Chapter 12 #2
I shrugged and tried to remember what Ellie looked like as her new persona, all while scrambling to come up with a lie that covered us both.
“I think she came in around the same time as me? That doyen . . . O’Connor I think .
. . he was telling us stories before we went through the gate.
You know, to help us not freak out about the whole lightning bit. ”
Mary nodded and sighed. “Doyen O’Connor is dreamy.”
A few of the girls giggled and Christian rolled his eyes. “What, you don’t favor the dark and brooding types? Me, I love me a bad boy with a tragic past, and a few emotional scars that need healing.” He grinned and puckered up his lips, then laughed at his own joke.
Another round of laughter that I forced myself to join.
I was pretty sure the term ‘bad boy’ referred to dudes with Harleys who sang in a band and started the occasional bar fight as opposed to vampiric Draws who willingly sucked the magic from children, but to each his own, I guess.
Then again, Christian wasn’t specifically talking about Typhon.
That’s just where my mind went.
Mary tapped a fingernail against her half-full glass. “Has anyone met the new girl from House Phoenix? I wonder if she’ll get called by Tarquinius to join the new nine? What if she’s the one who is meant to be Heronius’s replacement?”
“How would he even find out about her? Nobody here can talk about the other students outside of Heathermoor except Thalienne, and I promise you, she won’t be contacting him anytime soon,” Gina said, dropping her voice to a whisper.
“Word on the street is that Tarquinius and Thalienne had a thing once, but she broke it off once she realized he was a narcissist. Things didn’t end well, and there’s a thin line between love and hate,” she said with a shrug.
“All that to say, I think the new Phoenix girl is going to be safe from Tarquinius’s grasp here.
If only she knew how seriously we take the secrecy bond at Heathermoor, she’d feel a lot better, I think. ”
“Well!” Ross said, slapping the table with both hands as he stood. “It’s been fun, but time for me to go. Thanks all. Nice meeting you.” He gave a deep bow and then he was gone.
Good move. I couldn’t wait to follow suit.
I pushed my food around my plate and waited until the subject changed, letting the voices wash over me another few minutes before I stood.
“Nice meeting everyone . . . you all seem really nice. Maybe we’ll end up on a team at some point.”
Christian smiled as he glanced up at me. “You never mentioned what house you got put in. Maybe we’ll run into you at the dorms?”
There was no point in being coy anymore. Gina had tagged me, and pretending otherwise would only seem suspicious.
I touched the medallion and tried to look . . . I don’t know, sad, scared, something that would suit the way a new kid would feel knowing they didn’t fit in. It wasn’t much of a stretch – I’d never fit in before.
“Yeah . . . not likely. I’m the only one in my house.” With that, I stood, turned on my heel and walked away, leaving behind more than a couple of gasps.
I made my way through the room, more than ready to be done with my evening and get back to the safety of my cabin, but there was still work to be done.
First things first. I stepped just outside of the dining hall, and into a small alcove.
I yanked out the locket the moment I was out of sight, already forming my favorite rune with my other hand.
“Since you don’t know how to behave . . . ’”
“Wait, Harlow, I’ll –”
Calypso’s voice rose to a comedically high pitch as the locket shrank down to the size of a dime, and I stuffed it into my pouch, folding the cloth over it until her voice faded to nothing. I sighed, making a mental note not to trust her next time she promised to be quiet.
Now that that was dealt with, I went back into the dining hall and made quick work of hunting down the rest of my friends like a homing pigeon, hopefully looking for all the world like a star-struck kid, checking out the details in the room.
I accidently bumped into Marina, slipping the stone into her pocket. Laid the stone for Ellie on the ground and nudged her foot when I bent to retie my boots. Caterina and I walked by each other, in opposite directions, my fingers finding hers as I slipped her stone to her.
Once they were all handed out, I found a private place and sent out a quick message for them to meet me by the loch tonight, the secret entrance. Nine o’clock sharp.
Fable was the only one still not in the loop, and it killed me. Her note from Gary said to get another stone and redo the spell. It was a risk, but we had to spell it out – pun not intended – if we wanted to be able to communicate.
Gary sat at a table with the House Felinita girl from earlier who communicated in runic sign language, the two of them grinning as they chattered back and forth.
“Impressive.”
“I’ll say.” Fable joined me at my side, and I shot her a look. We stood right in front of the table of teachers, so close they could hear us if they chose.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” I said, wishing I could just yank her into a tight hug.
Fable turned, her eyes a few shades lighter than I was used to. “No. I’m just impressed. He came at the same time as me. Barely been here a few hours and he’s already got a cute girl hanging on his every word.”
“Hannah,” Sage Thalienne called to me, and I cursed myself for standing too close for too long – long enough to be noticed. Long enough to be called on.
Fable shot me a wistful smile and wiggled her fingers before heading off.
“Yes, ma’am?” I said, stepping up to the teacher’s table and trying to look demure, eyes downcast, shoulders rolled slightly forward, hands stuffed in my pockets.
“We will start our lessons tomorrow morning, first thing. Meet me in my study on the top floor. The door is etched with my symbol.”
I lifted my eyes to see not only her, but Liam and the other teachers watching me closely. “What symbol would that be?”
“A Phoenix, of course.” She smiled but her eyes glittered not unlike a bird of prey.
Interesting to say the least. The question now . . . Was she a good phoenix, or a bad phoenix?
I bobbed my head, praying I felt better by then, that my head would have cleared from the constant low-level throbbing. “What time do you consider ‘first thing?’”
One brow arched. “As soon as dawn touches the sky. Your lessons with me will be in addition to your usual classes that start at eight. Doyen O’Connor, please give her a quick tour of the castle, as she won’t have other students from her house to point her in the right direction tomorrow.”
Liam dipped his head. “Of course, Sage Thalienne.” He stood and motioned for me to follow him.
I glanced back at the table once, trying not to notice how the Sage watched us as we walked away. Fuck me with a cactus, was she already suspicious? Less than a day, and I’d caught her eye, the eye of the other students . . . I was not doing well with this staying under the radar business.
Which for me was ridiculous. I’d spent my entire adult life – and a chunk of my youth – doing exactly that. Sneaking around, staying hidden, avoiding detection.
Now it was like I had a fucking spotlight on me.
Sweat trickled down the sides of my face.
Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no time to stew about it because the front doors of Heathermoor flung open on a gust of wind and rain that hadn’t been there earlier. The scent of sunshine and ocean was blown away, the cold air snapping away the warmth.
A half a dozen men entered in uniform – no, not just men, not even just Dwimmers.
Runecoats. Two of them at the back flicked their hands and the doors slammed shut behind them with a boom that felt . . . amplified. I stared and saw the rune fade. Yeah, amplified to try and make a point.
Assholes for sure.
“Sage Thalienne,” the ass-holiest looking one in the front, the one in a slightly fancier uniform, a few medals pinned to his chest, spoke. “You’re accused of hiding critical information from the Senate. Stand and be seen.”
Busted.