“You okay, Little Gem?” Dad asked, noticing my stare-off with my bestie’s father. “Do you have an issue with that elder?”
Belle’s dad dismissed us, releasing me from his glare and turning to face forward. “That’s Belle’s father. I’m not sure ofhis name.”
“Elder Monroe,” Mom added, narrowing her eyes on his back. “I’ve never been a fan of that man. He’s cold and calculating,and some of the rulings under his watch are downright cruel.”
All the hopes I’d had to chat with him about our issue at the school were gone now. In fact, I kind of wished Belle had nevertalked to him about it, because he was clearly making judgments. My fingers itched to steal my friend away, but at least sheseemed content, smiling happily into his face as he gave her attention. For once.
It wasn’t hard to understand why she preferred her mom’s company, though, to be fair, as I watched him lean forward and grabher hand, he wasn’t as bitingly cold to his daughter as he’d been to me. I wondered if his coldness toward me was becausehe thought I’d put Belle at risk by not speaking up sooner about the monsters.
I was distracted when dinner arrived, served family style on huge wooden trays. “I love family weekend,” Trevor said, addinga second serving of everything to his plate. “They always bring out the best foods to impress the parents.”
“We need to do this at least once a month when we graduate,” Jenna said, reaching for roast chicken. “No matter where we all are in the world, we need to make the effort to be together.”
As long as we had access to the witch portals, we could cross vast distances easily. Even if Dad had to organize and pickup those of us who hadn’t graduated and therefore weren’t tapped into the network.
“I hope we do this until we’re old and gray,” Alice said with a sniffle. “I don’t want to lose this feeling.”
Mom lifted her napkin and dabbed at her eyes. “Dad and I lucked out with you five. And I can’t wait to add more little witchesand warlocks to the dinner table. This is just the beginning of your journeys, kiddos. There are so many wonderful new memoriesto make.”
We were an emotional bunch, caught up in the melancholy of these milestones and final experiences. The days that felt likethegood old daysbut were stepping stones to the future—an unknown and possibly terrifying future.
After dinner, we walked with Mom and Dad to the gates. “I’ll be back in the morning,” she said as she hugged each of us. “Ihear tomorrow we get a display from the fire elementals, and I can’t miss Trevor and the rest of your dad’s students.” Hisadvanced students were supposed to be impressive, what with all the magma juggling and creating infernos within the palmsof their hands.
After they left, all of us crashed in the twins’ room, not quite ready to let the family togetherness end. We played cardsand binged on junk food that Trevorprocured—aka stole—from the kitchens. By the time I was in bed, I marveled at the perfection of the day we’d had.
Only to wake up the next day to an absolute shitshow.
I’d just left the dorms heading down to meet my family when I ran into Belle and her father.
“Pais!” she called, waving me over.
Elder Monroe was dressed in a different gray suit, his hair as prim and slicked back as it had looked last night, and hisgaze just as cold. “Hey, friend,” I said, forcing a smile. No way would I let this arrogant elder see me sweat, even if hewas acting rude as Hel. “It’s nice to meet you, Elder Monroe.”
There was a slight twitch along his jawline, as if the sound of his name coming from me bothered him. “Nice to finally puta face to the name, Ms. Hallistar. Belle has told me a lot about you, and the—” he cleared his throat “—happenings aroundthe college.”
I nodded, pushing down my unease as I decided to ask him if he had any information; he couldn’t hate me more than he clearlyalready did. “She said you might have some insights for us, a way to figure out who is creating these monsters or how they’regetting into the school.”
He smiled and I got strong shark vibes, as if he’d scented blood in the water. “This isn’t the first time there have beenmonsters such as these in our community, Ms. Hallistar. You should readThe Reapers of Purgatory, and then investigate the witch massacres of 1859. I think you’ll find it quite interesting.” The air virtually crackledwith tension as he stared me down, and I refused to look away. This asshole was almost at Logan’s level of threatening mewithout uttering one threatening word. It also hadn’t slipped my attention that he’d saidnice to put a face to the nameand notnice to meet you.
“Dad’s a history buff,” Belle said cheerily, missing all the undertones in her dad’s reply. “If he says to check those booksout, we definitely should.”
I nodded, wary.
Belle continued in her typical A-type personality way. “Are there any spells we should be practicing to protect ourselves?”
“The only way to protect yourself is through the death ofthe witch involved,” he drawled. “You need to cut her head off to ensure she’s not able to practice her dark magic.”
“You keep saying witch,” I said, still meeting his dark stare unflinchingly. “Do the elders have a suspect?”
Whatever fake animation had been in his face vanished, leaving just those dead eyes. “It’s always a witch. Learn your history,young lady, or I might think you’re at Weatherstone due to a certain professor and not your own abilities.”
“Dad!” Belle snapped, taking a small step back as though he’d slapped her. “Don’t talk to her like that. Not only is Paisleypowerful enough to be at whatever college she wants, she was almost killed three times by these creatures. She’s the victimhere, and we don’t victim shame.”
Like a pixie of happiness bopped him on the head, his smile brightened, and that threatening vibe he’d been shooting my wayvanished. “Absolutely, sweetheart. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
Belle relaxed, buying what he was selling, but I wouldn’t be letting my guard down around him any time soon. “The blanketis up, Dad, so we shouldn’t have any incidents for the rest of the year. We’ll do more research in the meantime.”
Elder Monroe brushed his hand lightly over her red hair. “I know, and with that, we should leave your friend to find her family.We have a breakfast date before I must leave for the council meeting.”
