Hexes and Exes Page 22

  I walked slowly, not wanting to plummet down a stairwell or fall into any pits. Blue windows glowed from up ahead. As I came closer, I saw the stepladders and stools under the windows. I knew where I was. This was the hall of mirrors.

  I could use one of the portals to escape. I needed to find someone to help me with Maddy. I wasn’t supposed to be off school grounds alone since I couldn’t do much to defend myself against the Raven Court, much less werewolves.

  The first window I looked into showed my dorm room from the viewpoint of the mirror. Everything was cast in shimmery blue light. Vega stood at my armoire. She threw back the doors to gaze inside. She picked out one of my pink shirts—at least I thought it was pink—it was hard to tell with the blue cast from the mirror. She held my shirt up to herself in the mirror and grinned like a Cheshire Cat. Later I was going to have a talk with her about going through my things.

  I doubted Vega would help me save Maddy from chimeras or werewolves. She’d been resentful just sharing a room with her for one night. There had to be someone else.

  Vega abruptly turned away from the mirror, shoved the shirt back into my wardrobe, and strode across the room. Pro Ro stood at the door. He was powerful enough he might be able to help with Maddy—if I could convince him to listen to me.

  He definitely wasn’t going to do any favors for me. His voice came out muffled and distant. I continued to the next portal. All the rooms were empty. I could have stepped through any of them to get out, but I still needed to find someone who would take me to the forest. I could get the unicorns to help. I considered who would be best to approach. If Maddy was in trouble, Josie would be sympathetic. Grandmother Bluehorse and Jackie Frost cared about their students, but they weren’t in their rooms. Of course, neither of them would be keen on my idea to go to the forest and get help from the unicorns.

  I strolled past the windows to the teacher’s dormitory rooms. I paused at Jeb’s. He wasn’t in. The last room I gazed into was a cluttered room full of paintings. A large canvas with its back leaned against the mirror obscured most of the room. I’d seen the storage room before and assumed it was Thatch’s closet of paintings—but the more I looked at the other art through the gap, the more I decided the paintings didn’t look like his style.

  Stretched canvases were stored in a shelf along the wall. More art supplies filled other niches. The walls were painted with bright, funky colors. A checkerboard pattern decorated one section of stone, the pattern becoming more irregular as it rose. It melted into a tessellation of black birds. I’d missed the unmade bed the first time I’d seen the room, almost completely obscured by the painting.

  I looked away, intending to find someone I could go into the forest with to search for Maddy, or at the very least, go to my own room as an exit and then search from there. But something about this room disturbed me. My intuition drew my attention back to this mirror.

  The light in the room grew brighter, though it was still blue and diffused through the mirror. Will-o’-the-wisps bobbled at the ceiling. The beach ball-sized orbs glowed with enough light to see most of the room. A man stepped inside, hidden by the shadows at the door. His back was to me as he removed a tattered trench coat and hung it on a hook. He was tall and lean, clad in a pair of snug underwear and a sweater, an eccentric combination. His hair was short and spiky. Through the mirror, it gleamed a brilliant cerulean, but everything looked blue through the mirror.

  A jolt of joy and shock burst through me. I rushed forward, wanting to know if this was Derrick. Why hadn’t Thatch told me if Derrick had been here? Then I remembered the ominousness of Thatch’s words. He had warned me not to look for Derrick because of his curse. The Raven Queen controlled him, and he would want to kill me if he knew about me.

  But surely he had to know about me. He’d given me the book. I had felt his magic and assumed he must be helping me from afar—but in fact he was here at the school.

  The man on the other side of the mirror wore his hair shorter than how Derrick had styled his hair in high school. He remained turned away. I watched him lay out his tools, slowly and methodically like a surgeon. He selected paintbrushes, palette knives, and tubes of color. I recognized the set of acrylic paints from MECCA from when Thatch and I had gone together.

  I held my breath. Did I dare hope it could be him?

  I needed to leave the hallway and find my way out so I could go save Maddy and Hailey from being eaten by werewolves and chimeras. Yet, I couldn’t stop staring at this vision before me. If I left, I didn’t know if I would see him again.

  “Turn around,” I prayed.

  He didn’t. He sketched a person’s face on a canvas, adding the line of symmetry and other lines of proportion before adding the details. He drew quickly, expertly. He shifted and blocked the portrait from view.

  He shrugged off his sweater. My eyes went wide when I realized he wasn’t wearing anything else underneath. It felt wrong watching him draw in his underwear. His sculpted shoulder blades bunched together as he lifted something from a trunk. Derrick had never been this buff, so this couldn’t be him, I reasoned.

  I caught a glimpse of the portrait. Even without color, I could tell it was me.

  I leaned in so close my nose touched the mirror. The surface rippled like silver mercury. I pulled back.

  He turned abruptly. It was Derrick.

  He was even more handsome than I remembered. Some of the baby fat from his face had melted away.

  Surprise crossed his face as he gazed at the rippling surface of the mirror. “Hello?” His voice warbled, not even sounding human through the mirror. From the way his gaze remained unfixed, sweeping across the exposed section of the mirror, I took it he could only see his reflection.

  Every part of me wanted to run through the mirror and embrace him. But I didn’t know what would happen if he saw me. Would he really kill me? I wondered where Thatch was keeping him. Was he a prisoner somewhere in the school? I thought the Raven Queen had enslaved him.

  If only I had known he was so near, I would have bought supplies for Derrick and asked Thatch to give them to him. I would have given him cookies and Copic markers instead of coveting art supplies from this room, thinking they were Thatch’s. He was so close. Tears filled my eyes.

  Derrick moved the canvas from the mirror. “Is someone there?” His voice was muffled, a distant echo through the portal.

  My entire being yearned to be in his arms. I wanted to disregard everything Thatch had told me about the need to stay away from him. I wanted to pretend I could control my magic and we could be happy. I knew I loved him. It was only a matter of time before we were reunited. Yet I had almost thrown away the possibility for that love through one weak moment with Thatch.

  Maybe a series of weak moments with Thatch.

  I heard another muffled voice through the mirror.

  Derrick jumped to his feet and ran across the little space. “I’m coming,” he said.

  A door opened to the right. Bright light swept into the room. A dark silhouette stood in the doorway. Derrick blocked the shadowy figure from view as they spoke.

  “Out in the forest?” Derrick asked.

  They were talking about Maddy. The words reminded me of my own mission. I needed to get out of here so I could help her.

  Derrick darted back, snatched up his sweater and fumbled with it, then put on his coat, and ran out the door.

  It took everything in me not to rush through the mirror after him. Instead, I forced myself to go back along the hall and step through the portal into my room. I tripped out of the mirror, forgetting about the drop to the floor, and stumbled into the chair at the desk, knocking it over.

  I hadn’t seen any of the teachers in their rooms. No one was around to help find Maddy. I headed to the great hall, but it was well after dinner. Khaba patrolled the corridor outside.

  He pointed to two students loitering in a doorway. “Curfew is in half an hour. You need to go up to the dorm rooms and get ready for bed.”
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br />   One of the students raised his chin. “I’ve got plenty of time.”

  “No. You’ll go now.” Khaba pointed. A sparkle of magic slipped from his fingertips and spiraled around the teenagers’ feet.

  The two students walked down the hall toward the boys’ dormitory, swearing at Khaba for possessing their legs.

  I ran up to him, hoping he would help me. “I think two of the students went into the forest.”

  “I know. Thatch told me.”

  I followed his footsteps as he patrolled. “We should go search for them.”

  “It’s being taken care of. Most of the teachers set out already.”

  So that was where everyone had gone off to.

  He waved a hand at me dismissively. “Go back to your dorm. There’s nothing you can do.”

  “I can help look.”

  He shook his head. “Clarissa, no offense, but you’re the least magical out of all the teachers on staff. You can’t do any locator spells, divine, aren’t clairvoyant, nor do you have a special knack for talking to trees in order to question them. You shouldn’t even be leaving school grounds unless absolutely necessary—and you need to be chaperoned when you are.”

  “But you can chaperone me! We can go together.”

  “Yeah, and who is going to keep the rest of these brats in line? If you want to help, check on the girls in their dorm and make sure everyone is getting settled in. The professionals will handle it from here.” When I didn’t move, he pointed at me sternly. “Do I need enchant your feet to walk you back to your dorm?”

  “No.” I trudged down the hall toward the stairs that led to the teacher dorms.

  Khaba didn’t understand. This was my fault. I’d known Maddy was already upset and feeling vulnerable. I should have stayed with her to make sure she wouldn’t do anything extreme like this. Instead, I’d been letting my affinity get out of control and having sexy time with Thatch. The guilt in me multiplied.

  “I have to do something to help,” I said out loud.

  “Go to the library,” someone whispered behind me.

  I whirled. No one was there.

  “Who’s there? Invismo?” I asked.

  “Yes. You want something to do? Go to the library.”

  “Why? How will that help?” I searched the shadows for a hint of where he was.

  “Miss Periwinkle hasn’t left yet. She’s getting ready to lock up, and you can still catch her if you hurry.”

  I caught on to his meaning. “She’s a Celestor, and she can chaperone me in the woods!” I said in excitement. More importantly, she was a siren-turned Celestor.

  I ran to the library. I didn’t know if she would help, but I had to try.

  I was out of breath when I arrived. Miss Periwinkle was locking the door from the inside. I knocked on the window. The library was dark, save for a sconce near her office. She shook her head and pointed to the sign with the word: Closed.

  “It’s an emergency. Have you heard?” I shouted through the door.

  She opened the door a crack. She held her wand in one hand, her keys in the other, and a book tucked under her arm. “I’ve heard. What do you want?”

  “Are you going to look for the girls? Will you take me with you?”

  “Do I look like I’m dressed to go into the woods?” She lifted her nose up at me. “It’s late. I’m going to bed, and you should do the same.” She looked like she was about to close the door again.

  I wedged my foot between the door and frame. “I need your help. I think I have a good chance of finding them. They’ve left looking for the unicorns. I know the unicorns. They’ll help us if we call them.”

  “Do you truly think that’s a good idea considering your history with horny nags?” She crossed her arms.

  “It’s a full moon! There are werewolves out,” I said.

  “That’s precisely why I’m not going into the forest. And if you had any sense, you wouldn’t either.”

  I wanted to shake that disdain off her face. “I can’t let them die. I have to do something.”

  She shooed me off. “Go on, then. I’m not stopping you if you want to get lost in the forest with your stallions.”

  “I’m not supposed to leave the school grounds by myself, but I want to help find the girls. You’re a Celestor, right? That means you can serve as my chaperone because I’m only allowed to leave with powerful Witchkin. You might even be able to divine—”

  She put up a hand to stop me. “I am not anything anymore. I don’t have enough magic for divining or locating. I can’t serve as an adequate chaperone or protect you if dangerous beasts fall upon us or Fae come to snatch you. I am an old nobody.”

  I drew in a deep breath, trying to find the words that would persuade her. “Maddy is a siren. Like you were. Are?” I considered her own failings and how she might find a kinship with Maddy. “I think she went to the woods to see the unicorns. She thinks they’ll grant her a wish so she doesn’t seduce men anymore.”

  “She’s a stupid siren, then. They aren’t going to help her. She’s going to figure that out quickly.”

  I was running out of arguments to convince her to help me. I tried another tactic. “I can help you help me. I know your magic isn’t strong at the moment, but we can change that.” I didn’t know how to bring up my ability to intensify other Witchkin’s magic without making an allusion to my mother’s ability, or explaining my affinity, or pointing out Miss Periwinkle’s own failings in glamour.

  Her eyes narrowed, studying me. “What do you mean? How could you help me?”

  “I can give you some of my magic to intensify your own.”

  “Do you know how dangerous that is?” The sharp edge in her voice died away, and in its place was longing. “You might drain yourself.”

  The way the Red affinity worked wasn’t about draining, but I didn’t think I could explain it even if I had wanted to. “I don’t have a choice.” I dropped to my knees, my hands clasped before me. “Please. If you won’t come, I’ll go without you. My students need me.”

  “You really care about them, don’t you?” The hardness in her eyes softened.

  I nodded emphatically.

  “Get up off the floor, and stop being so silly.” She grabbed me by the elbow and hauled me to my feet. She hustled behind the counter, unlocked her office with a key, and threw on a long wool cloak. She tsked at me. “You aren’t even dressed for the weather. You can’t go out like that. Wait here.”

  She locked me out of the office, and I stood in the shadows behind the counter. The floor creaked.

  “Is anyone there?” I asked. “Invismo?”

  No one answered. Maybe it was a ghost.

  Miss Periwinkle returned a moment later in gloves and a wool scarf over her cloak. She handed me a felt jacket. It was a thinner one than the heavy cape around her shoulders, but it was something.

  Miss Periwinkle hooked her arm through mine and led the way to the front of the school and along the path to the forest. The light of her wand reflected across stone statues and the fountain with cupids. She walked fast for an old woman.

  As we approached the edge of the forest, she nudged me in the ribs with her wand. “Well, are you going to call your unicorn friends?”

  I called out, “Bart! I need your help.” I was lucky I hadn’t lost my virginity half an hour before. Or taken Invismo up on the offer. “Bart!”

  No answer came. I kept calling as we ventured into the trees. A wolf howled in the distance. The clouds shifted, the full moon peeking through.

  Something trampled through the foliage in the darkness. Miss Periwinkle grabbed me by the collar to tug me back.

  “This would be a good time to lend me some of that magic, my dear,” she said.

  I tugged off one of her gloves and took her hand in mine. I didn’t know if skin on skin contact was required, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt. I had never done this consciously before, though I had lent my magic to others unintentionally. Miss Periwinkle’s weathered face
creased in fear. I closed my eyes and imagined my energy spindling up into my arm and down into hers. She sighed.

  The thrashing grew louder. She raised her wand into the air.

  The neigh of a horse came from my right. “Did a fair maiden call?”

  Bart trampled out of the darkness and into view, batting his long lashes at me. His hot breath steamed in the cold night air.

  Miss Periwinkle gasped. I’d had a similar reaction the first time I’d gazed upon him. His black fur was sleek and shiny. Beads of sweat rolled across his rippling muscles. The rainbow tail and mane glowed with light. The gold horn was a nice touch too.

  “I’m so glad to see you!” I rushed forward to meet him. “We need your help.”

  He trampled closer and nudged his nose under my hand. I petted his him. It took all of my will not to hug him. Anything this pure and innocent-looking was hard not to want to cuddle. But I knew from experience he would take that affection the wrong way.

  “We have an emergency,” I said. “Two students went into the forest before dinner and didn’t come back. Have you seen them? Two young ladies?”

  “Yeah. Word on the trail is that two idiots went into the forest searching for unicorns. As if that’s going to work.” He snorted and shook his glittery mane. That must have been when he caught sight of Miss Periwinkle. “Who is this lovely lady?”

  Miss Periwinkle looked over her shoulder and back to Bart confused.

  “This is Miss Periwinkle, the school librarian. Miss Periwinkle, this is Bart. He is my unicorn friend.”

  He winked at me when I said the word, as if this was a joke.

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance, milady.” Bart lowered his head.

  “Gertrude, please.” She stared, her gaze transfixed on his horn. She stepped forward and stroked his rainbow mane.

  “Can you help us?” I asked.

  “Hmm?” Bart stared at Mrs. Periwinkle with longing.

  “Focus.” I snapped my fingers next to his ear. “Can you help us find the girls? Will they be with the herd?”

  “No. The two teenagers I saw are going to repel unicorns with their sexual history.” He nuzzled Miss Periwinkle’s hand.