5. Noah
5
NOAH
I t was 9:10 p.m., and I wanted to be in bed.
Not because I was tired, but because in bed, I would be alone. I was still trying to make sense of the attack this afternoon, but the faculty lounge was bursting at the seams with all the people crammed into it. There was so much conversation that I couldn’t hear myself think.
The meeting should have started ten minutes ago, but Isaac was nowhere to be seen. Nat sat crowded around a tiny table with Ayah Naji, the head of Harmony, and Mauro Linhares, who was a Hexer like Nat. Hans Stahl from Harvest and Autumn Zhu from Hex took up the sofa, while Sunny Verma, the head of History, sat on the wingback chair nearby, with Sarah Balian of Heal perching on one arm.
Teresa Molina, the head of Hex, and Leon Zi, the only Hunt faculty member, stood in the kitchenette, talking animatedly with Claire Rosato, the head of Harvest, Orlando Moyano, the head of Heal, and Eddie Rybakov from Hearth. Lidia Ramos of History, Alex Ilves of Heal, and Manish Karve of Hearth were clustered near the door. I leaned back against a window and watched them all.
The room was never meant to hold this many people all at once. Isaac, as the dean of Vesperwood, had asked for one representative from each haven, but most had sent more. The buzz of conversation was all about the moraghin and Erika’s recovery. The faculty sounded as uncertain and full of wild theories as the students were.
Fabrizio Gallo and a number of other professors were absent, posted at positions around the campus, keeping watch. Isaac had never called for that before, in all the time I’d been at Vesperwood. The wards should have removed the need for it. But then again, the wards had never failed before either.
Seb was gone too, though he wasn’t on guard duty. I’d been standing next to Isaac when he’d enumerated who would be on watch tonight. I wondered where he was instead. Maybe with Isaac?
A commotion by the door drew my attention, and I saw the group there part to let in Ismene Cooke, the only representative from Horizon so far. The Haunts were so reclusive, I was surprised one of them had shown up at all.
Ismene crossed the room, making what looked like a bee-line for me, only turning at the last second to take up a spot on the wall a couple feet away. She gave me an enigmatic smile, then watched the room with a blank expression. She didn’t talk to anyone, but she didn’t lean or cross her arms or do anything else that might imply this wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be, standing alone in a crowded room, staring off into space.
I wished I could appear that at ease.
A moment later, Isaac stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. I should have known. Isaac wasn’t the kind of man who liked to be seen waiting on anyone else. He was probably standing just outside the room until Ismene arrived.
Seb wasn’t with him, but I had no chance to wonder what that meant. Isaac spoke as soon as the door closed.
“Good evening, friends.” His voice managed to be warm and cool at the same time. “I appreciate you all taking the time to come here tonight.”
As if we’d had any choice.
“As you’ve no doubt noticed, there are questions circulating among the student body concerning today’s attack. I’m sure I’m not mistaken in imagining that there are many questions among you as well. I meant what I said at the assembly. We will be launching a full-scale investigation into what occurred, the first step of which is to pool our knowledge of today’s events. While understanding the entirety of the assault may take time, we should at least be able to reassure the students that their wilder theories are false. To that end, let us begin at the beginning. Noah, why don’t you walk us through your freshmen class today.”
I stiffened as all eyes in the room turned towards me. I clamped my lips down in a firm line, annoyed at myself for being unprepared for the attention. I should have expected this.
“It’s more or less what you’ve heard,” I said, knowing the freshmen would have spread the details through the entire student body by now. “It was a normal enough class. We were working on evasive maneuvers. The attack didn’t occur until the very end.”
My stomach twisted. I should have been quicker to notice something was wrong. Should have been up near the rest of the class. If I hadn’t waited until the last moment to give Cory his jacket, hadn’t pulled him aside so no one else could hear, maybe I could have prevented anyone from getting hurt.
“Unfortunately, I was on the other side of the gym when the moraghin appeared, in the middle of the largest group of students. Attracted to the magic, obviously. I have no idea how they got in. They simply appeared, out of thin air.”
A shiver ran through the room. We all knew how unlikely that was. How much magic it would have taken to breach the wards, to drop the moraghin right into a cluster of students. The moraghin couldn’t have done that themselves. Someone else had sent them.
“Most of the students were frozen,” I continued. “One of them, Erika Martinez, went down. I yelled at the rest to back up and spread out. Most of them did, though a few tried to cast spells at the moraghin. A couple of others grabbed weapons. Luckily, I was able to take the moraghin down before anyone else could injure themselves in the fight.”
“Impressive,” said Teresa, still standing by the sink. “That’s no mean feat, taking down three moraghin on your own. In the middle of a crowd of bystanders.”
It was four, actually, but I didn’t correct her.
“Nigh impossible, some might say,” added Leon, stirring a spoon in a mug of coffee.
Those might have sounded like compliments, but I knew Teresa and Leon well enough to know they weren’t. As the head of Hex, Teresa was suspicious of anyone who wasn’t a witch at Vesperwood. Leon was the head of Hunt, and had resented my presence at the school since he’d arrived three years ago.
I’d never understood why. Leon talked constantly about how Hunters weren’t meant to be tied down. He refused to work with underclassmen entirely, and only worked with the best of the juniors and seniors in small tutorials.
Isaac had told him that if he hated being stuck in one place so long, he was welcome to leave, but Leon had muttered something about the honor of Hunt Haven not being carried by human hands like mine.
“Not impossible,” I said. “Just luck.”
We’d all been lucky. Me. Erika. Cory. God, especially Cory. That had been close.
But he was fine. I’d checked him myself, and then Cinda had. I’d seen him at the assembly earlier this evening. She wouldn’t have let him go if there’d been any doubt.
Cory . Of course. That was where Seb was.
Seb must have been working with him right now, teaching him…what, exactly? How to dream? Could Seb even do that for him, not being an incubus himself? I stifled a strange flare of jealousy at the thought of the two of them alone together.
“Thank you, Noah,” Isaac said, pulling me back to the present. “Let us now turn our attention to the wards. They are designed to protect Vesperwood from attacks like this, and have functioned flawlessly since the initial enchantment was cast when the school reopened. But today, they were breached.”
He paused, giving the words time to sink in. Then he turned to look at the pair on the sofa.
“Hans, Autumn, you’re two of our wardkeepers. Perhaps you would explain today’s events from your point of view.”
It wasn’t an accusation. Isaac would never stoop to something so tawdry. It was merely an invitation to explain their side of the story—and justify their failure, if possible.
Hans cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Yes. Well. As you said, the events of today were certainly unexpected. I wish we could have—that is, all of us are as shocked as anyone else as to how this could have occurred.”
He launched into a wordy explanation that took five minutes to get through and boiled down to, ‘ We don’t know what happened .’
“Obviously, I went to check the ward room as soon as I felt the wards fail,” he said as he wrapped up. “I was here, in the staff room with Ayah and Sarah, but I ran all the way there. Autumn was already there when I got there, and Teresa and Sheridan arrived a little later.”
“None of you were in the ward room during the attack?” Isaac asked.
“Not as far as I know,” said Hans, which was a weaselly answer if I’d ever heard one.
Autumn seemed to agree with my assessment. She drew herself up, straightening her posture, and sent Hans a cool look. Interesting.
“Anyway, once we were there, it was clear the wards had been penetrated,” Hans continued. “We reset them immediately, and one of us has been physically present with the wards for the rest of the day. That’s where Sheridan is now. We’re trying to figure out what went wrong, but I regret to say, it was a clean attack. Whoever did this didn’t leave any traces for us to follow.”
“Indeed,” Isaac said. “Autumn, is there anything you’d like to add?”
“My frustration,” Autumn growled. “An attack like this shouldn’t have been possible. The fact that it was means there was a flaw in the initial spell design. That, or someone at Vesperwood lowered the wards from within.”
The room went even quieter than before.
“I went to the ward room as soon as I felt the breach as well,” she continued. “I was with a group of students from my Advanced Artifice class, discussing their midterms projects. I only got to the room ten seconds before Hans,” she added, and there was no mistaking the steely glint in her eye.
Very interesting. Both she and Hans were trying to establish that they weren’t alone when the attack took place.
“There was nothing wrong with the initial spell design,” Teresa said, her voice diamond sharp as it cut through the room. “I was part of the team that invoked the original incantation. As was Isaac. I highly doubt either one of us would have made a mistake.”
She made a good point. She was one of the first faculty members Isaac had gathered when he reopened the academy seven years ago. Teresa might be arrogant, but she was a meticulous witch, as was Isaac. It wasn’t likely a design flaw would have escaped their notice.
Which left only one option.
Isaac turned to her. “Thank you, Teresa. We are extremely fortunate to have a witch of your experience and expertise as a wardkeeper.”
Teresa nodded as though this praise were no more than she was due. I noticed Isaac hadn’t begun his questioning of the wardkeepers with her, though. She was far too touchy for that. I also noticed that she didn’t deign to share her whereabouts when the wards were broken. She probably didn’t feel like she needed to account for herself to us plebs.
“I can look into any histories mentioning the moraghin,” Sunny offered from his armchair. “I doubt we’ve missed anything that would explain how moraghin themselves could breach wards like the ones guarding Vesperwood, but I’ll use a fine-toothed comb. See if I turn anything up.”
“And I can check the records of the initial enchantment,” Nat offered. Teresa sent her a stony look from across the room, but Nat wasn’t cowed. “I wasn’t here when the spell was first cast, but a fresh pair of eyes reviewing the plans can’t hurt.”
Teresa held her gaze a moment longer, then gave the tiniest nod of her head. Nat blew out a breath of air, looking slightly relieved. As the head of Hex, Teresa was Nat’s direct supervisor, and she had a reputation for ruling Hex with an iron fist.
“Thank you,” Isaac said to Sunny and Nat. “I’m sure we’d all appreciate that.”
He turned then to look at Ismene, standing against the wall near me. “Did the Hierophants sense anything that might have indicated an attack was imminent?”
Ismene moved only her eyes to look at Isaac. “We would have told you if we had. We share anything that is relevant to the school.”
Would you have ? I wondered.
The Haunts were a strange bunch. They didn’t teach many classes, focusing their efforts on their own research instead. That, and shepherding the odd student who turned up at Vesperwood with the gift of prophecy.
I didn’t think they saw the world the way the rest of us did. Who was to say what information they would pass on, or what they considered good or bad? Could they have lowered the wards without anyone knowing about it? They were witches, of a sort.
Another unanswered question.
Motion by the door drew my attention again, and I saw Cinda slip into the room. Her long skirts danced as she threaded her way through the crowd, coming to stand between Ismene and me.
“I’m glad you could join us, Cinda,” Isaac said, in a voice that could have been a rebuke or a simple statement of fact.
“And I’m glad to have a free moment to do so,” Cinda replied. “But I’d prefer to get back to my patient as soon as possible.”
“The girl,” asked Teresa. “She’s recovering well?”
“Yes,” Cinda said. “Sleeping now. That’s what her body needs most. But if she passes tonight and tomorrow peacefully, I’m willing to discharge her the day after tomorrow.” She flicked a glance at me. “No combat for two weeks, though.”
“And you’re absolutely sure she was not infected?” Leon asked.
Cinda stood a little straighter and gave him a look that said she considered his question impudent. “Absolutely.”
“Lucky indeed,” said Leon. He was stirring his coffee like he wanted to stab a hole through the mug. “Three moraghin attack a group of freshmen unexpectedly, and no one gets hurt. What are the odds?”
“Four.” Leon’s tone put my back up—it was time to be clear. I said the word grimly, my mind flashing back to the gym. Why had that fourth moragh sought Cory out? Did it think he’d be an easy target, all alone? “There were four moraghin, not three.”
“And someone certainly did get hurt,” Cinda sniffed. “Erika may be free of infection, but she bears bruised ribs, a twisted ankle, and a dislocated shoulder that I’ve only just healed. To say nothing of the psychological wounds she and the rest of the students will undoubtedly carry for years to come.”
Leon’s eyes narrowed. I had the feeling he didn’t consider psychological wounds real.
“If that’s all,” Cinda said, addressing her comments directly to Isaac, “do I have your permission to go?”
“You do,” Isaac said. “You all do. I trust I do not need to remind everyone that extra caution is required until we uncover the cause of today’s attack. Vesperwood has its enemies, as you know. We must do all we can to protect our students.”
There was a shuffling of feet, a few throats clearing, and a smattering of head nods. The faculty looked like a bunch of shifty students, caught doing something they shouldn’t have. But no one said anything.
After a moment, Isaac nodded. “Good. Dismissed.”
I let the others trickle out the door ahead of me, loitering at the back of the room until it was just me, Isaac, and Nat.
“I appreciate your help,” Isaac said to Nat as she neared the door. “You have a keen mind. You may find something we overlooked when invoking the wards originally.”
“Maybe,” she said, but her shrug made clear how unlikely she thought that was. “Like Teresa said, you were involved in the process. I doubt you made a mistake in one of the foundational enchantments for the school.”
“Everyone is capable of making mistakes,” Isaac said neutrally.
“If you had, wouldn’t the wards have failed before now?” Nat asked, raising an eyebrow. “It’s not like they haven’t been tested, but they’ve withstood everything that was thrown at them, until today.”
“All the more reason for double-checking.”
Nat shrugged again, then turned to me. “Don’t suppose I could tempt you to a game of cards, could I? Bet you could use the stress relief.”
“Playing poker with you is never stress relief,” I told her. “I’d like to keep my shirt on my back, thank you.”
“Suit yourself.”
With a final smile, she left the room. It felt oddly empty, now that everyone was gone. I approached Isaac, who muttered a spell. The door closed behind him, softly. I arched an eyebrow.
“I assumed you wished to speak with me privately,” Isaac said. “Was I mistaken?”
“No.” I didn’t mention that he could just as easily have closed the door with his hand. “I’d like to borrow some staff for the rest of the week, if that’s okay with you. The students are going to be a mess. Especially the Hunters. I could use some extra bodies to keep them in line.”
“You? Asking for help?” Isaac looked amused. “Why, Noah, I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Not help,” I growled. “Bodies. I’m putting everyone back through basic training and conditioning. Running attack and defense sequences would only rile them up. I want them too tired to make stupid decisions.”
“Stupid decisions?” Isaac asked blandly.
“Like trying to hunt the moraghin themselves,” I said. “I wouldn’t put it past some of them, especially with your new restrictions. I’m sure they’re already chafing.”
“Better chafed than dead,” he said flatly.
I wasn’t sure it was an either-or. It was entirely possible they’d chafe, then end up dead from stupidity anyway. That was why I wanted to tire them out.
“We’re going to start with running,” I said. “The loop around the grounds is five miles. That should exhaust most of them, but some are faster than others. I can’t abandon the Hunters in the group—I don’t trust them alone. But if I stick with the Hunters, the stragglers will be unprotected.”
“And you think the moraghin will return so soon?” he asked.
“I don’t think anything,” I said. “I’m just trying to cover my bases. For a few days, anyway.”
“Fair enough,” Isaac said. “We don’t know what to expect. This entire situation is unprecedented.”
He sounded very angry about that.
“I take the safety of our students very seriously,” he continued. “And I have no idea what happened today. Do you have any notion of how disconcerting that is?”
I sighed. “I do.”
“Good.” His voice warmed half a degree. “Because I need your help investigating.”
I blinked. “Investigating?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the word before.”
“Yeah, obviously. But—”
“I want you to find out what happened. Talk to the other staff. The wardkeepers in particular. See if you can pick anything up. Discreetly.”
“Pick anything up?” I asked.
“Anything suspicious, or out of place. Watch. Listen. Explore.”
“Spy, you mean.”
“If you’d like to describe it that way. Be amicable, and see what they let slip.”
I frowned. “You want a witch for this. Magic allows for more subtlety than anything I can do.”
“I’ll work with what I’ve got.”
“But you’ve got your entire faculty. Why me?”
“Because you’re the one person I’m sure had nothing to do with breaching those wards. You were in class when the moraghin attacked, and you don’t have the power to lower the wards yourself.”
I pressed my lips into a flat line and blew air out my nose. “People are going to think it’s odd, if I’m suddenly chumming it up with Hans and Autumn and the others. We’re hardly friends.”
“It would be even odder if I were to do it. Just tell them you’re worried, since the moraghin appeared in your class.”
My brow furrowed. “You really suspect one of the wardkeepers is responsible?”
“I suspect everyone,” Isaac said.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to work out a knot that had crept up between them. “Everyone in the meeting just told you they’d look into what happened and tell you what they found. No one’s going to be dumb enough to say one thing to you, then something different to me. Spying isn’t going to work.”
“You’re welcome to think that. But you still have a job to do.”
I rolled my eyes. “I already have a job.”
“I’ll talk to Eddie and Hans,” Isaac said. “You did say you were looking for extra help with your classes. Both of them should be suitable, and it will give you an excuse to talk to Hans, for starters.”
“Bodies,” I corrected him. “I said I wanted bodies, not help.”
They were good choices, though. Eddie practiced Brazilian jiu-jitsu and sparred with Leon sometimes. Hans ran marathons for fun. Both were in shape enough to keep up with my classes as we ran.
“Regardless,” Isaac said. “I’m sure they’ll be happy to oblige.”
“Well, thank you. But I still think I’m not the best choice for—”
“Noah.” Isaac’s voice was low, but it stopped me shorter than a shout. “The matter is not up for discussion.”
I inhaled deeply and let the air out slowly. I didn’t agree with this decision, but it was impossible to get Isaac’s mind to change, once it was made up.
“Now, why don’t I let you go,” he said. “I’m sure you have work to do.”
If I didn’t before, I definitely did now, I thought as I made my way back to my cabin.
Vesperwood was supposed to be a safe haven for students. I wasn’t interested in being Isaac’s spy, but I did want to get to the bottom of today’s attack. Find out who was behind it, and take them down.
That much came easily to me. I thought about the violence rained down on my class this afternoon and smiled coldly. Whoever was behind it needed to be punished.
I was looking forward to that.