“Did you miss the part where Watson mentioned ‘a girl’, Lisa? Two girls hooking up are not a threat to lineage purity, so hearing more testimony is a waste of our allotted hour.”
“Even so, her actions show a distinct lack of Elite judgment. Unless you were coerced. Who initiated this…”
“That’s enough,” I snap, stepping forward and breaking the line of sight between Gimble and Watson. “The spell was adequately demonstrated.” My voice is cold as ice, and filled with Drakeward authority. “We aren't here for gossip, Lisa; we’re here for results.You may now return to speaking, Watson.”
Naomi stumbles back, clutching her throat. Her eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second and she gives me a slight nod.
“What’s the next spell we’ll learn?” I ask, turning back to the group who all look as pissed off as I am. Even de Vaux.
But no one looks as angry as Theodora. She needs to fix her expression.
“Let’s move on to something in the same vein;Occulta Apparentia,” Gimble replies. “If we are to be the Conclave’s eyes, we cannot let anything be shielded from our vision.”
I see the others shift forward in their seats.
“This spell can hide entire buildings, isn’t that right, Lisa?”
“Correct. Though it’s not exactly through hiding, per se. It’s about making a spell which containsSensus Repulsi.The feeling of being repulsed, so that you look away from the building, rather than it being invisible.”
Donovan raises a hand. “Has anyone ever done that spell on you, professor?”
“What are you talking about, Hart? I’m not a building.”
A grin breaks out on his face. “My bad, I thought I’d caught a whiff of that repulsive stuff on you.”
Gimble’s eyes narrow but she’s too egotistic to fully parse the insult and instead turns to the whiteboard, sketching a complex, interlocking series of geometric lines.
We spend the next forty minutes in a grueling repetition of hand gestures and whispered incantations. My eyes, gritty from lack of sleep, watch Max and Donovan being uncharacteristically diligent.
When the hour crawls around to eight, Gimble dismisses everyone.
Naomi is the first to bolt, her face still pale.
Theodora quickly follows her.
François, who has been silent during the whole hour, heads for the door without a word.
Max and Donovan hover, but Gimble waves them away. “Seems we work well together, Cosmo. Would you like to come back to my room for a nightcap? We can discuss further…lessons.”
My skin crawls as her gaze lingers on me. “Sorry, Jordan’s waiting for me.”
First time I’ve been grateful to Jordan. I give Gimble a curt nod and wait until she exits before I exhale deeply.
The moment the door clicks shut, Theo’s mental link flares to life, pulling us all into her private circle.
—That was so fucked up—
—I’ll break her jaw, Sparkles….The way she used Naomi...—
—She’s a bitch, but at least we learned something useful— I interject, heading toward the window to watch the guards in the courtyard.
—Agreed— Theo says. —Tomorrow, we’ll meet again in the tunnels—I’ll get in touch with the others…stay safe until then—
She closes the link.
At the same time my phone chimes.
HARPY:What about all-white party theme?
