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SIX

Darkness had well and truly fallen by the time Blaze arrived at the Mirror Academy gates, which looked like the sort of thing you'd see in a movie about a school for young witches and wizards, not a modern university that tried to hide its links to the supernatural community, at least from normal humans.

At least these gate posts were topped by gargoyles instead of winged pigs, though these gargoyles were unusually lifelike. The way they glared down at Blaze, like they actually thought they stood a chance at keeping him out of the college grounds.

Blaze looked for an intercom, but there didn't seem to be one. Nor was there any sort of control panel for opening the gates. He peered through the bars, up the drive. The school building sat atop a hill, looking more like a castle than any university he'd attended. Oh, not the towers and turrets sort of medieval castle, but more like Buckingham Palace or Versailles. Now those places had gardens he'd love to work on...

He wouldn't mind seeing the grounds here in daylight. Perhaps if he came back to visit Diana tomorrow, she could show him the gardens.

"What's your business here?"

Blaze had to admit, he was impressed. It took a lot for someone to sneak up on him, and he hadn't seen the grey-clad man until he spoke. Almost like he'd appeared out of thin air.

Blaze cleared his throat. "I'm Blaze Argyros, and I'm here to visit my sister, Diana. She's a student at Mirror Academy."

"No men allowed on campus after dark. You'll have to come back in the morning," the man said. Perhaps it was the lack of light, but it almost looked like his face was as grey as his clothing.

"What about security?" Blaze asked pointedly.

The man grinned. "Ah, but we're not on campus, are we? We're outside the gate."

Blaze glanced at the gate in question, where one of the gateposts was now missing a gargoyle. Almost as if...

The man's gaze followed the same path as Blaze's and his grin widened. "If you're thinking of going over the wall, you'll be in for a nasty surprise. Mirror Academy has the strongest security measures of anywhere in the country. Buckingham Palace wishes they had half of what the headmistress has here to protect her students."

Blaze blew out a frustrated breath. So flying over the fence was out, then. Gargoyles were formidable fighters, and while there might only be two on the gate, there was no saying how many more there might be around the perimeter, or even in the sky above, keeping watch. Flying over the college wasn't setting foot on campus, after all. A loophole he wouldn't be able to use this time.

"Can I speak to the headmistress, then?" Blaze asked. "It's about my sister. I'm worried about her because she hasn't been returning my messages for over a week now, which isn't like her at all. I've driven all the way down here, and I won't leave until I know she's okay."

The man looked nervous. "You'd be better off coming back in the morning. Or, better yet, not coming back here at all, and going to the next ball, if it's one of the girls you want to see. All the girls go to those, and if you're rich enough to afford a ticket, you'll have no problem talking to whoever you want there."

Blaze considered for a moment. "Maybe I will, but first I want to see that my sister's all right, and if that means speaking to the headmistress, so be it." Even if the woman was a veritable dragon, Blaze was willing to confront her and anyone else who tried to keep him from Diana.

"I'll call the headmistress, but she won't be happy," the man warned him. He pulled a phone out of his pocket and ambled off into the darkness to make the call.

A few minutes later, the sleek curves of a town car reflected the moonlight as it made its way smoothly down to the gates, where it stopped.

The driver got out, then opened the rear door. The small figure who got out walked up to the gate, folded her arms across her chest and said, "Well?"

Blaze wasn't sure what to say. "Well, what?"

She blew out an angry breath, then raised her arm and snapped her fingers. The ground around the gate blazed bright as day under the spotlights.

Blaze half expected to see some sulky teenager, but the woman behind the gate looked old enough to be his mother, or maybe even his grandmother. Except...she seemed to be an ordinary human. An angry one.

"You dragged me down here, away from my dinner, on what my security guard claimed was an emergency. Did you, or did you not want to speak to me?" she snapped.

"You're the headmistress here?" Blaze ventured, though he found it hard to believe. No ordinary human could be in charge of Mirror Academy.

"Headmistress Laima, and you have sixty seconds before I return to my car to head back up to my school."

Blaze didn't doubt it. "It's about one of your students. I think something might have happened to her," he blurted out.

"A lot of things happen to my students, boy. Most of them gain a first class tertiary education, and a number of them even meet their future life partner during their time here. Whoever you're here to see, I can assure you she's not yours, if she won't return your messages. In fact, it's quite likely she's ignoring you to pursue someone far more suitable. I suggest you get back into your car, turn it around, and go back to wherever you came from. Do your best to forget about her, possibly with the help of some alcohol, if you have difficulty doing it on your own, and by this time tomorrow, when you wake up with the mother of all hangovers, I suggest you vow to not only never drink again, but to not think about her again, either." She turned on her heel and headed back to the car.

The door had already clicked shut behind her when Blaze managed to say, "But I can't. She's my sister."

Too late, of course. The headmistress was already halfway up the hill, showing no sign of turning back.

He'd come back in the morning, and try again. Surely the gates would be open then, and gargoyles wouldn't be flying about in daylight.

"Don't," came a voice from behind him. The security guard who'd called the headmistress. "Whatever you're thinking, it's not worth it. You don't want to piss off the headmistress any more than you have already."

"What is she?" Blaze asked.

The man hesitated, as if trying to decide whether to tell him or not. As if he thought Blaze was an ordinary human.

"For God's sake, gargoyle, just spit it out!" Blaze snapped.

"Nobody knows, and anyone who did find out, didn't survive to tell anyone about it," the gargoyle said. He shivered. "If you really want to speak to one of the girls, get a ticket to the next ball. The headmistress never goes to those, but the girls do. That's your only chance."

"When's the next one?"

"It'll be on the Mirror Academy website. The public part of it, so the girls' prospective suitors can find it. It'll be at Tremotino Castle, on the next hill, not here, though, because of the no men on campus rule."

Blaze nodded. He'd buy a ticket tonight, and book a motel room in the nearest town. Diana always went to the school social events, because those were the best place to fundraise for her animal sanctuary. Not that she needed the money, but she was determined to run the place as a proper not-for-profit enterprise, which meant seeking donations to keep the place running and pay its staff.

He pulled out his phone, searching for the website. Ah, there was the notice, advertising the Fairytale Masquerade Ball. At Tremotino Castle.

The home of the man who'd taken out three restraining orders against him, whose property Blaze wasn't allowed to set foot on.

Fuck.