Waysider (The Voyants Book 1)

Chapter 29

Victoria Chen came through.

Three days later, Cass came home from her last class and found a vial of See on her nightstand. She flung her backpack down and crossed the room, Prince’s voice singing from the radio on her desk. Cass had taken to leaving it on even when she was gone—she hated how silent the house got every time her roommates were gone.

She stared down at the See she’d blackmailed Victoria for. There was no note, so there was nothing to explain the sense of menace that filled the air around the small bottle. You’re getting paranoid, Cass told herself as she picked it up. She watched how the liquid inside shimmered in the lamplight, her lips twisted in thought. Should she take it now, where there was no chance of anyone seeing her?

No, Cass decided. She didn’t want any more ghosts in her room. She’d go to the Hissing Gardens, maybe. But what if something went wrong? There would be no one to hear her cry for help. Cass stood there, wavering while “Purple Rain” faded away and Paul McCartney filled the stillness.

“This is a bad idea, Cass,” a voice said from behind.

She jumped. It was strange to hear the words her brother usually said come out of someone else’s mouth. Cass turned instinctively, and she couldn’t hide a flash of guilt from her expression. She fought the urge to put the See behind her back. Michael had already seen it anyway, Cass reminded herself.

“Oh, look who’s back. My friendly neighborhood stalker,” she said.

Michael didn’t react. His dark eyes were fixed on the bottle in her hand, and a frown hovered at the corners of his mouth. “That tincture is dangerous, Cass. I have heard it can change people who drink too much. This is one rule you shouldn’t break.”

“And how do you know that?” Cass challenged, bending to pick up her backpack. “Are you following me around campus, too?”

This time, Michael didn’t say anything, and Cass felt a pang of remorse. She didn’t know why she was being an asshole. She slung her bag over her shoulder and faced him, mussing her bangs. “Look, I just need to access more of her memories. On the off chance I do get answers, I don’t plan to actually confront anyone. I’ll just give the information to the police, and that should be enough to send Karen on her way. Okay?”

A muscle in his jaw flexed. “It’s not okay. The dead are unpredictable. We’re not fully human anymore. You’ve seen this with your own eyes. We don’t have to fear consequences, and we don’t get to experience things like kindness or love. We are alone.”

Something in his voice changed. Watching the play of emotions cross Michael’s face, Cass felt something else within her stir—compassion. She’d been so focused on herself that she hadn’t really thought about how much it must suck for Michael, being connected to her. Being dead. He’d been a revenant much, much longer than Cal, and he’d spent that time not being able to talk to anyone. Probably tormented by a thousand questions he didn’t have the answers to.

“Karen could’ve hurt me, more than once, but she hasn’t. Not on purpose, at least,” Cass amended, remembering those big hands around her throat. She kept her expression neutral, knowing Michael would keep arguing with her if he knew how terrified she actually was.

But maybe he still saw something, because he shook his dark head. “You can’t trust her.”

Cass’s eyebrows rose. “Are you saying I shouldn’t trust you either, then?”

“That’s different.”

“Why?” Cass asked bluntly. When Michael didn’t answer, she stepped closer. “No, seriously. Why is this any different?”

“Because I will never hurt you.”

His voice was soft, but there was steel in it, too. His dark eyes were hard. Cass’s first instinct was to mock him, or tell Michael no one could keep a promise like that. But she couldn’t bring herself to do either. Cass searched his gaze, struggling to name the tight feeling in her chest. Hesitantly she asked, “Hey, will you stay with me? While I try to communicate with Karen, I mean?”

Michael’s jaw tightened again—he still didn’t like the idea of her drinking the See—but he nodded. He looked down at the bottle clutched in her fingers.

“Not here,” Cass said, her eyes darting around the dim room. She liked it here. If anything bad happened, she didn’t want the memory of it to ruin this place. “I was thinking the Hissing Gardens.”

For a moment, Michael was silent, his dark brow furrowed. Then he said, “I know a place.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you outside.” Without waiting for his response, Cass strode to the door and opened it. She saw that Michael was gone before she’d had a chance to close it behind her.

Downstairs, Finch was absorbed in a TV show. Cass slipped past the doorway, hoping to avoid questions. She always felt bad lying to Finch. But a moment later, her roommate’s voice floated through the air. Cass halted, swallowing a curse.

“Hey, Cass,” Finch called. “Where are you off to?”

I have no idea, Cass wanted to say. My ghost friend hasn’t told me.

Yeah, she definitely couldn’t say that. At the same moment Cass opened her mouth to make something up, the sound of the fire alarm shrieked through the entire house. Cass immediately dove for the kitchen. She drew up short at the sight of Bradley, who straightened from the oven with a smoking pan between his two pink oven mitts.

Finch appeared at Cass’s side a moment later. Her wide eyes went to Bradley, who dropped the pan on the stovetop. The clattering sound was barely audible over the smoke alarms. Bradley’s eyes were bright with distress as he started batting at the air. “I’ve got it, I’ve got it—” he started.

Then the stove caught fire, and Bradley started screaming. Cass was about to launch forward, but Finch beat her to it, leaping for the towel hanging over the oven handle. She snatched it up and hit the small flames with it. The fire went out in seconds, and Finch stood there, her chest heaving. Bradley stared at her, completely silent. The fire alarm went silent, too.

“Jesus, what happened?” Justin asked, his voice a stark sound in the smoky room.

Bradley and Finch both jumped. Then Bradley began to stammer, “I—I was trying to make something, and I got distracted. It caught on fire, and—”

“Dude, again?” Justin scowled. “You realize they take smoke damage out of all our deposits, not just yours, right? I need that money, man.”

“I’m sorry.” Bradley looked miserable, as if he were wishing the floor would open up and swallow him.

Finch lifted her chin. She stepped closer to Bradley and declared, “He didn’t do it on purpose, Justin. You don’t need to be so unkind about it.”

“Kindness won’t get me my money back,” Justin countered. Cass chose that as her moment to leave, and they were still arguing when she finally slipped out the front door.

Michael stood near the hedge. Cass approached him, but she kept her eyes on the ground, worried that someone might walk by or look out one of the windows. As she stopped, Cass realized that she was protecting him, just like she protected Cal.

“Don’t worry, none of them can see me,” Michael said, reading her disturbingly well.

Cal looked at him with a thoughtful frown. “They can’t seem to see Cal, either. Why is that?”

They went down the sidewalk, then onto the brick path that led to Old Main and most of the lecture halls. “I have no idea,” Michael admitted.

He didn’t say what Cass knew they were both thinking. She was the common denominator here. Cal and Michael were both connected to her in some way, and so far, she was the only voyant that could sense them. That didn’t mean Cass was willing to take unnecessary risks, though.

They walked through campus in a surprisingly easy silence. Most of the time, Cass felt compelled to fill the quiet with something. That wasn’t an option right now—there were too many people around. So they stayed close to each other and said nothing, allowing the small space between them to fill with birdsong and the voices of passing students.

After a few minutes, Michael turned right and entered the Hissing Gardens. Cass hesitated, but the revenant kept going. She hurried to catch up, because she knew what else lurked in this garden at night, and she didn’t want to be alone out here. What could Michael possibly want to show her? Was he just taking a shortcut?

It occurred to Cass that they didn’t need to be quiet anymore, and she could just ask him. She was about to when Michael finally stopped. Cass followed his gaze eagerly.

“Wait. You brought me to a mausoleum?” she asked, coming to an abrupt halt.

Michael’s back was turned to her, and she couldn’t see his face as he replied, “It’s empty. No one was ever buried here.”

Michael paused near the entrance. Cass caught up again and reached past him to grasp the handle, expecting the door to be locked, but it opened easily enough. Her shoulder brushed Michael’s chest at the same moment he stepped back. Cass pretended not to notice as she stepped inside, leaving the door open behind her.

Her eyes darted around the room instantly. Nothing moved. The air smelled like dust and dead leaves, and Cass’s footsteps made soft sounds on the stone floor. She had always thought mausoleums were morbid, even creepy, but she had to admit that this one was beautiful. Flowers had been carved where the walls met. Yellow light shone through a square opening over the coffin. This place was in the perfect spot, too—it was close to the dormitories but still isolated.

Cass perched on the edge of the empty coffin and tried to calm the riot in her stomach. After a moment, Michael sat beside her, and she noticed how much distance he put between them. Silence and cold filled the room. Cass tried to think of something to say. She knew she was stalling, but she needed to work up the nerve to do this. It was finally hitting her, the potential consequences of her plan. Drinking See was no joke.

If she didn’t, though, Karen Watkins would just keep coming to her. Cass didn’t know how long she could bear the nightmares and the possessions. She’d probably have to go to Headmistress Crane, and then they’d untether Karen while her killer continued on.

“Have you remembered anything else?” Cass asked Michael without preamble. “About your life before?”

He shook his head again. “No.”

“That must really suck. I’m sorry.”

Once again, Michael looked at her as if he were faintly surprised. “Thank you,” he said.

Cass nodded, her eyes falling back down to the See. She could feel the soft pressure of Michael’s attention, but she tried to keep her focus on the bottle. It felt like she was up on that ledge again, her shoes hovering over open air, the ground dangerously far. One misstep and she’d go tumbling.

“You seem better,” Michael said.

The comment almost made Cass laugh. She cast a pointed look around them. “I don’t know about that. Look at where we are.”

Michael’s dark gaze didn’t waver. “I see someone just trying to help a lost soul.”

Something inside Cass fluttered. He was being nice, she told herself. From what little she knew about him, Michael seemed like a good guy. Cass cleared her throat.

“Well, I guess I should…” she trailed off. She peered down and watched the liquid shimmer in the weak light. Her palms began to sweat. Cass could feel her heartbeat in her ears as she glanced over at Michael. He must’ve seen something in her expression yet again, because he shifted closer on the coffin. His hand almost touched hers where it rested on the edge.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Michael said quietly.

Some of the tension eased from Cass’s shoulders, and she released a breath, nodding her thanks at him. All right, she’d stalled enough. Cass pulled the bottle out of her pocket and pressed it to her lips. She tipped her head back and downed the See in two gulps. As the sweetness struck her tongue, Cass lowered her chin. She kept her eyes closed, though.

“Okay, Karen,” she said, frowning in concentration. “If there’s anything else you want to show me, I’m ready.”

The last word had barely left Cass’s mouth when the insides of her eyelids lightened. She opened them and looked around the mausoleum again, making a soft sound of surprise. This time, it wasn’t a dusty, empty place. Tethers glowed against the stone floor. There weren’t many, and none of them seemed to be attached to anything in here, but at least Cass knew the See was working. She closed her eyes again and waited. She wasn’t sure what else to do; Cass had never sought out a revenant before.

They sat there for several minutes. Frustration began to creep in. What if Cass had done all this for nothing? Frowning, she squared her shoulders and focused harder. “Karen Watkins, I summon you,” Cass commanded.

Another moment passed.

Then Cass’s spine straightened with a snap. Her eyes flew open.

Michael said something, his voice alarmed, but she couldn’t answer—Cass had lost control of her motor functions again. She knew what it meant now, and she tried not to fight it. Maybe if she let Karen in willingly, Cass would be able to see her memories more clearly. She sat rigidly, gripping the coffin beneath her so hard that her fingers dug painfully into the stone.

“How could you be so stupid?” a man’s voice demanded. Cass didn’t recognize it.

Then, between one moment and the next, she was back in the library. Their meeting place. Dark bookcases crowded in and shadows clung to everything. A distant patch of moonlight highlighted the looming figure in front of her, but all Karen could make out was the man’s broad shoulders. Fear and guilt lodged in her heart.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said tearfully, fumbling with the buttons on her shirt.

“You told me you were on birth control!”

“I—I must’ve missed a pill. It wasn’t on purpose, I swear—”

The man made a low, strangled sound, as if he were suppressing a frustrated cry. In the next breath, his hands came at her. Iron fingers wrapped around her throat. She reached up instinctively and clawed at them.

“You made me do this,” the man whispered, tightening his grip. “This would ruin me, Karen.”

She rasped for air, hitting at his arms with all her strength. Then she wound up her leg and kicked him in the shin. The man shouted in pain and threw her to the floor. Cass landed on her hands and knees, wheezing.

“If you touch her again, I will end you.”

The male voice cut through the darkness, but it didn’t belong to the man Karen had been arguing with. Michael.

The moment Cass thought his name, she came back to herself. Her eyes cracked open. As Cass registered that she was back in the mausoleum, she felt like she was waking up from a bad dream. Michael was holding her, and Cass remembered the low threat she’d heard him make. Somehow, she knew he wasn’t talking to her. Michael had been talking to the other revenant. To Karen.

Suddenly Cass remembered how the other girl had put a hand on her stomach, at the very end. She hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but now the horror of what she’d just learned filled Cass’s throat, making it impossible to speak.

Karen Watkins was pregnant when she died.

“Cass? Are you all right?”

The sound of Michael’s voice steadied her. Cass sat up, still in the circle of his arms. He felt warm, she thought dimly. She hadn’t expected that. “We should get back to Wayside,” Cass said in a hollow voice.

“Are you all right?” Michael asked again, more firmly this time. He didn’t take his hands away. His lingering touch made Cass’s thoughts clear, and she tipped her head back to look at him.

“No,” she said honestly. “I haven’t been all right in a long time, actually.”

One of Michael’s hands rose, and he brushed her cheek with his knuckles. The touch was softer than a whisper. “You will someday,” Michael murmured. “I promise.”

Cass gave him a small smile. Michael smiled back and inclined his head in a silent question, as if to say, Want to get out of here?

She nodded. God, yes. They both got to their feet, and Michael finally let go of her. They left the mausoleum together, and the moment Cass stepped into the fresh air, she felt more like herself. The sensation of Karen’s soul crawling around inside her began to fade. They reached the edge of the cemetery and moved onto the sidewalk.

“What are you thinking about?” Michael asked.

Cass kicked a small rock out of her way. “I’m thinking how wasted it is on me. The fact that I’m here and she isn’t. Karen wanted to live. She fought for it. She had so much ahead of her, and she probably would’ve done amazing things. But she didn’t get to do any of it—instead, someone took that from her. When someone tried to take it from me, I lived. Why did I get a second chance and she didn’t?”

Michael didn’t respond. Cass couldn’t exactly blame him. She was asking questions that didn’t have answers. They finished the return to Wayside in silence, walking at a steady pace through the empty campus. Cass longed to bring up the connection between them, because she desperately wanted to know more about it, but she reminded herself that Michael had already told her everything he knew. She’d just be asking more impossible questions.

A few minutes later, Cass stopped in the spot where they’d met earlier. The hedges blocked them from the street, but if any of her roommates were awake, they could look out the window and see her. Cass angled her body so her face was out of sight. She looked up at Michael to say good night.

“It’s not wasted on you,” he said. The words on Cass’s tongue faded.

He didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t need to—the way he was gazing at her said it all. Cass swallowed, disconcerted by the way her body responded to that look. He was a ghost, she reminded herself.

“I better go,” Cass said.

Michael tucked his hands in his pockets, elbows hanging loosely at his sides. “Good night, Cass.”

“Hey,” she said. Michael had started to turn away. He paused, and Cass’s fingers twitched, longing to reach up and fuss with her bangs. She forced herself to meet his gaze. “Thank you for tonight. For helping me again. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”

He looked back at her with the same expression he’d worn earlier, when they were in the mausoleum. As if… as if she were beautiful. No one had ever looked at Cass that way before. All at once she couldn’t breathe again.

“I will always be there,” Michael said.

Another silence fell between them, and it struck Cass how close they were standing. His alluring scent teased her senses. Her insides shivered.

“Good night, Michael.” Now Cass was the one who turned to leave. She took a few steps toward the front door.

“I just remembered something.”

Cass faced him quickly, her heart picking up speed. “You did?”

Like the first time, when he’d remembered his name, there was a crease between Michael’s brows. His full lips were pursed in a thoughtful frown. “Horses,” he said finally. “I grew up near horses.”

“That’s great, Michael.” Cass’s excitement was genuine, and she grinned at him. Michael’s frown softened. His brown eyes flicked between hers, and slowly, Cass’s smile faded.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Potential whispered through the small space between their bodies. An unspoken, heated question.

Then Michael nodded at her, the gesture oddly formal. “Good night, Cass,” he said.

“Good night,” she murmured.

He walked down the sidewalk and rounded the hedge. Even after he’d left her sight, Cass stood there. She found herself wishing they could’ve talked a little longer. Maybe Michael would’ve remembered more. If they figured out what was triggering his memories, she could help him—

Fuck, Cass thought suddenly, her stomach sinking with realization.

She had a crush on a ghost.

A full moon shone brightly overhead.

Cass and Cal walked in the direction of the Hissing Gardens. Cass moved more slowly than usual, her feet heavy with dread. The headmistress’s note burned a hole in her pocket. She’d brought it as a reminder that she didn’t have a choice, and like it or not, Cass would be attending the aptitude test tonight.

At least Cal wasn’t coming. Cass didn’t want him anywhere near other voyants, even novices. They’d gone back and forth for a while, and as a compromise, Cal agreed to only walk with her part of the way. Cass still didn’t like it, but she didn’t want to argue with him again. They barely got past that fight on the morning Cass blackmailed Victoria Chen.

Even now, days later, things between her and Cal didn’t feel normal. They walked in silence. Both of them had their hands in their pockets, but Cal shortened his longer strides to match hers. The only sounds around them were echoing voices and laughter. Finch said there would probably be a big turnout tonight—it was the end of the semester, and everyone would be going home to their families soon. This was their last chance, for a while, to discover any secondary abilities or switch to a more powerful house. According to Finch, switching was heavily discouraged, which was why Cass hadn’t even known it was an option until recently.

“Why are you so nervous about this test, anyway?” Cal asked, distracting Cass from her thoughts.

She glanced up at a palm tree, its leaves swaying like dark wings. “You know me. I don’t do well under pressure.”

It was an obvious dodge, and normally, Cal would’ve called her out on it. He fell silent again as they kept walking. In the distance, the voices got louder.

“You’re happy here,” Cal said suddenly.

Cass glanced at him sidelong. “What makes you say that?”

Her brother looked away, tilting his head.“You like them—your roommates. You’re paying attention in class. This place is good for you, Cass.”

Unease crept through her. Cal was right, she did like them. And the more you liked someone, the more it hurt when you lost them.

Cass hid a rush of fear, and prayed Cal couldn’t sense it. She didn’t feel like getting into her issues right now. She pretended to watch a game of hacky sack happening on the lawn of House Pennyseeker. Their dormitory was different from House Wayside. Bigger, newer. Cass found she preferred the aged, ivy-covered house she’d left behind. The house that she’d go back to, once she failed this stupid test.

A minute later, they reached the point where they always separated. The path ended in a T, and from here there were fewer hedges and palm trees. Fewer hiding spots and shadows for revenants. Cass made sure there was no one else around before she faced her brother. “Well, I’ll let you know how it goes,” she said.

“Cassie.” Cal gave her a look. It was the one he always gave her when she hadn’t fooled him. But his voice was unexpectedly gentle when he said, “Even if you pass the test, and you have to move into a new house, you won’t lose them. You won’t lose this.”

If it had been anyone else saying it, Cass would’ve rolled her eyes or walked away. It was no use doing that with Cal, though. Her mouth tightened, and she pulled one hand out of her pocket to muss her bangs. “It’s not just that. It’s…” Cass trailed off.

“What?”

She couldn’t talk about it. Not even to Cal. Cass couldn’t admit how frightened she was of the power inside her, or how worried she was that it might change if she kept using it. If she kept drinking See. And every time Cass thought about the test, she got a bad feeling.

Cal wouldn’t understand.

“Never mind,” Cass said, giving him a tight-lipped smile. “I’m going to be late. I’ll see you soon, okay? This probably won’t take long.”

Cal grinned back, and the sight of it made something in Cass lighten. It was his old grin, before all the bad things happened. Back when their biggest problems were who got the TV remote or who got to use the car on Friday night. “Break a leg,” Cal told her.

They parted ways, and Cass felt a little less afraid now. Warmer. A minute later, she arrived at the gardens. Cass hurried into a hedge maze and followed the signs that led to the test. She could hear voices nearby, and the sound was comforting. She wasn’t alone out here.

Within a minute, the path opened into a clearing, and a sculpture rose in the center of it—a man. He had noble features, thick hair, and an elegant suit, all made of stone. The plaque beneath his feet was too small to read from this distance, and Cass started toward it curiously. Torches lit the space, sending shadows and light over the flagstones.

“Good evening, Miss Ryan,” someone said.

Cass jerked toward Headmistress Crane. She stood near the entrance to the clearing, and tonight, her usual stylish clothes had been replaced by dark robes that seemed like they were from another time. Like she was about to bend over a cauldron and start mumbling in Latin.

“Hi,” Cass managed. “That’s an… interesting look.”

Crane smiled. “The robes are strange, I know. But this school is rampant with traditions, and honoring them feels like I’m honoring my grandfather, too.”

Unbidden, Cass’s thoughts went back to the revenant in Crane’s office. She remembered the devastated look on the old man’s face as his finger pressed down on the trigger. Cass suppressed a shudder and refocused on his granddaughter.

“You never told anyone about my brother,” she blurted.

She’d surprised both of them, Cass thought. But it was something that had been bothering her for weeks. Crane studied her, and in that moment, she looked so much like Teddy that Cass stared.

“When the time comes for him to depart, it should be your choice, Miss Ryan,” the headmistress said gently.

That time will never come.Cass swallowed the words and pasted on a small, polite smile. “Well. Thanks.”

She walked away from Crane and joined her classmates, who were all clustered on one side of the sculpture. Cass drew up alongside her roommate. Finch’s expression was strange, and Cass nudged her with her elbow. “Hey. Are you okay?”

Finch stared at the sculpture as if it were speaking to her. “Did you read the paper today?”

Cass’s forehead wrinkled. “Uh, no. Why?” she asked.

“Joe Kittinger crossed the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. All by himself.”

Headmistress Crane was making her way toward the sculpture now, but Cass watched Finch with a nonplussed frown. “That’s… cool. Right? Isn’t it?”

The other girl’s voice was dull. “There are people out there, breaking records and changing the world. And I’m about to attend my thirty-sixth aptitude test,” she added bleakly.

The look in Finch’s eye reminded Cass of the night they’d sat on the kitchen floor. Most of the people around them had gone quiet, so she lowered her voice, making sure only Finch could hear as she said, “Hey. Remember what I told you in the kitchen? The night of the Shadowripper party?”

Finch swallowed. “We make our own legacies.”

“Hell yes, we do. So who cares if we fail some silly little test?” Cass cocked her head and grinned. “You’ll get your hot air balloon, don’t worry.”

She was rewarded with a tremulous smile. “Thanks, Cass,” Finch whispered.

“My fellow voyants, may I have your attention?”

Everyone turned toward Headmistress Crane, who stood at the base of the sculpture now. Once she had their attention, the headmistress continued, “If this is your first time, welcome to Hissing Gardens, named in honor of our esteemed alumni, Nathanial Hissing. He is the one depicted in the statue behind me. To this day, Mr. Hissing still holds the record for untethering the most revenants. If you’d like to wander the hedges after the test, you may stumble upon a likeness of his wife, as well. Now, shall we begin?”

Crane made a gesture, and a student broke away from the crowd, holding a tray of vials. As the See made its rounds, soft conversations floated through the clearing. Cass listened to her classmates speculate about which houses they’d end up in, but she barely heard them—all her attention was fixed on those vials.

“What about you, Attic Whisperer? Where do you think you belong?”

Cass’s head swiveled toward the voice. It was a boy she didn’t recognize. He had blue hair and a silver hoop through his eyebrow. Others overheard his question and turned in Cass’s direction, too. She couldn’t tell if Blue Hair Guy’s curiosity was genuine or if he was just being an asshole, so Cass stayed silent.

“Oh, please. She’s Pennyseeker, and we all know it,” a dulcet voice said. Cass glanced toward the crowd of onlookers, and her gaze met Victoria Chen’s. Though she didn’t know for sure, Cass suspected she was the one who’d spoken. Victoria stared at her, as if she were silently daring Cass to respond. Cass looked away and tried to hide a rush of guilt.

Another girl spoke. “My bet is on Dreamwalker.”

“Wayside, through and through,” a third voice muttered back.

“That’s enough,” Headmistress Crane cut in, frowning. “If I hear any more remarks like that, I’ll begin docking points from your houses.”

She gave someone in the crowd a hard look, and it was the closest Cass had ever seen her get to a glare. Then Crane’s gaze shifted, and she smiled. “Oh, here we are. I have a surprise for you, everyone. One of our most esteemed educators will be assisting us on this evening’s aptitude test. Welcome back to Else Bellows, Professor Clemens.”

Everyone turned in unison, following the direction of her hand. A man stood at the edge of the crowd. He was tall. Thin, like a scarecrow. Firelight flickered over his nondescript features as he replied, “Thank you, Headmistress.”

Cass froze. It felt like the world rocked on its axis.

That voice. She knew that voice. She’d heard it before, in the dark.

Right before he killed her.