Sydney finally knew about Mom. I just had finished telling her a brief summary of how we ended up here. After Ender and I got back from Singapore, I had told her John was my father, but I didn’t indulge in the exacthowwe got here and our upbringing,just that we lost our mom and he had found us. She had sat there and listened… and it appeared Chaos had also.
The little dragon hunkered down, and I wondered if he was more sensitive to the effects of the grimoire.
“I agree, Chaos,” Sydney said from her desk. “I don’t like that big black book either.” Her gaze shifted to me. “Should I take him for another walk?”
“I think he would like that.” Even though I had just taken him for a short stroll through the woods, he always had energy. And this late, even the stragglers I’d seen wouldn’t be out. This tiny dorm room wasn’t doing him any good. I’d have to figure out something soon. “But he might need some convincing to go.”
Chaos was still hunkered down, his eyes in narrow slits as his glare pierced the book.
After some convincing—and potato chips—Chaos left with Sydney.
Finally free of hot dragon breath and death glares, I opened the grimoire, immediately becoming entranced by its contents. Its pages were thick but fragile, with a little amount of dust coating the edges. I frowned. The basement had a preservation spell to protect its belongings. I imagined the dust had to have come with the book prior to its arrival at the academy. Viv would’ve made some comment regarding how old this dust must have been if she were with me.
But she didn’t need to touch or be near this book. I didn’t even let Sydney get close to it.
The majority of the grimoire was in a language I didn’t recognize, which was upsetting. After flipping through some pages, I found a couple words in Latin that stuck out.Circulus obscurus. The Dark Circle. Translating took some time, as I wasn’t as fluent in Latin as I was French or Spanish. And I really hoped I wouldn’t have to speak any of this.
A section on the first page had a few Latin words with reference to a clan called The Dark Circle. Its members wore a dark circle on their palm, indicating some sort of link between them. The clan leader’s name wasn’t mentioned, just that they had been powerful and had been a level four ether mage in their previous life.
My dorm room door flew open, Chaos barging in with Sydney pressed against the doorframe, her hand resting on the handle. He jumped into the air, using his back claws to grab the grimoire from my hand. The grimoire dropped to the floor and fire spewed out of Chaos’s mouth at the leather-bound book.
“Chaos!” I shouted, jumping off my bed. “What are you doing?”
I spared a glance at Sydney, but she just shrugged. “He was very adamant about coming back.”
The flames disappeared, leaving a burnt circle around the unharmed grimoire. The smell of burnt fibers filled the room, leaving me astonished that an alarm hadn’t gone off. I grabbed the cloth and tossed it over the book, not wanting to grab it until it cooled off.
Chaos growled at the book, but I was able to coax him away now that the cloth was over it. Once enough time had passed that I felt the book was no longer scalding, I tucked it safely away under my bed. Surprisingly, the fibers of the cloth had not been singed. The book was truly evil.
Chapter Forty-Six
Ender
Thatwasn’tme.
That was what I told myself for the millionth time throughout the night. That was what Priscilla had told me and what Selene would have told me if I hadn’t avoided her after the fight yesterday. I had control of my magic. Very good control.
I sat upright, no longer able to stare at the ceiling in my dorm room. Nick had checked in on me last night and offered me space, which I appreciated. I was sure he appreciated it too, as it gave him an excuse to sneak into Gwen’s room and stay with her.
My pajamas were soaked in sweat, and I decided to shower. Nothing would help the blame I carried for the extensive punches I had thrown at David, but a shower was a good place to wash off last night’s sleepless sweat. Nick had said David was being treated by Nurse Adair and would make a full recovery. I would have to find David today and apologize.
The shower was cold. I spent extra time under the water. I grabbed a pair of joggers and a T-shirt, thankful it was Saturday.
Not that I would have attended classes today.
Someone knocked hard at my door as I finished pulling the hem of my shirt down. I opened the door, expecting to see either Selene or Priscilla, but it was Guard Taylor. He had escorted us to and from the academy when we went to Dominica. I recognized the majority of the guards but wasn’t familiar with all their names, as they didn’t typically introduce themselves or wear a name badge.
“The headmaster would like you to meet him in his office.” He stared at me.
“Now?”
He nodded and left, not waiting for me.
Okay.I thought he had delivered the message because he was my escort, but he was already gone.
Sighing, I threw on a pair of sneakers and headed to the main building, keeping my head down. At eight in the morning, not many students were out. The sun wouldn’t rise for a few more hours and the paths were lit by mage lights.
One knock and I walked into Headmaster John’s office, the door already cracked open. He sat behind his desk, going through papers. Priscilla wasn’t present, which surprised me. She had followed me into the forest last night, but I had asked to be alone when our conversation had gone nowhere—much from my own doing.
