Which meant another dark elemental was after me. Super. I loved having a target on my back, said no one ever. Still, this was my choice. I could have let the Council give the prophecy to Spencer. I could have stood back and let him steal the show, charm the middle-aged men in fancy black suits the way he seemed to charm everyone else. Instead, I chose to protect my world the only way I knew how. It was time to stop whining about it and do my job.
Another troubling thought hit me. Could Spencer be the dark elemental after me? Cressida did say things were not as they seemed, but couldn’t give me any specifics. “If Spencer is dark, he wouldn’t be able to step foot past the wards, right?”
She studied me for several long, awkward seconds. “I have a theory about the wards protecting this school. They physically stop dark elementals from stepping foot onto the grounds, true. However, I also believe they can be fooled.”
“Fooled? How?” That didn’t sound good.
“If the dark elemental is strong enough and remains focused, they can mask their powers and pass through the field guarding this school. Once they’re inside the grounds, they’re in. The wards are designed to keep out the dark elementals, not kick them out if they make it past the barrier.”
“Is that how Jules passed back and forth? She masked her powers?”
She shook her head. “I don’t believe she was truly dark until the Ides of March. If she were to try to come onto school grounds now, she wouldn’t be able to. Her powers were never that strong. It wasn’t until she chose to side with Alec and tried to kill everyone trapped in the ruins that night that she truly went dark.”
Made sense. I thought of Jess. Did Stace know of Dean Carter’s request? I decided to test the waters. “I worry about Jess going dark.” I watched her reaction.
“As do I.” She grabbed a dry-erase pen and started writing on the board, setting up the curriculum for today’s Arts & Crafts class. “She is so lost without her sister that she’s starving for someone to follow, for someone to tell her what to do. Jules was the dominant twin. That’s probably why she’s attached herself to Spencer. He’s definitely got an air of authority about him.”
“He’s changing her. She stopped wearing makeup. She got rid of all the pink in the room. She doesn’t even smile anymore.”
“I don’t have her in any of my classes, but now that you mention it, she has been rather…” She paused as she lifted her gaze to the ceiling, “…subdued this year.”
“Do you think she might go dark like her sister?”
“I think she’ll do just about anything to be with her sister.” She wrote another line on the board. “That might include going dark. That might be the line she’s not willing to cross. Only she can be the one to answer that.”
“Do you think losing Spencer will push her over the edge?”
She stopped writing and glanced at me over her shoulder. “Is he going somewhere?”
“Not right away, but he’s not here past the Ides of March. Losing your sister one year, then your guy the next… That’s got to suck.” Much like losing your mom at sixteen and having your dad check out after that.
“Katy, I want you to do something for me.” She capped the pen and returned it to the holder. “Keep an eye on Jess. She’s been through an awful lot this past year.”
I laughed bitterly. I’d survived countless attacks by Alec von Leer and nearly died in the process. I didn’t see anyone keeping an eye on me. “You’re the second person to ask me to do that.”
“Oh?”
“Dean Carter put us in the same room this year so I could keep my eye on her and, I guess, keep her from going dark or something.” At least I thought it was the headmaster’s idea. “Unless you had a hand in it.”
“I had a hand in getting you out of Aquae,” she clarified. “It was Dean Carter’s decision to place you in Ventus. I had no idea he’d put you in the same room as Jessica Bailey and would have told him no if he’d asked me. I would think forcing the two of you to live together would result in the same outcome as it did with you and Vanessa.”
“Pretty much,” I agreed. We fell silent, giving me a chance to read the board. My pulse jumped at the lesson listed. “Are magic wards exactly what they sound like?”
“If they sound like wards to protect against magic, then yes. Just as wards to protect against dark elementals must be created and sustained by the elements, wards to protect against dark magic must be created and sustained by magic. Today we’ll work on creating a magic ward.”
I thought of a TV show I caught sometimes about two brothers driving around the country to hunt ghosts, vamps, and the like. They each had a tattoo that stopped the demons from possessing them. At least I think that was what the ink did. “Can a person ward themselves? Like get a tattoo or something?”
“Absolutely, but it’s tricky. If you get it wrong, you’ve got a useless and permanent reminder of how not to do something. There are several hunters working for the Council with wards all over their bodies to protect themselves from the dark magic they encounter while on patrol.”
My first thought was of Rob. I’d insist on inking his entire beautiful body if it meant protecting him. I didn’t want to
