Page 118 of The Holy Academy of Witches

“Yes.”

“But you couldn’t figure out how to do that?”

“Right.”

“Any ideas now?”

“For what?”

“How to get to know me?”

I stared up at him then, wondering for the first time if I’d been wrong about him. If maybe I’d been wrong about all of it. Maybe he wasn’t laughing at me, or looking for my weaknesses. I remembered that he had kept every secret so far… so maybe, maybe I could let my guard down a little around him.

“I could ask Adeline, of course.” I joked with a small smile. This time enjoying his answering laugh. I remembered then that I didn’t hate his laugh.

“Alright, ask Adeline then, or you can call me again. I quite enjoyed our late night call.”

I laughed this time, “Alright, next time I have an academic query I’ll give you and Adeline a fair chance at answering.”

He asked the bird lady in French for something and I found myself a tad less annoyed at her when she brought me a to-go box for the dessert.

“One last question and then we can leave.” Cillian said, handing a sleek black card to the waitress for the bill.

“Okay, but only if you answer it too.” I felt this might be the easiest way to get to know him since I still couldn’t form the words to ask him questions that weren’t accusatory in nature.

“Alright, what’s your favourite colour? Mine is green.”

“Blue.” I answered, shocking myself. Up till recently it had been purple. I decided to avoid his eyes as I stood, pulling my leather coat on and waiting nervously while he did the same. The waitress handed him the card slowly, undoubtedly confused to see us standing, before leading us to the front with a farewell in a language I was now convinced I needed to learn.

The gig went smoothly, besides more drama with their drummer, and I recorded the set on my phone while happily eating the apple tart now soaked in melted ice cream.

On our way home I found I didn’t mind the close quarters on his bike. Even enjoying it when he decided to take some turns faster than before, squeezing closer to keep from falling off. My heart felt lighter as I said goodbye, glad that maybe he wasn’t my enemy after all.

Sixty-Three

Adeline

Isat cross-legged on the ground, with the maps I hadborrowedfrom the library laid out in front of me. I had plotted the coordinates that Sage had sent me and was currently drawing a direct path North which - lo and behold - led directly to the spot I thought it would. Right into the heart of the Veneficus campus.

There were remnants of the original church and its outbuildings scattered throughout our campus, it made sense there would be buildings or even relics remaining on the site of the boys Academy too. I was pretty certain that the location I had marked was where the atrium was built into the back of the main building, the stonework was old and the Gothic arches still held stained glass.

With the location decided, I wrote out the riddle once more, spacing out each line.

A maiden full in dying light.

A curse, a sign, or blessing?

Solace found in kins own sight,

Seek out the holy dressing.

‘Kins own sight,’the clue was here all along, I thought to myself. I considered the rest of the riddle. ‘A maiden full’…wellshewas certainly full I thought as I gazed up at the pregnant belly of Elizabeth. Perhaps that isn’t a coincidence. Wracking my brain for every bit of knowledge I possessed on St. Elizabeth, which was little considering I was a witch. Not completely ill-informed on mortal religion, an idea struck me like lightning. I dropped my sheet of paper and jumped to my feet. I needed to tell Sage! But… I looked at the time, dammit she was still out with Cillian.

I pondered what I should do to kill some time, ruling out any dark magic in the presence of the patron Saint. Not that I was superstitious… per se.

Witches, depending on the coven, usually placed their belief in the Triple Goddess - The Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Others prayed to the sun, the moon, the stars… the forces of nature. Which I was more inclined to, though I didn’t subscribe to any particular deity. Preferring to have faith in only myself. Cillian always called me the magical atheist whenever we got into a healthy debate on religion… which was hardly ever because he was an insufferable bastard.

I walked back to my dorm building, deciding on doing more research into the attacks. There hadn’t been one in the last few weeks, not in Europe at least. There was always unrest in the Middle East, though that was hardly ever magical in nature.

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