he’d been hexed.
Thatch didn’t have the eternally cheery sunshine of Elric’s personality. His smiles were infrequent, but they were genuine, and perhaps it was the rarity that made me appreciate when he was in a good mood.
If I could use a scale to weigh the number of lies each had told me, I was fairly certain Thatch had lied to me more times than Elric. He was serious and pensive, controlling, and sullen when he didn’t get his way. When I thought about it logically, I should have preferred Elric, but I didn’t. Maybe it was pheromones and hormones. Maybe it was something else. I loved Felix Thatch.
Of Curse You Will Page 14