“Like I don’t have enough problems,” I muttered.

  “We both have practice today, but we’ll come by later, okay?” Matty said.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “See you later,” Silas kissed my head.

  Matty and I went into Spells.

  “I’m really sorry,” Matty said. “I feel like I owe you more than just an apology.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she’s Jake’s girlfriend, and I should have known.”

  “You’re not responsible for Wendi, and honestly, neither is Jake,” I said. It felt surreal, and like I wasn’t grasping the whole magnitude of this. Good thing I had practice with Madame Karathos tonight. We could talk about it. “Oh no,” I said.

  “What?” Matty stopped.

  “I have to meet with Madame Karathos tonight,” I said.

  “How long does that last?”

  “It’s not really a fixed time. I go after dinner, and after we’re done—”

  “What are you doing?”

  “She’s just helping me with some of my magic,” I said. Shit. I was digging myself a hole here. At some point, probably sooner than later, I was going to have to come clean to Matty and Silas.

  He gave me an odd look, but I just smiled and went to my seat.

  Silas, or Matty, or both, made sure to be around me the rest of the day.

  “I don’t think Wendi’s coming back after me,” I said as we left dinner. It was kind of sweet.

  “I don’t think you get what a big deal this is,” Silas said. “Enforcers come out because they think they’ll be needed. I’m sure they went and kicked a dog or something equally crappy after they left here and weren’t able to make you miserable.”

  “Gee, I kind of hoped they took it out on Wendi.”

  “Her mom will,” Matty said. “The Concilium doesn’t like to have their time wasted.”

  “She deserves it. Have you talked to Jake at all?” I asked.

  Matty shook his head. “I haven’t seen him to ask him about it.”

  I didn’t know Jake, but I couldn’t see him being cool with this. Add in the fact that we’d kissed—he wouldn’t have kept this from Matty, would he? “I’ll ask Madame Karathos about it tonight.”

  “Why are you seeing her again?” Silas asked.

  Matty laughed. “It’s not just me. Now you get two of us.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I said. “Don’t you two have practice?”

  “We’ll walk you to your room,” Silas said.

  I decided not to argue.

  When they left me at my room, they each took their time kissing me, and saying goodbye. I stared at the door after they left. They were so sweet.

  Which balanced my feeling of unease as I considered what had happened today. What had Wendi been trying to do?

  And where the fuck was my ring? She’d taken it from me, but she thought I’d gotten it back somehow. I was trying to connect the dots before I had to go see Madame Karathos—and failing—when someone knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” I called.

  The door opened, and Matty walked in.

  No, wait. It was Jake.

  “What are you doing here? Don’t you have practice?”

  “I can be late. I needed to see you,” he said. His face was pink along the cheeks, and his eyes looked brighter than normal.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  “I’m fine. Are you all right? I didn’t know what she was planning. Well,” he stopped, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know until four days ago.”

  “Why didn’t you tell Matty?” I asked. “It would have been great not to be blindsided by them this morning.”

  “Because I had to get this,” he said. He took his hand out of his pocket and held it out to me. “Hold out your hand.”

  I did as he asked, and he turned his hand over top of mine. When he took his hand back, my ring sat in my hand.

  “You stole it from her?” I breathed.

  He nodded. “I heard her talking about it with one of her friends. I listened for a little longer, and I figured out where she put it. I stole it that night, but I haven’t had a chance to get it back to you. Now I’m glad I didn’t, because I didn’t know she was going to haul her mom up here, and try to make this a major case.”

  “Why would she do this?” I asked. I slid the ring on, and it was like having an old friend with me again. I missed it more than I realized.

  “She wanted to impress her mom,” he said. “Her mom is a hardass, and she expects a lot of Wendi.”

  “Well, that’s not my job to make life easier for her with her mom,” I said, outraged.

  “I know. You’re right. That’s why I broke up with her last night.”

  “You did?” I gaped at him.

  He nodded. “I told her I knew she was up to something, and she needed to come clean with me. She wouldn’t, so I told her I couldn’t be with someone who would set someone else up.”

  “I’m sure you made things so much better,” I said.

  “No, I didn’t, but that wasn’t the only reason. Or even the main reason.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  I wasn’t prepared. Jake took two steps toward me and cradled my face in his hands.

  “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Not since we met, and then when I brought the flowers. That kiss…” he looked at me. “I want to, I need to—can I kiss you again, Olivia? As me, as Jake, this time?”

  I certainly didn’t have this on my bingo card. His breath was warm, and his hands on my face were strong, even as I could feel the thrill of excitement at his touch. Tension ran through him. He was on edge, waiting to hear my answer.

  “Yes,” I said.

  I barely got the word out before his lips crashed down on mine, his kiss hungry and triumphant at the same time.

  My arms twined around his neck, bringing him closer to me. He didn’t smell like Matty. He smelled like a warm cabin at night, where the air was warmed by a fire. He felt different, too.

  I liked it.

  Jake groaned against my mouth, his hands traveling down my body and cupping my ass. He bent forward and lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, loving the feel of him, of the hardness that was pressed against me, of the restrained tension I could feel from him. I remembered that he was a fire mage, and it showed.

  I leaned my head back. “Don’t you have practice? Because I know I do.”

  “Yes,” he groaned. “Damn it. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. I’ll tell him—shit,” he stopped.

  I realized he didn’t know, at least, I didn’t think he knew, about the way things were. “Before you beat yourself with the guilt stick, you need to know that it’s okay,” I said. “And it’s not just Matty. It’s Matty and Silas.”

  “Silas Tomberle?” he asked. “And what are you talking about? How is this okay?”

  “Yes, Silas Tomberle,” I said. “I have a relationship with both of them. That’s… it’s a long story,” I said, not wanting to get into everything right now. “Just know that they both know, they are good with it, and… if there are more, it will not be something bad, or something to feel guilty about.” This was getting easier each time I talked with a guy about it.

  He kissed me once more as he set me down. “Really? I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who… really? So… you could…” he trailed off.

  “We could have a chance to be together as well,” I said. My heart was filled with a hot and steady joy, close to bursting. This was right. I knew it when he kissed me before, and him coming here, after getting my ring back, and kissing me again? That solidified it for me. He’d done something for me, something that threw away what he already had, and he had no idea how anything would turn out. He’d just seen that Wendi had done something fucked up, and he acted to fix it.

  I kissed him, and I could feel happiness rolling off him.

  “So… uh… what do we, or I, need to do?”

  “I’ll talk with them tonight,” I said. “But I have to go, and so do you.” I didn’t want to be late for Madame Karathos.

  We had some things to talk about, she and I.

  Jake kissed me again. “You don’t have to do this alone. I can meet you to talk—”

  “It’s all right, Jake. I’ll do it.” It hadn’t been that long, and I didn’t want to make this messy. “I bet that Matty will want to talk to you anyway,” I said.

  He grinned ruefully. “You’re probably right. But you don’t need to fight my battles.”

  “This isn’t just your battle. Let me do this, please.”

  He stared at me and then nodded. “I feel like this is a dream, and I’ll wake up and things will be the same as they were yesterday.”

  I smiled and kissed him. I totally got where he was right now. “This is real. I’ll see you soon.”

  He gave me a wide grin, and then he was gone.

  So there it was. I had three—not two—men who cared for me. Who I cared for. This was right. I could feel it.

  I just had to share the news with Silas and Matty. Silas would be okay. Matty—I didn’t know. This was his brother. He might have a more intense reaction due to the fact of who this was, rather than the idea that I’d found someone I wanted to be part of this relationship I was building.

  But I didn’t have time to break this down. I had to get to Madame Karathos. We had some things to discuss.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I didn’t knock. I walked into Madame Karathos’ office, and I slammed the door behind me.

  “You’re late. And you need to knock,” she said, not looking up from her desk.

  “Sorry,” I said, tossing myself into one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I had a lot going on today. It took me more time than usual to clean up some of the crap that I deal with throughout the day.”

  She met my eyes, then. “I know that today has been challenging. I worked hard to make sure that you were not taken away for the meeting you had this morning.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Madame Karathos made a face. “Do you really think that Councilor Tennyson, and her enforcers, wanted to do this out in public? No, no,” she shook her head. “They wanted me to bring you here and let them take you back to their offices for ‘questioning’. What happened between you and the Tennyson girl? She is carrying a fairly large vendetta.”

  I sighed. “Well, before today, I haven’t done a thing to her, other than tell her to get the hell away from me. After today,” I shrugged, “She’s going to be really pissed.”

  “Well, thankfully, she has been discredited.” She happened to look down at my hands. “Is that the ring? The one she says she stole from you, and that you stole back?”

  “I didn’t steal it back. Her former boyfriend did, and he brought it to me tonight.”

  “Really?” Her eyebrows went up. “I must confess, I didn’t anticipate that.”

  “Why did all those people show up?” I asked.

  “Because Miss Tennyson was apparently very convincing,” she said.

  “Is she still going to be here at school?” I asked.

  “Why wouldn’t she be?” Madame Karathos replied.

  “Oh, I don’t know, because she lied her ass off, admitted she stole from me, and tried to set me up!” I shouted.

  “She will experience negative consequences for her actions, but those won’t include expulsion from school,” Madame Karathos said.

  “Well, that is really too bad,” I said. “She’s doing nothing to enhance my educational experience.”

  Madame Karathos looked at me, and she chuckled. “I think that is the best way to look at this. And please try to stay away from her. She is a troublemaker where you are concerned.”

  “No problem with that on my end, but she’s not going to be happy when she finds out Jake got the ring back for me,” I said. And that he’s dating me now.

  “You don’t have to tell her, Miss Washington,” Madame Karathos said, impatience in her tone.

  “I don’t plan to, but I just assume she’ll find out.”

  “I hope not,” Madame Karathos sighed, sitting back in her chair. “We have enough to be going on with at school right now.”

  Her words reminded me that there was, in fact, more going on at school than just my own personal crap. “You’re right,” I said. “Do you realize there’s a hellway on the school grounds?”

  She sat up. “I do. What is curious to me is how you know?”

  “I saw it,” I said. “On the far side of the library. It’s strong. I tested it—”

  “How did you test it?”

  I explained my moving back and forth around the spot where I kept getting stopped.

  Her frown deepened. “It’s a strong hellway if my students can see it.”

  “I’m not in a position to judge. And I’ve only seen it once. It disappeared.”

  “Why didn’t you come to me right away?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, and I meant it. “I got distracted.”

  She sighed. “This has been a week. I will grant you that.”

  “Someone was trying to get a look at my head while the Concilium people were in my room,” I said. “I am so thankful we practiced recognizing it.”

  “You keep dropping these rather important facts as though they are nothing to be concerned over,” Madame Karathos said. “What did you do?”

  “I shut a door. I mean, that’s what I visualized. Then I couldn’t feel whoever it was.”

  “Good. I hope that worked,” she said. “If not, we’ll have to manage it,” she sighed.

  “Why would someone go with Wendi as a legitimate source?” I asked.

  “While she is not registered as a seer, the family has a number of well-known seers, and so there is a benefit to a family name,” Madame Karathos said.

  I thought this over. “So what you’re saying is that I have stepped in it.”

  “Perhaps. Miss Tennyson did not give a good showing of herself in this situation. You did. That cannot be discounted, either. Let us not concern ourselves over this further. I shall keep an eye on the situation. And I trust that I can ask you not to antagonize it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I haven’t antagonized it at all. But sure. I’ll be the bigger person.”

  “Officially, I’ll be able to report that your ring was returned to you and I was able to…” she tapped her lip. “Verify the manner of its return.” She smiled suddenly. “I will be discreet, but it will not reflect well on Miss Tennyson.”

  “It shouldn’t,” I said. I was pissed I’d have to see her again after what she’d done.

  “It won’t. And there are enough people who saw what happened that I think you should have a… buffer against her bad behavior.”

  “Okay, I’m not thrilled, you know, as the injured party here, but can we talk about the hellway again? Because I feel like that just got glossed over.”

  “I assure you, it’s not. I have been headmistress here for a number of years, Miss Washington, and I am quite capable of dealing with uprisings from demons.”

  I opened my mouth and then shut it. “Smackdown received. Can I ask another question?”

  She stared at me, and then said, “You may.”

  “Why did it affect me? Does it affect everyone? I didn’t see anyone else around, so I didn’t know.”

  Madame Karathos didn’t respond immediately. When she did, it was clear she was choosing her words carefully. “I am not sure why it blocked you. I would like, if we can do so without an audience, to walk past the spot you say you felt a block on your movement. It is distressing to me that you experienced anything, and that you can see it. I don’t know enough to even guess, at this moment, as to why it affected you.”

  “Fair enough,” I said. I had a pretty good idea as to why I was affected, but I was also paranoid about Marbys and completely biased in the way I was seeing things. I knew that. “Why can’t you just close it?”

  “That’s a good question, and one I don’t have an answer to. Why don’t we practice more of what we were working on last week? I think this is something that will continue to serve you well,” Madame Karathos said, clearly choosing not to answer my question.

  I let it go. It was obvious she wasn’t going to go into detail with me, and honestly, despite my worry, I got it. I was just one of many students, and I had no right to be demanding things of Madame Karathos. I also needed to remember that she had always shown me that she was interested in doing right by the students here, canoodling with that creepy Sokolov notwithstanding. So I dropped it.

  We spent another hour going over various ways to sense the approach of another, and ways that I could begin to not only shield myself but actively rebuff such attempts. By the end of the hour, I was sweaty and irritable.

  Madame Karathos said, “I think we’ve covered enough for tonight. Next week, we’ll expand on some of the methods we talked about. Keep paying attention to those who might seek to look into your mind.”

  “I will,” I said. Whatever else I might have thought, her lesson last week had saved my ass this week.

  I walked back to my dorm, thinking about the hellway. I’d been able to see it in Hell, too, when I was with Raven. Why hadn’t she been able to sense it, or see it, or whatever?

  I knew I should just go back to my room, and mull this over, but my feet carried me out into the yard past my dorm. I walked toward the end of the main building. The library was nearly repaired. I’d heard that it was taking longer because the staff was working to make the library look like it had prior to the fire.

  The shadows of the night carried up the walls, and I found that I was practically tiptoeing, keeping my steps light. I rounded the corner and the light from the yard dimmed. As I turned the second corner to the back of the library, I braced myself. It was even darker over here, and I couldn’t really tell where the spot was that stopped me before. I slowed down because the last thing I needed was to fall on my ass in the almost complete dark.