Chapter Forty-Six #2
Jimmy swallowed. “I was part of a study group in the biochemistry department—Professor Kingsley’s department.
His colleague, Professor Davies, was our tutor.
He ... he said you’d stolen Professor Kingsley’s notes.
That you’d only gotten this job because you cheated.
That as a woman you didn’t deserve to be here.
He described a journal and told me to watch for it since I was in your class.
Then—on the day of the storm, when you asked me to hand out papers—I saw it on your desk, so I told him. ”
Isla’s stomach twisted.
Jimmy’s voice dropped lower, shame threading every word.
“At the time I believed him. I believed you didn’t deserve to be a professor.
My brother had applied for this position and didn’t get it.
He was the smartest man I had ever known.
I was angry—angry that he’d been overlooked, angry that maybe Davies was right and you didn’t belong here. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Edmund’s grip on Jimmy slackened, though sparks still snapped faintly around his hand.
“But then Professor Kingsley died,” Jimmy continued.
“None of the students were told how, but I started to suspect something wasn’t right.
Davies came to me; he told me Ray had sadly died of a heart attack, and he was to be the new head of the department.
He said for my “loyalty” with the journal, I was invited to join his circle.
Promised grades, references, a future handed to me—a future working with him. ”
His head dropped. “All my brothers are at war. The one who applied for your job—he was killed in battle. He could have been spared if he had just been given the job here. I came here desperate to prove myself. They are all out there dying and I’m here.
The very thing I accused you of, Professor—theft, deceit—I did myself.
I agreed to join them. I agreed to tell them of your whereabouts. ”
Andrew glanced at Isla, the same horror mirroring in his eyes that she felt in her chest.
“I thought I’d be running errands, like before,” Jimmy said quickly. “Just watching you so they could make sure you didn’t cheat. But when I realized they wanted you dead—I tried to back out. He threatened me. Said he would kill me, and my family too.”
“Yet here you are, talking now?” Edmund’s voice was a low growl.
Jimmy lifted his face, pale in the shaft of moonlight.
“Because I may have tried to take the easy way out, but I am no murderer.” His shoulders hunched.
“They know you’re coming this way. They’re waiting for you in the service tunnels that lead to the caretaker lodge.
One of the vice chancellor’s men ... isn’t one of his men at all. ”
“Can you identify which one?”
Jimmy shook his head. “I only know Davies. The rest keep their identities hidden. I didn’t realize Davies was part of such a large group.”
“Davies is an Ignis Summoner, isn’t he?” Andrew said.
“Do you think he was the one to attack me? To kill Ray?” Isla asked.
“It all points to him,” Edmund said grimly.
“But why are they still after Isla?” Andrew asked, frowning. “If one of Harold’s men is a traitor, they must know she no longer has the journal.”
“The client believes she’s read it,” Jimmy replied quietly. “I shouldn’t know this as I’m too far down the chain, but I heard Professor Davies discussing it. That she now has the knowledge to continue his work.”
“I haven’t read it,” Isla said firmly, “but it’s too late anyway. The journal is no longer in my care. It will be used to save people. They’re too late to stop it.”
“They were given orders from the top. Even if their clients don’t know it’s too late, they will not stop their attack tonight, and when you don’t show up soon in those tunnels, they will know I’ve helped you.”
Edmund’s hand dropped, the crackle of his power snuffed out.
“I know another way out,” George said. “A route that will take us to the stables. If we can get Isla far from here for the night, then we can spread the word that she doesn’t have the journal, that she hasn’t read it, and that the secrets within the journal are now common knowledge anyway.
It may be enough to halt their plans. Why would the company keep paying for a job that is now impossible? ”
“I like the idea of getting Isla out of here,” Andrew said. “We can plan our next move once she’s safe. We’ll follow you, George.”
George limped ahead, the five of them trailing behind him. After a few twisting corridors, he stopped at a small ancient door set into the stone wall. Its warped oak panels were streaked with age, the hinges rusty. Edmund would surely have to duck to fit through it.
“Now, you lot are lucky you aren’t first-year students,” George said with a grin as he unlocked the door. “When I first arrived, the older students had a little ... initiation ritual for us newcomers.”
“What did they do?” Juliette asked.
“Well, you see this door? Once opened, it leads straight into the river.” He rapped his knuckles on the warped wood.
“On my first day, the seniors set off the fire alarm in the middle of the night, herding all of us fresh-faced students out of the building. They guided us—like obedient little lambs—right to this door. We all followed in a rush, completely unaware ...” He paused for dramatic effect, his grin widening.
“And plunged straight into freezing-cold water. In our pajamas—all dignity gone in an instant.”
Isla and Juliette exchanged a look, half horrified, half laughing. Edmund raised an eyebrow. Andrew’s mouth twitched. “I assume you all survived?”
George snorted. “Oh, yes, after the shivering wore off, though some swore vengeance on the lot of them.”
Juliette giggled as George swung the door open, letting a rush of cold evening wind drift inside. True to his word, the doorway opened directly onto the river—there wasn’t even a single step. The water lapped gently less than a foot away.
A punt was tied to a rusted metal loop, its long, narrow, flat-bottomed hull rocking softly in the current. Isla looked at it, its quant in place, poised for someone to grasp it and push off into the cool, dark water.
George climbed in, then held out his hand to help the ladies settle into the punt.
“I don’t know how to steer this thing,” Edmund grunted. “Andrew, you’re the Aqua here; I think you should be the one to do it.”
Jimmy scrambled in, sitting next to George, a mix of panic and determination etched across his face.
Edmund joined them, and Isla gripped the sides of the punt as it rocked under his large frame.
He didn’t look too impressed to be in the small boat.
His knees nearly touched his ears as he sat down. He looked exhausted.
“Edmund, are you okay?”
“The cyclone back there took it out of me,” he admitted. “I’m going to need a moment to recover.” He looked around at the small vessel. “And I really don’t like boats.”
“Ah, prone to motion sickness?”
At his nod, she replied, “Well, at least this thing will be slow and steady.”
Isla watched as Andrew boarded and balanced effortlessly at the rear.
She couldn’t help noticing how perfectly he shifted his weight, lifting the quant and pushing against the riverbed with precise, fluid strokes that sent the punt skimming across the water like a blade.
It seemed he too needed a break from using his Aetheric gifts.
He was doing this the good, old-fashioned way.
For a few minutes, all was peaceful as they gathered their strength. Isla felt useless—the only one who hadn’t even lifted a leaf, while her friends showed the fatigue of having wielded their powers to protect her.
Her heart jolted when she spotted another punt gliding toward them, a shadow slicing through the pale moonlight. She was facing the rear, and Andrew hadn’t yet noticed their company.
“Andrew, we’re being followed.”
He looked back, then turned, his eyes locking onto hers, and she saw how tired he looked.
She couldn’t let him struggle alone this time to defend her.