Chapter 27 #3
She heard a shout, and Zara muttered, “Come on, Felix, turn off the fucking alarm,” as they both began running. Zara let Ramona take the lead, two grimoires in her arms as Ramona clutched the other, the pair running down metal stairs and to an outdoor exit.
It was locked. They waited only one beat before a click sound echoed, and Ramona pushed the door again to find that it had unlocked. “Thank you, Felix,” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Zara was right behind her.
“Stick to the shadows,” Zara said, pushing her forward as they both skirted the library building, avoiding the lights that illuminated the walkways.
“I think we lost them,” Ramona said, looking behind her for what felt like the hundredth time.
Zara looked at her phone. “Felix says he had to turn on a sprinkler in one of the upper floors. We should be good now.”
They crossed the lawn toward the parking lot.
Ramona was breathing hard from adrenaline. They’d done it. Actually done it. She unlocked the car. They slid inside. She put the key in the ignition as she laughed with relief.
Except, nothing happened.
She tried again.
Click. Click. Nothing.
“What—” Ramona started.
“It’s not…” Zara’s voice was tight. “What’s happening?”
They stared at each other in the dark car. Ramona’s euphoria evaporated. She tried again, in case the first fifteen times were just a fluke.
Zara pulled out her phone. “I’ll call Felix.”
She dialed, waiting and watching Ramona. Voicemail.
“Fuck,” Zara muttered. Tried again.
Still voicemail.
Ramona checked her own phone. “Kashvi’s not answering either.”
Through the window, headlights. A car pulling in.
“Someone’s coming,” Ramona said quietly, dipping lower in her seat.
The car parked nearby. The engine cut. The door opened.
A woman got out — early forties, professionally dressed, laptop bag slung over her shoulder. She locked her car, started toward the main building.
Then stopped. Turned. Looked at their car.
Started walking toward them instead.
She knew the walk before she knew anything else, and her whole body understood what that meant before her brain did.
No.
Simone moved through the parking lot like she moved through everything — unhurried, exact, already composed for whatever came next. Dark, long braids, her good coat, warm brown skin that caught the lot’s low light in a way that was frankly unreasonable given the circumstances.
Ramona went very still. The specific stillness of someone hoping not to be seen by a predator, which was an insane way to feel about her ex-wife, but that didn’t stop her from feeling it. She was suddenly aware of the space between them shrinking.
Simone looked up.
Ramona’s stomach dropped. She breathed, “Zara—”
“I see her.”
Simone stopped a few feet away. Peered through the driver’s side window at Ramona. Frowned.
“Ramona?” Simone’s voice was uncertain. “Is that you?”
Fuck.
Ramona’s hand went to her face. “N—no,” she started. The glamour — it must be fading. But Simone was staring at her with definite recognition. Ramona racked her brain for any good reason for her to be in this parking lot at this hour that Simone would believe.
“I know your shitty car, Ramona,” Simone said.
“I—” Ramona started.
The glamour flickered visibly. Wavered.
Simone’s eyes widened. “It is you. What are you doing here? You’re banned from campus.”
“What are you doing here? It’s the middle of the night,” Ramona asked.
Simone did not look pleased to be questioned. She crossed her arms. “My department head called. Apparently, there’s been multiple alarms in the library near — Wait, I don’t have to explain this to you. Are you wearing a glamour?”
Ramona considered saying no.
“Are you breaking into Thornwood?” Simone looked at Zara, then back to Ramona. “Ramona, are you following me?”
The glamour failed completely. Ramona’s own face stared back at her in the window reflection. “What? No. This isn’t about you, Simone. Not everything is about you.”
Ramona thought she heard Zara groan in frustration.
Simone’s eyebrows flew up. She stepped back, hand going to her phone. “I have to report this. They made it very clear. If they find out I saw you and didn’t call security—”
“Please,” Ramona said. “Just — the car won’t start. We’re trying to get someone to pick us up. Give us five minutes—”
“Did you break in?” Simone asked. Her voice wasn’t angry. More like worried. “Ramona. Why would you do this?”
“It’s not important,” Ramona lied. “Just pretend you didn’t see us. Please.”
Simone’s expression was complicated. Concern mixed with what looked like genuine regret. “I’m sorry. I have to call them. You know I have to.”
She was already dialing.
Ramona looked at Zara. Through the tether: desperation, fierce protectiveness, calculation.
Take the books and go, Ramona thought desperately. Please.
Through the tether: Zara’s refusal. I can’t leave you. I’d rather burn this place to the ground than abandon you.
Security answered. Ramona heard the tinny voice through Simone’s phone.
“Hi, yes. This is Professor Kane. I’m in the visitor parking lot… I’ve found someone who’s banned from campus.” Simone’s voice was professional. She wouldn’t look at Ramona. “Yes. I’ll wait here.”
She ended the call. Met Ramona’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Simone said quietly. “I really am. But you shouldn’t have come back.”
More headlights. A security vehicle pulling in.
“Zara,” Ramona whispered urgently. “Please. Take the grimoires. Stay close but stay hidden.”
“Ramona—”
“Please.”
The security vehicle parked. Two guards got out.
Zara opened her car door — the side facing away from the approaching guards and Simone, and then she stepped into the shadow cast by the car.
She dissolved.
She didn’t walk away, or run. She became shadow itself, her form dissipating into darkness like she’d never been solid at all.
Ramona’s eyes went wide. She’d never seen Zara do that before. Didn’t know she could do that. Through the tether, she could feel that Zara was still there. Still close. The connection held steady at about forty feet.
Unfortunately, the bag holding the grimoires did not dissolve with her. It stayed in the passenger seat.
Ramona forced her expression neutral, trying not to show her shock.
“Ma’am.” One of the guards had reached her door. “I’m going to need you to step out of the vehicle.”
Ramona glanced toward the bag with the grimoires and shoved it to the floor, under the seat. Maybe they wouldn’t search her car when they towed it. She got out slowly. Her legs felt unsteady.
She could feel Zara nearby — somewhere in the shadows between the parking lights. Moving. Staying within range.
“Ramona Greenbriar?” The guard’s voice was clipped.
“Yes.”
“You’re aware you’re banned from Thornwood property?”
“Yes.”
“And you came here anyway.”
It wasn’t a question.
Simone stood nearby, arms wrapped around herself. She looked miserable. “I’m sorry,” she said again.
“This is a real dick move, Simone,” Ramona said. “You know I’m not some villain you have to get arrested.”
“I know you don’t see it that way,” Simone said, and she sounded tired rather than unkind.
“You never did.” She held Ramona’s gaze for just a moment — not long enough to invite a response.
“But I watched you try to hex someone I love in front of everyone we knew. So.” A small, exhausted lift of one shoulder. “I’m sorry it has to be like this.”
“I was supposed to be the one you loved, you asshole,” Ramona snapped. “You self-righteous—”
“I hope you get the help you need,” Simone said in that perfectly patronizing tone she had always been so good at.
For two years, Ramona had thought about what had gone wrong with Simone. For two years, she’d blamed herself for being such a disaster that her own wife had strayed. But maybe the real story didn’t feature her at all. Maybe the woman before her had only thought of herself all along.
Through the tether, she felt Zara’s presence — flaring with anger, circling, staying close, keeping pace as the guards moved Ramona toward their vehicle.
The guard was talking into his radio. Calling someone. The Magical Council? Exactly how much trouble was she about to be in?
Stay hidden, Ramona thought down the tether. Stay safe.
And from the shadows: Zara’s fierce determination.
I will. And then I’m coming back for you.
“Ma’am, you’re going to need to come with us,” the guard said.
Ramona nodded. She watched Simone begin to walk away, then out of nowhere she tripped on nothing more than a shadow, her bag flying to the ground as she cursed aloud. As they led her toward the security vehicle, she felt Zara’s amusement.
The tether hummed between them. Steady. Unbroken.
Close enough.