“Well, they don’t have a full listing of all the staff,” Rhi said. “In fact, they don’t have a lot of the information I’d expect a college to have on their website. It’s kind of weird, actually.”
My heart began to race. Asteria told me to trust Jess. But was one of the few things she told me about herself a lie?
“I did find one thing with the name ‘Ballard’ and Fairhaven, but it’s just a wedding announcement for a woman named Hannah Ballard who had her wedding on the campus in June,” Rhi went on. “Maybe this Jess is a relative.”
“Maybe,” I allowed.
“Did she happen to mention if ‘Jess’ was short for anything? It’s not a name you usually see unless it’s short for something else, like Jessie or Jessica.”
“No, she didn’t,” I said. “I’m sorry, Rhi, I didn’t realize when I was talking to her that we’d have to track her back down. I should have asked her more questions.”
“Don’t be silly, Wren, how could you have known? I’ll keep searching,” Rhi said. “And in the meantime, I’ve emailed this Dr. Vesper. Igot an out of office reply, but it did specify that she’ll be back in a few days, so hopefully she can point us in the right direction.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked.
Rhi looked up at me over the top of her reading glasses, looking thoughtful. “You can get started on today’s lessons,” she finally said, in what I recognized as her teacher-y voice. I say “teacher-y” because she didn’t have enough of a commanding or authoritative tone to sound like a real teacher—well, maybe a kindergarten teacher. She was just too sweet. In spite of the sweetness though, I glared at her.
“Seriously? We have this grimoire crisis happening, and you think I should do homework?” I asked.
“Yes,” Rhi said calmly. “And so does your mother. We both agree that shoring up your magic is the best use of your time.” She looked up at me, saw my mutinous expression, and smiled sadly. “Wren, we have to assume that all of this will lead back to the Darkness and, eventually, to you. We can’t leave you so undefended as you were the last time you had to face that kind of situation.”
I deflated. She was right, though I hated to admit it. Still, that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.
I therefore spent the day rather grumpily working through a steady stack of lessons as my mom, Rhi, and Persi spent time examining the grimoire, trying to research Jess and, in Persi’s case, disappearing for hours at a time and answering questions related to her whereabouts like vicious attacks. I didn’t ask. I knew where she was going.
She was visiting Bernadette Claire. I imagined she was the only person visiting her, aside from a dutiful few from her family coven. Bernadette had been recovering in Sedgwick Cove’s Community Health Center which, aside from helping with stitches, broken bones, and fevers, also helped people recover from magic gone wrong. Getting information about Bernadette had been about as successful as squeezing blood from a stone, so I’d given up. From Nova Claire, I’d gathered that Bernadette was basically catatonic since her possession by Sarah Claire. No one knew if she’d ever recover. But if one person was unwilling to give up on that possibility, however remote it might be, it was Persi.
As the day wore on, I threw myself so deeply into my studies that when I opened the door to see Zale and Eva standing on the porch, their faces glowing with excitement, I was momentarily confused.
“Hey,” I said. “What are you guys doing here?”
Zale’s face fell immediately. “What are we doing here? Did you seriously forget we had plans tonight?”
I looked down at my pajama pants and sweatshirt ensemble, then at the time. “Apparently, yes. I’m sorry, you should just?—”
“We are not going without you,” Eva interrupted, raising a hand so close to my face that I had to stop talking. “Just march that forgetful behind up the stairs and change. We’ll wait for you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Nova called from her car, and revved her engine.
“Ignore her,” Eva said. “Go.”
I looked them both up and down, noting the all-black outfits they were wearing. “Am I also supposed to dress like one of the tourists we’ve been tripping over for the last two weeks?”
“Black is traditional, yes,” Zale said. “Sorry, we should have mentioned that. Didn’t your mom or your aunts tell you?”
“No, because I forgot we were even?—”
“Don’t worry about it, just go change. It’s gonna be cold tonight, so bundle up.”
“And what exactly are we doing again?”
“No more time for questions!” Eva cried, pointing behind me up the stairs. To emphasize the point, Nova honked her horn impatiently.
“Okay, okay!” I said. “Be right back!” And then disappeared up the stairs.
As I passed my mom’s room, she poked her head out. “Did I hear someone at the door?” she asked.
“Yeah, it’s Zale and Eva and Nova. They invited me out with them tonight, but I forgot. Is it okay if I go?”
