Page 217 of Sigils & Spells

Ravyn turned to glare at Gabe, feeling the same unease creep in as his gaze met hers. She shuddered. “What is your problem with me?”

“No problem.” He shook his head. “I just don’t like you. Or anybody—so don’t feel like it’s personal or anything.”

Yet when his gaze passed over Aoibhe, his eyes softened for the briefest of seconds.

Hmmm.

“Whatever. Leave us alone.” She turned back around as Dean Caelan entered the class.

“Gladly.”

Silence enveloped the room as the dean made her way to the front of the class, a concerned expression worrying her features. “Did I interrupt something?” When nobody spoke up, she slapped her briefcase down on the desk with a loudthwack. “Look, I know everyone is a little upset this week, and that is understandable. But don’t take it out on each other.”

Beside her, Daniel raised his hand. Ravyn stared at him. In fact, as she briefly glanced around, the whole class was staring at him.

“Yes, Mr. O’Connor?”

He lowered his hand and asked, “What do you know about women dressed in white on the side of the road. It’s just an urban legend, right?”

The dean stared at him blankly, her mouth parting ever so slightly. “A White Lady, or lone woman on the side of the road, dressed in white.” She crossed her arms and leaned back against the desk, overlapping one leg with the other in her tailored houndstooth suit. “They are ghosts to some, an omen of death to many, and some dare say the cause of death for lone men traveling at night. If the men who stop to help one of these women are unfaithful, the spirit will cause them to wreck. Many die from the injuries involved.”

She tilted her head. “Of course, you could always trace White Ladies in every culture. Whether on the roadside, or in a haunted building. Regardless, the ingredients for the legend always refers to a woman murdered or wronged by her husband or lover.”

Daniel gawked at her, then met Ravyn’s gaze as though seeing her anew. “And what if the man encountering such a spirit was faithful. Only thought the woman was in trouble?”

Dean Caelan shrugged and shook her head. “Who really knows? I guess that would depend on how malevolent or benevolent a spirit is. Many will see all men as unfaithful simply by stopping, and some believe they can see into a man’s heart and read their intentions. The best course of action would be never to stop to pick up strangers on the side of the road. It may save your life.”

*.*.*.*.*

Daniel barely heardthe rest of the lecture. Hell, he didn’t even know what the topic was. All his brain could grasp was how adamant Ravyn had been that the person they’d seen Friday night was a White Lady, and then that guy that had stopped…died. What if Daniel could have helped him somehow? If he’d gone back, maybe he could have prevented it.

Or you’d end up just as dead.

His brain was at war with itself, disbelieving and wanting to believe. Truthfully, the weirdness back home with his brother gave him some suspicion that everything was not quite what it seemed. But he had yet to see any solid fact to prove something unnatural was afoot.

“You’re all dismissed,” Dean Caelan announced, snapping him out of his thoughts at least for the moment. “Everyone except for Mr. O’Connor and Ms. Corvus, please.”

He glanced at Ravyn and wondered if he looked as pale as she did at the order to stay behind. This couldn’t be good. Daniel knew he shouldn’t have asked about the woman they’d seen, but if anyone knew urban legends enough to advise on it, it would be the teacher of the class revolving around such tales, modern and ancient.

He and Ravyn stayed seated while everyone else filed out around them. That guy that had been aggressive toward Ravyn at the start of class glared at him as he left. Something about him unnerved Daniel, greatly, but he couldn’t figure out what. If the guy talked to Ravyn again like he had today, they were going to have words. Ravyn had handled it well, at least.

“I couldn’t help overhearing the end of your altercation with Mr. Reyes earlier. Is everything okay?” The dean walked up the steps to sit in a chair in front of them. “To follow that up with questions regarding a popular local ghost story, I—”

“Wait,” he interrupted, “local ghost story?”

She nodded. “Before the university was built on Kasper Island, a wealthy family owned it. I don’t think it’s a great leap to guess their family name from that information, hmm?” She smiled, but it lacked warmth. “Anyway, Amelia Kasper, an heiress who had married the youngest son, was found on the rocks below the cliff where they found that student’s car this weekend. Officially, she died by suicide. Unofficially, those who knew her spoke of a tumultuous relationship with her husband.”

“Like what?” Ravyn sat forward in her seat, that inquisitive nature of hers overcoming her once more.

Dean Caelan waved a hand. “All sorts of unsubstantiated rumors, of course. A miscarriage. An affair. Domestic abuse. You name it, and it was said about them. In the end, that poor woman died, and Maximillian Kasper remarried shortly thereafter, siring three children.”

The story could have ended there, but Daniel had the feeling it didn’t. “So why leave the island?”

“He didn’t leave,” Ravyn muttered. “Did he?”

Dean Caelan shook her head sadly. “The Kaspers built the road around the island because Maximillian had a grand collection of cars, and he liked to ensure they didn’t sit unused in a garage too often. One night, in a storm, he didn’t come home again. They found his car in the very place Amelia had died.” She leaned closer to the two of them. “The rest of the family found it to be a bad omen. One of the children claimed to have seen a lady walking around the road at night when their father drove him, but as far as he knew, Maximillian had never seen her in those encounters.”

Daniel shook his head. Both he and Ravyn had seen her, and clearly Chad had too. “Or maybe he did, but was too spooked to stop the car or admit it.”

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