Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
CALDWELL
We spend the next two days trapped in the Cruz estate. It’s safer than the campus right now. Eventually, we’ll have to go back to help. I’m happy to hide away for a few days as Tobey adjusts to their new life.
Tobey has a lot to learn, and as much as I mistrust Margaux’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cruz are the best people to teach them how to control their thirst and strength. I’ll stay here as long as Tobey needs.
I could hate Professor Cruz, but I don’t. If there is one person who understands contractual ties to demons, it’s me. I was born from one, after all.
When I knock on his study door, I already know the professor is in. He’s hardly left since the ceremony.
“Who is it?” he asks, rather than inviting me in.
“It’s Caldwell… I would like to talk about my mother if you have a spare moment.”
Professor Connolly already answered many questions, but I have more. The watch. What is this watch? I know it’s meant for protection, but how is my mother tied into that?
After a pause, Professor Cruz speaks. “Enter.”
I do without hesitation, closing the door behind me.
Though he’s been shut away, the room is in impeccable condition. He sits at his desk with a small pile of books at his side.
“I assume you knew her,” I say. “Professor Luna was her name.”
“I did… and before you add to my list of treacherous activities, I was not the one to kill her. She and I were actually close friends. We knew each other for years.”
I sit. “I’m not judging you for your contract with Strode, sir.”
“You can judge all you’d like.” He sighs. “I am judging myself. I was all along.”
“Then why?”
“Because I was a young, foolish man who wanted to live forever.” His lips twist. “The same as anyone else in the Order. I was a weak dhampir, and I admired immortal vampires. I wanted to be like them.”
“And you found a way to be.”
“I did. But more than that, it was because I wanted to be safe. When I met Strode, I was twenty years old. Demons overran my village—and Strode promised to keep them safe. He kept his promise… for a price.” His face grows grave, his eyes darkening.
“Go on.”
“Decades passed. He began making new demands. One order was for me to relocate—to many other mouths of Hell, and eventually, to Castine. Strode is the reason I worked on campus, but I fell in love with my job. I love teaching, and I became fond of the students as well. The problem became how to keep them safe from the mouth of Hell while sacrificing…” He shakes his head, shutting his eyes.
“And how did you?”
“I didn’t. Doing both was impossible. I failed. You saw that. I did whatever Strode asked. When Margaux was born, he used it as another thing to dangle over my head. He wanted her mortal soul. He always did.”
“Does he have it now?”
“No, no… she still has her soul, but it is no longer mortal. There’s nothing for him to take.”
I frown, staring at the empty spot on the wall behind him. “The painting is gone—the one Tobey told me about.”
“It was Strode’s way of spying on me,” he drawls. “I burnt it.”
I shudder. “Was each of those paintings his?”
“Yes. But that’s not why you’re here. You wanted to speak about your mother. What do you wish to know?”
“Was she…” I shake my head.
I can’t say it. My mother must have been involved, but I cannot imagine her doing what Professor Cruz has done.
“Yes.” He answers the question before I can finish. “She was a part of the Order. She created the protective watches and charmed the paintings—and the watch you have was once hers. May I see it?”
After a pause, I place the watch on the table. “Why does it have my initials?”
“Because she gave it to you. I don’t know exactly how the magic works. We have a new witch who does these things now. The witch charms them to protect a specific person, but she changed hers to protect you. She must have done so near the end.”
Which means she knew the end was coming. Why didn’t she tell me herself?
My brows furrow. “Why? I thought she was trying to stop the rituals.”
“And she was. Your mother cared for the students more than anyone, but… to get out of her contract with your father, she had to enter a new one with Strode. He was the one who taught her about the witch weapon.”
“That was foolish of her.”
“Revenge makes us foolish.” He clicks his tongue. “Surely, you see that now. She realized it, too. A few years back, she started trying to destroy the Order from the inside. She told me about it. She begged me to help her. I couldn’t, but I also couldn’t tell Strode.”
“Then who betrayed her?”
“I don’t know. What I know is she breached her contract with Strode, and he was the one who took her life.” He hangs his head. “I’m sorry, Caldwell. It should not have ended this way.”
“What now? Will he kill you for breaching yours next?”
“He may.”
My lower lip wobbles. How could my mother fight a massive demon? She never stood a chance.
“And what will we do now?” I ask. “We cannot let that happen. He cannot keep taking lives.”
“It is what he does. We will have to kill him first if we wish to stop it… though how it will get to that point, we do not know.”
There isn’t a moment of pause.
“Let me help. I don’t care what must be done—I will do it.”
“Your mother’s soul may not be as easy to free as Poppy’s.”
“I don’t care.” I stand, snatching my watch from the desk.
“And I don’t care if craving vengeance makes me terrible or weak.
My mother did not deserve to die for doing the right thing, and neither does Margaux.
He will come for Margaux next. She owes him a debt, too, and it’s twice as large as yours. ”
“Nothing will happen to Margaux when I am around.”
I smile bitterly. “Then I suppose we’re fighting for the same team.”