Chapter 30
I walk towards my Beginning History of Magic class in a daze.
Even with all Alexis’s smarts, I continue to be eaten up with panic. What if we can’t come up with a plan to save all those babies?
And what did Professor Amos do to those poor little souls?
And then there’s Wes.
The image of him in that white room still burns in my brain.
Ducking into the loos, I take out my phone and call Donovan.
He picks up on the first ring. “Tee-Tee, you OK?”
“Yes, No. I don’t know. I just needed to hear your voice. You and Wes are still at Cosmo’s, right? Everyone is safe?”
“Yeah, Cosmo’s been sleeping most of the time. Wes and Max are looking at old photos again. What about you, baby? What’s going on with you?”
A bell sounds, signaling the time. “Shit, I’m late. I’m OK, but Alexis and I have found some information that may lead us to some awful, awful stuff about the Conclave. Awful,” I say one more time.
“Come over after class? I can hug you and we can talk it out.”
“That’s exactly what I need. And Donovan?”
“Yes, my, Tee?”
“Keep Wes close. Don’t let him out of your sight, OK? I also had an awful premonition. Look after Wes.”
“I will, I promise.”
“Good, love you.”
“Love you more, Sweet-Tee. See you soon.”
Gods, this feels like the longest Friday ever. I watch the clock slowly head towards five, and then I’m out of there. Rushing out the classroom door, to my surprise, Ludo is waiting in the corridor. “Hey!”
—Where are you going? I’ll escort you—
Dear Ludo. “I’m going to your least favorite place, I’m afraid.”
His mouth quirks. —So, back to Electis?—
“Yep. Did you get some proper rest today?” I ask, worried about the shadows under Ludo’s eyes.
—I’m fine—
I switch to telepathy. —Are you really? And would you tell me if you weren’t?—
—Do you need to stop for food first, Nymph?—
—Ha! Don’t avoid my questions. And as for food, when did you last eat?—
Ludo doesn’t reply immediately, but after a beat, his voice comes into my head loud and clear.
—Having you care about whether I’ve eaten or slept is strange for me, Nymph. I don’t know whether to give you answers that give you peace, or answers that are the truth—
That’s it. I can’t fight the urge, so I grab his hand and entwine our fingers. “Always the truth, Ludo. Always. What affects you also affects me; you understand?”
Ludo flexes his fingers with mine. —I’m trying to, Nymph, but it will take time—
I reply through our telepathic link—We’ve all the time in the world, Ludo. That is, if the world isn’t destroyed by the dark essence—
The intense look Ludo gives me in response to my thoughts makes my heart skip.
“The janitor? Why am I even surprised?” Jordan sneers as she and her friend Kayla stand on the path in front of us.
“At least she’s dating within her own class,” Kayla cackles.
Jordan’s top lip raises even higher. “Completely inappropriate behavior for a Validus Vale student. It seems like this should be reported. He’ll get fired from his job, and the dud will lose her scholarship.”
“Oh, fuck off, Jordan,” I sigh, and tug on Ludo’s hand, trying to make us walk on the grass to go around her. Ludo doesn’t budge.
—She cannot disrespect you like this—
“Oh, look, the cleaner has something to say,” Kayla giggles. “Maybe he wants to plead for his minimum wage job.”
—Leave it, Lu. It’s not important, and the last thing we need right now is the academy breathing down our necks—
His fingers curl around mine.
—Fine, but I will make their lives unpleasant from now on—
Ludo lets me drag him away from the bitchy girls. “Don’t do anything that will get you in trouble,” I tell him as we enter Electis. “I need you here, not unemployed and banned from the grounds.”
—I won’t be fired just because there is no hot water in their apartment, or their toilet gets clogged—
“Ha, I don’t hate that for them at all.” I squeeze his hand.
At the door to the penthouse, he turns to leave, but I stop him. “Can you come in? Alexis and I found out some more about the Conclave today. He’s going to be here soon, and we want to discuss it with you all.”
Ludo nods and stands just behind me as I knock on the door.
Donovan swings it open, a massive grin on his face, which doesn’t falter when he sees Ludo. “Tee! Mino-man! Come on in, guys. You both want beer?”
Ludo frowns for a moment, looks at me, then back to Donovan and nods. Max is grabbing a six-pack of bottles from the fridge and passing them out. When Ludo has one in his hand, he stares at it for a moment before taking a cautious sip.
“Is that your first beer, man?” Max asks, not in a judgmental way, but just interested.
My janitor nods.
“Well, if you don’t like it, we’ve soda or coffee, too.”
Donovan takes my elbow and leads me to the sofa, placing me in the middle seat. He slides into my left side, then indicates Ludo should take the right.
I think that must be a step too far for Ludo’s comfort level, as he shakes his head then goes to take up his usual position of leaning against the wall near the door.
“I’m ordering pizza,” Max yells. “If you don’t tell me what you want, y’all will have anchovies on everything.”
I love tuna and sweetcorn on pizzas, but apparently the pizzerias in Havengard City haven’t got the memo that this is an excellent combo. “I’m happy with anything, but not too spicy.”
A second later, Cosmo’s door opens. “If we must have pizza, I want arugula, truffle oil, and chanterelles.”
Max sniggers. “OK, one posh-shit pizza, and five pepperoni.”
Before Cosmo retreats back into his room, he catches my eye “Er, hello, Theodora,” he says awkwardly, then instantly closes his door.
Weird.
Thirty minutes later, Alexis and the food arrive at the same time.
“FOOD’S HERE!” Max yells, vaulting over the recliner and sending a lamp flying.
“For fucks sake.” Cosmo’s door slams open again.
Donovan goes to get Wes, and finally, all seven of us, even Ludo, are seated around the large dining table.
By silent agreement, we don’t talk about anything ‘other realmy’ in front of Wes.
“There was a staff and faculty-wide email sent out today, regarding your returns,” Alexis announces, offering me a plate. “Dean Crankshawe told staff that Donovan and Wes would be starting sophomore year again, and Max would be repeating Junior. You are all expected in classes on Monday.”
He points a slice of pizza at Max. “The school board convened an emergency meeting; you are the one they are most concerned about. It was a split vote on whether you’d be allowed back at school.
Crankshawe, surprisingly, broke the tie in your favor.
But you are on probation. One transgression and you’ll be out, so Max, please, please try to rein it in. ”
“Keep any dodgy dealings on the DL? Check.” He gives Alexis a wink.
“And we’re just fine to be here?” Donovan says.
“Why wouldn’t we be?” Wes asks. “You said we had permission to take a gap year.”
There’s an awkward silence.
Alexis clears his throat. “How are you today, Drakeward? Any side effects?”
“I feel like I’ve been in the ring at Machete’s; sore but nothing to worry about.” Cosmo's eyes slide over to Ludo. For a moment I think I almost see a smirk on my janitor's face. Which is weird, because he's truly not the smirking type.
After a beat, Cosmo sighs, then wipes his fingers on a cloth napkin. “I keep playing over the scene with Father, Jonquil and Joyce. I can’t remember anything further than I’ve already told you. It’s frustrating.”
—Jonquil and Joyce?— Ludo’s confusion is understandable.
“Jonquil and Joyce are the twins' parents.”
“Yup, the famous J’s. Father dearest—Jonquil Hart, MD, is a Medical Geneticist, and mother is Joyce Hart, D.Sc, Arcanogenetist,” Donovan adds.
“Mother and Father are in town?” Wes frowns.
“Er, yeah, bro,” Donovan replies, quirking his mouth. “They are doing their usual thing of ignoring us and working on messed-up stuff with the Conclave. You remember what they’re like?”
Wes's frown deepens. “I-I think so.” He pushes back his chair and stands up. “I’m not hungry.”
We all watch in silence as Wes retreats to his room again.
“Shall we tell them about Amos now?” Alexis asks me.
I nod, hating that we are hiding things from Wes, but it only makes sense.
Alexis squares his shoulders, and settles into Professor Mode. He starts to outline the encounter—the suicide threat, and the partial confession from Amos.
The room goes deadly silent.
“Fuck,” Cosmo sighs. “That’s a dead end then. If he was bound...”
Alexis gives a small, dangerous smirk. “Hardly. Theo broke the binding. The sigil exploded off his neck.”
“Whoa!” Donovan exclaims, jumping half out of his chair.
“Clever girl, sparkles!” Max yells, pumping his fist.
But Cosmo? He just turns white as a sheet.
“You… you can do that?” His voice is stripped of any arrogance.
“It was a joint effort. Alexis found some ancient casting texts, and we amped it up with my Lumina.”
“And once he was freed, Amos was able to tell us a lot more,” Alexis adds, his voice grim. “He was blackmailed into working for the Conclave in the research of energy transference. The research involved using human test subjects in the form of orphaned children.”
Max curses, but I stop him. "There's more. I had a vision." Nausea rising in my throat.
Alexis instantly flicks his fingers, casting a privacy bubble around the table.
“A fucking vision?” Cosmo asks.
“In divination class. I saw Wes, sometime in the future he’s involved with all this evil. There was a white room, and a child strapped onto the table. Wes wasn't just watching... he was nodding. Like he was approving the procedure.”
The room goes silent as they all comprehend the horror of my words.
Finally, Donovan breaks the quiet. “No. That’s not happening. We destroy whoever is taking these kids and we fucking save Wes. Save him from himself.”
“We’ll tear it all down.” Maximus gives a nod, looking more grim than I’ve ever seen him.
“Names,” Cosmo cuts in, with a tone that is promising some highly unpleasant Cosmo Drakeward consequences. “I want names. Everyone involved.”
“Unfortunately, Amos’s mind was pretty addled,” Alexis sighs.
“Years of being bound, plus guilt and mental distress, mean he’s a wreck.
Mentally broken. At one point, he started speaking in a language I didn’t know, maybe his original tongue?
” He sighs heavily. “But I have notes. I’ll go to the library tonight.
The list of things I need to research is getting out of hand. ”
“I’ll go too,” I tell him.
Maybe, just maybe, digging through the depths of the library will give us something to save Wes.
“I called my father earlier, asking for a meeting,” Cosmo says. “I thought I could find out what they did with that little girl.”
We all stare at him. “And?” Alexis asks.
“He said we’d talk at the All-Hallows ball tomorrow. Apparently, he’s going to be making a special announcement.”
“Hmm, a special announcement from the head of the Conclave is bound to be uplifting and positive,” Max groans. “Gods, I always hated those assholes, but now?” He turns his head away, fists clenched.
“Let's get to the library, Theo,” Alexis says, pushing back his chair.
“Sure. You’ll stay with Wes?” I ask Donovan
Donovan meets my eyes. “Won’t leave his side”
Max also stands. “I need an outlet; I’m going to Machete to smash some skulls.”
“No, you’re fucking not,” Alexis snaps, as his inner thoughts yell —kusip??!— “For once in your life, can you play it safe and just keep a fucking low profile? Probation, remember?”
“Fuck, fine.”
“Are we still going to Havengard City tomorrow?” I ask Donovan. “Dress shopping seems so trite given everything.”
“Yes, you are,” Alexis says, answering for him. “The ball will be an opportunity to get information.”
Donovan runs a hand through his hair, looking torn. "I can't go, Tee. I can't leave Wes. Not after what you just saw."
—I’ll watch him— Ludo steps forward.—The centaur needs to be with you for protection. I will guard the brother. No one gets in or out—
I repeat Ludo’s words, but Donovan looks at the massive janitor with hesitation. “If Wes tries to bolt or something, no offense, but I don't want you to…” he rubs the back of his neck. “...to hurt him.”
Ludo looks at Donovan calmly.
—Tell the centaur I know how to hold a bird without crushing its wings—
I gently relay the message.
Donovan studies Ludo’s face for a long moment, then lets out a heavy breath. “OK, thanks, big guy.”
Ludo gives an impassive nod.
“Right, with that sorted, let’s talk practicalities. Can we take the Range Rover, Cos?”
“Sure,” Cosmo nods, looking tired. “Jordan will want the Lotus anyway. I’m supposed to be accompanying her to a many-houred spa appointment.”
“Oh, bro. What the fuck?” Donovan asks, shaking his head. “You can’t get out of it?”
“Of course not.”
“Shit. Yeah, sorry, man.” My lovely man shoots a sympathetic look at Cosmo, then turns to me.
“So while Cos is watching that cunt get her unibrow plucked, why don’t I pick you and Willow up at ten?
If we’re getting off-the-peg clothes, they’ll need in-house alterations, so we can’t leave shopping until the last minute. ”
“You’re talking rich-boy language,” I laugh. “I don’t think consignment stores have tailors on staff.”
Donovan narrows his eyes. “Yeah, well, we can discuss your dress tomorrow. Also lunch! Let’s get lunch in town, too.”
His enthusiasm is catching. The idea of a proper date sounds so fun. “Can’t wait.”
Alexis pushes his chair back. “We should head out now.”
Looking at the clock, I realize how late it’s gotten. “OK, thanks for the pizza, Max. See you all tomorrow.”
Ludo walks outside with me and Alexis. We all pause at the pathway that leads to the library.
—If you need me, I’ll come running—
—Get some rest, Lu—
He nods and walks off, taking a piece of my heart with him.