“Someonein our hall spent half the night talking to G.O.R.E. agents,” Jolie said, leaning over the table to speak to me quietly. “Apparently, she was caught trying to bring a mirror ontocampus. The tripwire chimera exploded it, of course, as soon as she passed through the gate, but it got logged with security, and that was enough for them to look into her after what happened. So I think they’re taking this death threat seriously, Leda.”
I blinked, looking up from where I’d been eating fried eggs and potatoes.
“Mirrors explode when you bring them on campus?” I asked, baffled.
Jolie frowned, as if I was totally missing the point. “Of course. Anyway, it said so, didn’t it? In the Campus Orientation Manual? Didn’t you read that?”
My lips pressed together at the reminder. “I never got one,” I said, feeing another twinge of annoyance over that fact. At Jolie’s raised eyebrows, I added, “Is there a campus bookstore or anything? I’d like to buy a copy, actually.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’d just give you one if you asked at the admin desk in the Mansion,” Jolie assured me. “Oh, and here, by the way. Dr. Gupta gave me two of these.”
Jolie handed over a small, dark blue, glass vial.
I picked it up and squinted at the list of ingredients written in tiny handwriting on the paper stuck to one side.
“He helped me get the first dose into you, then suggested I mix the second in a glass of water and leave it on your bedside table once we got back to the dorm.” She looked a little apologetic. “He seemed to think you’d wake up thirsty.”
“I did,” I affirmed. “Thanks for that. I felt loads better after I drank it.”
Jolie smiled in relief. “I was a little worried until I saw you in the showers. You were just so pale last night. Even after that first dose of medicine?”
“They’re mirrors in there,” I blurted, thinking aloud. “In the bath.”
Jolie laughed. She shook her head, like she found my mirror curiosity funny.
“Yes, weirdo,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Mirrorscanbe spelled to prevent anyone from using them for traveling. But it’s no small thing. It takes special agents called Vitreori, who conduct rituals over weeks or even months to make them safe, and the mirrors themselves have to pass a series of tests to get certified. The mirrors in Malcroix are all certified. But you can’t bring any in from outside, even spelled ones. As far as I know, there are no exceptions to that rule, not for students.”
“Do you have any idea who did it?” Luc asked me. “Who might want you dead?”
I turned to look at him. “No.”
“But someone tried to kill you!” Miranda glanced around, as if realizing how loudly she’d said it. She lowered her voice. “You really have no idea who it could’ve been?”
I shook my head. “No. How would I?”
“It must’ve been someone with access to the kitchen,” Darragh commented from the other side. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged, shoving his glasses up his nose with a knuckle. “G.O.R.E. questioned a lot of people last night,” he explained. “Including everyone in the kitchen staff.”
His mouth grew a touch harder.
“I heard from our hall’s prefect they questioned the attendant who worked our table, too. They were on the poor bastard all night, with truth serums and interrogation by a registered telepath. Anyway, he’s been cleared. So now they’re thinking it was someone who got to your drinkbeforethey brought it out of the kitchen.”
“Could they have erased him? The attendant?” Luc asked. “If he was in on it, I mean, or if he saw someone tampering with the trays?”
Darragh shook his head, but not exactly in a no. “No idea. But I suspect not. The telepath would’ve noticed the gaps. It’s likely they’d be savvy to that kind of thing.”
I frowned. “But someone must have seen something?”
Darragh shrugged. “Not necessarily. A skilled Magical could’ve put the entire kitchen under an illusion. Or they could’ve projected a glamour around themselves that accomplished the same thing. There are invisibility potions, too, but those are trickier, as they make the person who drinks them technically blind. There are magical means around that, of course. Some’ve trained their primals to see for them, but it’s more complicated. Sneaking potions into the school is harder than using raw magic.”
“Son of Ra,” Draken muttered. He gave me a worried look.
“I’d keep an eye out for anyone messing with your magic,” Darragh added. “And maybe work on your shielding, and your trace spells, so you can check anything you eat or drink.” His eyes dropped to the plate in front of me, and I swallowed the mouthful I’d been chewing before my eyes followed his.
“Don’t worry yourself too much, love.” He smiled, making his voice less glum. “The teachers all have eagle eyes on you now. Whoever’s after you failed, and they’ve lost the element of surprise. No one thinks it’s a coincidence you’re the first half-Magical in the school’s history and you justhappenedto imbibe a deadly enchantment the very first night.”
I couldn’t help noticing Draken turn to stare in the direction of Caelum Bones. He obviously had thoughts on who might’ve been behind it. His brown eyes hardened as he turned back to face our table.
Miranda clearly followed Draken’s gaze.
