Reading, Writing and Necromancy Read online

  I tried to think of something plausible. “I was with Josie. All night. We stayed out late at, um, the Internet café. I didn’t want to get caught coming back, so I spent the night in her room.”

  Her eyes raked over me. “I don’t believe you.”

  She jabbed me in the stomach with her wand. She didn’t even have to use magic to make it hurt.

  “Ow! Stop it, Vega. I’m back. I won’t tell Thatch you weren’t watching me, okay?”

  She waved her wand over me. My feet lifted off the floor. I tried to push her away and run, but I couldn’t move. It felt like she’d bound me with invisible rope. My back slid up against the wood of my wardrobe as she made me levitate. My face was now level with hers.

  “Tell the truth, and I won’t hurt you … much.” Her voice was the low purr of a kitten.

  I had no doubt she would. A wave of sweat washed over me. When all else failed, the only thing left was the truth. “Fine. I was with my boyfriend. We were in his room.”

  She snorted, she scrutinized me again, and then she laughed. “You? A boyfriend?” She cackled and shook her head. “You expect me to believe that? Who would want to date you?” The maniacal hysteria coming from her rivaled the Wicked Witch of the West.

  She wiped the tears from her eyes and sat on my bed. “Is that the best lie you can come up with?”

  “Um, yes.” I continued to struggle against the invisible ropes holding me. I managed to kick one foot free.

  Vega’s cool gaze slid over me. “The first explanation was more believable. If you were with Josephine Kimura, what would you two losers be doing that was worse than sneaking out like children to spend time at the Internet café?” She tapped the foot of my bed with long lacquered nails that matched her crimson lipstick. “Were you doing something … lewd with each other?”

  “No,” I said quickly. I hadn’t been doing anything risqué with Josie. It had been with Derrick. Technically I was telling the truth.

  Her lips curled into a knowing smile. “What were you doing with Josie? Making out? Stroking each other’s … egos?”

  “No!”

  She sighed in exasperation. “Let Thatch waste magic questioning you. I have better things to do today.” She rose and headed toward the door.

  “Aren’t you going to let me go?”

  “You want to learn magic. Figure it out yourself.” She closed the door behind her.

  My electrons must have been supercharged after all the friction I’d stored up with Derrick because I was able to make the power in my affinity swell with ease. Electricity crackled over my skin, and I broke her spell. I fell to the floor, banging my knees, free but not without taking a beating.

  I walked into the great hall refreshed and showered, a spring in my step as I thought about rejoining Derrick. Students sat at tables, talking and eating breakfast. Latecomers to breakfast filtered in through the Stonehenge-like archways, painted mustard yellow and avocado green.

  For once I was blind to the seventies colors vomited across the walls. All I could think about was my joy radiating out of me like the sunniest of days. I had never imagined my reunion with Derrick would be so perfect and magical. His love and acceptance of me was everything I had hoped for. My life was perfect.

  The moment I spotted Felix Thatch, my confident stride faltered.

  Thatch sat at the teacher’s table on the dais. A public appearance from him was noteworthy considering how infrequently he ventured out of the dungeon.

  His shoulder-length hair glistened blue-black in the morning light, like raven feathers. Even from a seated position, he loomed taller than Jackie Frost and Josie seated at the table. His tweed suit hugged his lean frame. The vest and cravat gave the suit an old-fashioned look.

  I considered ducking down and slinking out one of the many archways. I could wait until he left before getting breakfast. In that moment of hesitation, he spotted me. His lips curled upward. The expression took years from his face and made him uncharacteristically handsome.

  He looked human. Like someone with a heart. Looks could be deceiving.

  A smile from Thatch was never a good sign.

  If I ran now, it would look suspicious. I lifted my chin and strode forward, pretending he had never put me in any jeopardy. I tried not to think about losing my virginity with the best friend Thatch had purposefully tried to hide from me. He had lied to me about Derrick and said I couldn’t see him.

  Couldn’t see him. The invisible man. Har har.

  He probably thought he was funny.

  I forced myself to look away from Thatch and pretend to examine a poster advertising Josie’s after-school Weaving Club. The room would have given off the air of a sacred site full of wisdom and learning if it hadn’t been for the seventies-era paint slapped onto the stone. The ceiling tapered upward to a point, like the underside of a giant witch’s hat. Banners with each of the team colors decorated the walls, clashing with the yellow and green walls and stained-glass windows.

  I passed sleepy students at tables, eating oatmeal, fruit, or toast. A student waved to me, and I waved back. I plastered a smile on my face, trying not to allow my apprehension to show.

  I glanced at Thatch again. My eyes narrowed. He had kept Derrick from me and made him forget me. Derrick seemed to think Thatch was working with the Raven Court.

  After all the ways the Raven Queen had hurt Thatch over the years, I didn’t believe it was possible that he would work with her. He loathed her. She’d killed one of his sisters and turned the other into a bird.

  Besides that, Thatch was my friend. He wouldn’t do anything bad to Derrick. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. Even so, my suspicions battled with my respect for my colleague. I wished I had talked to Derrick more before I’d left him.

  I had made it one third of the way through my mission. Now I just needed to grab extra breakfast and find some clothes in Derrick’s size before I returned to him. I needed to not raise Thatch’s suspicions.

  Josie Kimura sat next to Thatch. That was odd. She didn’t like Thatch.

  She eyed me over her black-rimmed glasses and gave me a pleading look. Streaks of her midnight hair had been bleached and dyed the hue of lavender. They matched the purples of her patchwork dress and witch hat.

  “Good morning,” Thatch said with uncharacteristic cheeriness.

  “Uh-huh.” I was having a tough time thinking of the correct social responses.

  Maybe his good mood had something to do with him getting laid. Or maybe he was smiling because he was about to bust me. I had hoped Vega might not tattle to Thatch about my disappearance, out of the motivation that it might help her get the tower next year.

  “It’s going to be a lovely day,” he said with a joyous sigh.

  Josie gave him a sidelong glance, an eyebrow raised.

  It was hard to tell what was going on in Thatch’s head. He poured himself a coffee and prepared it, a little smile on his lips. Was he happy he was about to crucify me for doing something I wasn’t supposed to?

  I sat down in the chair, wincing as the seat met my aching muscles.

  “You look well, Miss Lawrence. I take it you retired early last night?” Thatch enunciated each word with his crisp British accent. “No nightmares?”

  He knew. There was no way I was going to answer that. I smashed a butter knife through a biscuit, half of it splintering into crumbs as I tried to butter it. I did my best to change the subject. “Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Thatch. I’ve never seen you eat breakfast with staff.”

  He waved a hand airily. “I do venture out of my dark hole occasionally, Miss Lawrence.”

  Josie leaned toward me. “Jeb is away. Thatch got stuck with breakfast duty.”

  He leaned in conspiratorially. “I hear the headmaster is bringing in a new staff member today, our new History of Magic teacher. Hello, smaller class sizes!” He spoke like a normal human being, not a depressed, monotone teacher from another era.

  Josie m
outhed the words, “What is he on?”

  I plunged forward, trying to cover for myself before he decided to question me about where I had been the previous night. “Hey, Josie, thanks for letting me sleep in.” I gave her a look that I hoped conveyed I wanted her to play along. “It was nice having a slumber party in your room last night. I got one night of sleep without Vega’s snoring.” I poured myself a glass of orange juice.

  “Huh?” Josie asked.

  I kicked her under the table. “I don’t know how you put up with Vega as a roommate last year. Thanks for letting me spend the night in your room.”

  “Oh yeah. No problem.” She glanced at Thatch.

  I was afraid she was going to give me away with her lack of guile.

  I hurried on. “It’s too bad we can’t be roommates. That would solve one third of my daily problems having to put up with Vega.”

  “Yes, such a shame,” Thatch said. “But that would be impossible.”

  “Maybe next year,” Josie said, giving him a sidelong glance.

  I was sure he would find some way to make Vega babysit me next year if he could.

  Thatch sipped at his coffee. “Just moments ago, I was asking Miss Kimura about what she intends to do with her day. It looks like she’ll be covering detention for me.” He chuckled. His eyes were tired.

  Josie sighed despondently. No wonder she looked so depressed.

  “Tell me, Miss Lawrence, what are your plans?” Thatch’s tone was cloying, his eyes sparkling with sinister interest. “Something about you seems different.” He stroked his chin with a long finger.

  I stiffened. He knew. He could divine things. Or maybe he was like a unicorn and sensed the lack of virginity radiating from me.

  “Have you changed your hair?” he asked.

  “Mmm,” I said around a mouthful of biscuit. I wondered what Derrick would want for breakfast.

  I loaded my plate with one of everything. If we’d had eggs and bacon I would have brought him that, but there wasn’t any left. I stacked pastries and fruit.

  “Someone has quite the appetite,” Thatch said. “Do you usually eat a trough of breakfast?”

  Oh no! I was going to give myself away. He would know I was bringing Derrick food. I removed a banana and a slice of toast from the plate and returned them to their stacks.

  Josie turned to Thatch. “A trough? Really? Are you trying to imply that Clarissa is a fat pig?” She snatched up the toast and banana I’d returned and replaced them on my plate. “If that’s how much she wants to eat, what’s it to you?”

  “I didn’t say she was fat … yet.” A wrinkle creased his brow. “That is just like you, Miss Kimura, twisting something I say into an insult. It’s no wonder you don’t have a boyfriend.”

  Josie stood up, spilling a cup of coffee. Thatch clucked his tongue in disgust. He removed his wand from an inner pocket in his jacket and waved it over the mess. The cup righted itself, and the liquid refilled.

  Josie straightened her conical hat. “I’m done. Are you coming, Clarissa? You can bring your plate with you.”

  I stood to follow her.

  Thatch grabbed the back of my sweater and yanked me back into my seat. “Not so fast. We have matters to discuss.”

  That sounded ominous.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Merlin’s Balls

  “Stay,” I mouthed to Josie. I was faced away from Thatch, so I didn’t think he could see me pleading with her.

  Somehow, he did.

  “No, she can’t,” he said. “Miss Kimura has detention duty today. If only she was better at budgeting her time like you and I.” He waved her off.

  She lingered.

  He casually aimed his wand at her feet. “Go. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to jinx you into compliance.”

  She gave me an apologetic grimace before stalking off. I didn’t blame her. He’d used that spell on me to get me to leave a school in the Morty Realm once. I’d had no control over my legs, and they just kept walking. At least with freedom she could choose to go instead of being forced.

  I served myself a helping of oatmeal and spooned brown sugar and cinnamon into it. There was no point in pretending all this was for me if he already knew. Maybe I could ask Thatch for clothes for Derrick. They were about the same height. Thatch might even be taller.

  He didn’t look angry. More concerned than anything else. I could work with concerned.

  Thatch steepled his fingers. “I know what’s eating you.”

  “Do you?” Could he possibly have known how much had changed in the last twenty-four hours? Did he understand the battle raging inside me? I worried he was a liar and a villain with nefarious intentions. But what if he wasn’t?

  I hated thinking ill of a friend. This was the conflict eating me up inside.

  “You don’t have to worry. I’ve taken care of your little problem,” he said.

  “What problem?” For a moment I thought he meant Derrick—that he’d taken care of Derrick.

  He leaned back with the satisfied air of a Venus flytrap that had just swallowed a canary. “Miss Periwinkle. I persuaded her not to tell anyone about your secret. You’re welcome.”

  “Oh, um, thanks.” I had completely forgotten about the librarian.

  After Miss Periwinkle discovered my affinity and researched the Lost Red Court and the extent of my powers, she’d discovered I could increase the magic of others like my biological mother. Plus, she’d seen my powers at work.

  If she had asked nicely, I would have helped restore the youth that my biological mother had stolen from her. I wanted to assume Alouette Loraline had accidentally stolen it from her, but I didn’t know.

  Instead of asking, Miss Periwinkle had blackmailed me. When the spell had gone wrong, I’d gone to my mentor, Thatch.

  He must have been able to fix things because she’d been young and beautiful again when I’d gotten a peek at her through the magic mirror window to his room. And Felix Thatch must have been quite smitten with her from the eyeful I’d gotten of the two of them.

  No wonder he looked so tired.

  His smile turned smug. “Aren’t you going to ask how I secured secrecy on your behalf?”

  “No. And I don’t want to know.” I glanced at the students sitting at the tables. This really wasn’t the time or place to hear about his sexual exploits.

  A smirk played at his lips. “Wiseman’s Oath.”

  “Oh, that’s all?” A binding spell wasn’t the lurid explanation my mind had jumped to.

  “What did you think I was going to say? A blood ritual?”

  “Yep, you read my mind.”

  He shook his head and clucked his tongue. “You always think the worst of me, don’t you?”

  His words couldn’t have cut me more. I avoided his gaze. I did jump to conclusions—especially about him.

  This conversation had taken a drastically different turn than where I thought it had been going. Thatch’s good mood could be explained by getting laid, not because of sinister plot. Maybe he had a soul after all.

  I wanted to ask him about Derrick. Maybe Derrick had been mistaken about him.

  A student squealed at a table nearby, drawing my attention. Josie lingered there, talking to Chase Othello, one of my students with bright orchid hair. Josie smiled at me. My friend hadn’t left after all? Even after Thatch had threatened her? She had to be the most loyal person I knew.

  I smiled and waved her off, no longer worried. I ate my oatmeal, trying to figure out how I could possibly ask Thatch about Derrick without giving away I knew the invisible man was my best friend from high school. Thatch had been specific that Derek needed to forget about me because the Raven Queen had cursed him to kill me or kidnap me or something vaguely ominous. But it wasn’t true. Derrick remembered me—and remembered something suspicious about Thatch turning him invisible. I couldn’t ask about that, but I could ask about something we had already discussed.

&n
bsp; “Do you remember that time we went to the forest to collect . . . stuff?” I asked.

  Thatch scanned the sea of students. “If you’re bringing this up because you want me to finish collecting the remaining ingredients for the spell, you’ll have to be patient. I am preoccupied with other matters at the moment.” He didn’t sound angry as he said it, just matter-of-fact.

  Play along, I told myself. “Why have you never given me the list? I could gather everything for you.”

  “You wouldn’t know what half the items are, nor do I think you would be capable of collecting the more dangerous items like the dragon eggs.”

  “It’s too bad I don’t have smart friends who are witches and unicorns.”

  He snorted. “Very well. I’ll give you the list.”

  That was too easy. I would normally have been jumping up and down in joy, but I was having a hard time remembering how I usually behaved around Thatch.

  My mentor scrutinized me. “Just don’t try to collect the dragon egg yourself. We don’t want you to get hurt. Make that annoying unicorn who likes to hang around here do it for you. With any luck, he’ll get himself burned alive, and that will be the end of your unicorn problems.”

  “You don’t want me to get hurt,” I repeated. My oatmeal was tasteless mush, even after spooning in sugar and butter. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “But you were the one who tied me to that tree as bait. I almost became chimera food that night.”

  “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.” He sipped at a mug of coffee. “Is that why you’re so grumpy this morning? Josie convinced you I don’t have your best intentions in mind?”

  “You left me alone. Those chimeras attacked, and they almost killed me. You told me you warded the tree, but you lied.”

  “You’re being overdramatic. I never left you alone. Nor did they come close to killing you.” He didn’t confirm or deny what Derrick had told me about the wards.

  Had he known Derrick had been there? I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t ask.

  I piled my plates on a tray, ready to leave.

  “So, who is all that food really intended for?” Thatch asked.