Page 149 of The Holy Academy of Witches

I glanced back to the door, wincing when I saw their pair of designer slides tilted to dry.

“You guys went for a swim as well?” I said with a forced smile.

“Sure did.” Dorcus smiled, all teeth.

“Oh, I must have missed you. I decided to swim at the lake today.” I stumbled out.

“Funny, that’s where Lillian decided to swim today. You must have missed us both… only… we were there for hours, weren’t we? So where oh where could you have been Sage? You wouldn’t be breaking the rules would you?”

“That’s enough, you two.” Adeline’s tired voice called like an angel of mercy from her open door. Though perhaps she’d be feeling less angelic when she figured out where I’d been, if she didn’t already know. “Sage, come here I have a question for you.” She turned, no doubt in her mind I would follow. I guess now was better than never.

I closed her door behind me, rubbing the back of my neck against the heat of embarrassment already setting in. Would she want to know I was hooking up with her best friend?

“Sorry about that,” I started awkwardly, stopping when I saw the papers stacked around the directory on her floor. That’s right, we were meant to be working on the riddle tonight.

“Grab the map for me?” She said, gesturing weakly toward her desk from the bed. Had I ever seen her sit on her bed? I mutely did as she asked, handing it to her and wondering at the redness I saw underneath her sleeve. Did she have an allergic reaction?

“I forgot we were meant to work on this tonight, sorry for being late. I know you hate that.” I mumble, ashamed that I’d dropped the ball once again.

“It’s fine Sage, let’s just get this done.” The apathy in her voice shocked me more than the exhaustion.

“Are you okay?” I asked softly.

“I’m fine.” She snapped frostily and I was reminded of our earliest interactions. I lost a bit of the warmth from earlier at the unexpected chill.

“Are you mad about me and Cillian?” I asked, suddenly worried she didn’t approve of us together any more.

“Why would I be mad? Did something happen?” She looked up, taking in my blush, the wet hair, and the conversation she’d interrupted for perhaps the first time. “Oh,” was all she said.

“So… You are mad.” I concluded sadly, I thought she’d be elated. Only kept it to myself because I was sure she wouldn’t want the nitty gritty details of all the ways Cillian had found to make me come with his dick and magic. That and I enjoyed the secret joy of us.

“No. No, I’m not mad. Surprised. Or… No, that’s not quite it either. I’m just, acclimating. So, you finally saw sense?” She asked, not quite as icily as before. I took that as a good sign.

“I did, and I owe it all to you. I’m a bit of a fool… which I’m sure you know, but it’s still so new. I just… I figured you weren’t the kind to gossip about the more…graphicdetails.”

“You were right and that’s quite enough of that, thank you.” She said with a shudder.

“Okay.” I laughed, relieved. “So, we’re okay?”

“We’re fine. I’m fine. It’s all fine. But what is not fine is locating this godsforsaken Mary.” I felt terrible I’d left this for her to bear alone. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to find the book, in fact I’d love to know more about controlling the power in my veins. It was just that combining campuses had thrown everything into chaos. Between that and the new attention’s from Cillian… it just hadn’t been a priority. But looking at the waning Adeline in front of me, I knew I needed to pick up the slack.

I strode to the book picking it up to read it out loud again:

Amongst the trees she waits serene,

A maiden of faith, the light unseen.

A new beginning from the past,

A willing vessel unsurpassed.

“We know she’s somewhere in the forest, most likely on one of our campuses. That’s… a lot of ground to cover so… Well, I was going to ask you. What if we ask Theo and Cillian to help us find it?”

“Sage…”

“Look, I’ve talked to Theo recently and he says he’s going to try. And besides, we can cover so much more ground together. They already know about the riddles anyways, and there’s nothing on any of the maps that mark any of the statues. It would be a waste not to ask for help they’re sure to give.”

“Alright, fine. But I don’t trust Theo alone. We go in a group, or pairs. And I make no promises not to hex Theo if he can’t keep it together.”

---