Page 31 of Malcroix Bones Academy (Bones and Shadow #1)

“Yes, weirdo,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Mirrors can be spelled to prevent anyone from using them for traveling. But it’s no small thing.

It takes special agents called Vitreori, who conduct rituals over weeks or even months to make them safe, and the mirrors themselves have to pass a series of tests to get certified.

The mirrors in Malcroix are all certified.

But you can’t bring any in from outside, even spelled ones.

As far as I know, there are no exceptions to that rule, not for students. ”

“Do you have any idea who did it?” Luc asked me. “Who might want you dead?”

I turned to look at him. “No.”

“But someone tried to kill you!” Miranda glanced around, as if realizing how loudly she’d said it. She lowered her voice. “You really have no idea who it could’ve been?”

I shook my head. “No. How would I?”

“It must’ve been someone with access to the kitchen,” Darragh commented from the other side. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged, shoving his glasses up his nose with a knuckle. “G.O.R.E. questioned a lot of people last night,” he explained. “Including everyone in the kitchen staff.”

His mouth grew a touch harder.

“I heard from our hall’s prefect they questioned the attendant who worked our table, too.

They were on the poor bastard all night, with truth serums and interrogation by a registered telepath.

Anyway, he’s been cleared. So now they’re thinking it was someone who got to your drink before they brought it out of the kitchen. ”

“Could they have erased him? The attendant?” Luc asked. “If he was in on it, I mean, or if he saw someone tampering with the trays?”

Darragh shook his head, but not exactly in a no. “No idea. But I suspect not. The telepath would’ve noticed the gaps. It’s likely they’d be savvy to that kind of thing.”

I frowned. “But someone must have seen something?”

Darragh shrugged. “Not necessarily. A skilled Magical could’ve put the entire kitchen under an illusion.

Or they could’ve projected a glamour around themselves that accomplished the same thing.

There are invisibility potions, too, but those are trickier, as they make the person who drinks them technically blind.

There are magical means around that, of course.

Some’ve trained their primals to see for them, but it’s more complicated.

Sneaking potions into the school is harder than using raw magic. ”

“Son of Ra,” Draken muttered. He gave me a worried look.

“I’d keep an eye out for anyone messing with your magic,” Darragh added. “And maybe work on your shielding, and your trace spells, so you can check anything you eat or drink.” His eyes dropped to the plate in front of me, and I swallowed the mouthful I’d been chewing before my eyes followed his.

“Don’t worry yourself too much, love.” He smiled, making his voice less glum.

“The teachers all have eagle eyes on you now. Whoever’s after you failed, and they’ve lost the element of surprise.

No one thinks it’s a coincidence you’re the first half-Magical in the school’s history and you just happened to imbibe a deadly enchantment the very first night. ”

I couldn’t help noticing Draken turn to stare in the direction of Caelum Bones. He obviously had thoughts on who might’ve been behind it. His brown eyes hardened as he turned back to face our table.

Miranda clearly followed Draken’s gaze.

She slid closer to all of us and lowered her voice.

“Does anyone have a theory as to why that wanker saved her?” Her eyes studied mine. “Do you know why, Leda?”

“No.” I shook my head. That much was true, at least. “Not a clue.”

“He saw it before any of us?” Jolie began.

“I don’t think we should assume he actually wanted to save her,” Draken cut in darkly. “There’s no reason to believe his motives were benign in any of this.”

“Well, if he wanted her dead, he seriously botched it,” Darragh pointed out.

“G.O.R.E. questioned him for hours, though, didn’t they?” Jolie asked.

My eyebrows rose. “Did they?”

Miranda smiled wryly. “Shocking, isn’t it? But we saw them lead him out. Not quite in chains, but they weren’t being particularly deferential, either. I figure that’s got to be a first. The prince of Malcroix being interrogated like a commoner?”

“Not likely,” Draken remarked cynically. “Given who his father is, he could’ve told them anything and they’d let him go.”

“Doesn’t explain why he leapt over two tables to get to her after she went down,” Luc pointed out. “She was already on the ground. Remember?”

“He probably did it for cover,” Draken said, unpersuaded. “To make himself look innocent so no one could point a finger. He’s the obvious suspect, isn’t he?”

There was a silence after he spoke.

I glanced surreptitiously over my shoulder at where I’d last seen Bones and his minions.

They’d gone, though. At some point in our whispered discussion, the dining room had emptied of Bones, Greythorne, Warrington, and whoever else.

I frowned, even as a group of three witches set down trays on the empty stretch of table they’d vacated.

“So do all of us agree this is likely political?” Jolie asked.

Darragh shrugged. “Seems likely.” His light brown eyes returned to mine. “What do you think, Leda? Is there any chance this is something personal?”

I frowned. “I doubt it. It’s not like I know anyone here, apart from you lot.”

Darragh’s eyes shifted, focusing past me, over my shoulder. The table no longer housed the person who’d been there earlier, but it was clear who Darragh was thinking of.

“Well,” he said, a touch grimly. “That’s not entirely true, is it, love? You’ve clearly caught the attention of more’n just those of us sitting here.”

I grimaced at his words, but didn’t really have a good answer.

“Yeah, right,” I muttered. “Lucky me.”