Page 19

T he day finally slid to an end, and with it came a dinner that soothed some of the ragged edges of my aching everything. Head, heart, body. A triple threat if ever there was one.

It was almost like Mrs. Wickersham knew what a sheet show the day had been and had prepared the meal accordingly.

The spread across the main table looked like comfort food on steroids.

Mac and cheese with lobster, deep dish pizza that looked like it had come out of a Chicago pizzeria, chicken and waffles smothered in a thick syrup, triple-decker grilled cheese next to a huge pot of steaming tomato soup, a plate of burritos that were the size of my arm, a whole section that looked like it had been pulled out of a Chinese buffet line.

That didn’t even include the dessert spread.

Our house was the last to arrive for dinner, having been held past the bell by Doyenne Storm.

She wasn’t unkind, but damn she was hard on us as she tried to teach us how to manipulate weather, as well as block it.

My left shoulder ached from where I’d been thrown across the open courtyard when I couldn’t block a bolt of lightning.

Yup. Lightning.

Straight at me.

I loaded up on lobster mac and cheese as I thought about the rune for blocking weather manipulation which was a grade three spell.

I’d not gotten past grade one in school, so I had that excuse.

But still, shame dug into me, making me feel like I was sixteen again.

Alone, afraid, and unable to do even the basics.

Not that my fellow housemates had done any better . ..

They were as bruised and battered as me, and by the looks of things, everyone else in the school already knew we’d sucked at our last class. Despite Tarquinius sharing the prophecy, and trying to buffer us some, I could feel the dubious stares as I filled my plate.

That prophecy was only going to carry us so far.

Once my bowl was heaped with cheesy goodness, I spared a glance around for Opie and found her deep in conversation with her two new friends. I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d read my letter yet.

With a sigh, I went and sat at the only open table.

“Maybe she should have given us umbrellas,” Zeed said with a wince as he took the seat across from me. “We’d have had a better chance at stopping the rain at least.”

Fable sighed. “I get why we have to learn it.”

“You do?”

I grunted a laugh, it was all I had energy for. I couldn’t see any reason we’d need to learn weather defense. Maybe I was just slow. Or tired. Or hadn’t had enough caffeine.

She sat next to Zeed. “Brutal it might be, but what if Nocta or one of his generals whipped up a magical hurricane? We have to be able to deflect lightning that’s thrown at us, like Doyenne Storm did.

Or what if a blizzard eliminated visibility and we were ambushed?

I don’t have to like it, but I understand why. ”

A snort from a table behind us, lilting, high cultured. House Kirinash. “They have to explain why they need weather defense? Unbelievable. And they’re going to save us.”

“We’re all going to die.”

A long show of laughter and then the voices melted away and I made myself ignore the shame that burned in my belly, creating a new ulcer next to the one my anxiety had surely opened up.

“And just think, we get to do it all again in a few days, and again in a week, and again and again, until the Solstice Games.” I took my first bite of food, and the sweet, tender lobster melted in my mouth. I couldn’t hold back the groan of pleasure that slid from my lips. Silver lining engaged.

Gary and Ross joined us next, and eventually, the other girls from House Phoenix found their way over.

Phyllis was the last to join us, her worried eyes saying it all, as if we didn’t already know.

We sucked. Big time.

“Mind if I sit with you guys?” I looked toward the head of the table to find none other than Liam O’Connor smiling down at us, his gaze finding mine. “Harlow.”

“Hey?” My brain stuttered and went offline for a second. “Um, guys, this is Liam. The guy who saved my bacon outside the pub.” I turned back to Liam. “W-what are you doing here?”

He made his way down to the only empty seat, right next to me. His arm brushed mine leaving it tingling as he lowered himself to the chair. “It’s a pretty boring story, actually.”

“Let’s hear it,” Ross said. “I could really go for some boredom after today, to be honest.”

Liam chuckled, his dark brown eyes sparking with good humor.

His gaze flickered over me, and I looked away. Nope. I did not need the distraction of a silver-tongued charmer, no matter how pretty his eyes might be.

“Well, I was a doyen teaching at Heathermoor, and our headmaster got an urgent message from Tarquinius requesting my presence to help with the reinstatement of House Phoenix. I caught the next flight over, a brutal red-eye that had more turbulence than I care to admit.” He shrugged. “And here I am.”

“Last-minute urgent business ruining your day,” Marina said, popping a piece of a roll in her mouth. “I hope you at least got a big, fat check?”

“Not really,” he laughed. “Honestly? I came for the food. Wickersham is a damn genius, and I’ve never found pizza that matches hers.”

I couldn’t help the laugh, a little tension leaving me. “Man, you are not wrong.” I lifted a spoonful of my mac and cheese and cheers’d it against his slice of pizza.

For the next half hour, Liam regaled the table with stories of student antics at Heathermoor, pulling in each of my housemates one at a time until he had them all laughing, and every other table in the dining hall looking our way. Even the reserved Phyllis cracked a smile, not once, but twice.

And those looking our way included Nikita and Typhon. The duo of doom. I laughed a little louder than I had to and let my eyes lock with Typhon’s.

His stone face didn’t so much as twitch, but by the way his eyes flicked to Liam, Typhon was not happy that he was here, even if it was to help with reinstating our House Phoenix.

Liam, whose thigh repeatedly brushed against my own, his shoulder bumping into mine as he talked.

I chalked it up to tight quarters, but I wasn’t wholly convinced.

We sat there longer than anyone else, filling up on desserts – I downed at least four slices of shortbread, letting each piece melt on my tongue – Liam animated and seemingly at ease being the center of attention.

“Curfew in fifteen minutes.”

Typhon’s voice cut through the story about Liam finding a pig locked in the closet of a student, only to figure out that he’d unlocked a Quirk that allowed the student to turn into various farm animals but didn’t know how to turn himself back.

“I’ll be gone before that.” Liam leaned back in his chair. “Typhon,” he said with a nod by way of greeting.

“O’Connor. Don’t you have to finish unpacking?”

Liam shrugged. “Already done.”

Typhon didn’t back down. Just tucked his hands behind his back and widened his stance a little.

“Make sure you don’t keep them here past curfew. They need to be on point, at the top of their games, each and every day.”

Liam nodded. “You got it, boss.”

Fourteen minutes and fifty-seconds later, with Typhon staring daggers through him, Liam finally stood and stretched.

“Time to hit the hay. I don’t need the grumpy professor adding me to his naughty list.”

We all stood to join him, and Liam pressed closer to me. I felt a poke on my arm and a moment later, he was pushing something into my hand.

Instinctively, I accepted it and tucked it under the sleeve of my shirt.

A rolled-up sheet of paper.

A note?

What was this about?

With one last wave he left, without another word.

Typhon watched Liam leave, his eyes narrowing as if he could see right through him.

His eyes drifted over to me as he made his way back over. “Ms. Daygon. A word before you leave.”

A word.

Fable, Zeed and the others all gave me sympathetic looks as the two of us headed out of the dining room.

“How long has Pendergast been teaching here?” I asked, as much to control the topic of discussion as out of curiosity.

Typhon stared hard at me, and I wasn’t sure he was going to answer at first. “She married and moved to Scotland to teach at Heathermoor. Her husband was a doyen there. He was killed a couple years back when Nocta and his creatures took out a whole tower at Heathermoor. This is only her second year teaching at Neverthorn.”

My mouth went dry, and my stomach turned. No one deserved that.

He held out his hand and I held out mine with a quizzical glance.

“What, you wanna play patty cake?”

His frown was instant, the scowl darkening his face. “Give me what O’Connor slipped you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I was backing up, step by step, and he followed, stalking me like a jungle cat. By the gods he was a big man, his shadow enveloped me.

He snapped his fingers at me. “Give it to me. Now.”

“You might be large and grumpy, but you don’t scare me, Typhon Moreno. I’m not giving you sheet.”

I bolted, racing for the stairs and catching up to the rest of my housemates before they’d reached the third floor. I was breathing hard and almost giddy that I hadn’t gotten blasted in the back by a binding rune.

I let out a sigh of exhaustion.

“You in trouble?” Marina asked quietly.

“Nope.”

I stepped into my dorm room a couple minutes later, stunned to find Bandit curled at the foot of my bed, fast asleep. He must have sniffed my room out and made himself at home. Apparently, he thought he could come and go as he pleased.

It wasn’t until I changed into my pajamas and was snuggled up under the covers that I took out the tiny, rolled piece of paper Liam had handed me ...