“But… what if they found something?”
“At your house? They wouldn’t.”
“They might,” she says. “You know my mum.‘Information wants to be free.’ ‘There’s no such thing as a bad thought.’Our library is practically as big as Watford’s and better stocked. If you wanted to find something dangerous in there, I’m sure you could.”
“But the Mage doesn’twantto hurt your family.”
“Whodoeshe want to hurt, Simon?”
“People who want to hurt us!” I say. I practically shout it. “People who want to hurt me!”
Penny folds her arms and looks at me. She’s mostly stopped crying. “The Mage isn’t perfect. He’s not always right.”
“No one is. But we have to trust him. He’s doing his best.” As soon as I say it, I feel a pound of guilt settle in my stomach. I should have told the Mage about the ghost. I should have told Penny. I should have told thembothbefore I told Baz. I could be spying for the wrong side.
“I need to think about this,” Penny says. “It’s not my secret to tell—oryours.”
“All right,” I agree.
“All right.” A few more tears well up on her, and she shakes her head again. “I should go. I can’t believe Baz hasn’t come back with the house master yet. They probably think he’s lying—”
“I don’t think he’s snitching on you.”
She huffs. “Of course he is. I don’t care. I have bigger worries.”
“Stay for a bit,” I say. If she stays, I’ll tell her about Baz’s mum.
“No. We can talk about this tomorrow. I just needed to tell you.”
“Your family will be safe,” I say. “You don’t have to worry about it. I promise.”
Penelope looks unconvinced, and I half expect her to point out how worthless my words have been so far. But she just nods and tells me she’ll see me at breakfast.
40
BAZ
I could watch Bunce swing for this.
(I didn’t think it was possible for anyone to get past the residence hall’s gender barriers. Trust Bunce to find a way. She’s incessantly fiendish.)
But I don’t even care.
I find my way down to the Catacombs and hunt mindlessly.
My mother’s tomb is here. I hate to think that she might be watching me. Can souls see through the Veil? Does she know I’ve become one of them?
I wonder sometimes what would have happened if she’d lived.
I was the only child in the nursery who was Turned that day. The vampires might have taken me with them if my mother hadn’t stopped them.
My father came for me as soon as he heard. And he and Fiona did everything they could to heal me—but they knew I was changed. They knew the blood lust would manifest itself eventually.
And they just…
They went on acting like nothing had happened. Crowley, they’re lucky I didn’t start devouring people as soon as I hit puberty. I don’t think my father ever would have mentioned it, even if he’d caught me draining the maid.“Basil, change into some new things for dinner. You’ll upset your stepmother.”
Though he’d much prefer to catch medisrobingthe maid… (Definitely more disappointed in my queerness than my undeadness.)
