Page 53 of Infernal

“Could be better.” He lifted a casted hand as evidence. “Probably going to miss the rest of the season.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, it was worth it though. You should see the other guy’s face.”

“Seriously, Cale?” I shook my head at his stupidity. “I hope it wasn’t over a girl again.”

He laughed but didn’t confirm or deny it. “So, you ever planning on coming back to class?”

“Maybe,” I said, and I hoped to God I would. Even though I didn’t exactly like school and I wasn’t the best student, attending class again meant that the dust had settled—that I was out of imminent danger and everything was normal again. I wanted that so very much.

“Such a rebel,” he smirked, brushing off my shoulder as though rebellion had anything to do with it.

Dominic crossed his arms, apparently not liking all the small talk and physical contact.

“So, anyway,” I said, changing the topic. “Like I was saying on the phone, I need a favor.”

“Alright. Shoot.”

“I need to know if there’s a way to disable another Caster’s magic.”

He looked at me with suspicion. “What’s this about again?”

“I’ll explain everything in a minute, but first I need to know if it can actually be done.”

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “The Order binds people all the time. They really don’t like us stepping out of line, you know,” he added, winking at me, as though that last part was meant for me.

“But is it somethingyoucan do?”

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“On who’s being bound and how strong their magic is.”

Well, that was probably my cue to come out with it. “I need to bind one of the Roderick Sisters. They’re—”

“Dark Casters? Seriously, Blackburn?” He gave his head a shake. “What the fuck did you get yourself mixed up with?”

“It’s not what you think. They…they have information I need.”

“What kind of information?” he asked, his golden eyes darkening with curiosity.

I hesitated to give him too much information, afraid of what he might do with it. “Look, I can’t really talk about that. Not until I know you can do this—that you’re all in.”

He scratched his head and then slicked his chestnut hair back as he thought about it. “Even if I agreed to do this for you, it wouldn’t work with just me.”

“What do you mean? You’re not strong enough to do it?”

He didn’t like that conclusion. “It’s not that. A spell like this is big business. And the Roderick Sisters? They’re even bigger business.”

“Could Carly help you?” She was his twin, after all. I figured she had to be at least as powerful as he was.

“I’d need at least two other people to do this—a Trinity—and even then, there’s no guarantees. They’ll have to be some seriously powerful Casters, and you’re not going to like it, but there’s only one person around here that fits the bill.”

Dang it. I really didn’t want to bring that bitch into this.

“Nikki,” I guessed.

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