When they’d said witch wine was potent shit, they’d vastly understated just how potent.
Bleary eyed, I pulled myself to stand, swaying for a second before balance kicked in. When I was sure I could walk withoutvomiting again, I headed for the showers, and almost drowned myself for an hour, drinking water straight from the showerhead.My body was so parched that no matter how much water I drank, my mouth remained a desert, and my breath could have meltedpaintwork.
“How many times have you brushed your teeth?”
This question came from another witch standing at the sink, toothbrush in hand.
“Three,” I mumbled. “One for every glass of wine I had. It’s not getting better.”
She groaned, her blond hair lank around her face, darkcircles ringing her eyes. “I know. Who the fuck let me drink witch wine?”
“I fully planned on stopping at one glass,” I said, giving up on the toothbrush because I was wearing my teeth out at thispoint.
“I had four,” she choked around her own toothbrush. “And now I’m planning on crawling back into bed and trying not to die.”
Goddess be damned. “Girl...”
That was all I could get out, because three felt like death, so four must be way worse.
When I was done, I left the bathroom clad in a robe and slippers, my hair wet and stringy. The hot water hadn’t completelyrevived me, but I did feel slightly more awake and alive. In my room I dressed in pajamas and picked up my favorite healingclear quartz. Pressing it against my chest, there was instant relief as the pounding headache and churning gut eased.
As I settled into bed, someone knocked on my door, and with a groan I dragged my ragged ass off my comfortable mattress. WhenI opened the door, Jenna, Alice, Trevor, and Jensen were standing in my doorway.
They looked grim.
“What?” I burst out, my hangover not exactly forgotten, but pushed way down. “What happened?”
“Dad’s been suspended without pay.” Trevor never was one to beat around the bush. He pushed his way into the room. “We needto get home and find out what happened.”
“Suspended without pay,” I repeated, shaking my head. “What? Why?”
Jenna pressed her hand to my forehead. “I told you to go easy on the wine, Pais. You look like death.”
Waving her off, because we had far larger problems than a hangover, I repeated my question.
“The witch wine,” Jensen said grimly. I turned my gaze on him to find his eyes blazing, frantic. The coolheaded water elemental was nowhere to be found. “The chapel burned down last night, and they found out about the witch wine. Dad oversaw the event, and he was reported to the headmaster as having known about the wine and not putting a stop to it.”
“The chapel burned down...” I breathed, confusion adding another layer to the pounding in my head. “How?”
There was a brief flash of memory, that red against the sky, and... Logan. He’d carried me back to my room. He had to bethe one, because I’d woken in another one of his damn hoodies again. A factor I’d been ignoring over the more pressing needofnot dying from witch wine.
“Quite a few were injured, and the library was damaged down one side, but thankfully it was minimal,” Alice whispered, herskin pale and dark circles ringed her eyes. I got the feeling hers weren’t from the wine.
“You said someone reported Dad to the headmaster. Who? A student?”
How could they have known, except if they were nearby when Dad sniffed my drink. Could it have been Logan or Noah? They’dbeen behind me and had all the reason to want to destroy the warlock with a blood oath against him. Dad was the sole moneyearner in our huge family, at least until the twins graduated. We’d be in trouble without his salary and benefits.
If that asshole had been playing the long game all along, I was going to fucking kill him. Later, though, because we wereheading home to see our parents first.
“Give me five minutes,” I said, shooing them out the door. “I’ll get dressed.”
Throwing on jeans and a dark green sweater, I swept my hair back into a ponytail and slapped on a little concealer forthe dark circles. Stepping out of my dorm, my family stood stiffly in the hall, none of them saying a word. “Let’s go.”
Jenna set off first, marching through the hallway. “I’ve organized the transport, since Dad left early this morning. His accessto the school is revoked pending their investigation.”
I was freaking fuming at this point. Dad hadn’t been the only one in charge last night—I’d seen at least three other professors.“Were the other professors on last night suspended too?”
“Only Dad,” Trevor growled, running his hand through his dark hair until it stood on end. “The others claimed they were unaware,and since there were no complaints about them knowing, their word was taken for it.”
