Page 41 of Vampire's Vixen

I settled down at my desk and checked my answering service. There were three calls that had come in over the weekend. Hoping it wasn’t Zandre again, I sat back and punched the first one. I had decided early on that I didn’t need to forward work calls to my phone on weekends.

“Hi, Maisy? I’m Serah Jakes and I’m looking…I want…I’d like to make an appointment to talk to you about your matchmaking services.” The woman’s voice was hesitant, but that wasn’t surprising. A lot of people had trouble admitting they were unlucky in love and needed help. Serah didn’t say much about herself, so I took down her number and put a question mark by her name.

The second call was more immediate—the man on the other end sounded frightened. “Ms. Tripwater? I’m Evan Frakes and I have a ghost in my house that won’t leave my wife and me alone. Can you come check it out? I think it’s becoming dangerous and I need someone to take care of it right away.”

I took down his number and wrote “ghost exorcism” on the line beside his name.

The third message was from Jason. I don’t know why it startled me, but it did. “Hey, Maisy, I wanted to check up on how you’re doing. I’m so sorry the trip turned out to be such a bust. It was a mess and I totally screwed up. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell the school about this.”

I stared at the phone, frowning. Jason wasn’t really apologizing, though I had no doubt he hadn’t planned for that to happen. No, he just wanted to make sure that I didn’t tell the administration about it. Then it occurred to me that he had previously taught seventh grade at the academy. Why had he ended up teaching adult education classes? Why wasn’t he in his old job anymore?

The thought intrigued me enough that I opened my laptop and began to search on his name. It didn’t take me too long to come up with a cryptic article from several years back.

Jason Willows, of the Midnight Manor Academy, has been reassigned to continuing education classes. Willows, who taught sixth grade for five years and most recently seventh grade for two years, is being replaced by Sophie Terakan, a new member of the Academy. Terakan will be taking over all former duties held by Willows, effective immediately.

I glanced at the name of the site. It was the PNW Magical Academy NewsLine site—a website that contained updates from all the academies in the general area. Which meant it was legit. I glanced through the other results that my search had returned, but there was little to find, until I came to a brief mention of Jason’s name on a blog site.

The blog was run anonymously, and it had very few views. But what I found made an impression, one that left me unsettled.

Rumor has it that Jason Willows, a professor at the Midnight Manor Academy, has been disciplined for inappropriate verbal exchanges with one of his students, a thirteen-year-old girl. The girl states he commented on her breasts—that she was filling out into a lovely young woman.

I read on. Apparently, it came down to a he-said, she-said situation, but the school took it seriously enough to remove him from having access to the kids, yet still offered him employment in case the accusation had been misconstrued or fabricated.

I frowned. I didn’t like that he was still in the school, but it was the only report made, and there was no way to prove what had happened. There were truth spells, but they were invasive and could interfere with mental health, so they couldn’t be used unless there was other evidence to suggest culpability.

I thought about it for a while. Jason had made a bad decision with the field trip. Taking that without anything else, I might have given him a pass. But given the fact that he had a prior accusation still hanging over his head, and my gut feeling that not only had he actually made the comment to the girl, but that he might have made other comments that went unheard, and adding to that the fact that he put his students in danger…well, I decided to contact the school.

Rather than call, I decided a trip to the academy was in order. Words were one thing, but the marks on my body were proof that the adventure had been more of a nightmare.

I adjusted my cape, put up a sign that I’d be back by ten-thirty and, keys in hand, headed back to my car. I didn’t like snitching, but I didn’t want Willows putting anybody else in danger.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Every time I set foot on the Midnight Manor Academy’s campus, I felt a weird sense of awe and nostalgia. I loved my time here as a child and teenager. I’d lived in a magical environment that had set me up to be prepared for life as one of the witchblood. I knew that some people hadn’t had such a luxury—January Jaxson, from over in Moonshadow Bay, hadn’t attended a magical academy because of her mother. She never said it held her back, but she was suffering from a chronic illness brought on by not using her magic for so many years. One of the few times we’d met, she’d told me about it, and how hard it made life.

Now, as I walked across campus, the heels of my boots clacking against the cobblestones, I watched the young students on their way to class, remembering the fun times that Crystal and I had when we were in school.

Community Hall was a stone building, looking almost like a gothic cathedral. With the auditorium, theater, cafeteria, and administrative offices, it sprawled across the square, surrounded by well-groomed rose bushes and a grassy knoll where students could sit and eat lunch under the trees on warm days.

As I entered the building, I watched the surge of students navigating through the stone halls on their way to the school store or their next class. It was nearing eleven, and in an hour, the halls would be filled with students on their way to lunch. I headed toward the principal’s office.

The secretary looked up from her desk, where she was entering data. A nameplate on her desk read “Amanda Wyers.”

“Hello, may I help you?”

“I need to talk to the principal about one of the professors. It’s about Jason Willows.”

I had guessed even the mention of his name would get me a reaction, and I was right. She took a breath, then looked up at me. “Please, have a seat. May I have your name?”

“Maisy Tripwater, and I’m in his cryptozoology class. As I said, this is important.”

Amanda stood. “I’ll be right back, please wait here.” She vanished through a door behind her desk.

I waited, glancing around the room. The window on the side wall overlooked the main square of the campus, which was currently mostly empty, given classes had started. A few students were crossing the square to the other buildings, but other than that, it was relatively quiet. I flashed back to so many years spent here, and—unlike some of my friends—I had enjoyed my time in school. I’d loved learning and had gotten along well with many of my peers.

The door to Principal Morrison’s office opened and Amanda appeared. “You can go in now,” she said, motioning for me to enter the room. She stayed, shutting the door behind her.

“How do you do, Ms. Tripwater. I hope you don’t mind but I’d like Amanda here, to take notes,” Principal Morrison said. He was tall and lanky, with wavy red hair, and he wore a nice but not extravagant gray suit. He stood, holding out his hand.

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