Cauldron of Ash

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Cauldron of Ash Page 8

by Dorothy Dreyer


  Yep, every detail of how I turned my cousin into ash. I cringed and flipped back to the family information file. Huh, I thought to myself. Someone must have never finished filling out the information. The data on my father was completely blank. I wasn’t sure if Grayson had a secretary or if she filled out the information herself, but if it was a secretary, Grayson needed to have some words about her about thoroughness.

  I glanced up at the clock on the wall. Shit, an hour and a half had gone by. I hadn’t even made a dent in cleaning up the mess. I shoved Killian’s file back into the cabinet. Whispering a speed enchantment on myself, I went into maximum overdrive to get the rest of the job done. I sorted out all of Principal Grayson’s files, filing them away. I spent the rest of my time cleaning her office and moved everything away out of sight.

  There was a cardboard box on a side table that I thought should be moved to a corner of a room. When I lifted it, I found a red folder hidden underneath. After stashing the box in the corner, I opened the folder. The first few pages were student records on someone named Nathanial Allesandro. The reports in the file were confusing. Though the file was riddled with statements about the trouble he got into as a student, there were also notations made about his high skill level and abilities. Judging from the file, he was the most powerful student they’d ever seen at the school. I flipped the page and found newspaper article clippings. The first few featured Nathanial Allesandro, and as the dates went on, the more trouble it seemed he had gotten into. The following clippings didn’t mention anyone by name but were reports on murders and missing persons. I could only assume that they were in his file because someone suspected he’d been involved.

  Footsteps could be heard in the hall. I quickly shut the file and shoved it at the back of the filing cabinet. Though I had been swept up in this mysterious student’s file, I didn’t think Principal Grayson would appreciate me snooping through it.

  The door creaked opened, and in Principal Grayson walked. I couldn’t stop the smile that fell over my lips watching her. Her eyes lit up as she looked around at her office, though she was quick to hide her feelings. She sat down behind her desk and rested her hands on her now spotless desk joining them together in a clap.

  “I’m impressed, Reagan.” She paused, looking over the space one more time.

  I waited anxiously and shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I prayed to the witch god that she would give me what I desired. I needed to volunteer at the event. I could help get Christine back all her points. It was tomorrow night, so this was my last chance at getting in. I stood there in silence. I glanced toward her, afraid that that was it. That was all she had to say. Principal Grayson grabbed some paperwork from her filling cabinet and started writing down some notes. It looked like that was the end of our discussion. Damn it, there goes my chance. Feeling defeated, I turned around, ready to walk out.

  “Your volunteer ticket will appear on your account,” she said suddenly. “This will get you in tomorrow night. You will be helping the team with food prep and serving. Don’t be late.”

  I took the paper from her and nodded my thanks, making my way out before she could take it back.

  I thanked the powers that be for my chance at winning back lost points and gaining back a friend. I just hoped my luck continued. I shivered at the thought. Me and luck hadn’t worked so well together in the past.

  There were only a few classes scheduled, and the rest of the day was blocked out in our timetables as “Study Time.” Though I tried to memorize the potions from potion class and the list of spells and cram for the upcoming test in The History of Magic, my mind kept wandering. First it would flit over to the short, sweet, and strange kiss I shared with Killian, and then it would fly over to the blacked-out pages in Killians file, and then I’d start wondering why Principal Grayson kept information about a former student in a red file in her office.

  At dinner time, my stomach wouldn’t let me think anymore until I filled it with food. Entering the dining hall, I spotted Christine at a table. She waved me over, and after I hurried to get a tray of food, I sat across from her, happy she was no longer mad at me. At least, I hoped that was still the case.

  “I’ve hardly seen you today,” she said, shoveling a forkful of pasta into her mouth. “Did you get a lot of studying done.”

  “Tried to,” I said, almost moaning in delight when I took a big bit of garlic bread. Part of me stopped short, almost laughing at the thought of garlic on my breath. Would Killian still want to kiss me? Could he not kiss me because of the garlic? How long would I have to wait until it was out of my system and he’d be able to kiss me again?

  I shook the thought from my head, blaming my silly thoughts on hunger.

  “Me too,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll pass that history text next week.”

  “Same.” I shifted in my seat. “Speaking of history, have you ever heard of a student here named Nathanial Allesandro?”

  She swallowed hard and blanched. “You’ve never heard of him?”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, my cheeks feeling hot. “No. Should I have?”

  “He’s notorious in the magic world.” She leaned closer to me, like she was about to divulge a big secret, and I followed suit. “He was sentenced here like forty years ago. That’s when his reputation for doing awful things began. He attended for a few years, until he turned eighteen and fled.”

  “Fled?”

  “Yeah, he ran away from the school, and no one was able to find him.”

  “But I thought I saw newspaper clippings.”

  She finished her bite of pasta and nodded. “Yeah, the police and the council were always so close to catching him. Even the times they did manage to arrest him, he always managed to escape.”

  “Why haven’t I heard of him?”

  “In the non-magical world, things are kept hidden by the council. They don’t want word of our world being exposed, so even releasing his name would be risky.”

  She looked to her left and right, a strange expression falling over her face.

  “What?” I asked. “What is it?”

  “The guy I used to see—the shifter? Well, he ran in some secretive, underground circles. And these people, they knew things. They heard about things that were coming about and great battles that are supposed to happen one day.”

  I narrowed my eyes and shook my head, not understanding.

  “There were diviners in their group—people who had visions of the future. Anyway, the diviners told about the Reaping. It’s some apocalyptic event where only the strongest supernaturals will survive.”

  “That sounds terrible.”

  “Yeah.” She shifted even closer. “So my shifter guy said the word was that Nathanial Allesandro—who had of late began referring to himself as a Sir, began stealing powers from other supernaturals, ensuring that he would survive the Reaping.”

  “Stealing? What do you mean?”

  “Apparently, he’s some kind of syphon. He can suck other supernaturals’ magic from them. I’m not exactly sure how it works, but bottom line is he doesn’t want to die in the Reaping.”

  “A syphon? I’ve never heard of a witch power like that.”

  Christine’s brow rose. “Oh, he’s not a witch.” She lowered her voice. “He’s a vampire.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The next day, hours seemed to fly by. I was actually getting used to my classes, none of which included a goblin or tales of any Reaping apocalypse. Rascal was behaving, for the most part. Christine was nice to me again, which was a relief. And Laurel was the same cold and indifferent introvert I’d become used to. But what really threw me off was Killian. Anytime I glanced his way, he seemed to quickly avert his gaze. He wouldn’t smile, either. It wasn’t that he was being mean, and I didn’t get the impression he was angry. It was more like he was nervous about something.

  I was glad when the day’s classes were over, but my relief was short
-lived. As soon as I had reached my dorm room door, the device on my wrist beeped. Wrinkling my brow, I read the message on it.

  Please report to the Familiar Animal Check-up Room with your pet, immediately.

  Now what? Did I have to prove I had my ferret trained? Were they going to give us a test? And if we failed, would I get minus points? If my wrist device hadn’t been magically attached to my body, I would have chucked it out the window. Instead, I threw my door open and let out a sigh. Rascal looked up at me from cleaning his paws, and I could have sworn he arched a brow.

  “Come on, Rascal,” I called. “We’re going on a walk.”

  His ears perked up and he jumped off the bed, not running toward me, but past me into the hall. I grunted as I kept up with him. How did he know where we were headed? I guessed I didn’t know everything there was to know about magical pets.

  Checking the map attached to the message I’d received, I noticed that Rascal knew exactly where we were supposed to go. I approached the door marked “Check-up Room” and turned the knob.

  When I stepped inside, my jaw almost dropped. Killian was sitting in the waiting room stroking his cat, which purred as it lounged on his lap. His blue eyes twinkled as he watched me walk in, that slow, sexy smirk pushing the side of his mouth upward. I had the right mind to sit away from him, on the other side of the room, but something made me choose the seat next to him instead.

  Marshall, his cat, was enjoying being pet too much to hiss at Rascal this time. Still, Rascal opted to nestle on the floor behind my legs instead of on my lap, apparently wanting to keep some distance between them.

  “Hey,” Killian said, his eyes locked on me.

  “Hey,” I replied, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “You get messaged to come here too?”

  “Yep,” he answered, his lips making a popping sound on the p.

  “Is it some kind of test?” I asked. “For our familiars?”

  “Just routine,” he answered, his fingers stroking lazy lines from Marshall’s ears down his back. “They want to make sure we’re keeping them in good health and not performing any kind of illegal magic on them.”

  “You, uh, can perform magic on your cat?”

  “Well, I could glamour him.” He raised a brow, smirking again. “But I haven’t.”

  I opened my mouth, about to ask if he’d glamoured me, but I couldn’t get the words out. Then I remembered something.

  “Hey, who did you say you were talking to on the phone that day? You know, when I saw you during my run?”

  “Oh, right.” He rubbed at his chin. “My dad.”

  I blinked. “I, uh, thought your dad, you know… passed away when you were a kid.”

  Killian’s eyes bore into me. “Where’d you hear that?”

  My face grew hot. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “I can’t really remember,” I lied.

  His eyes narrowed the slightest bit, and then he tilted his head. “I was speaking to my step-dad.”

  My temples dampened with sweat. I forced a smile. “Right. Yeah, of course. Sorry. I just, uh… nevermind.”

  To hide my blush, I dipped my head forward a bit. My hair fell over my shoulder, the ends of some strands brushing up against Marshall’s ear. Marshall’s eyes popped open, and he shook his head. As I leaned away, not wanting to disturb the cat any further, Marshall leaped forward, paws outstretched. Apparently, he thought I’d been trying to play with him, using my hair to tickle him. Unfortunately, Marshall’s claws got tangled in my hair. He shrieked a meow as I let out a high-pitched cry of surprise. I held my hands out, not wanting to hurt Marshall but also not wanting to get claws stuck in my skin.

  “Hold still,” Killian said, reaching for his cat with one hand. “Let me help.” With his other hand, he gently took my tangled strands of hair, separating them slowly with his fingers. I stopped moving and let him untangle the mess, unable to stop staring at him as he leaned in closer to inspect the knotted strands. He caught me looking at him, his blue eyes trapping mine. We were just inches apart, and I couldn’t pull away.

  “There,” he whispered. “You’re free.”

  I blinked, not realizing he was talking about my hair. Still, neither one of us had pulled back.

  “Killian,” I said.

  “Yes?” He inched closer.

  “About the other day…”

  He tilted his head. “What about it?”

  “We k—”

  He smiled, waiting for me to finish. But suddenly, my nerve was gone, and I couldn’t bring up the kiss. Instead, I cleared my throat and leaned back in my chair.

  “I, uh, I got myself a job working the Founder’s Festival,” I said instead, feeling the hot blush tainting my cheeks. “Are you, uh, are you going?”

  He leaned back, pulling his cat onto his lap. “No. I wouldn’t be caught dead going to that thing.” He glanced at me sideways. “I mean, you know, any deader than I already am.”

  Again he left me speechless. He winked, and the door to one of the examination rooms opened.

  “Mr. Reid,” the woman who opened it said. “Let’s see how Marshall’s doing, shall we? Come in.”

  With that, Killian got up and disappeared, leaving me to wonder.

  Rascal’s exam took place a few minutes later, in the second examination room, so I didn’t see when Killian left the office. Rascal and I were given a passing grade, and I was awarded ten points for taking care of him. As happy as I was about that, I wandered back to my dorm room in a daze, not able to get my encounter with Killian off my mind.

  Later, at dinner, I looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found. He seemed to disappear a lot, which made him even more mysterious to me. The next day, he wasn’t in any classes. It was ridiculous how frustratied he made me. I scolded myself for putting so much thought into him. It couldn’t be good for my mental health.

  As the time neared for the Founder’s Festival, I forced myself to put Killian out of my mind. At least for a couple of hours. I had a job to do, and if I could earn myself some points by doing a good job at the festival, I sure was going to try my damnedest.

  Rascal sniffed curiously at my ankles as I searched through my clothes looking for a white shirt, which Principal Grayson said would be required for all volunteers. I thought it was a pity I couldn’t wear a nice dress to the party, but if I had to choose between that and getting points, the points would win out.

  I jumped when the door was thrown open, my hand flying to my heart. Rascal dashed like a bolt of lightning to hide under my bed. Laurel barged into the room and threw her phone onto her bed.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  “Your boyfriend, that’s what,” she grumbled.

  “What?” I fought off the blush that scorched my cheeks. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Whatever. Just tell Killian if he thinks he can use his glamour powers on me, he needs to think again.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to get the fact that she’d referred to Killian as my boyfriend out of my head. “What did he do?”

  She scoffed and plopped herself down in her desk chair. “He had the nerve to tell me I should reconsider attending the festival tonight.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t get a straight answer out of him.”

  I raked my hair out of my face, my brow scrunched up in thought. I wondered if there was something Laurel wasn’t telling me. Like maybe she and Killian used to be an item and now he was warning her off from the festival so he could try to spend time with me. I closed my eyes and shook my head, clearing my head of the ridiculous thought. It wouldn’t even matter if he wanted to spend time with me. He was a vampire. Witches and vampires didn’t mix.

  “Maybe he was just being a jerk,” I said. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  That actually got a laugh out of her.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked.

&
nbsp; “I’m working the festival. Serving. I need to find a white shirt to wear.”

  She pushed herself up off her chair and walked straight to her closet. “Here, you can borrow one of mine.”

  I blinked, stunned that she would offer. “Really?”

  “This doesn’t mean we’re friends,” she said, one of her brows cocked. “I just understand the struggle of wanting to work off your time here.”

  I took the shirt she offered, which smelled nice. “Thanks.”

  She shrugged and walked past me holding an almost identical white shirt in her hands. “Well, we might as well hurry up and get ready for ‘work.’ I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Once I was ready, I heading to the ballroom alone, as Laurel used some kind of energy spell to hurry getting ready and took off early. Maybe she was trying to avoid running into Killian again so he couldn’t pester her about not going to the festival. In any case, I made my way through the halls, keeping in mind that I was doing this for points so I could get out of this school and back home where I belonged.

  The halls were busy with students scuttling about. Some of them were dressed like me, working the festival, no doubt in need of points as well. Others were dressed in nice outfits. Nothing too fancy—we were just students, after all—but still leaps and bounds better than being dressed like a cater waiter.

  One of the corridors was stuffed with people, all talking and laughing, some of them teachers and some of them people I didn’t’ recognize. I guessed the founders were invited to attend. I doubled back, not thrilled with the idea of pushing through that crowd, and decided to take a different route. The dark passageway I found was a hallway with a long glass display case standing against one wall. The LED spots at the top of the case were the only source of light in the entire hall. I slowed as I got closer to the display case and peered inside at the awards and trophies sitting on the shelves.

  There was his name again: Nathanial Allesandro. Apparently he was “outstanding” in a number of skills. It made me wonder why a supernatural who was so celebrated could do all the evil things his file claimed he had done.

 

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