By the time the sun sets, my stomach is in knots. I choke down a granola bar to shut it up and text Tori, asking her to meet me at my dorm tomorrow and tell me everything she knows about the Council and how it operates. And maybe more witchy stuff like familiars, since the fucking cat is now yowling outside my window. I open it just enough for the scrawny furball to slip through and leap onto my bed, where he flops down and lifts his leg in the air.
“If you clean your balls on my pillow again, I’ll get you neutered.” He stops with his tongue stuck in blep, and lays down to knead my blanket instead.
“Yeah… definitely going to ask Tori about that.”
The Headmaster’s office looks the same on Monday morning as it did when I met with him and Brandt on my first day, except now Roth, Thane, and Killian are standing behind me as we all wait for the portal to activate in the ancient floor mirror. Church and Brandt talk softly amongst themselves while I try to ignore the other three.
“You never answered my text,” Roth whispers as his heat engulfs my back, but I refuse to give him the satisfaction of knowing how nervous he makes me.
“I never gave you my phone number.” I glance over my other shoulder at Thane and Killian—it had to have been one of them.
Roth’s breath is hot on my neck when he speaks next. “You’d do well to remember there’s very little that can stop me from getting what I want.”
Even as I suppress a shiver, I seethe quietly. “Why are you even here?”
“Someone had to give Luther’s testimony.”
“He couldn’t have just fucking written it down?” I frown.
“We’ve also been called as witnesses?—”
I turn to face him and glare, crossing my arms. “How can you be a witness to something you didn’t see?”
“—and as future Junior Councilmen we have an obligation to advocate for and protect our fellow students from any threats.”
“Oh yeah?” I quirk my eyebrow, “then why didn’t you protectmefromhim?” Church clears his throat from behind us and I turn back to them.
“Are you ready?” Church gestures to the portal.
“Can’t fucking wait,” I whisper under my breath, and Killian chuckles behind me. Just like that night in my apartment, the runes etched into the mirror frame glow white and the desilvered surface ripples. It shatters around Church’s body when he steps through first, and Brandt motions for me to go next. The glass fractures once more when I reach out and disturb the surface, making my fingertips go numb. Before I can chicken out, I take a deep breath and step through.
For a split second, it feels like falling into icy water, hearing the frozen surface crack and break from somewhere above me. The next moment, I’m stepping onto shining marble floors asthe atrium’s stained-glass ceiling creates a kaleidoscope of color that floods the entry room.
I know we’re in New York City somewhere, but Church only gave me the broad strokes of how today would go. “Where are we?” I ask him, but he’s not the one who answers.
“Well, you’re definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.”
I whip around when I hear Augustine’s deadpan voice and holy fuck, I almost leap into her arms at the sight of her familiar face in this unfamiliar place as the others exit through the portal.
She’d hate it.
“If it’s not the Wicked Witch of the West.” I scoff. “Where’s your better half?”
The dozens of rings in her long black braids sparkle in the multi-colored light as she shrugs. “Tracking down our next victim.”
“Let me guess, they get hand-holding and tea?”
“Oh for sure,” she volleys back.
I tsk. “Lucky fuck.”
Church interrupts us before we can pick up right where we left off so many months ago. “Ms. Hanover, lovely to see you again.”
“Ditto, your Holiness.” He bows her head in mock deference.
Church only sighs as Brandt shakes her hand. “Will you please lead us to the Council Chambers?”
“Of course, follow me.” I’m surprised when she loops her arm through mine and pulls me with her through the winding hallways. For just a moment, I feel less like a prisoner walking to their execution. When we get far enough ahead of the others, I lean in and ask, “Your Holiness?”
