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The ground fell out beneath me and then I realised that I was in the infirmary.
Auntie Jess had also brought Natalie with us, arriving in such a way that she landed on one of the beds.
I turned to find the nurse, but she was already hurrying over to another bed, where Gail had placed Mr Stiles.
“It’s okay,” Auntie Jess said. “I can wake her.”
She brought out her wand and cast a healing spell.
A moment later, Natalie groaned, pushing herself up to a sitting position as she rubbed her eyes. “Amy? Ms Bennett? What happened?”
Gail made her way over to join us. “That is a question I think we would all like answered.” She turned to my auntie. “Aaron said that Ms Maltere was Maria Brown. And she had Amelia performing some kind of spell.” She turned to me. “What exactly happened?”
I shrugged. “I had no idea who she was. Ms Maltere just asked me to help her with a spell, and I didn’t see any reason to refuse.”
Gail frowned. “But why you? She’s been teaching here since last year, why didn’t she get another student to help her last Samhain?”
I turned to my auntie. I couldn’t answer that question without admitting my connection to Freya.
Though, maybe Mr Stiles had done that already.
Gail cut in before either me or my auntie could say anything, “I swear, Jess, if you’re not honest with me right now...”
My auntie winced before giving me a sheepish nod. “It’s okay, Amy. I think it’s past time for the truth.”
I turned back to Gail. “Ms Maltere said that she needed the help of another Angelborn, like her.”
Gail turned to Auntie Jess. “Did you know that Amelia was Angelborn?”
Auntie Jess shrugged. “If you’re referring to her connection to Freya, I know about it, but I didn’t know that there was a term for it.”
Gail sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “You would have known if you’d asked me. If you’d told me the truth. Couples used to go to Angels of Life and ask them to bless them with a child. The child would carry a part of the Angel’s magic. Much like a child would carry a parent’s. As Queen Freya is the only Angel of Life alive today, I assume she was the one to give Amelia her magic. And I assume that is also why she sent one of her guards to protect her.”
Auntie Jess nodded. “Yes, I would assume so.”
“But your brother and his wife didn’t know about magic. How did they ask an Angel for her blessing?”
“I don’t think it was deliberate. They adopted Freya when she was a child, and she knew that they wanted a child of their own. I think the blessing was an accident on her part.”
Gail glared at her. “So, you’re telling me that you brought Queen Freya’s sister to my school and you didn’t think that I should know? You didn’t think that there might be security concerns?”
“I did! And I was right, Maria fucking Brown was here disguised as a teacher. I suspected there was a spy – which is why I didn’t say anything – but I never expected this.”
Gail’s glare didn’t lessen. “It didn’t have to be a school-wide announcement of Amelia’s identity, Jessica, but you could have at least trusted me.” She folded her arms tight across her chest. “Do you really hate me that much?”
“I don’t hate you. I just... I wasn’t sure how far I could trust you.”
Gail snorted. “That’s almost worse. I have done nothing to earn your distrust, Jessica. Nothing except not be a rebel like you.”
Auntie Jess gave her a measured look. “When it comes to Amy’s protection, that might just be the most dangerous thing.”
Before Gail could respond, the nurse made her way over. “I’m afraid Mr Stiles’ life force is still being siphoned.”
Gail frowned. “But the spell it was being used for is no longer being cast.”
“No, but the binding spell wasn’t released. With the caster of the spell gone, I’m assuming that it’s a cursed object binding him, but I cannot find a way to trace it.”
I grimaced. “It’s in his house, under his bed.”
Gail turned to me with a raised eyebrow.
I looked down at the tiled floor. “I knew Maria Brown was working with people who had once been loyal to Lord Uther, and he has the tattoo that means that he’s married to someone from Lord Uther’s house. Ms Maltere said that the box was a listening device that would let us know if he was going to attack me.”
Auntie Jess frowned. “Why didn’t you come to me with this, Amy?”
I shrugged. “She also said that she could help me to lift the curse from my mother, but you said that if there was danger, we would have to leave. I... I couldn’t risk it...”
Auntie Jess sighed, while Gail pinched the bridge of her nose.
Natalie frowned. “There are only two people left in House Lycan. When Lord Uther and his siblings were exiled from the Underworld, they were stripped of their titles. They no longer belong to House Lycan, and their spouses’ tattoos wouldn’t match. The only two people left with a claim to the House are Lord Uther’s children. Lady Helena is still a child, so I would assume that Mr Stiles isn’t married to her. Which leaves Prince Damon, who turned on his father because he fell in love with Queen Freya. I’d heard rumours that he had a heartbond, but no one ever knew who it was.”
I folded my arms. “What’s a heartbond?”
“A second marriage,” Natalie said. “It’s a Demon custom. It’s fairly well known that Queen Freya’s heartbond is a Dragon Priestess, but that’s all the information anyone has on her or Prince Damon’s heartbonds.”
My stomach twisted. I hadn’t just hurt the person my sister had sent to protect me. I’d hurt her husband’s husband.
My head hurt at the thought of trying to figure out exactly what kind of familial relationship that gave the two of us, but I couldn’t deny that there was one.
And yet I had trusted Maria Brown over him.
Gail disappeared into thin air, appearing once more a few moments later with the box in her hand.
She passed it to the nurse. “Is this what you need?”
The nurse nodded. “Yes, it should be. Though, it will take me a while to unravel the binding. And if everyone else here is healed, you should take your business elsewhere.”
“We will. Just keep me informed about his condition.”
The nurse nodded before heading off.
Gail turned back to the three of us. “Well, I suppose we’ve all had quite the night, and I suspect tomorrow won’t be much better. Everyone saw that spell being cast – it was why I went into the maze in the first place – and I will have to come up with something to tell the other students.” She sighed. “After all, it’s not as if I can tell them the truth without causing a political incident.” She turned to my auntie. “We’ll talk about this in the morning.”
She turned to leave, but before she could, a piece of rolled up parchment appeared in front of her.
Gail reached out to take it, before unrolling it.
“What is it?” Auntie Jess asked.
Gail turned to her with a grim look. “It’s the Amazons. It would appear that they have been notified of the unusual occurrences tonight, and they are now on their way to investigate.”
“Gail... Please. You can’t tell them the truth about Amy.”
Gail’s expression remained grim. “I doubt they are going to give me a choice.”
She disappeared from the room before my auntie could argue, and she cursed under her breath.
I turned to her. “Do you really not trust the Amazons?”
“In all honesty, Amy, I’m not sure if I trust them or not. I had hoped that I would never have to answer the question.” She sighed. “If you want, we can leave now.”
“Would it really be safer if we did?”
“No. Not with Maria Brown still out there. She shouldn’t have been able to get into the school before, but now that she has, we should be better able to keep her out. That’s probably safer than being on the road.”
“Even with the Amazons here?”
My auntie shrugged, and I got the impression that that was the best answer I was going to get out of her.
I looked over to Natalie, the worried look in her eyes making the decision for me.
“I’ll stay.”
#
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