Chapter 28
Our engagement party.
Like I care about that bullshit. Jordan tells me that ‘daddy’ has promised her an ascension the day after as her gift.
The very idea makes my dragon snort fire.
And that shit gives me indigestion, let me tell you.
My phone beeps.
HARPY: decided Great Gatsby/masked ball too common - still need theme
ME: I’ll put my mind to it
Jordan’s party concerns wash over me in the same way rain slides off a duck’s back. If we don’t succeed in taking down the Conclave and destroying the dark energy, Theodora will be dead—so what will any of this matter?
Being forever hitched to Jordan Singleton-Smith will be the purgatory I deserve.
Fuck.
We have to take them down.
Heading to the Electus Ground floor Common room for the first cadet class, my eyes gravitate to the sick bay doors.
Beyond them lies Wes.
Apparently, Theodora’s been having a little more success getting Lumina into him. I don’t know how, but whatever she’s doing, she needs to continue it.
Here we go.
Gimble is already in the room when I walk in. “Ah, Cosmo. Excited about tonight?” She rubs her hands together, and I respond with a tight smile. “I’m excited about my peers becoming more powerful.”
Now that is true.
“And I’ve been considering the syllabus,” I tell Gimble while examining my nails.
She blinks a couple of times and puts her hand on a tablet. “Oh, I’ve already set the curriculum.”
Nope.
I know exactly what we need to learn. “Let’s start with Compelled Testimony.”
Compelled Testimony, commonly known as the ‘spill your guts’ spell.
Gimble grumbles. “I had that much further into the term.”
“And now you’ll move it up.” I want the power to steal secrets from the most reluctant of lips, and Lisa Gimble can make that happen.
Naomi Watson walks in, hardly sparing us a glance before taking her seat in the middle of the assembled chairs. The door opens again, and this time it’s Max, Donovan and Theodora. She’s wearing her dumb-bitch face.
Sometimes it seems like she’s mimicking Jordan, which is hilarious.
“Find a seat,” Gimble says. “We’ve various things to go over, and only an hour of allotted time.”
Maximus and Dono wrestle a little, trying to fight who sits next to Theodora. Gimble presses her lips together, not amused. “Enough.”
She walks to the front of the room, shakes it off, then pastes on a smile.
“So, welcome to our inaugural meeting. You have been selected because your blood and your sparks are the future of Havengard. But the Conclave expects its Cadets to have more than mere competence; it expects absolute transparency and unyielding loyalty.”
The common room door opens again, interrupting her flow.
Francois de Vaux saunters in, taking a seat away from everyone else, then flicking his fingers. “Continue.”
Little shit.
Gimble gets back on track. “You are about to be admitted to a cohort of Elite that are allowed to use the highest level restricted spells.”
Donovan does spooky fingers and says, “Wooooo.”
The corner of Theodora’s mouth twitches.
Her voice breaks through into my brain; she’s got us all on the line. —You guys have to stop making jokes. Keeping a straight face is difficult enough…—
—That’s the challenge, Tee!—
Fucking Dono. —It’s not a game, asshole. She’ll be in real danger if anyone realizes she’s not hypno-spelled—
—Oh, shit, yeah. Sorry, babe—
I rap my knuckles on the desk. “Concentrate. Today we’re learning ‘Spill Your Guts’.”
“Compelled Testimony,” Gimble corrects. “Also known as Occulta vi.”
Walking over to her tablet, she starts scrolling, then looks up. “Occulta vi means ‘secrets taken by force’. The cast bypasses the conscious mind and pulls truth directly from the spark. It’s incredibly painful to try and resist the spell. And resistance is useless anyway.”
She demonstrates a sharp, twisting motion that looks like a key turning in a lock. “The incantation must never be written down, it’s only passed on to the worthy through word of mouth.”
As she repeats the words of the enchantment, the atmosphere in the room turns heavy.
“Now, for a demonstration,” Gimble says, her eyes scanning the small semi-circle of chairs. They bypass me, lingering for a second on Max’s scowl and Donovan’s raised middle finger, before landing, with a gleam, on Naomi.
“Miss Watson. Since your family is so deeply entrenched in the Conclave’s inner circle, I’m sure you have nothing to hide. Step forward.”
Naomi sighs, but does as she’s told. I see the slight tremor in her fingers as she smooths her skirt.
Gimble doesn't hesitate. She performs the Occulta vi gesture, her hand snapping shut like a trap. Naomi’s eyes glaze over.
“Let’s talk about Article Four of our new Constitution,” Gimble purrs, enjoying the power. “Have you engaged in any romantic entanglement that would jeopardize your lineage purity, resulting in the dilution of your DNA?”
Naomi’s eyes go wide, it’s obvious she’s fighting. Sweat breaks out on her forehead and a look of agony takes over her features.
After five seconds, she loses the battle.
“I-I have had a r-romantic entanglement…”
Behind me, I hear Max growl. “Stop this shit.”
But Gimble’s eyes are lit up with a sick, triumphant glow. “Tell us.”
Poor Naomi is struggling so hard but she can’t withstand the spell. “...with an Ordinarii g-girl…last weekend, after the All Hallow’s Ball, I lost my...”
“SILENCE, WATSON.”
For once, I use my Elite command for good not evil.
“Mr. Drakeward, she was just about to admit…”
“Did you miss the part where Watson mentioned ‘a girl’, Lisa? Two girls hooking up are not a threat to lineage purity, so hearing more testimony is a waste of our allotted hour.”
“Even so, her actions show a distinct lack of Elite judgment. Unless you were coerced. Who initiated this…”
“That’s enough,” I snap, stepping forward and breaking the line of sight between Gimble and Watson.
“The spell was adequately demonstrated.” My voice is cold as ice, and filled with Drakeward authority.
“We aren't here for gossip, Lisa; we’re here for results. You may now return to speaking, Watson.”
Naomi stumbles back, clutching her throat. Her eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second and she gives me a slight nod.
“What’s the next spell we’ll learn?” I ask, turning back to the group who all look as pissed off as I am. Even de Vaux.
But no one looks as angry as Theodora. She needs to fix her expression.
“Let’s move on to something in the same vein; Occulta Apparentia,” Gimble replies. “If we are to be the Conclave’s eyes, we cannot let anything be shielded from our vision.”
I see the others shift forward in their seats.
“This spell can hide entire buildings, isn’t that right, Lisa?”
“Correct. Though it’s not exactly through hiding, per se. It’s about making a spell which contains Sensus Repulsi. The feeling of being repulsed, so that you look away from the building, rather than it being invisible.”
Donovan raises a hand. “Has anyone ever done that spell on you, professor?”
“What are you talking about, Hart? I’m not a building.”
A grin breaks out on his face. “My bad, I thought I’d caught a whiff of that repulsive stuff on you.”
Gimble’s eyes narrow but she’s too egotistic to fully parse the insult and instead turns to the whiteboard, sketching a complex, interlocking series of geometric lines.
We spend the next forty minutes in a grueling repetition of hand gestures and whispered incantations. My eyes, gritty from lack of sleep, watch Max and Donovan being uncharacteristically diligent.
When the hour crawls around to eight, Gimble dismisses everyone.
Naomi is the first to bolt, her face still pale.
Theodora quickly follows her.
Francois, who has been silent during the whole hour, heads for the door without a word.
Max and Donovan hover, but Gimble waves them away. “Seems we work well together, Cosmo. Would you like to come back to my room for a nightcap? We can discuss further…lessons.”
My skin crawls as her gaze lingers on me. “Sorry, Jordan’s waiting for me.”
First time I’ve been grateful to Jordan. I give Gimble a curt nod and wait until she exits before I exhale deeply.
The moment the door clicks shut, Theo’s mental link flares to life, pulling us all into her private circle.
—That was so fucked up—
—I’ll break her jaw, Sparkles….The way she used Naomi...—
—She’s a bitch, but at least we learned something useful— I interject, heading toward the window to watch the guards in the courtyard.
—Agreed— Theo says. —Tomorrow, we’ll meet again in the tunnels—I’ll get in touch with the others…stay safe until then—
She closes the link.
At the same time my phone chimes.
HARPY: What about all-white party theme?
ME: Great
HARPY: You’ve said that about every suggestion
ME: Because they’re all great
HARPY: Sending you my mood board - need final answer by midnight.
“Friday the thirteenth,” I mutter to the shadows.
Fuck.
My.
Life.