“Nah, it’s stopped bleeding already,” Thaddeus said, touching it lightly. “Mad Dog punched me when I told Esther I didn’t want to sign up for The Mission. He let me go, though, once Esther convinced him words would work better than fists.”
“Why are they so insistent you join?” Charlie asked.
“Esther caught me spying,” Thaddeus confessed. “You put me up to tailing our angel professors, and, well… I think I might’ve found something on Professor Mazur.”
“What is it?” Marcus asked.
“Not here.” Thaddeus shook his head. “Follow me.”
Thaddeus’ hawk flew ahead to lead the way. He roamed after his Familiar, although I sagged in my seat. Though I’d been fired up during the confrontation with Esther, now that she was gone, I was sorer than ever. My entire body ached in a way that made me want to cry.
“You want to go back to our room first?” Charlie asked gently.
“I can sleep later. We need to find out what Thaddeus knows,” I replied weakly. “You’re just gonna have to help me get there.”
Charlie pushed me down the hall after Thaddeus, and Kallie started to complain. “What is it with Esther? Does she have a dictionary of everyone’s biggest secrets?”
“I don’t know how she figured that out,” Marcus grumbled. A pink tint had come into his cheeks, and failed to leave since Esther had brought up the whole ordeal.
“I mean… not to bring this up, but it’s pretty obvious you two have feelings for each other,” Charlie pointed out.
“We’ve had a thing going on for ages, but nobody knows we’ve been messing around but you guys,” Kallie shot back, and Marcus ducked his head.
“That must be her demigod power,” I realized. “She knows people’s greatest weaknesses immediately, and utilizes them.”
“It’s probably not limited to emotions. I bet she can sense the weaknesses in our magical abilities, which means she’ll be able to counter whatever we throw at her in a fight,” Marcus said.
“Let’s not get in a fight with her, then,” Charlie said.
Thaddeus had stopped near the fireplace in the foyer. Ivy was there, reading a book. He glanced up from the pages as he asked us, “You guys going to an orgy or something?”
“Can’t really talk now, Ivy.” Charlie stopped me beside Thaddeus. “Thad, where are we going?”
Thaddeus appeared mystified. His gaze wandered from left to right as he replied slowly. “I’m not sure. What were we doing?”
I looked closer at Thad’s eyes, which had gone foggy. Overhead, his hawk Familiar flapped its wings in alarm and screamed, as if there was something wrong.
“You were saying you found something about Professor Mazur,” I reminded him.
“Was I?” Thaddeus replied. “I can’t remember.”
“Shit. What’s wrong with him?” I asked. Marcus waved a hand in front of Thaddeus’ face, but he didn’t even blink.
We need to help, Oberi said frantically. He began darting frantically around Thaddeus, barking in alarm as if he was as panicked as the hawk was.
Ivy stood up, tossing the book to the side. He did a slow circle around Thaddeus before lightly touching the cut on his head. Ivy jerked his fingers back, like he’d been burned, then grabbed Thad’s elbow. Red blood magic wound up Thaddeus’ arm as Ivy’s powers worked over him. Suddenly, Ivy recoiled, grasping his wrist and taking a step back.
“He’s under some kind of influence,” Ivy said. “Vampire compulsion.”
“Naya,” I hissed.
“No, it’s not her. She’s wearing a noxite cuff, so she can’t,” Ivy stated. “A vampire can only use compulsion if they’re talented, and the vampire doing the influencing usually has to stick around for the compulsion to work. This is one strong vampire, if he ain’t anywhere to be seen.”
“It’s Mad Dog,” Charlie said. “It has to be.”
“Shit.” I knew that malicious look in his eyes meant he was up to no good. Above his head, Thaddeus’ hawk was pecking at his head, as if he was trying to snap his Elementai out of it.
“Can you break it?” I asked Ivy.
