Hexes and Exes Page 17

  “Hey, um. . . .” Invismo said.

  I rolled my eyes. “You again.”

  “Don’t try to sound too pleased to see me.” His deep voice actually sounded hurt. “Well, not actually see me, but . . . never mind.”

  “Now what school rule have I broken that you’ll use as an excuse to grope me?”

  He cleared his throat. “You, stop. I didn’t grope you. I will admit, the cell phone appropriation didn’t exactly go as planned. I told myself I wasn’t going to interfere again, but I saw you fall off that unicorn and wanted to make sure you were all right.”

  I sighed in frustration. “Did the entire school see me fall?”

  “Not the entire school. Only the coach’s class. And the students at the greenhouses. And the upperclassmen on the roof during their lesson with Professor Rohiniraman.”

  I snorted. “Thanks.” That made me feel better.

  “It wasn’t your fault. That unicorn is bad news. You’ve got to get him to stop following you around.”

  My back spasmed again. I forced myself to breathe slowly, taking shallow breaths that wouldn’t worsen the pain. I tried to concentrate on numbing my back like Thatch had shown me. It was so much harder when every breath distracted me. I thought I had it under control when I pushed off from the wall. A fierce stab stole my breath away.

  “Here, let me help. My grandfather was a chiropractor before he retired.”

  Before I knew what was happening, the invisible man wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. I shrieked in alarm. As he lifted me, my feet came off the ground.

  I kicked his shin. “Put me down, now.”

  He set me back on my feet with a groan. I elbowed him in the ribs and launched myself away from him. It took me a second to realize I could breathe without pain.

  “Hey, my back doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “I wish I could say the same. No nice deed goes without punishment. Sheesh.”

  “You could have asked first.” I lifted my arms and stepped in place. Holy cow! This was way better.

  “Would you have said yes, or would you have accused me of wanting to grope you and tried to punch me instead?”

  “I wouldn’t ‘try,’” I said.

  He laughed at that. “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “Any chance I can have my phone back?”

  “No.”

  He couldn’t blame me for asking.

  My class was in chaos when I arrived. No one had come to cover for me. Maddy didn’t show up to seventh period. None of the students knew where she was. I sent a student to take a note down to the office to inform Khaba she was missing. The student came back with a note written in Mrs. Keahi’s handwriting, announcing an emergency staff meeting at four. I hoped nothing had happened to Maddy.

  If I was lucky, the meeting would be about Bart and the unicorn problem earlier in the day.

  Halfway through seventh period, Grandmother Bluehorse marched into my classroom.

  “Good afternoon,” I said, trying to smile despite the way anger rolled off her in waves. “What can I do for you?”

  She pointed an accusing finger at me. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  Craptabulous. What had I done now? I glanced at my students, who had all silenced except for a few in the back. “Perhaps we can talk outside in the hall?”

  She pounded her staff on the floor. “Did you truly think it would be a good idea to send that girl off alone? Did you forget what she is? Do you understand the danger you put students in?”

  I hadn’t sent Maddy off alone. “What happened? Is Maddy all right?”

  Grandmother Bluehorse made a noise of disgust and stomped out.

  My class continued to stare at me.

  “Does anyone know what happened?” I asked. “What did I do wrong?”

  No one answered. Worry gnawed at my gut.

  After school, I found out from Josie that a boy had kissed Maddy and she had drained him of magic. He wasn’t dead, but he was unconscious. He was in the nurse’s office recovering. Maddy was confined to a detention in Jeb’s office.

  I felt horrible. I didn’t even know if the boy would be capable of magic again.

  Josie leaned closer, the brim of her lace witch hat bumping the side of my head. “They’re probably going to kick her out.”

  “No!” I said.

  She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t see any way around it.”

  I went to see Maddy in the administration offices, hoping to talk to her before the staff meeting. Mrs. Keahi waved me away. “Madison Jennings is being punished. She isn’t allowed to talk to anyone.”

  “Even her teachers?” I asked.

  She crossed her arms, glaring at me like it was my fault. Which it was.

  The door to Jeb’s office creaked open. Maddy peeked out. Her eyebrows lifted with hope upon seeing me. “Miss Lawrence!”

  “I told you to sit in there and quietly do your work,” Mrs. Keahi said sternly. She slammed the door closed and locked it.

  I’d always disliked Mrs. Keahi for how she’d treated me, but I could live with it. Treating a student this way was intolerable, but I knew the other staff would be just as bad.

  I didn’t want them to kick Maddy out. I had to see if there was anything I could do. If I knew what happened, I could go to bat for her. I would explain why I had left her with other students, and that it was my fault. I still had twenty minutes before the staff meeting.

  There was one other way into Jeb’s office. I ran down the hallway, passing students. I found the stone corridor with the tapestry almost deserted. I didn’t want to risk being seen, but I didn’t want to be late for the meeting either. I stood against the wall, edging closer to the tapestry, waiting for students to look the other way.

  “Please say you aren’t about to do something stupid that’s going to get you in even worse trouble,” a man’s deep voice said next to me.

  I jumped. No one was there. Not anyone I could see anyway.

  “Mind your own beeswax,” I said. I tried to elbow Invismo away, but my arm only met air.

  “I can’t. Keeping an eye on you is part of my job.”

  I groaned. A group of students walked by. I smiled and pretended everything was fine. I lowered my voice. “You are not my guardian angel. You don’t need to keep an eye on me.”

  “No, I’m just a campus security guard.”

  “Then what are you following me around for? Don’t you have students to monitor and phones to confiscate?”

  “Funny.” The sound of him swallowing was loud, even over the distant voices of students. “I’ve been hired to watch out for you and make sure you don’t get yourself in trouble. I’m supposed to ensure you don’t do anything that would make you get kicked out of the school.”

  I fixed my gaze where I thought his voice came from, but the air was completely invisible “Where are you?”

  “Why? Are you going to punch me?”

  I slid my hand under the edge of tapestry. The invisible man pushed my hand back. “Don’t. Students will see. They’ll be curious. Then they’ll follow. If they figure out the brownie passage, they’re going to steal from the teacher’s wings and Jeb’s office.”

  “I need to talk to Maddy. Please. I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “I’ll make a deal with you,” he said.

  I always hated it when Fae and Witchkin said this.

  Two teenage girls carrying heavy loads of books passed.

  He lowered his voice. “I’ll create a distraction so you can go under, but you have to promise to wait until students aren’t looking. And you have to be quick. We have a staff meeting to attend.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah, I go to meetings, too. Just because you don’t see me, doesn’t mean I don’t exist.”

  “Go make your diversion,” I said.

  Thirty seconds later, one of the girls who had just passed screamed. Her books went flying, landing sprawled on the floor. Three of the books from the other g
irl’s stack levitated into the air.

  “It’s the ghost!” one of the girls screamed.

  The invisible man juggled them. Considering the way the books fluttered open, creating a difficult handhold, it wasn’t surprising one hit the wall. I ducked under the tapestry and ran down the passage. I tripped on an uneven stone in the floor and nearly fell into the armor standing post against the wall. I shifted the knight’s arm down and rounded the corner. Light came from under another tapestry. Ducking under, I found myself in the hall of windows.

  I looked through the quicksilver surface of each window showing the empty rooms of teachers. Thatch’s was covered by a red curtain, obscuring most of his room. I didn’t blame him after he’d figured out I could spy on him through his mirror, though he didn’t know how I had done it. A portal to another room was almost completely obscured by a large canvas almost as tall of the mirror.

  From what I could see around the painting, it looked like a messy storage room of art. If that was Thatch’s closet, he was hoarding tons of art supplies.

  I passed the row of portals until I found one that reflected a view from the mirror in Jeb’s office. Everything gleamed pale and ghostly through the looking glass. Maddy sat on the couch, reading a book. I stuck my hand through first to make sure it was safe, and then pushed my head past the surface.

  The mirror was cold and sucked at me, wanting to pull me completely through, but I resisted.

  “Maddy!” I whispered.

  She dropped her homework and stood. “Oh my God! Miss Lawrence, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.”

  Maddy’s voice was high and tremulous. “You look all silvery and weird. What kind of magic is this?”

  I looked down at myself. The mirror reflected her body. Mine was invisible from this side, except for the parts poking through. My hand and arm looked normal to me.

  “Long story,” I whispered. “What happened today? You were supposed to stay with Imani and Greenie. Someone told me you drained a boy. Is this true?”

  “We were running, and we got separated.” She tiptoed closer to the mirror. “That boy kissed me. I didn’t like it, but I figured I should let him. I mean, I’ve got to get pregnant at some point. But it felt icky, and then he started groping me. I . . . I wasn’t trying to hurt him. It just happened. I couldn’t control myself. They didn’t tell me I’d drained him. No one will tell me anything.”

  “I shouldn’t have left you alone.” I’d put her in that position. I could only imagine how horrible Imani and Greenie felt.

  “It isn’t your fault.” Tears filled her eyes. “It’s my magic. It’s getting harder and harder to control. How am I going to fulfill my obligation to the Crab King if I don’t have sex with a boy? I don’t want this bargain looming over me and then for it to be forced on me.”

  “Don’t think about that contract right now. You have plenty of time.”

  Something tugged my elbow. I looked down, but I couldn’t see through the pane of glass. A warm hand squeezed my elbow. I was guessing it was the invisible man.

  He pulled me back, and I fell into the hallway of mirror windows. “The meeting just started. We’re both late.”

  Maddy stared into the mirror confused.

  “One more minute.” I poked my face through again. “I’ll try to come back to talk to you later. In the meantime, focus on controlling your magic.”

  Maddy’s voice rose. “I can’t. I’m surrounded by boys, and they’re all looking at me. It makes my magic worse. I want to have sex and don’t want to at the same time. I’m so confused.” Tears spilled from her eyes, shimmering like opals.

  She tried to reach through the mirror and hug me, but her hands thumped into the glass. I thrust a hand through once again and patted her cheek.

  “I don’t know if I can fix this,” I said. “But I’m going to try.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A Siren’s Seduction

  When I exited from under the tapestry, screams echoed from down the hallway as the invisible man distracted students. I ran to the stairwell and around the corner to go up to the floor of the staff room. Miss Periwinkle was already at the top of the stairs, shuffling into the room. I wasn’t the only one late at least.

  As I entered the conference room, all heads turned to look at me. Khaba stood at the head of the table. He frowned at me when I crept in.

  Miss Periwinkle scooted around the teachers seated at the table to the back. All the seats were taken. I made my way to the back wall as well. Thatch rose from his seat and offered it to Miss Periwinkle. That was unexpectedly thoughtful and not evil of him.

  No one offered me a seat. Which was fine, I told myself. It wasn’t like I was old and needed a chair. No one was snubbing me because they hated me and thought I was just like my mother. I stood in the back next to Thatch and Ludomil Sokoloff, the custodian. Eyes kept cutting in my direction. Jackie Frost and Grandmother Bluehorse glared at me, hardly looking away.

  “Until Jeb returns, we are going to keep Madison Jennings in his office. She is suspended from classes and school activities. I would like her to sleep in one of the staff dormitories tonight. Volunteers?”

  No one raised their hand, so I did. A few teachers chuckled. That stung.

  Thatch jabbed me in the shoulder with his elbow. “Stop drawing so much attention to yourself,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “Stop telling me what to do,” I whispered back.

  Vega shook her head, glaring daggers at me.

  “What are we going to do with the girl once Jeb is back? Is he going to expel her?” Silas Lupi asked.

  Khaba rubbed a hand over his bald head. “That decision is up to the principal.”

  The door creaked open. Sebastian Reade moved to close it.

  “Well, he can’t possibly allow her to stay,” Pro Ro said. “She’s dangerous.”

  “She’s dirty,” Evita Lupi said.

  Jackie Frost made a face at her. “She’s untrained.”

  “The only thing worse than an untrained siren is a trained siren. She’ll just use her powers to coerce people into having sex with her.”

  They didn’t know that. If they understood how afraid she was, how she didn’t like the attention she was getting, they might have felt more sympathy for her.

  Vega cackled. “You only say that because you’re afraid she might seduce your husband.” From the way Vega looked Silas Lupi up and down, I could tell she didn’t think he was worth seducing.

  “Why wouldn’t he let her stay?” Silas Lupi snorted. “He didn’t kick out Ben O’Sullivan, Balthasar Llewellyn, or Hailey Achilles after everything they did last year.”

  His wife stood up, pointing an accusatory finger at Khaba. “He’s just going to say we need to forgive her and give her tough love—even if a student dies next time.”

  Grandmother Bluehorse hefted herself up, leaning her weight on her staff. “This wouldn’t have happened if someone hadn’t left the girl alone. It isn’t Madison Jennings’ fault she had a shitty chaperone.”

  I opened my mouth to explain. Thatch stepped on my foot. “Hold your tongue. Let Khaba handle this.”

  Khaba cleared his throat. “Miss Lawrence was in the infirmary. The incident could have happened at any time. A student chaperone could have gotten sick or injured, and the same thing would have happened.”

  “No! This would never have happened if that damned unicorn hadn’t been on campus,” Coach Kutchi said. “His presence isn’t just a nuisance. He poses a serious threat to our students.”

  The real problem wasn’t keeping Maddy chaperoned by adults at all times or making sure unicorns didn’t interrupt classes. The problem was that the school was full of hormonal teenagers, and the staff didn’t know what to do with sex magic because they treated it as a taboo. They acted like Maddy was a pariah, like her magic was dirty, expecting her to suppress it instead of expressing it appropriately. She needed to learn how to use it when she c
hose and how to focus it in a way that wouldn’t bring her attention when she didn’t want it.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Thatch stepped on my foot again. “I am fully capable of gluing your mouth closed. Don’t make your life worse.”

  For twenty more minutes the staff argued. The one item they seemed to agree on was how every problem in the school was my fault.

  After dinner, I found Vega waiting in our room. A soft sheen of magic sparkled out of her wand as she ran it along the fancy bottles of perfume on her wardrobe. She drew a rune in the air with her hand.

  I closed the door behind me, tiptoeing around her so I wouldn’t disturb her.

  “Do you know what I’m doing?” she asked.

  “Magic?”

  “I’m establishing protective wards around my possessions in case someone tries to steal them tonight.”

  “Maddy isn’t a thief and you know it.” That would have been more of Hailey’s M.O. “Maddy slept in our room once before, and she didn’t take anything, did she? You were the one who invited her the first time anyway.”

  “That isn’t the point.”

  I was not going to allow her to complain like this was my fault. “What is the point? That you’re going to throw a tantrum when I do the right thing by showing hospitality as opposed to when you give her my bed to try to annoy me?”

  Vega flicked her wand at me, pushing me back against the wall and holding me there with an invisible force. She strolled over slowly, eyes narrowing.

  “Vega, undo your hex,” I said.

  Her walk was lazy, like a cat about to toy with a mouse whose tail was pinned in a trap. “If you ever do that again—ever—I will throw you out the window, and they will think you committed suicide.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, wiggling and trying to free myself. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t want that unicorn here. I didn’t want to hurt my back. I wouldn’t have sent Maddy to the office with the other girls, if I—”

  “Silence!” She cut me off with a wave of her hand. My lips continued moving for several more seconds before my brain registered what she’d done.