As if he could read my mind, Hunter’s green gaze sought mine. “Odette doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. She would never harm someone without a very good reason.”
“Yeah.” Eva stepped forward, like a lawyer dead set on defending her client. “Odette would never—”
Headmistress Wake shot out of her seat. “Enough! Miss Proctor! Mr. Wardwell! How dare you burst into my office?” Her no-nonsense bellow caused my entire body to stiffen and my champions to stop dead in their tracks. Once she was sure they wouldn’t start yammering again, Headmistress Wake shook her head in disapproval. “I understand coming to support your friend, but this is absurd. Never, and I meannever, enter my office without permission again. Is that clear?”
Eva and Hunter nodded.
“Good. And at any rate, your concern was unwarranted. Miss Dane has sufficiently just defendedherself.” Her eyes shifted to me, and I swore that through her clear annoyance, I caught a glimmer of respect. “However, the staff has a killer to catch, so I’d appreciate if the three of you moved on—together. Go to the initiates’ tower and remain there until morning. Say nothing to the other students, I’ll make an announcement tomorrow. Is that clear?”
We nodded simultaneously.
“Good. You are dismissed.”
My defenders and I rushed out of the headmistress’ chambers as fast as our feet could carry us.
Chapter Thirteen
“Oh my God, tell us everything!” Eva said once we were out of earshot from Headmistress Wake’s office.
I shook my head, still disbelieving everything that had happened. “I—I couldn’t sleep after today . . . after Tabitha and all the other crap.”
Hunter and Eva nodded sympathetically.
“Whenever I worried too much at home, I always went for a walk and felt better.” I gulped. That mechanism of self-soothing would never be the same. I wasn’t sure if I could ever go for a night stroll again andnotremember tonight. “I sat by the lake and kept hearing a noise nearby . . . howling.”
“Like a dog?” Hunter asked.
“Sure . . .” I trailed off and bit the inside of my bottom lip before continuing. “To be honest, I’m not sure what it was. But I heard that and screaming. I followed the sounds, saw a weird flash of red in the woods, and found Tabitha on the ground.” My voice cracked, the anxiety threatening to overwhelm me, but I needed to get this out—wanted someone to be on my side. “I tried to help, even did CPR, but when I searched for her pulse, there was nothing . . .”
“And then you ran back in here, all covered in blood, and the headmistress tried to blame you, even though there’s another obvious explanation.” Eva spat the words out, as if taking great offense to each syllable.
Anotherobviousexplanation? I hadn’t even mentioned that I thought the red could have something to do with a demon or shifter. And the headmistress didn’t seem to have a clue what was going on, so how did Eva? My eyebrows knit together. Hunter too looked more resigned than confused—which made zero sense.
“Hold up.” I stopped in the middle of the hall. “What’s the explanation? I haven’t even told you everything yet, so what are you talking about?”
“Oh, you know. Only the freaking curse that’s been killing off kids born in our year. It all adds up with what you said. Fulfilled curses give off a flash of light, usually red or a poisonous-looking green.” Eva waved her hands as if her words were nothing.
My mouth fell open. “C—c—curse?” I bleated.
Hunter and Eva stared at me, their eyes—bright shades of blue and green—cutting through me like brilliant gems.
Hunter gaped. “Holy shit. You didn’t know?”
Eva gasped. “What! No way!”
“Will someone please tell me what the hell you’re talking about?”
“But—but, I just . . . ” Eva looked around, as if the empty hall would supply her with an answer, before returning her attention to me. “I assumed when you said your parents didn’t want you here, it was because of the curse. It seemed so obvious. Honestly, it was one argument I used to get out ofcominghere.”
“What curse?!” I hissed.
Eva was too flabbergasted to speak, so Hunter stepped up to the plate. “Haven’t you noticed how the first year class is much smaller than the other years? Usually it’s the opposite at Spellcasters because, well, it’s not unheard of for students to die on missions, but those don’t start until our Grind year. Most classes begin with about a hundred students. For our year, fewer applied. Their families claimed it would be a poor choice to congregate us all in one place. Really, only the serious legacies tested in, and . . . a few others.” His tone dipped at the end.
One hundred students? Our class had thirty-one—thirty, now that Tabitha was gone.
“So people didn’t apply because the curse scared them?”
“Yes, but to be honest, kids our age have been dying every year since we were born.” Eva shook her head. “I can’t believe your parents kept this from you. People don’t talk about it much because it scares them, but it really shook the witching community when the curse was cast.”
