“It has everything to do with this crypt. Because right now, this room contains Broadstone’s future.”

  People started to stare at Brown as if she was mad. Fair enough, because this conversation was getting way too esoteric for most students to track.

  Powers was still there, and he looked just as uncomfortable, if not more so, than when they’d all walked in. There was a certain wild look in his eyes as he stared at the room. It gave Felicity the impression that he was just waiting for something to rise up and gobble them all up.

  Felicity continued to push her senses into the room as she attempted to discern what was really here.

  It stood to reason that, if the room had been protected by a confusion spell on the door, perhaps that confusion spell had extended inward.

  That wasn’t the impression she was getting, though.

  It was… it was almost as if she didn’t have enough magic to see what was truly here.

  Though it would’ve been tempting to blow on both her seals, Felicity wasn’t that stupid. Maybe even Lucifer’s magic wouldn’t be enough to lift the veil on this mystery.

  “This room,” Brown turned her fingers down and pointed at the floor, “is a container. I’m sure some of you have already figured that out.” She looked right at Felicity.

  “It’s a room,” one student interrupted. It was one of the richer elites. He was clearly getting pissed off at this lesson. A lot of the other students were, too, but none of them were brave enough to point that out.

  “And I’m sure some of the better students,” Brown said pointedly, “understand that rooms aren’t all the same. Their purpose differs. This room is the beating heart of Broadstone, and it is a container. Whatever walks in is whatever it contains.”

  Brown had now lost the majority of the students. The only people who looked like they were paying any attention were her, Jake, and Jane.

  Felicity took a surreptitious step in front of Jane, blocking her from view. Though she didn’t want to get involved, she didn’t like it when Brown smiled right at Jane, obviously pleased that she was following.

  Felicity cleared her throat.

  “Yes, Miss South?” Brown said, that smile back on her lips.

  “This room is a magical container. It alters itself depending on what you put inside it. It will react to your magic.”

  Brown clapped her hands. “Yes, yes it will. It depends on the quality of the magic you bring to it. The stronger you are,” Brown suddenly opened her arms wide, clicked her fingers, and let power circle around her to a chorus of gasps from the students, “the more you can reveal.”

  The room started to change.

  Now Brown began to pump more magic into it, the stone rumbled ever so slightly. The ceiling shifted, too. There was the sound of stone on stone until the next thing Felicity knew, stone coffins began to appear right out of the cracks in the floor.

  The students closest to them gasped and jerked back.

  Some even screamed.

  The rest of them just stared in awed wonder at Brown. They would never have witnessed a witch like her. Fair enough – because neither had Felicity. Pure, unadulterated magic swirled around Brown, and she didn’t even flinch back.

  This wasn’t another extension of the confusion spell. Brown was pulsing with power that should have burned any other witch to the bone.

  She didn’t look like she was in pain, and Felicity sure as hell couldn’t detect the scent of burning flesh. Brown looked like she was having the time of her life.

  The room continued to fill until 12 coffins appeared.

  The students gasped and huddled together in the middle of the room.

  Beyond the 12 coffins were doors. There were six of them in total.

  “Considering you recognized what kind of room this is, Miss South, perhaps you’ll be able to tell the students how many doors there are in the room?”

  Felicity opened her mouth, and her lips moved to say six, but Jane quickly cleared her throat.

  It was pointed enough that Felicity stopped.

  She glanced sideways at the students near her. They all looked confused as hell. One muttered, “What doors?”

  Felicity ran her teeth over her lips.

  She’d been questioning why Brown had brought her down here. What if it was a test?

  Brown had already said that if she rose through the ranks of Magnum Optimus, she would be shown more of the school. The more power she had, the more the school would choose to reveal to her.

  What if this room was an indication of just how far Felicity had come?

  “We’re waiting, Miss South,” Brown said loudly.

  Felicity shrugged. “What doors?”

  Jake snorted.

  Brown’s expression immediately became hard. “You were about to say something, Miss South, before your friend rudely interrupted you. How many doors are in the room?”

  Dammit, Felicity couldn’t let Jane be dragged into this.

  “There are no doors,” that particular bratty elite from earlier pointed out. “Just what kind of nonsense lesson is this?”

  Felicity took a breath. She closed her eyes. “Four,” she said arbitrarily. She thought it was better to underestimate than overestimate.

  Maybe she’d gone a little too high, anyway, because both Brown and Jake appeared satisfied. She wondered if any of the other students were smart enough to recognize what was going on here. All they had to do was glance Jake’s way to realize that he was completely unaffected and so totally in control. But the kids around her were too stupid to do that.

  Brown continued to hold her hands out wide. “Maybe someone else can tell me how many coffins are in the room?”

  “Is this an accounting lesson?” the particularly rudely brat from earlier pointed out.

  “If you fail,” Brown said quietly and simply, “you will be kicked out of Broadstone. You cannot have reached this grade without being able to discern magical objects. So, Stuart, if I’m correct, how many coffins are in the room?”

  Stuart reeled at the promise that he would be kicked out. With his cheeks becoming pale and pasty, he pointed to the coffins. “There are 12.”

  “Correct, there are 12. So how many doors should be in the room?”

  Jake hadn’t been actively following the conversation – until now. “12.”

  Felicity made no attempt to stare his way.

  So this really was a lesson for her, ha? She could only see half the doors now, but what would happen when she’d be able to see all 12? The secrets of Broadstone would just flop at her feet like a dead fish thrown out of a boat?

  “As the principal of Broadstone, I will let you in on a secret – I can only see eight of those doors. The previous principal, despite his many years at the helm, could only see five.”

  The other students had clearly been ready to discount Felicity’s claim that she could see any doors, but now they stared at her, and their gazes were a mix of confusion, awe, and outright suspicion. If the previous principal had only been able to see five, how on earth could Felicity see only one less at four?

  “There are exceptional students at this school – and one will be joining us soon,” Brown commented, “who can see seven. Can any of the students here see any doors?”

  Jake wasted no time in putting his hand up, but he didn’t reveal how many doors he could see.

  Jane’s fingers twitched.

  Felicity deliberately stood close to her, telling her with her mere presence not to say a word, even if she could see any doors.

  One or two of the other students put their hands up. Felicity was surprised to see that Bethany was one of them.

  Brown clapped her hands again. “I’m glad to see that we have talented students, after all. The rest of you,” her voice dipped down, and she specifically looked at the elite kid from earlier, “will need to study. This room will be a benchmark to see if your studies are actually benefiting you and this school. Now, does anyone have any questions?” Again, she looked right at Felicity.

  Felicity didn’t say a word.

  Did she have questions? Oh, you bet you she had questions.

  Brown was unlikely to be lying, though she had every reason to. She probably could see eight doors. But what about the other students she’d spoken of? The ones who could see seven doors? Was Jake one of them?

  It didn’t take long for Felicity to get her answer.

  When the surprise subsided amongst the rest of the class, Brown strode into the middle of the room again. She clapped her hands twice. There was something specific about the sound. Felicity instantly realized that it echoed past the room. It would be the equivalent of giving someone a call. “It’s time to give you students the kind of challenges you deserve.” She wouldn’t have removed her gaze off Felicity even if Felicity had pointed a gun at her head and told her to close her eyes. “That will begin today. Today, we will have a special demonstration. Our most exceptional student from our graduate research division will take on the most exceptional student from your class.” She gestured at Felicity.

  Felicity could only think of one damn thing.

  Josephine. It had to be Josephine. And Josephine had to have been the student Brown had referred to earlier.

  Felicity still didn’t understand this junk about being able to see doors, but if it was an indication of how powerful she’d become, then that meant that Josephine was one level above Felicity.

  Felicity knew the stakes. She wasn’t allowed to call on her seals while she was at school for any reason other than to save her life.

  As her heart pounded and she heard footsteps outside, she wondered if it would come to that.

  Brown looked at her watch. “Though it isn’t time for magical defense class yet, I think you’ve been waiting long enough for a real lesson.”

  6

  There was a knock on the door. It opened, and in walked Josephine.

  The rest of the class looked amazed that she’d deigned to join them.

  Jane appeared horrified. She shot Felicity a look that said it all.

  She didn’t think Felicity had a chance.

  Before all this dross with the doors, Felicity would have wagered that she could take Josephine on easily. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  As Josephine walked in, Felicity could sense her power. The only reason she could do that would be because Josephine wasn’t making any attempt to hide it.

  Everything about her screamed magic. From her exceptionally expensive lab coat and her uniform underneath, to her totally pointless glasses, to the phone in her pocket, to the pendant around her neck – all of it constituted some of the most powerful charms Felicity had ever seen. And judging by the obvious magical thumbprint on them, Josephine hadn’t bought the charms – she’d cast them.

  Dammit, Felicity thought quickly. What the hell was she going to do?

  Was this a challenge from Magnum Optimus?

  Maybe Jake really could read her mind. He walked up beside her. “Relax. Just do your best. I’m sure you have a lot to learn,” he added.

  She desperately wanted to stamp on his foot. She settled for shooting him an unashamedly dark look.

  He just laughed, shrugged it off, walked over to the wall, and leaned against it.

  Josephine strode right up to Brown.

  “Are we really going to have a magical defense class down here?” one of the students asked.

  “This place is sacred,” Powers finally spoke up.

  Brown just ignored him.

  Josephine stared at all the students in turn, then locked her gaze on Felicity. She smiled – or at least she curled her lips up. The way they sat against her mouth made the move seem so unnatural, she might as well have been asking her body to tie itself into a bow.

  Brown said something to Josephine. Felicity couldn’t discern it.

  Brown took a step back and clapped. “Who would like to see a real sparring match?”

  “We’ve already seen Mary South spar,” one student pointed out. He was a midrange elite, if Felicity was any judge. Maybe he hadn’t heard that Felicity had defeated Belinda Hamilton – or maybe he just didn’t believe it. “There’s no way she could have a chance against Josephine Lay. It should be fun to watch, though.”

  “How many doors can you see, Mr. Cummings, is it?” Brown challenged.

  The guy abruptly shut up.

  Brown clapped again.

  Felicity could feel certain enchantments engaging throughout the room. Presumably, they would keep it protected from what would happen next. There was also a faint flicker as a barely perceptible magical shield jumped up around the students. She was surprised that Brown even gave a hoot about them. It was clear that every single thing that was happening here was for Felicity’s benefit and no one else’s.

  Sorry, benefit? Detriment.

  Felicity continued to check Josephine out, and every conclusion she came up with made her skin crawl.

  … She couldn’t take Josephine on, could she?

  It had been a long, long time since Felicity had come across a witch or magician she couldn’t take.

  Josephine’s hands were in her pockets. Her expression was bored. She looked Felicity up and down. “You can only see four doors, ha? Still,” she shrugged, “I’m sure you’ll learn a lot.”

  With that, she attacked. She just didn’t visibly do anything. All she did was blink, and the air around Felicity’s body changed. It tightened like a noose around her throat.

  Felicity tried to throw herself backward, but her usual agility didn’t count. Josephine’s spell was just too strong.

  Jane looked terrified. All the other students looked amused.

  Apart from Jake, of course. He was just watchful. He was the only student with the balls to lean against the wall of this apparently sacred crypt. Powers kept shooting him disappointed glances, but Jake didn’t pay any attention. His eyes were only for Felicity, apparently.

  Felicity jerked her fingers up and tried to remove the strands of Josephine’s spell, but she couldn’t grab hold of them. Josephine had made them deliberately slippery. Every time Felicity’s fingers dragged across them, they wriggled out of her way like worms.

  “I assumed you’d put up more of a defense,” Josephine said. “This is mildly disappointing,” she added dismissively.

  Screw this. Felicity finally grabbed hold of the spell and yanked it off her throat. Rather than just snap it, she turned it against Josephine.

  That was particularly high-level magic – especially considering Josephine had cast this spell in the first place. To grab hold of someone else’s enchantment, not only did you have to be ballsy, but you had to be exceptionally knowledgeable about the different ways that people cast magic.

  To alter an enchantment, you needed to go deep inside it, understand its magical flows, and alter them at the right point.

  Felicity managed it. Just. She could tell she only did so because Josephine hadn’t been expecting her to do that.

  Felicity made the strands of Josephine’s spell visible. Then she turned them around and whipped them at Josephine.

  Josephine, suffice to say, no longer stood there with her hands in her pockets. She jolted back. The whip Felicity had crafted sparked like crazy. It was so full of magic, it could have burned through the air and suffocated every student.

  Felicity cracked the magical whip closer to Josephine. It was Josephine’s turn to reach out and grab it just as Felicity had done to Matthew’s foot last night.

  Magic didn’t even surge around Josephine’s hand. Her inherent power was more than enough to grab the whip and yank it out of Felicity’s fingers.

  Felicity fell forward. Josephine wasted no time. She turned the whip around and sliced it right across Felicity’s chest.

  Jane screamed.

  Felicity went flying.

  All her natural protections gave up, and as she smashed into the wall close enough to Jake that his hair fluttered, she lost her breath.

  She also swore one of her ribs cracked.

  Her seals didn’t start to vibrate, though she imagined Lucifer was paying close attention to this fight.

  She longed to bring one of her wrists up and breathe on it. Hell, why not breathe on both?

  Josephine smiled. It was the kind of satisfied look you would give when a simple tool worked. It wasn’t the victorious look Matthew had given when he’d assumed he’d won last night.

  Josephine was in complete control.

  Felicity groaned and tried to push up again, but Josephine jerked the whip around again and smashed it into Felicity’s back.

  She let out a guttural groan as she fell onto her face.

  She tried to call on her magic. She rolled onto her back, and she attempted to grab the whip, but it became slippery again. Josephine yanked it high into the air.

  Felicity stared at it.

  Shit, she really couldn’t win.

  Josephine suspended the whip there for several seconds, and she made a sound halfway between a dismissive huff and a satisfied laugh.

  She brought the whip down.

  It smashed into Felicity.

  Pain erupted through her.

  She tried to control it – she couldn’t. She tried to stay conscious, but she started to slip under.

  For the first time, she felt Lucifer.

  She heard him, too. “Don’t close your eyes for too long around them.”

  Yeah, it wasn’t really a choice. She couldn’t fight off the unconsciousness that wrapped tighter and tighter around her.

  But Lucifer was not about to let her sleep. Just before she could fully black out, she spluttered as his energy pushed her back into the land of the living.

  She couldn’t move, though.

  Brown clapped. “That’s enough, Josephine. You’ve given us quite a display.” Brown turned and started to lecture the students on what happened when you became powerful enough that you could see more doors.

  All the while, Felicity just lay there.

  Jane tried to protest, but Brown simply said that Felicity would be taken to the nurse’s office.

 

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