Squabbling voices met my ear, and the stern tone of Headmistress Wake was among them.
It had worked. I’d made a warphole home.
I released a breathe I hadn’t realized that I’d been holding. “This will take us to Spellcasters.”
The guys slid their shoulders beneath mine, lending me their support, and we stepped through together.
Chapter Forty-Four
Eva studied me as we entered Agnes Sampson Hall two days later. On my other side, Alex helped me walk. He had clung to me like glue since the Beltane Trial, which I didn’t mind. When we’d walked through the warphole into Spellcasters after the trial, membersof the faculty, spymasters from the PIA, and our parents had descended upon us and hadn’t let up since. Having his support made the many questions and scrutiny much more bearable.
Right after returning to the academy, the headmistress had whisked us away to her office with our parents. Hunter recounted our story there—including the fact that Ishtar had marked me.
No one knew what being marked by one of the six royals of Hell meant, and they’d charged Professor de Spina with figuring it out. After a day of researching, he’d come up with something.
Unsurprisingly, being marked by demonic royalty—or demon-touched, as some texts called it—was rare. So rare that there were only two other recorded cases. In both those cases, the markings were made right before the Hell Gate had been sealed shut, leaving demons only one way to travel to our realm—blood sacrifice. The more power a demon possessed, the bigger and more elaborate the sacrifice needed to be, which was why royal demons had not been sighted in centuries. But even though the royal demons had been banished, the marks stayed with the demon-touched people for the rest of their lives.
The markings would allow the monarch who’d marked the person to find them, anytime, anywhere, as long as they were in the same realm. It was like the demon rune we’d seen on Efraim, except Ishtar hadn’t needed to draw a precise rune into my skin, nor smear me with her blood. She’d only needed totouchme.
What was worse, the mark might even allow the royal to possess a weak-willed person without eye contact. Thank the universe I was stubborn and had sent Ishtar back to Hell. I had a feeling the royal demons wouldn’t be performing another mass execution to get her into our realm again any time soon. The numbers they must have sacrificed had to have been astronomical.
Of course, some didn’t believe that I’d sent Ishtar back to Hell, but they hadn’t been there. They hadn’t seen what we’d experienced.
They were wrong.
“Our parents are sitting together.” Eva pointed through the crowds of families in Agnes Sampson Hall, and a smile bloomed on my face.
“That’s amazing, they—” My words fell away as two other families approached mine. The Wardwell clans—together.
My eyes shot to Alex and then Hunter. “Did you guys know?” I nodded at their parents, who were a little stiff, but attempting to be civil.
Alex’s eyes widened. “No.”
Hunter’s lips turned up in a small smile. “You were both in the infirmary. Mom mentioned something about interacting with my uncle, but I didn’t know thateveryonewas talking. She said that after they saw us coming through the warphole together and nearly dead, they realized something had to change. They must’ve made up last night in alumni housing.” His eyes were misty, and a lump formed in my throat.
“Well,” Eva said, her voice thick with emotion. “Why don’t we join them?”
The four of us made our way to the table, and the families scooted over so we could sit in the middle, next to each other. Alex gripped my hand, and our totems, which we both decided we were never taking off again, flared brightly.
“What does that mean?” Mom asked, catching the light.
“We’re not sure,” I admitted. “But after Beltane, you can bet that we’ll find out.”
Alex leaned over and kissed my cheek. “We’re gonna find out exactly what the prophecy is and how we’re related to it. Even if we have to travel back in time to visit Merlin and Morgan themselves.”
My eyes bulged. Was he talking about using a warphole to travel throughtime?
A sly smile played on Alex’s lips at my reaction. “That last bit was a joke, sweets.”
Everyone chuckled, and before anyone could broach another subject, the sound of a small bell rang through the hall, capturing our attention.
Headmistress Wake stood on the stage, along with the headmasters and headmistresses of the three other spy schools of the United States. It was the first time that I’d seen Headmistress Wake looking flustered and exhausted. I was sure that the last two days had been nearly as hard on her as it had been on me. Between worrying about her daughter healing from the vampire attack, and dealing with the drama around the school, she had been the busiest person on campus.
“Thank you all for being here tonight,” Headmistress Wake said, her tone heavy. “After the Beltane Trial, I’ll admit that I expected some of our students would not return for their final ceremony. Let alone for the Grind next year. It seems, however, that I have underestimated you. Just as I have done in small ways all year.” Her gaze met mine, and my breath hitched. “I will not be making that mistake again, for today, you become more than hopeful initiates of the Supernatural Spy Society of the United States. You all become full-fledged members.”
A flare of blue magic rose behind her, and three emblems appeared in midair. “Five of you— students decided by your professors and the heads of the other spy academies—will earn something more. As you all know, the PIA ranks spies of the witching race in three ways, depending on their skill, courage, and dedication to the cause. The level you will begin at when you join the PIA is the lowest rank, the rank of emissary spy.” The symbol on the far right lit up bright white. “The second level, which many of you will achieve after some years of the agency, is sorcerer spy.” The center emblem began to glow an otherworldly shade of silver.
“And the third level is spymaster. This is reserved for only those spies who show the utmost dedication to their cause, their country, and their peers. At Spellcasters, we rank the top five initiates approaching their Grind year as junior spymasters. They will be the leaders among their peers in their next academic year. The top two of the five will be awarded the supreme honor of head spymaster.”
