Page 46 of Messenger of Death (Ouroboros Academy #2)

T here were still no disappearances or murders.

I should have been relieved, but I wasn’t.

Harami and Hemlock were up to something.

We were coming up on Halloween. I hadn’t been allowed to celebrate that before and it wasn’t really as big in England as it was in the United States, but we didn’t celebrate it at all here.

We celebrated Samhain. I learned that the veil was thinner then and that the Morrigan was celebrated then. Professor Gefn was trying to prepare Khalid and me.

“So, we’ll all be contacted by different spirits while the veil is thinner.

Since you haven’t mastered what I’m trying to teach you, you’ll want to keep protectors with you at all times.

Lucian and Liam should do likely, as would Ari, Ivar, and Alexios.

I’d say use Morgana, Petros, and Elliot, but they will be out having their fun. ”

“Should we be worrying?” Khalid asked.

“People’s ancestors are going to want to contact their descendants. Sometimes, they can get a little annoying, but they can’t hurt you. They should appear to their families, but sometimes, they are drawn to those with a stronger connection to the veil.”

“I meant about Hemlock and Harami since we don’t know who they are in this life.”

That, too. They made a big show the first few weeks of school and had been quiet.

I still had no proof Lola was Hemlock. Her file proved she was a backpacker, so she could have found any of the pools and woken up.

I was still the only one who suspected her.

Everyone else was still scratching their heads over who they could be. I had no clue who Harami could be.

“It’s so cliché to kill someone on Samhain.

It’s not about the devil or demons. We make a bonfire and food, for the living and the dead.

We typically share the food meant for the dead with people who might not be able to afford a feast. We call it Samhain now, but other cultures had similar end of summer rites. ”

“What can we do to prepare?” I asked.

“Practice what I’ve been teaching you. You aren’t going to master anything before next week and I wouldn’t expect you to.

You’ll feel the veil getting thinner before you start seeing shades.

You’ll want to up your protection in your dorm rooms and don’t go anywhere alone.

You’ll both be in high demand. You might want to work with Morgana, too.

Some witches are gifted with communing with spirits and Morgana is the witch.

She’s also a brilliant student. That’s all I have for today. ”

I slipped my hand in Khalid’s as we left. I rested my head on his shoulder. I felt closer to all of them than ever. It was pretty amazing.

“I have a theory,” Khalid said.

“Oh?”

Maybe it was something like my theory and I could ask someone to help me find my proof. I felt like an utter coward not bringing it up to the men I was coming to love, but at the same time, if it was Lola, she’d covered her tracks well.

“I think Harami and Hemlock are planning something big for Samhain. I don’t think Harami is from a culture that celebrates it, but Samhain is Celtic and we know a lot of fairies ended up in that culture.

They could have brought their holidays with them.

Hemlock could be planning something big. It’s why they’ve been so quiet lately.”

“Could be. Morgana thinks it’s her ritual. It could be that, too. They might not be able to do anything yet. We haven’t had much luck finding proof who they are either way.”

“There are multiple pools and there’s at least one in every country. We can just hop on a plane and travel anywhere. I’ve been camping with my Baba just about everywhere.”

“So, I’ve been thinking.”

I shrieked and whirled around. Lucian was standing there. Khalid looked rattled, too.

“Shit, wear a bell.”

“I’m not a cat,” Lucian sniffed.

Liam came running up panting.

“Shite, mate, using your vampire speed every time you sniff Sage is cheating.”

“You make it sound pedantic and gross. I could also hear her and I have an idea.”

Morgana had taught us the spell if we didn’t want anyone listening in. I’d already cast it, but I pushed the boundaries to include Liam and Lucian.

“What’s your idea?” Khalid asked.

“Well, I was going to take the map Khalid has of the location of the pools not associated with schools. We’re under the theory someone was trespassing and didn’t get caught, right?

If we haven’t found messages because they are using burner phones like Liam thinks, they wouldn’t have known they needed them before they were awake.

I’m in everyone’s phones. I could write a program to run a scan to see if anyone was near the pools to accidentally discover them. ”

I threw my arms around Lucian and squeezed him. He seemed to be okay with affection, but only from me. Lucian wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my neck.

“Well, fuck. I want a Sage hug, too,” Liam grumped.

I hugged Liam and then I hugged Khalid for good measure. This was it. If it was Lola, I’d have my proof, but we’d also have her homicidal snake boyfriend, too.

We were so close.