Page 35 of Wicked Chains (Serpentine Academy #2)

Thirty-Two

Rose

Two weeks pass with me playing good little witch, while I've mastered the art of dodging Helena in hallways, developed a sixth sense for when Ash is within a hundred-foot radius, and perfected my ‘I give a shit’ face for classes.

All while trying to dig up information on the mysterious third Wickersly sister who, as it turns out, is one of those skeletons in the closet that really wants to stay there.

The only thing keeping me from completely losing it is the surprising comfort I've found in the most unlikely places—the arms of a demon, a vampire, and a ghost. Life is nothing if not interesting these days.

Hank croaks from his spot on my windowsill, where he's been sunning himself all afternoon. "Don't give me that look. You'd be frustrated too."

I flop down on my bed, staring at the ceiling.

Another day of practicing useless spells in Magical Theory, another evening of avoiding the dining hall during peak Helena hours, another night of wondering how the hell I'm going to get out of this mess. The Blood Moon Coven continues to use my magic through the mark, they don’t tell me for what or why, I just feel it happening.

Ash has been surprisingly hands off since the whole "kneel before me" incident. Which only makes me more suspicious.

Lucien thinks Ash is planning something bigger. Soren thinks he's just toying with me, enjoying the anticipation. Drake... Drake keeps disappearing for longer periods, and when he does show up, his visits are shorter and shorter each time. He won't tell me what's happening.

The thing about being trapped in magical boarding school hell is that it gives you way too much time to think.

I can’t just run down to the cafe, or go to a movie to distract myself, and lately, my thoughts keep returning to the fact that I've somehow acquired not one, not two, but three supernatural beings who seem genuinely invested in my welfare.

It's weird. I can’t quite believe it. But if I'm being honest, it's kind of nice.

Lucien brings me books from his private collection. Most visits end with him curled around me, inside me as I drift off to sleep. Sometimes we talk for hours. Sometimes we don't talk at all.

Soren has been super helpful with some extra tutoring sessions that usually end with both of us naked and panting. He’s only visited my dreams again once, but it was quite an experience to have a vivid sex dream about Soren, while Lucien was still stiff inside of me. Five stars. Recommend.

And Drake... when he's here, he's fully here.

His presence keeps me grounded when everything else feels like it's spinning out of control.

He's teaching me the academy's secret passages, showing me hiding places even Lucien doesn't know about, places that he’s had a century of invisibility exploring. But his increasing absences terrify me.

The most disturbing part isn't that I'm involved with all three of them at the same time. It's that I'm starting to trust them. To rely on them. And that's dangerous, because caring means weakness, means something to lose.

A soft scratching sound pulls me from my thoughts. I sit up, but there's nothing there except Hank, who's now hopped to the floor. The scratching comes again, and I realize it's coming from underneath my door.

I approach cautiously, looking down to see a folded piece of paper being pushed into my room. By the time I open the door, the hallway is empty. I unfold it, not recognizing the cramped, careful handwriting.

Meet me in the staff area by the kitchens after dinner service. Important. Burn this. —O

Ollie.

I stare at the note. For Ollie to risk contacting me directly, whatever he wants to tell me must be significant.

I follow his instructions, holding the note out while I blow over an unlit candle on my desk, thrilled when it does what I intend it to and lights up with a small flame.

It’s nothing more than a party trick, not real witchcraft, but it’s more than I could do before I arrived at this academy.

I hold the paper over the fire, watching it curl and blacken before dropping the whole thing into my metal trash can.

Then I check the time. Dinner service ends at 8:00, which gives me about an hour to wait.

"What do you think, Hank?"

Hank gives a noncommittal croak, which I take as froggish for "proceed with caution."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too."

Hank and I are still working on our communication skills. I’m still not entirely sure what his job as my familiar is, but it’s been nicer than I expected having a companion, frog or not.

At 7:50 pm I slip on my shoes, and throw my new winter jacket on.

Lucien made me conjure it last week, and he refused to leave until he saw me do it, though he was irritatingly amused by my first three attempts to create something wearable.

I’ll admit that the yellow and green unitard was a little funny to see.

"Alright, buddy, we're going on a little adventure. Be quiet, okay?"

The dining hall still has a few stragglers when I pass by, but Helena is nowhere to be seen, thank goodness for small mercies. I duck down a service corridor that Drake showed me, a shortcut that bypasses the main hallways where I might run into Ash or any of his Blood Moon cronies.

The kitchen area is bustling with activity as the staff clean up from dinner service.

I hang back in the shadows, watching the practiced routine of servers scraping plates, cooks wiping down stainless steel surfaces, dishwashers loading massive industrial machines that steam.

Through a swinging door, I catch glimpses of the staff dining area, where a few tired-looking employees gulp down hasty meals.

I don't see Ollie anywhere, and for a moment I worry this might be a trap, set by Helena. But then a side door opens, and there he is in his uniform that’s slightly too big for his thin shoulders. He glances around nervously before beckoning me toward a narrow hallway behind the kitchens.

I follow, keeping my head down, grateful that no one seems to pay much attention. The service staff here are used to being invisible, and they extend the same courtesy to others.

"Miss Smith," he says, when he stops now that we’re away from others. "Thank you for coming."

"You can call me Rose," I keep my voice equally quiet. "What's going on, Ollie? What's so important?"

His hands wring together. "It's about what we discussed before. About the third Wickersly sister."

I straighten up, suddenly alert. "Jasmine? What about her?"

"I heard something." Ollie glances at the door, as if expecting someone to burst in at any moment. "Mr. Ash was talking to another Blood Moon Coven member."

"And?" I prompt.

"They were arguing. About Helena." Ollie's voice drops even lower. "Mr. Ash said she was becoming more of a problem than he'd anticipated. That she was 'endangering valuable assets.'"

My mind immediately goes to Hank, to Helena's attempt to kill him just to hurt me.

"And then he said something else." Ollie pauses, eyes darting to mine. "He said maybe they'd aligned themselves with the wrong sister. That Jasmine, for all her faults, at least understood the value of preserving assets rather than damaging them out of spite."

I frown. It doesn't make sense. Everything I've heard about Jasmine makes her sound worse than Helena. She was locked up for consuming other witches' magic, literally consuming them. “Are you sure he was talking about Jasmine Wickersly?”

Ollie shrugs. "I'm just telling you what I heard, miss. Maybe it’s nothing. But I thought you should know.”

"You think he was talking about me," I say flatly.

Ollie nods. "He specifically mentioned Helena's incident with your familiar. Said it was exactly the kind of shortsighted behavior that could jeopardize everything they've worked for."

I try to process this, closing my eyes trying to think through the implications.

If Ash thinks that Jasmine might have been a better alliance than Helena, that means a few things: One, the situation with Helena is worse than I thought.

Two, there might be a power struggle happening within the Blood Moon Coven.

And three, most disturbing of all, Ash might think an alliance with Jasmine would be better for controlling me.

"Thank you for telling me this, Ollie," I say finally, opening my eyes. "I appreciate the risk you're taking."

He gives me a small, tired smile. "You should go. The halls will be emptying out soon."

"Thank you, Ollie. Really."

I slip out, my mind whirling with everything I've just learned. If Ash is considering aligning with Jasmine over Helena, if there's some kind of internal squabbling in the coven, then maybe there's an opportunity here. A crack in their front that I could exploit.

Or maybe I'm just trading one monster for another, the evil I know for one I don't. Things didn’t get all that much better for me with Victoria gone. Either way, I have a lot to think about. Things just got a whole lot more complicated.

And in Serpentine Academy, "complicated" usually means treacherous for my health and well-being.