“Father,” he growled. “This is pointless. I haven’tdoneanything to my magic. I don’t know why you think I could have. You saw to that a long time ago––”
“Be. Silent.”
“But I’ve got to be somewhere,” Bones said, his voice harder. “I’m meeting with one of my professors. It’s for a final. I can’t miss it. We can talk after I––”
“You will not betakingfinals, Caelum,” his father said coldly. “Are you not listening? Several of ours have beencaught.They are likely being questioned, even now. British Magical Enforcement and G.O.R.E. will use Oracles on them. Not to mention revelatory spells, various potions and poisons, all serving to get at the truth. They have Greythorne, and Maskey, both of whom know far too much for my name not to arise. They have Mordopast’s nephew. They will spill all of it, in the end. We have days only, possibly hours to act.”
When Bones didn’t speak, his father’s voice grew colder still.
“Did you really think I would travel all this way, via a mirror and two carriages, merely for a caning? We are leaving. Both of us. As soon as we’ve acquired the other item I came here to retrieve––”
“But that’s not possible.” Bones sounded off-balance. “And why would I go? I wasn’t even with you. Not to mention, if we both disappear, it implicates the entire family, and makes it that much more difficult to claim your innocence. Why not call in your solicitors? Invoke political favors? Half the judges are already beholden to you, not to mention the blackmail material you have on most of the high-ranking members of Council––”
“None of that will matter if there areseditioncharges,” the elder Bones snapped. “It is too late to handle this in the usual ways. We must begin the regime changenow,before they have time to act in counter. I needyoufor that… and since you’ve locked me out, I was forced to come fetch this worthless body for myself. Among other things,” he added in a mutter. His voice grew flatter, more calculated. “Can you locate the hybrid? The female one?”
My skin grew cold.
“Answer me, cur! We need her now that we were unable to obtain her brother.”
“The hybrid?” Caelum asked. “Why in the gods––”
“A human won’t be enough for the ritual,” his father cut in warningly. “Why do you think we broke into the Sanctum in the first place? I need the half-blood, Caelum. I have done the calculations, and thrown the bones. It is the only thing that will work.”
“Work for what?” Caelum asked. “What in the gods would you need a hybrid for?”
Fury burst out of his father, and for the first time, I realized at least some of it was fear.
He was desperate.
“That is not your concern!” his father snarled. “Do as you’re told. Where is she?”
“You can’t justtakeher,” Caelum said, his voice even more stunned-sounding. “Forsooth watches over her. Even if Headmistress Voltaire helped you, or at least got the security teams to look the other way, there are protection spells. Her cousin is one of the Praecuri. You really think you can just march her out of here, in broad daylight, and no one will notice?”
“I thinkyoucan,” his father said coldly.
“How?” Caelum let out a humorless laugh. “You can’t possibly think I could just walk up to her, and––”
“You clearly know other witches,” his father said scornfully. “I can smell cunt in here right now. Can’t you have one of your whores fetch the hybrid here, under some pretext? You obviously had one in your bed last night. Call her back here. Now. Or else––”
His father cut off his own words, mid-speech.
Silence fell, as the elder Bones paused to consider something, as if a new thought had reached him in the middle of his instructions.
“Is she still here?” his father asked coldly.
Bones didn’t speak, but I felt his panic worsen.
“Oh, how delicious,” his father spat, sounding anything but amused. “Sheishere, isn’t she? Do you have her under the bed, Caelum? Or perhaps quivering over the toilet? Is that why you were so slow to answer my call?”
“I genuinely don’t know what you’re talking about.” Caelum’s voice sounded angry for the first time. “You sound positively insane. You want me to help you kidnap the hybrid, then to leave school… for what? To ruin my own life, along with yours? All because you botched a job you didn’t bother to tell me about?”
“Silence!” his father snarled. “Where is she? Why would you leave her in here, listening to us?” I heard the cold smile, practically saw it behind my eyes. “Don’t tell me you were fool enough to grow attached to one of them? I would have thought you’d learned your lesson on that––”
“There’s no one here,” Caelum snapped.
His father laughed. “Oh, I know there is now. Look at you. Have you found someone new to champion, whelp? After finally giving up on your mother?”
“Therewassomeone,” Caelum blurted. “Last night. She left before you got here.” He paused. “You would feel her, if she was here, wouldn’t you?”
