Page 275 of Sigils & Spells

Harvey only called me ‘my witch,’ when he was truly worried, but I waved his words away with my hand. “I have to be ready to take on whatever lies below the floor.” In the bowels of the academy. The security of Fangsters relied on me. And hex it, so did my secret.

“It can’t be worse than what’s above it,” I said out loud.

“Oh … but it can,” said Harvey jumping up to stand on his paws. “No one invades a vampire’s lair and lives to talk about it.”

CHAPTER11

Tick Tock 4 hours left… Doom looms.

Convincedthat all the answers to the mystery lay below ground, I strode toward the basement door. The entranceway was situated beneath the grand staircase, as if it were the portal to Harry Potter’s room.

Harvey followed me, grumbling all the way. “You won’t listen to me. You won’t listen to reason. You won’t even listen to the big, bad vampire. Have you no sense, my witch?”

The door had a big sign on it,All Mortals Beware – Forbidden Area. The words sent a chill up my spine, but I swallowed my fear. I had no choice.

I knew when I opened the access point, I would find a wooden staircase that led to the basement of the manor, which housed the student, faculty, and guest residences. I also knew the so-called crypt connected to a network of tunnels that lay below the town. Originally built by smugglers over a hundred years ago, they snaked from caves on the shoreline to the downtown area and beyond.

Alessandro had built his own lair down there somewhere and appropriated the rest of the space for his kind, a fact that rankled others in town. Vampire patrols kept them private and secure. I had no idea what the maze looked like. In the beginning of my tenure at the academy, Alessandro promised me a tour in the future, but that future never came. My brothers had wanted access, but they too had been denied. As far as I knew, I was the first mortal to enter the underground labyrinth in over fifty years.

I huffed as I reread the sign. “How am I supposed to protect my students, when I’m not allowed inside their residences—the very place where they’re being attacked?”

“That, my darlin’, is a good question, but beside the point. You need to stay out and stay safe.”

I pretended not to hear Harvey. “My night stalkers are vulnerable when they sleep. It’s my job to protect them.”

I felt the rabbit roll his eyes. “The undead don’t exactly sleep. You know that, right?”

I stopped and looked at him. “Well, that’s the thing, I’m not sure what they do in their down time.”

“They lie—dead.” Harvey, the know-it-all, sucked in his cheeks, and his nose turned bright pink.

“Dead. It sounds so final for such lively beings.”

Harvey arched a hairy brow. “You’ve been hanging out with bloodsuckers far too long.”

“Mmm. To hex with it, I’m going down.” I took another step toward the door. I could touch it now, if I wanted to.

“Into their lair?” Harvey’s whiskers spun faster than a fan on high speed.

“Yes.”

“Think about it, Rebel. Don’t you want their permission?”

“Onyx isn’t here to protect the students. My predator friends are all out cold. That leaves me. I must do something.” Tears of frustration welled in my eyes. “Sitting in my office isn’t helping anyone. I have to do this. I have to save their fangs.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” Harvey said. But he sure didn’t sound happy about it.

“Mmm.” I considered my situation. I have a heroic, invisible bunny for back up, and I’m about to face an evil Fang Hunter in the den of delinquent vampires who have made it abundantly clear on many, many occasions, that I should not trespass into their space. Could my crazy life get any crazier?

“I really wish you didn’t ask that question,” said Harvey.

“Stay here,” I told him.

As I grabbed the doorknob, I called on my magic, and all the gods and goddesses of the universe I could remember. It wasn’t a time to play favorites. I wanted all the energy—of all that is—on my side. It was, after all, the righteous side. Right?

“Isn’t that what all soldiers say when they enter battle?” Harvey mumbled. “You really aren’t good at this.”

“Shut it.”

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