“Yes, in the graduate program.”
Max nodded. “I see. Well, we won’t waste any more of your time, ma’am.”
I frowned.
Rose smiled warmly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help. You two have a lovely day.”
“That was weird,” I said, once we were safely out of earshot. “Thought we would’ve asked her more questions, but I guess—”
“Well, we can cross her off the list,” said Max.
“What?” I balked. “What are you talking about? There’s something very off about that woman. Look at these pictures; she looks like a completely different person. And she lied about when she last saw Maya.”
“Frankly, Cel, I don’t see it. I thought she was perfectly nice.”
I squinted at Max. I didn’t think the woman had put a spell on him, and at any rate, her objects seemed to be in too much disarray to be able to do much of anything at the moment. Sometimes, a shiny smile was just as powerful as any spell. Max didn’t think she was capable of a heinous crime.
Maybe he was right.
But I looked back at the pictures from only months prior and thought of how quickly Dr. Oswold had been able to make us trust her. About how quickly she’d shed her skin.
A little like a chameleon, I thought, able to adapt and change form to whatever her environment required.
Whatever it was, I knew I had to do more digging.
FROM THE JOURNAL OF DANICA STEWART
FEBRUARY 20TH[A LITTLE OVER A MONTH BEFORE THE MURDER]
what is being always, and has no becoming,
what is becoming always, and never being?*
your love
CHAPTER TEN
Max and I decided to spend the day gathering everything we could find on hexes. It had been three days since we started investigating, and I was starting to get a little worried about our progress. We looked at hexes throughout history, their limitations, the length of time they lasted, and how much energy it would require to cast one like Dani’s. But like any research on Magic, our progress was slow-going and painful, the texts clunky and unyielding. The most useful was a page from an old reference textbook.
Hex: any spell cast on a person without their consent. Can be fatal, though does not persist after death. See also: Curse.
Potential Symptoms
Sprouting of additional limbs, eyes, or heads
Speaking to persons unseen or known to be dead
Constricted pupils that may seem much smaller than normal
Nausea or vomiting
Fever
Marks on skin and scarring (may or may not be flesh-colored)
Tiredness and weakness
Bleeding
