Page 25 of Spellcaster (Weatherstone College #1)

Headmaster Gregor called an emergency assembly the next day. The crowded hall was a somber space, as students huddled in their

seats, faces drawn. “We lost one of our own last night,” he said, his expression grim. This was the most like a necromancer

I’d ever seen the friendly headmaster act. “And if it wasn’t for the brave work of students in holding the creature back,

it could have been worse.”

Logan, who sat in the third row, was the subject of even more attention now. Not that he showed any unease, even as hundreds

of students turned to stare at him. Noah was at his side, the two of them looking as if they could take out monsters for breakfast

and be in class before lunch. There was a capability about them, a strength and power that I’d rarely ever seen in adults,

let alone students.

“He should mention Logan,” Belle muttered, staring at the spellcaster too. Most of the college had been gawking at him since

he destroyed the monster.

“Yep,” Sara added. “He’s the real hero.”

Sara and Haley had thankfully missed the monster, but we’d told them all about it on the way here this morning. I hadn’t been

sure my father and siblings were even going to let me out of my dorm for this meeting, but eventually they’d relented. Their

panic last night after the attack, and before they found me safe and well, had been next level.

“Gerard Donovan was a third-year,” Headmaster Gregor said gruffly.

“He was a necro student and showed exemplary magic and skills. His loss will be felt greatly in this community, and the wider magical world. There will be no classes today as you all take a mental health break to mourn the loss of a friend and fellow student.”

A student raised their hand just in front of us, and though the headmaster jerked his head in surprise, he did call on him.

“What will be done now about safety?” the warlock asked. “Do we have any idea how that creature got into the building?” Or what the Hel it even was.

He didn’t ask the question, but we all thought it.

There was a moment where it seemed the headmaster wasn’t going to answer, the skin around his eyes tightening as he pressed

his lips flat. “We’re investigating the incident still, Mr. Lochin. Rest assured, your safety is our top priority. We have

elders and magical military on campus now for both security and to investigate this tragedy. We will be doing everything in

our powers to ensure there is never another incident like this at Weatherstone. At the conclusion of our investigation, more

action may be required. Including a possible magical blanket to limit any strong energy. For now, just take this time to be

with your friends, and remember your fallen classmate.”

He dismissed us, and the noise picked up as everyone got to their feet. Logan’s name was called by multiple witches and warlocks,

but he ignored them all, exiting with Noah.

When we made it outside, needing a hit of sunlight and fresh air after the crowded assembly, Haley asked, “What do you want

to do today?” She clutched her paperback so tightly her knuckles looked white.

“We need to go to the library,” Belle said fiercely, brown eyes nearing black, as her anger took over.

“The dark energy Paisley has been feeling is because someone is creating monsters here on campus. She’s been telling us for weeks, and we kept dismissing it as her unpredictable power or her imagination.

And now a warlock is dead. We need to help her with research. ”

Sara and Haley nodded, their faces somber. “We’re sorry we dismissed you, Pais.” Sara’s voice wavered. “It wasn’t that I didn’t

believe you, it’s just hard to imagine anything dangerous in Weatherstone. I mean, outside of students like Annabeth, but

when it’s an unknown and unseen threat... I really thought it was your power awakening.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said, and I meant every word. “I’ve thought often that it was connected to my fickle, uncontrollable

powers. I also didn’t tell you guys everything. I skimmed over the ‘monster’ part of the equation because I wasn’t sure if

I was losing my mind. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you as soon as I was attacked in the graveyard.”

During our walk this morning Belle had asked me why I’d thought that defensive powder would work, and I’d had to explain the

graveyard attack. All of us decided it was more than a little worrying that this creature hadn’t reacted the same as the last.

“Now that we know everything, we can do better,” Belle said, as fiercely as before. “Now we know that stalking, icky feeling

you get at times is a dark magic–wielding asshole, who managed to figure out how to create killer monsters straight out of

our nightmares.”

We reached the library to find it was deserted, most students too traumatized to spend the day catching up on homework. After

grabbing as many books as we could, we lugged them to a table near the fireplace. It might be summer, but that didn’t mean

the fire ever died off in here.

Today it was comforting, working together with my friends to keep the darkness at bay.

“Why did you think that defense spell would work?” Sara asked as she opened her book, Monster and Myths .

Opening my own book— Spells to Turn Insects into Weapons —I told them in great detail about the attack in the graveyard. “Maybe it was a weaker monster,” I finished, staring off into

the stacks as I thought it over. “Because it didn’t look like the praying mantis one.”

“It looked like a snake though,” Haley repeated my description back. “What did the one in the water look like?”

A part of me couldn’t believe we were even having this conversation, that my friends were on board with the monster theory.

I’d been carrying this around by myself for so long that there was an almost out-of-body experience in revealing it all.

“I caught only the briefest glimpses,” I admitted. “For the most part, it wasn’t visible to me, but I think it looked like

the aliens from those old Sigourney Weaver movies.”

Belle, eyes moving rapidly as she speed-read through pages of her book, said, “I think you should tell the professors about

the monster in the lake and the graveyard.”

She was right, but if I did, my father would yank me out of school. Me as a target was completely different to a general attack

in a dorm hallway.

“It can’t be Logan, right?” Sara said suddenly, her book opened before her, but she wasn’t looking at it. “I know he’s got

enough power to do this, and clearly it’s someone who is targeting you. Hello, blood oath, but... he’s saved you twice

now and banished that creature last night.”

I’d spent most of my sleepless night after the latest attack running everything through my head, trying to figure out what was happening in Weatherstone. “He’s the most confusing, infuriating, frustrating—”

“Gorgeous,” Belle added, and I shot her a flat stare, even if she wasn’t wrong.

“I don’t know what to think about Logan,” I admitted. Outside of lusting after that asshole in my traitorous dreams. “But

there’s still a chance that he might be behind it all, and these little heroic moments are all just building up trust until

he levels the college—or murders me. He’s here for a reason. No one just transfers in their third year.”

Belle lifted her book. “Hence why I’m deep-diving into defensive magic. We need more power than you had last night. We need

the full shebang.”

Haley and Sara nodded, faces set in grim but determined lines, and then we all fell silent as we plowed through text after

text.

“Apparently there are spells that can manifest creatures, but they’re built almost entirely on dark magic,” Haley said suddenly,

on her fourth book. She moved the giant tome, wrapped in a musty red leather, to the center of the table so we could see the

depictions. None of the monsters shown looked like the three I’d seen.

“Are there shadows above them?” I asked, peering at the grainy image.

“Possibly,” Haley said, squinting with me. “I wish we had the internet. This old school shit is too slow for my liking.”

Haley was our book nerd and tech girl. In the outside world, she loved to game, and spent years building up her worlds in

role-playing games. Here, though, in the world of magic, that part of her life was left behind. The best she had was her rigged

e-reader, and she never made it a secret that she missed technology.

“When we have our next break, we’ll all do more re search,” Sara said, leaning over to read the text closer.

“I don’t think this is the same sort of monster.

It’s clear how the dark magic is animating it in these images, and from what you all described, that beast last night didn’t carry any aura of that. ”

She was right, so we all went back to our books.

“I know we haven’t explicitly said this,” Belle said a few minutes later, “but we’re working under the theory that the monster

in Aura Hall was after Paisley as well, right? She’s had too many close encounters with these creatures to be a mere coincidence.”

My insides twisted horribly, and even without a feeling of dread, my body was on alert.

“Most likely,” Haley agreed.

Sara nodded. “Either way, Paisley shouldn’t go anywhere alone from now on.” She grasped my hand, squeezing it briefly before

she let go. “You were alone in the graveyard when they attacked, and last night if the hall hadn’t been filled with students,

they’d have gotten to you much quicker. We need to travel in a group whenever possible.”

In theory, I loved her suggestion, outside of possibly bringing danger to my friends. “I should be telling Dad,” I said, “but

provided he believes me, I’d be yanked out of college before we see the sunrise tomorrow.”

“No!” Belle gasped. “I think we need more information. We don’t even know for sure they’re targeting you. Maybe your magic

is sensitive to what’s happening in the school. If they were targeting you, surely there’d have been more attacks than just

these couple. We’re over halfway through the year.”