Page 272 of Fated to be Enemies

“Great, Maddox has been teaching me. I’ve learned the grammar and basic phonics.”

I chewed my bottom lip. Fuck. I really couldn’t wait another year. I had to put my name forward at the call, which meant potentially failing—probably failing.

“You’ve done good today. Take the rest of the day off.” I needed to study if I stood half a chance. The stack of books finally beckoned me.

“I want to continue, but I guess I can take a break. I just wish I could leave here.” His eyes narrowed. “Get out of these grounds for a while.”

I pressed my lips into a tight line. I really needed to get ahead. Sighing, I relented. “I won’t tell you how to get into the woods, because it’s dangerous, but if you want to go into town or find another place to train, then I can help you sneak out.” Maddox wasn’t letting anyone leave until the threat had been eliminated. “Just please don’t go into the woods.”

“I won’t. I swear.”

Chapter Nine

Icouldn’t make it through one of the oversized books on our history before I fell asleep at the desk in the smaller study. It was at the back of the house, in a room big enough to fit a desk, chair, bookshelf, and houseplant. How was anyone expected to focus when the writing was so dry? I could feel my brain cells slowly dying as I forced myself to internalize fact after fact, date after date. Rubbing my temples, I sighed. Benji had jumped onto the window ledge after squeezing through the gap between the door and wall. I looked at him, tilting my head.

“What am I going to do, Benji? How am I supposed to read through twenty of these and remember everything?”

He looked at me, tilting his head, then after a few seconds looked back out the window, as if to say I was on my own with this one.

I really should have started studying sooner, but I kept putting it off because I needed to master the advanced spells and grade four dark objects. I couldn’t even do that. I was close to banging my head against the table when an idea popped into my mind. It wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last. It was a terrible, terrible idea but was awfully tempting considering the circumstances. A little over a year ago, I’d come across something I shouldn’t have in Edmund’s office. They called it the Joker’s Ball. Found by witches, retrieved by Frederick from the south of Istinia, it was a rare object made by the same dark magician who’d made the blood ring that had hurt Viktor. According to Edmund and Maddox, it could force powerful illusions onto whomever the user desired. It would be difficult to master, but if I did, I could use it to pass the exams. It would only be Edmund, Dora, and Maddox overseeing my passing the tests. If I could master that one object, I could delude them into believing I’d passed with flying colors. Once a keeper, I’d be able to work on the stacks of books and tricky spells without so much pressure, and there would be no way Viktor would be able to rise high enough to become a keeper before me.

I knew where Edmund kept the key. I also knew he wouldn’t miss the Ball, not really. He probably wouldn’t even notice it had gone. They’d stopped working on it months ago. He and Maddox had both mastered it, naturally, but they didn’t use it for their own gain. Neither would cross that line, and normally I wouldn’t?—

“Have you seen Viktor?”

I jumped in my seat, placing my hand against my chest, where my heart raced a mile a minute. “You could have knocked!”

Maddox rolled his eyes. “I’m glad to see you’re studying. For once.”

“Yes, it’s riveting,” I snarked. “No, I haven’t seen Viktor.”

“I’ve looked everywhere.” His forehead wrinkled, and he chewed on one of his nails. “Can you help me? I’m about to reinforce the spells outside but need to make sure everyone is within the limits. If not, things could get ugly.”

My stomach dipped. I’d be in so much trouble if he found out I’d told Viktor how to get out of the mansion. “I think he went out onto the grounds, to practice with his throwing daggers or something. I can go look for him if you want.”

“I don’t know if you should go alone.”

“We’re nowhere near the woods, and the spells are up,” I said assuredly. “I’ll be okay.”

After a few seconds, he relented. “I’ll search the front and the attic, also the basement and vault. I doubt he’d be able to get down there. It’s heavily guarded, but you never know.”

“Meet back here in an hour?”

He nodded.

I grabbed my black umbrella patterned with purple skulls when I noticed the clouds forming overhead, and I walked out the back door and down the three steps to the path leading down the garden. Running between flowerbeds of whites and blues, I headed out, then between two hedges and a small garden, which was fenced off from the rest, where the pond remained stagnant. Viktor had probably gone into the woods. It was precisely where I’d said not to go, and he didn’t seem the type to keep promises. He’d been far too insistent on going the other day, but nonetheless, I hoped he hadn’t.

Moving through the overgrowth, past stinging nettles and through a hole in the fence, I emerged into a small collection of trees that made a U shape around the secluded garden area. The grounds were so big, Maddox and Edmund often forgot about the small area, so the magic surrounding the mansion, like a large dome guarding it from sight, was weaker here. Touching it, I absorbed some of the power and broke through. I’d told Viktor to do the same. It was the only way in and out whenever the mansion was on high alert. We had more intruders than any other coven, which was expected with the treasures we held.

My hand tingled. Wide-eyed, I brought it into my line of sight. “Not now, Naomi.” A magic quill appeared, letting me know she would be leaving in a short while with her coven. It would take her at least thirty minutes to get here and maybe thirty minutes until she left, which left me an hour to find him before it was too late.

I hurried out of the collection of trees and down the bank, treading mud against my boots as I slid onto the gravel path. I was on the edge of town, and darkness was beginning to fall. I shouldn’t have told him how to get out, but he was an adult who could make his own choices. No. I am justifying my recklessness. He was new here, therefore vulnerable as he didn’t know the area, but I’d had to get him out of my hair so I could practice. If he wasn’t trying to climb the ranks so quickly, I wouldn’t be forced to enter my name at the call.

Ambling down the road, I rolled my eyes. Playing tug-of-war between my head and conscience was exhausting. I bit my bottom lip as I stared at the little lights of our town. Now what? How could I possibly know where to find him? Even if he had made it into the woods, which was stupid, there was no way I was going back in there after the other day. I prayed he’d come to his senses and gone into town instead.

Hovering my finger over my hand, I whispered the incantation: Bind the words to become one, send to Viktor… I paused. I’d forgotten his last name, or had he even told me it? How could I send him a magic quill if I didn’t know his full name? I was sure Maddox had already tried, and he, unlike me, would make sure to remember his last name. Either way, Viktor had clearly ignored any messages he’d gotten. He hadn’t come back, and I was going to pay the price for it. Edmund would kill me if he found out I told Viktor how to get out. I would send him a magic quill, but we hadn’t performed the joining spell yet, allowing us to exchange messages that way.

Red-bricked houses lined the road I hurried down. Banners of white hung from windows, signaling one of the many holidays we celebrated in Istinia for some historical event or another. I didn’t participate in most, except for the call festival, because it was fun, and Yuletide, because I could drink as much hot cocoa as I wanted without excuse and eat all the cookies. It was my favorite time of year, and I loved winter, so it was a win-win.

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