That couldn’t happen again. Not if we were to save her.
Max walked away, still loudly complaining to shrubs, random passersby, and what he thought was me dawdling behind him. “I swear you’ve got one hell of a death wish. One of these days, you’re gonna get me killed right along with you.”
As I stood at the door, I swore it on my objects, on the mug and the leather cord that were all I had left of my brother: This wasn’t going to be another Aaron. I wasn’t going to let another person I was supposed to protect slip out of my grasp.This time, I’ll be there.I’m not going to leave or miss anything. I won’t let you slip away into the darkness. I’ll figure this out and fix you, I promise.
I pressed my hand to the door, whispered my silent oath against the wooden frame. “I’ll find out what’s happened to you if it kills me.”
FROM THE JOURNAL OF DANICA STEWART
MARCH 25TH[ONE WEEK BEFORE THE MURDER]
You Promised. You PROMISED ME. YOU LIED YOULIEDLIEDLIEDTOMELIED
MARCH 26TH
TRUST NO ONE.*
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Rival
“Back again, I see?” Vern said.
The next day, I was at the library. Back when I was a student, I was here all the time. I used to go just to talk to Vern. Tell him about problems I’d had with Magic,* and he’d suggest this or that textbook. He’d tell me about his children, grown and moved away now, and his wife, Sonia, who worked part-time in the cafeteria. He missed his children, but he was proud of the people they’d become. He always said he just wanted to work long enough to be able to leave them “a little something.” He was patient, and kind, and sensitive, and I loved how after thirty-five years of marriage, he’d still fret over what to buy Sonia for her birthday. He was my friend in this hellhole, and I loved him fiercely.
“I hate to ask …” I said, biting my lip, “but do you have anything else?”
Vern raised an eyebrow. “Must be some curse if you haven’t found what you’re looking for in the entire library.”
“I’ve found hexes, but none that seem to fit the effects of Dani’s. The scarring, the”—I swallowed—“the behavior. It’s unusual, to say the least. Whatever it is, the spell is very old.”
He lifted a brow.
“What?”
“I’m just glad to see you doing what you love again, is all. You and Max back in here, it feels like old times.”
I sighed. “I don’t know. At least before, there wasn’t a chance of anyone dying if I didn’t get my notes on Object Transference in on time.”
He waved me away. “If anyone can do it, it’s you two. To be honest, Max seems on cloud nine since you came back. I have half a mind to think he cast the damn thing himself. Haven’t seen him so happy in months.”
I snorted and grew intensely interested in the inner workings of my pen.
Vern skimmed the stack. “As far as books, you’ve got yourself a good sampling here. Except … you’d be remiss to not have Brueste’sAn Analysis of the Black Magicks, little-known companion text to theArs Notoria.”
“You have that? It’s got to be ancient.”
He pressed a key on the computer, which made a less-than-encouragingchug chug clunkuntil he beat the sputtering thing with his palm. “Tck, don’t have it. A student had it last, but hasn’t returned it yet. Joselyn Hart.”
“Joselyn Hart …” I said, the name ringing a bell. “Dani’s old roommate?”
He scratched his head. “Could be. She’s in the physics program, is always checking those books out.”
“Dr. Strauss said she just missed out on acceptance to MIT’s graduate program.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it. Last semester, she cast a spell so a blaring alarm clock followed a student through the halls after he kept a book past due that she had a hold on. Apparently, she kept the spell on the lad for months afterward, even after he returned the book. Messy affair, nearly sent the boy to a nervous breakdown. I tried to get her on staff. Anyone who’s that passionate about books deserves a job, I said, but turns out she just wanted the book. Had some kind of test on it.”
“She admitted to that?”
