There was no point attempting to test his mind. I had no hope of breaching the mental barriers of a high-magic mage. Professor Mortimer was one of the most powerful mages in the world. So how was it that he was curled up and snorting and I was still awake?
As I moved to my storage chest that he was still guarding, I thought of all the things Professor Gordon had taught me about demonology. The demons that could be physically fought were the easiest to kill. It was the ones without a form that created the most havoc. They went after the most vulnerable. That was why there was such a high incidence of human possession. Human minds weren’t equipped to deal with demonic power.
The professor let out a snore and the answer came barrelling at me. Sleep. Supernaturals might be stronger than humans, but in our sleep, we were all on a level playing field. If there was one person who knew all of the ways a supernatural would be vulnerable, it was my great-grandfather. Maybe his ramblings could also help me.
Undoing the magical safeguards I put in place, I retrieved the diary. I flipped through the pages until I came upon a familiar entry. Great-grandfather had been musing about souls and magical essences. He’d been at the beginning of his research into all the ways the destruction of a supernatural soul could imbue the destroyer with power. It was all about turning essence into energy. And energy itself couldn’t be destroyed. But it could be transmuted. That was why he’d turned their bodies into something he could ingest. I’d always been too sickened by the entry to turn my mind to what he was saying.
Flipping some more, I found what I was looking for. An entry about a trinket my great-grandmother had bought from one of the Fae on a trip to Morgana, the Fae city. Unbeknownst to her, the amulet had belonged to a Fae sorceress who had been slain in battle. Before she died, the Fae had sealed her soul into the amulet. Great-grandmother began to exhibit strange behaviours indicative of demon possession.
In order to exorcise the soul, my great-grandfather had to destroy the amulet. The only problem was that by then it had become infused with great-grandmother’s body. The amulet had grown spines that burrowed into her heart. That was how she’d died. Grammy never spoke about it, but I’d learned the truth from the diary after she died. My gaze landed on Professor Mortimer.
Heaviness blanketed my chest at the thought of sacrificing his life to exorcise the demon. Great-grandfather’s account of what happened confirmed what I’d learned in Demonology. I had to find the relic. At this point, I didn’t even know what the focal relic could be. Instinct had me walking over to where Kate’s necklace was still being stored. Professor Mortimer was right. The pendant had pretty much crumbled into dust. There were still a few pea-sized chunks but they couldn’t possibly contain a demon. Hers wasn’t the only necklace she’d brought back, though. Three of her friends had been gifted necklaces.
There was no seal around the cabinet that held the necklace. There was no reason for it to be magicked. Professor Mortimer’s presence was usually enough to dissuade anyone from attempting to steal.
I approached him once more and shook him. What can I say? I was an eternal optimist. “Professor, please wake up.”
Nothing. I remembered him telling me things were going to be all right. I balled my fists and stepped back. The leather knots in Kate’s necklace dug into my palms. I shoved it into the pocket of my jeans. Not knowing when I’d be back here, I put the diary into my backpack. Blinking back tears, I walked out the cottage.
I hadn’t seen any of Kate’s friends in the infirmary. If they were asleep like everybody else, I’d have to ransack their rooms. I was halfway across the portal field heading towards the girl’s dorm when a fledgling roar filled my ears. It was like a quieter version of Max’s roar. I could only think of one little shifter who could make that sound. Veering to the left, I pushed myself into a sprint.
I burst through the door of the dorms to find myself engulfed in absolute darkness. When I’d left, the Fae lights were still on. At least one or two lights always burned in the common areas. Most of the supernaturals had enhanced night vision but the humans and para-humans didn’t.
I could try to take the staircase using muscle memory but I’d probably break my neck. Calling forth the magic, I allowed my palm to catch fire. Keeping the glow to a minimum, I used the light to navigate up the stairs and through the common area to the entrance of the boy’s dorm. As I passed a sconce on the wall, I stood on my toes to glance inside the glass bauble. The fireflies inside the lantern were lying on their sides. They were curled up in imitation of sleep. What in the hell was going on here?
I had no idea where Charles’s room could be. There were plaques with our names on the door, but I didn’t have time to go searching. The one and only roar I’d heard had ceased just after I’d come running into the dorm. As far as I was aware, a directory to the dorms didn’t exist. Still, I pressed my palm against the cold stone. “Charles Thompson.”
There was supposed to be a built-in directory that helped visitors navigate the warrens of the Academy. When I’d first started, I’d used the network of magical footsteps on the ground to help me find my
