Brackenberry ended the call and returned the cell to the holster on his belt. Then he sat down on the opposite side of the table from me and folded his hands across his ample belly. The buttons on his navy blue policeman’s uniform bulged outward, the fabric beneath them strained. “Lady Elaine will be here soon.”

I bit my lip. What could be so bad they would have to tell me about it in person? A thousand possibilities flitted through my mind like a flock of rabid birds, each one pecking away at my ability to sit here in this seat and pretend not to be having a panic attack.

Then the worst possibility occurred to me. It could be about my mom. She’d been in England for the last two months, but was due to come home soon. I didn’t know when exactly, because she kept pushing back the date. But what if something had happened? Cold sweat beaded on my forehead and the back of my neck. I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, bracing for the worst.

But when Lady Elaine arrived some five minutes later, she didn’t bring me bad news about my mother. Even so, what she had to say hit me with the force of a wrecking ball.

“Today,” she said, her voice grave and her frail body rigid as she stared down at me, “the Magi Senate decided to drop all charges against Paul Kirkwood. He has been set free and will be resuming classes here at Arkwell in a few days.”

My heart seemed to freeze up inside my chest and my blood turn to ice water. Paul Kirkwood, free? It had to be a joke. And yet I knew it wasn’t. Lady Elaine wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this.

I swallowed. Paul Kirkwood. Ex-boyfriend. A murderer’s accomplice who tried to bend my will into serving the Red Warlock. The guy I thought I would never see face-to-face again.

He was coming back.

And I knew without a doubt my life was never going to be the same again.

6

Confidential

As if the first bit of news Lady Elaine delivered wasn’t bad enough, she delivered another bomb seconds later.

“We want you to spy on him.”

“What?” I blinked, repeatedly, my brain slipping like an engine stuck in neutral.

“Hold on, please,” Sheriff Brackenberry said to Lady Elaine. He stood up and walked to the door, which Elaine had closed when she arrived. I watched as he ran a hand over the door frame, uttering an incantation.

While he worked, Lady Elaine walked once around the room, trailing her fingers along the wall and speaking the same incantation. Slowly, I felt the atmosphere in the room change. The air seemed to grow denser, the sounds muffled.

“There now,” said Brackenberry, resuming his seat. “That should ensure we aren’t overheard.”

My curiosity piqued, I sat up straighter in my chair. “Who would be listening in?”

Brackenberry drummed his fingers on the table. “That’s not your concern.”

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yeah, sure. Because being asked to spy on my ex-boyfriend doesn’t have anything to do with you sound-proofing the room. So, what, am I here to take meeting minutes?” I motioned toward the conference table.

Lady Elaine sat down next to the sheriff, ignoring my sass for once. Before I could register my disappointment, she said, “First, I must emphasize that what the sheriff and I are asking of you is strictly voluntary. You are not required to participate.” A dark expression crossed Lady Elaine’s thin, ancient face, worry in her eyes. “And no one would think the worst if you refuse. It’s liable to be very dangerous.”

A chill slid over my skin, and I trembled. I tried to think of some wiseass remark—sarcasm was a great avoidance tactic—but nothing came to me. The fear I felt was too real, too present.

Paul was free. Paul would be on campus in a few days. And I would have to face him. I wanted to believe that seeing him again would be easy, that I could use my hatred of him as a shield. Only, I wasn’t sure I did hate him, at least not enough to resist his siren’s charm. I’d never considered the possibility that I would have to deal with his siren magic or my feelings toward him ever again. He was supposed to have remained locked up for a very long time.

I let out a slow breath. “Okay, I’m listening.”

Lady Elaine glanced at Sheriff Brackenberry, and he nodded.

She turned back to me, pulling up the sleeves of the dark green, wool sweater that had fallen over her hands. “The main reason we sealed the room is because this is not an official meeting. Neither the sheriff nor I are acting in our normal governmental roles at present, and none of the Magi know what we are instigating here.”

I looked between the two of them, more confused than ever. “Is this some kind of rogue operation?”

Brackenberry snorted. “You watch too many movies.”

“That certainly is true,” said Lady Elaine, a suspicious curve to her lips.

“What this is”—Brackenberry leaned over the table toward me—“is a secret. And before we tell you anything else, you must agree to maintain the same secrecy. So even if you turn us down, you must not speak about it to anyone else. Understood?”

A couple of months ago, I might’ve stood up and left the room right then. Forget this clandestine, liable-to-be-dangerous crap. But the stuff with Marrow had changed me. I wouldn’t say it had made me any braver—even now, I felt like my heart might burst its way out of my chest and go galloping across the table—but it had made me a little wiser. I knew I couldn’t run away from the bad and scary things in my life. Better to face those things head-on then to get caught from behind.