Chapter 17
Iwalked into breakfast, still shellshocked by all I’d learned. The split second I smelled food, I made a beeline to fill my plate so I could eat every single one of my complicated, far too big for the day, feelings.
So many feelings.
I focused on what was in front of me. Breakfast was held in the same hall as dinner, with just as good a spread as the night before.
Waffles, fruit compote, every kind of breakfast protein you could think of from eggs to steak, to tofu, along with a smorgasbord of fruit and pastries, caffeine in every flavor and at least four different freshly squeezed juices.
I sat to eat at a table with a new set of kids, their faces and names blurring as my thoughts churned. Caterina sat across from me, chatting away with the others, and despite her comforting presence and the pile of food in front of me, I couldn’t bring myself to take a bite.
So much for eating my feelings. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure how to handle the overwhelm.
Caterina, Fable, and Ross all had the same timetable and being new, would be in the same classes. Gary, Marina, Ellie, and I were on the other timetable. Some classes were the same or at least similar to those we’d had at Neverthorn. Others . . . not so much.
Transmutation was new to me, as was Far Seeing.
There was Rune Casting, Earth and Weather Working, and Liquid Spells – that had to be a potions class.
Two other classes looked as though they went year-round.
Detecting Quirks with Liam O’Connor and one with Sage Thalienne that was only once a week.
Curse Breaking. Just what I needed. Or one of the many things, at least.
I stared at that one a long time wondering if there was a way to deal with Calypso if I couldn’t get the kraken coin. But looking at that class reminded me again of the lesson I’d just had with my new Sage which I really wanted to avoid for at least a few minutes.
Pushing thoughts of said lesson out of my head, I need to focus on the big picture. Soak it all in like a sponge.
A withering, part-Fae sponge who was barely a few years out from losing a good part of her magic . . .
And that was assuming I even lived that long.
Someone across the table asked me my name.
I gave it. What house was I in? I gave that, too.
I wasn’t really performing like an excited-to-be-there student.
But the lesson with Thalienne had drained me more than even I realized.
I might have sat there slumped for the whole breakfast if not for a shooting pain in my chest that had me gasping and sitting up straight.
“Hecate’s blessing, he really has the dark and brooding going on, doesn’t he? I heard a rumor that he’ll be working with Senator Mallachtan in Rune Casting.”
I didn’t need to look up to know that Typhon was walking through the room. I kept my eyes trained on my plate.
“Who’s the new kid with him? You think he’s from Neverthorn too?”
“Probably. But not a student. Too old, I think, so probably the student teacher rumored to be coming. Gorgeous, right? He almost doesn’t look real . . .”
That comment did drag my eyes up and away from my plate. I stared at the twenty-six-year-old guy (and yes, I knew exactly how old he was) walking next to Typhon. Asian, straight black hair cut short. Green eyes. Glasses. Smooth skin and high cheekbones.
Zeed.
It took everything in me to stay seated while the eighth member of House Phoenix walked through the room, his eyes desperately scanning the faces of everyone in the room.
Looking for . . . us.
He’d been missing for nearly two months after his Quirk had emerged and he’d wound up in a coma for days before they supposedly sent him home. And now, after countless letters to his house, asking about him at school with zero answers . . . now he showed up here as if nothing had ever happened?
It took everything I had not to search out the others.
But, dang, it was hard to keep my poker face in place when I was dizzy with shock.
If this was all part of Tarquinius’s plan – to have Typhon slide into Heathermoor and try to get us to give ourselves up using Zeed as bait so they could hunt us down without ever letting on – then I wasn’t about to fall in line and give him what he wanted.
As furious as the thought made me at Typhon, the joy in my heart was too loud to be squashed.
Zeed was alive and here. Relief made me lightheaded and I gripped the edge of my chair to keep from wobbling.
Fable would be seriously freaking out right now, and that was not good.
Don’t look. Do not look at her.
I did all I could to send calming thoughts to my friends, and especially Fable.
Caterina cleared her throat. “I’ve seen cuter.”
To her credit, she nearly pulled off nonchalant.
The girls next to her gasped. “You have not.”
“Totally. Black hair, light brown eyes, lips that you could kiss all night, higher cheekbones. Way cuter than him.”
I found myself holding back a smile, because she’d just described Ellie. “Sounds hot.”
Good job, girl.
Caterina chuckled, which hid the glassiness of tears combined with shock in her eyes, the moisture gathering at the edge.
I felt that so much. It was hard to see our friend and not tackle-hug him. To grab him and make sure he was really here, alive and well.
Unable to stand it another second, I shot a glance to see Fable with her head down, shoveling food in her mouth as fast as she could, her gaze locked on her plate.
Thalienne and the other doyens turned to Typhon as he approached their table and I focused in, trying to hear above the chatter that quickly faded. I was not the only one who wanted to hear what was going to be said.
Thalienne’s eyes drifted over Zeed. “This is the assistant Tarquinius mentioned to me in his letter?”
Typhon dipped his head in her direction. “Yes, I thought Zeed would be a good fit here.”
“Well, I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Because he will be helping you teach a class today, with our temporary new doyen, Mallachtan, overseeing”
Mallachtan let out a harumph. “I’m here to observe your doyens to see if –”
Her voice was straight ice as she cut in.
“You are here because I have decided to go through the proper channels to have you removed rather than send you hurtling out of my school on a westerly wind of my own making. While I await my appeal, you’ll go where I put you.
And, for now, I’ve decided to put you with the rest of the uninvited guests in Rune Casting. Classroom C on the second floor.”
I wanted to cheer just for the sheer badassery of every word she spoke, but then I glanced down at my paper and swallowed a groan.
Block A – Rune Casting. Classroom C.
As if dealing with Mallachtan, Typhon, and Zeed in the same vicinity wasn’t bad enough, I’d have them all in one classroom with me. At the same time. Whatever low profile I was attempting was going to be sorely stressed by the end of the first class.
As the tables were cleared, Caterina drifted off, but not before giving me a ‘WTF?’ look, and I made a mental note to set up another meeting between us all, stat.
The others were probably freaking out, but so far, I was proud of them, because their behavior was no more conspicuous than anyone else craning their necks to get a look at the new guy.
I stood and started to make my way out of the hall when Ellie fell into step beside me, her eyes overly bright. “Hi, I think we have some classes together today.”
“Hey.” I tried to keep my tone upbeat and light. “You’re pretty cute. I heard someone describe you today as hotter than that new guy who came in.”
Of course she’d seen me sitting with Caterina. She blushed. “Yeah, well, everyone has a type, right?”
“Too bad my type are the ones who give me the most trouble possible,” I muttered.
She laughed and I was about to tell her I wished I was kidding when I caught sight of Fable walking ahead of us. I touched Ellie on the arm. “Hang on . . . sorry, what was your name?”
“Esther.”
“I’m Hannah. See you in class. Save me a seat?”
I picked up the pace and then ‘stumbled’ so I bumped into Fable, nearly taking us both out.
“Watch it,” she snapped, not even looking up.
I was close enough that no one would hear me. “Fabes, it’s me. Are you okay?”
“Holy shit, Har-Hannah.” She tugged at her sweater and stared at me through panic-stricken gray-green eyes. “The small library tucked away on the third floor? Lunch?”
A weird sense of relief flowed over me. Maybe it was stupid to risk getting caught together – especially with Typhon watching now – but I was desperate to talk through all that had happened since we last spoke.
Seeing Zeed and not being able to check on him, to even see if he was truly okay, especially when the last time we’d all seen him he was in a fucking coma?
We were both struggling.
“See you then.”
Just like that, I had to let her go. If we were going to survive this, with all of us intact, we had to be careful. We had to stand on our own.
A few minutes later, I slipped into my seat just behind Ellie in our first Rune Casting class, one of the few classes held indoors.
Mallachtan didn’t see me come in, which was a blessing. He was too busy staring down Typhon, puffing his chest out like a damn gorilla. A short, round gorilla. “Might as well make use of my expertise and teach it to them properly. You and your assistant can observe.”
“Sure thing, Mac. Mind if Zeed and I take notes?” Typhon’s arms were folded, and neither he nor Zeed had a pen or paper, but even if they did, the half-smirk on his face made it plain that there would be no taking of notes today.
Mallachtan’s pasty face went nearly purple with rage. Clearly no love was lost between these two, even before last night’s little run in starring yours truly.
Mallachtan turned on a stiff leg and stared out over the classroom. “Rune casting. It requires control. Concentration. Speed. Of those three things, the most important is control. Control of yourself, and your magic. If you don’t have that, you have nothing.”