Chapter 16
Una was already sittingat our usual table. Or rather, she was sitting on the lap of a very broad-shouldered, dark haired man who sat at our table.
Her skirts were hiked up high on her thigh, and his hand was hidden somewhere underneath the frills.
She wasn’t moaning, although that could have been because their lips were fused together.
“I can teach you a spell to hide you from sight, you know,” I said, sitting down across from them.
Una broke from the kiss to look at me, her conquest kissing down her neck. “Why?” she asked, eyes wide. “Being seen is half the fun.”
I couldn’t stop the gasp of laughter that escaped me. “Whatever turns you on,” I said.
Aiden leaned in close to my ear. “Because the chance of being seen doesn’t turn you on at all, right?” he murmured just for me.
I flushed. “Shh.” To Una, I added, “Are you going to introduce us?”
“Oh, right.” Una blinked a couple times and petted the guy’s hair. “I’m sorry, you seem to have kissed your name right out of my memory.”
The broad shoulders shook with suppressed chuckles. “Bonjour, my name is Sebastien,” he greeted us in a thick French accent. “It is very nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I said. I didn’t reach out to shake his hand, as it was still under Una’s skirt. “What do you think of our school?”
“The academie is very nice,” he said. “I have been here before.”
I nodded. “How long have you been on your team? I didn’t even know that Dragon Polo was a thing until this year, so I could have passed you last year or the year before and not even have known it.”
“Ah, non, you misunderstand me. This is my first year on the team. But I was here the day before your academie started. We were having a friendly match with your team, to return to the habit of playing against another school.” Sebastien smiled. “It was much quieter then.”
I chuckled. “I’ll bet.”
“Which position do you play?” Bruce asked, joining the conversation.
“I am the center position. I try to catch the ball at the very beginning, and I am the lead on most of the plays.” Sebastien puffed up in pride.
“You were very impressive,” I said. “Congratulations on the win.”
“Thank you. The team and I work very hard.”
“Our center was found murdered on the school steps the night after the game.”
I rolled my eyes and turned to see Paige, glaring at Sebastien with her arms crossed.
“Paige! You can’t be serious!” I seethed. Glancing back at Sebastien, I saw that he looked gray under his tan. He moved his hand away from Una’s skirts. “She’s done this to anyone who was around that day. Don’t worry.”
“I noticed that you had a new center,” Sebastien said gravely. “I am sorry to hear that the first was killed. I assume the murderer has not been found?”
I sighed heavily. “Unfortunately not. There have been several suspects, but no proof.”
“Stop giving away details of an open investigation!” Paige hissed. “Especially to a suspect!”
“If it helps, my team and I went home immediately following dinner,” Sebastien said. “Night had not fallen yet.”
I smiled. “And Richard wasn’t killed until around curfew, well after that,” I said to Paige in a ‘so there’ tone.
“He could have snuck back!” Paige retorted.
“I am not sure you know how the portals between schools work,” Sebastien said. “They are only allowed twice per day, so that students cannot activate the portals whenever they wish. We must all be ready to leave and to go home at the same time. They are only active on specific days that must be planned in advance. They are not like the permanent portals to special locations at nexus points. Have you been to Atlantis yet?”
My jaw dropped. “Atlantis?” I gasped. I took a deep breath, trying not to sound too excited. “I assume that’s one of the underwater portals?”
Sebastien grinned. “It is. I got to visit during Nexus class in third year. It was my favorite field trip.”
“We have to pass our underwater testing first,” I said, disappointed that I would have to wait. “We just visited Easter Island.”
“Bien. Did you see the Vulcans?” he asked eagerly, leaning across the table.
“We did get to see one of their cities,” I said. “They’re so tiny!”
“They didn’t used to be,” Sebastien said. “They draw on the magic of the nexus to remain small, because it suits their needs better. They are more hidden from humans this way. But they were originally the same size as us, if not bigger.”
“I didn’t know that!” I exclaimed. “I don’t remember Professor Akhtar mentioning it either.”
“Maybe my professor is just a little bit better than yours,” he said, eyebrows rising in superiority.
My hackles rose. “Professor Akhtar is the best. Just because he didn’t know a tiny, little fact about a civilization completely across the world doesn’t make him a bad teacher!”
“I didn’t say he was,” Sebastien said airily.
“Let’s go find somewhere a little more isolated,” Una said, sliding to her feet and holding her hand out to him. She frowned at me. “See you at the dance.”
I watched them walk out of the cafeteria in surprise. “She can’t possibly be siding with him over us!” I asked Aiden, shocked.
He shrugged. “I guess she just wants him all to herself for now.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I never understood her insatiability.”
“Don’t you?” Aiden commented quietly.
I blushed again.
Paige sat down where the couple had been, scowling. “Why did you chase him off? I had more questions for him.”
“About what? The game play? You can ask any of the others,” I said, indicating several with the end of my fork.
“Don’t you think it’s a little convenient that he knows exactly how the portals to other schools work?” Paige asked.
“No, not if he’s on a team that uses them regularly.” I said dismissively.
Paige huffed and got to her feet. “I thought we were working together to solve this murder!”
“So did I,” I snapped. “But you keep accusing everyone you meet before you finish getting their story!”
She whirled around and stormed off.
“You should really be nicer to her,” Bruce said. “She’s helping us with the disappearing students, too.”
“She’ll be back. She just has to cool off,” I replied. “This is hardly the first time we’ve gotten into an argument and I don’t expect it will be the last.”
“Why do you put up with her?” Lilia asked. “It’s not like we need her for the investigation.”
“We work well together when she’s not jumping to conclusions,” I said wearily. “Come on people, let’s stop talking about her. There’s a dance tonight!”
There was a steady trickle of students leaving the cafeteria, heading down to the lowest level. The Olympic sized swimming pool had been covered with a dance floor, and I shuddered to think of the depths of water beneath the smooth veneer of hardwood. If I didn’t have confidence in my school’s ability to keep us all safe, I wouldn’t dare step foot on it.
“Have you been practicing for your swim test?” Bruce asked me when he saw my hesitation to walk into the room.
“No, I need to do that,” I said. “I’m thinking of enchanting a necklace of breathing or something.”
“That’s a good idea,” Bruce said approvingly. “But it won’t help you with the actual swimming part of the test.”
I rolled my eyes. “I grew up on a loch. I know how to swim. It’s holding my breath that I was worried about.”
“I know how to train you,” Aiden murmured, and I elbowed him in the stomach.
An upbeat song started playing and we danced in a circle, not wanting to make Bruce feel left out.
“Where is Rhiannon?” I asked, suddenly realizing that the witch was missing from the group and had been since the sporting event.
“She wanted to stay in her room and do homework,” Lilia replied. “You know she’s not much for large gatherings like this.”
“I can still miss her,” I said.
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate hearing that tomorrow,” Aiden said with a smile. “I love that you care so much for your friends.”
I flushed. “I like them.”
“Did you think you’d say that when you started here in first year?” he teased.
“No,” I answered honestly. “I wanted to get my studies over with and move on with my life. I didn’t come here to make friends, I came here for the best education and to learn as much as I could before exploring the world.”
“I’m glad you opened your heart to new friendships,” Aiden said. “They make you a better person.”
“And I might not have met you properly if I hadn’t been in the cafeteria to get lunch with Hazel,” I said, twirling toward him.
He caught me, his hands warm on my sides. “My life would be much darker without you in it. And my grandmother’s murderer would still be at large.”
I shuddered at the mention of my old academic advisor. “Happy thoughts, remember? We’re celebrating the first Dragon Polo match of the season.”
“Right.” Aiden swung me out and back into the circle of our friends. “Even though we didn’t win.”
“I thought we played very well,” I said. “Didn’t we?” I asked Bruce, who nodded.
“They were better, but most of that was due to the fact that they didn’t have to substitute in their second string center,” he said.
I frowned. “That sounds awful. That poor kid who was dropped into the game with only a few days to prepare and bond with our team.”
“Yeah, I didn’t mean it the way it came out. She actually did a really great job leading the team.” Bruce smiled. “So imagine how much better the team will be at the next match!”
“Looking forward to it!”
Aiden nudged me and whispered, “We should probably head out to the forest now. Try out your spell?”
I hesitated, and then wondered why.
Why had I been resisting this, when it was our best chance so far at figuring anything out?
“We’re going to try my magic flow spell now,” I told the group. “Anyone want to come along?”
“I’d rather dance with my boo,” Lilia said, her arms wrapped around Brom’s neck.
Una was still nowhere to be found and Rhiannon was in her room, so I turned to Bruce, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Count me in,” he said immediately. “I’m not staying here with them.” He indicated Lilia and Brom with a thumb, who were starting to make out. “And maybe I can keep you two on track.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“No hanky panky out in the woods,” Bruce teased.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s way too damp and chilly out there. Besides, who knows what might creep out of the woods while we weren’t paying attention?” I shivered.
We snuck out of the dance hall and headed up to the main floor.
“Are you going to dress a little more warmly?” Aiden asked, his hand pressing against my bare back.
“Of course!” I transfigured my necklace into a warm sweater. “Didn’t even need to put it on!” I said playfully.
“Your mastery of magic is such a turn-on,” Aiden said admiringly.
“Just wait until I transfigure my shoes!” I said, wiggling my eyebrows. My high heels turned into knee-high boots with a heavy sole. “Ooh. Ahh,” I added dramatically.
It was Bruce’s turn to roll his eyes. “See? It’s a good thing I’m here, or you wouldn’t have even made it out the door.”
He led us to the back door of the kitchens, and we slipped out into the evening.
It was almost disturbingly quiet, the sound of wind whispering through the trees the only noise that reached my ears.
“Where are all the animals?” I whispered.
“Maybe there’s a bigger one hanging around,” Bruce said, frowning. “Maybe we should put this little expedition on hold until tomorrow morning.”
Aiden shook his head. “The three of us should be more than a match for anything that we might run into. Let’s give this a shot.”
I glanced at him gratefully.
“Cast your spell, babe,” Aiden said, waving me forward.
“I think we should be closer to the forest for that,” I said hesitantly.
“Then let’s do this,” Bruce said, striding forward until he reached the edge of the forest way ahead of us. He raised his hand toward the woods, swooping it through the air as he cast a spell. “Nothing big around. Go ahead, Siobhan.”
I took a deep breath and ignored the two men. They were both paying more attention to the woods than to me anyway.
The first thing I saw when I cast the spell was the overwhelming presence of the ley line intersection. Rapidly rushing magic, coming from far beyond the horizon in each of the cardinal directions, connecting underneath the island. I had to close my eyes to stave off the nausea. “It’s too much!” I gasped. “The ley lines—”
Aiden grabbed my hand. “Modify it,” he said, calculating out loud for me until I caught onto his plan. It felt more like I was forcing a spell through the equation than the delicate work we had done in Professor Reynold’s classroom, but when I opened my eyes again, the ley lines were invisible once more.
Instead, I was able to see the soft green of the forest’s innate magic curling within each plant and tree. The two men blazed with power beside me, and I knew that if I looked at myself, I would be the same.
I squinted, trying to see past the swirls of natural magic, to see where it was tied, where it was pulling away from the verdant life of the forest.
Taking a couple steps forward, Aiden trailing behind me, still holding my hand, I stopped right in front of a tree. Hair-fine threads were spinning off from the trunk, leading deeper into the forest. I squatted down to get closer to the plants, and they were doing the same thing.
“Got it,” I said, standing up again. “It’s incredibly faint, but I think I have a trail to follow.”
“Lead on,” Aiden said. “We’ve got your back.”
“All right.” I swallowed down my fear of getting lost in the forest, and stepped in, my hands outstretched, almost touching the fine threads of magic that spooled off into the distance.
I was able to see for a very different reason than last time, the innate magic of each living being shining in my sight, rather than needing a spell to fool my eyes into thinking it was daylight. It was very weird. There wasn’t a better word for it.
An empty clearing was coming up ahead of me, and I eagerly stepped into it, looking around with my magic, trying to spot the end of the thread of magic.
“Why did you lead us back to the academy?” Bruce asked.
“I... What?” I removed the spell, and sure enough, I was facing the wall of the castle a hundred yards from where we’d entered the forest. “I don’t understand! I thought we were walking straight into the forest?”
“We did, but it curved back so gradually that we exited again,” Aiden said. “You might not have noticed with the spell on, but we barely walked ten paces into the forest.”
“No!” I gaped at him in shock. Then it hit me. “No, no, no, no, no!” I cried, each one getting louder. I stomped my foot. “I will not be beaten by this, this, this forest!” I whirled around, casting my spell again. This time, I looked for a plant’s flow of magic instead of a tree’s. The furl of green wafted away from the plant, and I stomped after it, not caring what heard me.
The men followed silently behind.
I was sure they had no idea what to do with me. I certainly had never lost my temper like this in front of Aiden before, let alone Bruce, who I barely knew. I took deep breaths to calm myself down in anticipation of the spell leading me back to the castle once more.
I was glad that I had, because when the bit of green that I was following ended, I was once again back at the clearing around the academy.
I growled, “It’s like they were just... cut!” I made snipping motions with my fingers in the air. “Whatever was tethering them was cut off, and the plants haven’t figured it out yet, so they haven’t pulled their magic back in!” I seethed for a few minutes, staring up at the starry sky, blinking back tears.
Warm hands rested gently on my shoulders. “I’m sorry that this didn’t work out the way we wanted it to. Why don’t we take tonight to rest and come back to it tomorrow morning with fresh minds?” Aiden said soothingly, his voice barely above a whisper.
I wanted to rail at him, scream, beat at him with my fists, anything that would make me feel better. Instead, I twisted around and buried my face in his chest, my tears immediately soaking through the fabric.
He rocked me slightly, his arms squeezing me tightly and anchoring me in my frustration.
“I’m just going to...” Bruce trailed off.
“I’ll meet you in our room in a bit,” Aiden said, his voice echoing pleasantly in his chest under my ear.
“You sure?” Bruce asked.
I sniffed. “I’ll be fine. I just... I wasn’t expecting this setback.”
“I’m sorry,” Bruce said, and then he was gone.
“Do you want to return to the dance?” Aiden asked. “We haven’t been gone too long.”
I shook my head. “No, I think I’d prefer it if you fucked me within an inch of my life.”
Aiden let out a bark of laughter. “Your wish is my command, my lady.”