Helga laces her wrinkled hands together on her desk. Strange symbols are tattooed over both her hands and run down the length of her fingers, reminding me of my nightmare. “Tell me about this symbol you saw.”
Helga gives me a shrewd look. She watches me the same way her raven does, intense and unblinking. I fidget uncomfortably in my seat. I have to look away, unable to bear her scrutiny a moment longer.
“It was a triangle… three of them, interlocked together.”
The words sound strange, forced from my lips. Before I evenrememberedseeing it this morning, the same symbol appeared in my nightmare last night. Almost as if my subconscious was trying to tell me something.
After a long moment, Helga says, “You are not to breathe a word of this to anyone.”
“What?” I ask, unable to hide my surprise. “Shouldn’t people know? There’s a murderer in Skallagrim. More people could be in danger. Mylittle sistercould be—”
“The school is safe,” Helga says harshly.
I must be glaring at her because she adds, “In thirty years, we’ve had fewer than three deaths. After the Tragedy, the gates of this school nearly closed forever. A long legacy passed down through my family, all the way back to Egill himself, was almost destroyed.”
I clench my teeth together. She’s as stubborn as her sister.
“My father was ousted after the Tragedy, which is how I came to sit here. If word gets out we have a killer on campus, Skallagrim won’t survive this time,” Helga says, her voice grave. “This school has only ever closed once. During a time of religious extremism, we were forced to. Do you know what happened?”
I shake my head. “Of course not.”
“We call it Brennuöldin, or the fire century.” Helga tips her chin toward the stone etching on the wall. “Those are the names of every Icelander hunted down and burned alive for practicing seiðr during that time. Jón Rögnvaldsson was the first ofhundreds. Witches. Berserkir. Seers.”
My stomach sinks as I realize just how many names are written there.
And how many morearen’t.
“Once they thought they’d burned the last of us, society turned on our hunters, too. You see, hunting us required them to learn seiðr themselves. When we reopened Skallagrim—privately funded this time—we welcomed in the remaining hunters, ensuring they only hunt wayward seiðr users in order to keep our existence secret.
“Thatis why Skallagrim is so important,” Helga continues. “We provide a safe haven for seiðr andallits practitioners. But I have a board to answer to. I can’t—nay, Iwon’t—let anything interfere with that mission.”
Clearly Helga intends to sweep Emilía’s death under the rug. One girl’s death may be an acceptable loss to her, but not to me. If there’s a killer at Skallagrim Academy, then Bea is in danger too.
I push up from my chair and head for the door.
“Don’t even think of interfering with the investigation,” Helga adds wryly.
“And if I refuse?” I ask.Damn this truth-teller tea.
“Then you’ll be expelled and face the justice system back in the United States. However, I would hate for that to happen. It’s vital you continue your studies at Skallagrim. Perhaps if your father had finished his, then—”
“Wait. What?”
“Did you not know?” Helga lifts her brows, wrinkling herforehead. “Your father, Henry, once attended Skallagrim Academy, but he never completed his studies. Perhaps if he had, then things would have turned out differently.”
I clench my hand into a shaking fist. Maybe Mom would still be alive. Maybe we’d still be a family. Maybe I would actually behappy. My nails break the skin of my palm, raw and painful. Even if I didn’t kill Emilía, unless I learn how to control my berserking, Icouldkill someone else.
Just like my dad.
Ihaveto stay at Skallagrim. I have no choice.
“Fine,” I force out. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Helga nods, satisfied. “Then you may leave. But if you hope to stay at Skallagrim, I expect you to take your lessons seriously.Deadlyseriously.” She meets my eyes with a grave expression.
Her words feel like another threat.
CHAPTER TWELVEAMUND
