Page 20

CHAPTER 20

My heart was pounding as I ran down the stairs.

I can’t believe I didn’t realize Aiden couldn’t have gotten ahead of me on the stairs! I was so focused on finding the professor that I missed the obvious.

There was nobody on the third floor. The second was empty as well, but I heard shouting from the foyer.

I nearly lost my grip on the railing, I was moving so fast. Halfway down the stairs, once the foyer was in view, I saw the strangest sight.

Aiden was facing off against himself.

The two men looked identical to each other. One was in front of the main door, stopping the other from leaving. I assumed that one was the real one, but how could I be sure?

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re not going anywhere!” Door-Aiden shouted.

“Why do you have my face?” shouted Middle-Aiden. “Who are you really?”

“I’m me!” Door-Aiden shouted back. “You’re the impostor!”

“I have always looked like this,” Middle-Aiden shouted. He burst into flames, shifting into his beast form.

I had been so certain that he wasn’t my Aiden.

Then Door-Aiden shifted as well. He, too, looked the same.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Door-Aiden repeated, and threw a spell that Middle-Aiden deflected.

That started a barrage of spellwork, ricocheting off of shields and lighting banners and the carpet on fire.

“Stop!” I screamed.

“Siobhan,” both Aidens said at the same time. “Watch out for the impostor!”

“You are impossible,” I muttered, and then squeaked and ducked as a fireball flew over my head, cutting off any help from the higher floors.

“Stop this at once!” I shouted again, taking care not to step on any embers as I walked down the stairs.

The Aidens had moved while I wasn’t paying attention, now with one near the office and the other near the mess. I wasn’t sure which was which.

Both were breathing hard from the effort of casting spells in their shifted forms.

“You’re going to burn out,” I said, with no idea whether that could be true or not.

“What is going on here?” boomed a voice, and suddenly both Aidens were enclosed in bubbles.

The Mess-Aiden tried to cast a spell at the inside of the bubble, but it was absorbed into the material.

I winced when I saw that the person interrupting was one of the jail guards. I headed over to him, putting out fires where I could. “Hello, sir,” I said, trying to be polite. “My boyfriend is being impersonated.”

The guard huffed a laugh. “I assume you mean one of these two?”

I nodded. “I wasn’t with him. I was trying to find Professor Reynolds because his brother is here, and the professors are probably going to want to try some more reversion spells. He got de-aged into a baby. Oh, I’m not explaining this very well at all.”

“No, you’re not.” The guard’s eyes danced with mischief. “Also, after seeing this little display, I think I understand what’s going on a lot better than you do.”

I frowned. “Well, I’m sorry. I’m trying my best.”

“It’s not your fault.” The guard opened the door. “Hey, Professor, come out here.”

I wondered which professor he was talking to when Professor Reynolds’s brother stepped out of the office. “Hello,” I said. “Your brother is my second favorite teacher here. I hope you can help him.”

The man chuckled. “Second favorite? That’s a compliment coming from you, Miss Doyle.”

“I’m sorry? How do you know my name?”

The guard patted the man’s shoulder. “ This is your professor.”

“ What? ” I gasped. “Then who got de-aged into a baby? Who have we been looking after for a month? What happened ?”

Professor Reynolds sighed. “That is a very long story, I’m afraid. I’ll tell you all about it, since it seems you’ve been embroiled in the middle of it, as usual. But right now, you need to figure out which one of these Mr. Evans is the correct one.”

I blinked at him. “I don’t know.”

“Come now, girl. You’re mated to one of them. If anyone can tell the difference between the shapeshifter and the real thing, it’s you.”

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell him that they had the same powers, that they can both shift in the same way. I had the wild idea to have them both pull their pants down, but what if the impostor knew that Aiden had two cocks? I bit back my amusement and tried to focus on how to tell them apart.

“Take your time,” the professor said. “I’ll take care of the rest of the fires.”

“Thanks,” I replied absentmindedly.

“It’s nice to be able to use my magic again,” the professor said wryly before he walked away from us.

“Can you move the bubbles so that they’re next to each other?” I asked the guard.

“No. They’re connected to the ground.”

I sighed. “All right.” I went over to stand in between the two, looking from one to the other.

Mess-Aiden crossed his arms over his chest, while Office-Aiden tucked his hands in his pockets.

I tried to feel for my connection to my mate, but it wasn’t there.

“What is in these bubbles?” I gasped.