De Spina lifted an eyebrow as his gaze found mine. “Are you saying that you believe a demon did this to Tabitha?”
“I—I’m not sure. All I saw was flashing red. It looked like eyes,” I answered. After a moment, I added, “But I also heard whimpering, like a dog.”
Headmistress Wake didn’t answer, and de Spina sighed. “Many demons have red eyes. But wraiths are the most common lesser demons sent to the human world who fit that description.” He paused for a moment. “Although, I disagree that what happened to Tabitha resulted from a demon attack.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I see no way it could have gotten onto the grounds. Not only that, but there’s the fact that Tabitha was only a first year, with a week of classes under her belt. It’s not like she could properly fight a wraith. The creature should have been able to possess her without issue or causing injury. If it was a wraith that had gotten onto the grounds, why wouldn’t it do so?”
Was.He’d said Tabithawasa first year, which meant she was definitely gone. Although I’d suspected that was the case, a lump rose in my throat, and my eyes dropped to my hands. I hadn’t liked Tabitha, but I wouldn’t have wished this on her.
“So, Professor, what do you—or the healer on staff tonight—surmise did this to the girl?”
That got my attention. I lifted my gaze to find that de Spina was staring at me.
My heart stopped. “You two don’t think I did this, do you?” My voice croaked out of me, a little shaky.
It was one thing for Diana to jump to conclusions. She hated me, and Tabitha had been her friend. The professor and headmistress, however, were people who had power over my life. People who could kick me out of Spellcasters.
Anger smothered my fear at the thought of losing my dream.I can’t let them do that.
I shot up from my chair. “I swear I didn’t! I think something got in through the fence. I also . . .” I shot a hesitant glance between my superiors, wondering just how crazy what I was about to say would sound.
The headmistress’ lips pressed together, and I decided it didn’t matter. I had to go for it.
“I heard a howling right before I found her. If it wasn’t a demon, could it have been a werewolf? Don’t some have red eyes in wolf form? Like juveniles? Or could a demon have possessed a dog?”
De Spina’s eyes widened, and Headmistress Wake inhaled sharply.
“I swear, I didn’t do anything to Tabitha. Why would I have any reason to hurt anyone here?”
Headmistress Wake’s intense, dark glare focused on me. “Do you deny you two had an altercation earlier today?”
My stomach dropped. “No, but I—”
“Perhaps you did not enjoy your shortcomings being demonstrated in front of others?”
I blinked, stunned that she’d gone there. Clearly, Diana had told her about today, which was annoying, but not unexpected.
“I’ve already let it slide that there was an attack outside the confines of a regulated classroom. Really Miss Dane, your parents would be appalled by that sort of behavior, but now this?”
Wait a minute . . . my parents.Hadn’t I heard them talking to the headmistress about how the school was not secure enough? My eyes found the headmistress’, and I shivered. I doubted that she really believed that I did this, but still, I didn’t need my reputation ruined, or to be pushed out of Spellcasters before I even found my footing.
“Headmistress Wake, didn’t my parents bring up the idea of inadequate protection around the school when they were here? Particularly, how their many donations were not being used to make the school more safe?”
Her lips flattened, and de Spina shuffled uneasily, but I pressed on, not willing to give them a moment to dismiss me before I’d said my piece.
“Should they hear about this attack . . . and that I believe the attackers came from the outside, I wonder what they’d do? A council oversees the academy, right? Maybe we should invite them to Spellcasters to make sure everything is fine here?”
The headmistress’ mouth tightened at the corners. “There will be no need for that, Dane. We have a staff of competent witches and wizards who know the academy better than anyone. We’ll see to the investigating. You are—”
The door to the headmistress’ office burst open, and Eva and Hunter came rushing in.
“She’s innocent!” Eva yelled. “We saw Odette not even ten minutes before the attack! There’s no way she’d have had time to do it!”
“Not to mention it seems totally out of character,” Hunter added, his chest puffed out with surety. He looked an impressive figure.
My heart swelled at the vote of confidence—friendship—coming from him. I would have expected it from Eva, we’d bonded and were already tight, but Hunter and I were still finding our way. Or so I’d thought.
