I open my eyes and turn back around.
“Let the mermaid go,” I mutter. “And I’ll do what you say.”
Rory sighs in relief. Tala smirks, and my wolf rumbles inside me. Kaenan turns to Persephone, still bound to the chair.
“If you speak of anything that’s happened here, you and your siblings will regret it,” he growls in her ear. Persephone’s scales quiver.
Kaenan nods at Tala and Rory. He takes off Persephone’s gag and Tala ties the enchanted gem back around her neck so that her legs reappear. Persephone sniffs, rubbing her jaw. Her eyes are lined with red. Rory cuts the binds shakily. As soon as Persephone is loose, she staggers clumsily to her feet. Avoiding my gaze, she makes it to the door as quickly as she can. She rushes out of the dorm room like a stray haddock wriggling out of a fishing net. The door slams behind her.
“Clean this up,” Kaenan tells Rory, kicking the ropes under the chair.
I stare at the door. As Kaenan comes closer to me, his voice lowers to a dangerous pitch. “Our day will come again. When it does, we’ll need you with us.”
I nod, smelling iron in the air. Outside the window, a lone figure on a broomstick flies back home across the waning moon.
LIKE A CHILL UNDER A DOOR
Maggie
November creeps in like a chill under a door. I’ve never paid much attention to the way that nature waxes and wanes over the seasons. For me, November was always about studying for final exams and trying to get invited to the end-of-term parties that the popular kids threw. I didn’t notice the migrating birds and gentle frost on the windows. How the oak trees all lose their leaves and the evergreens seem to stand taller, proudly ushering in the winter. How the coldness invigorates my skin. Now, I enjoy the private thrill of the crisp air each time I go out. I stop layering my clothes, trading my jean jacket for a necklace of crystal charms. It was a gift from Orion, who found them at the bottom of the lake. Hallie and I each have a matching set. I feel giddy when we wear them at the same time, like they resonate with each other.
“What are you grinning about?” Rae asks, shifting from her wolf form back to human. We’re cuddled up by the lake, watching the sun rise. She came back to our room late last night and had trouble sleeping, so we came out here. I think she sleeps better outside.
I feel myself blush a little. Even though Rae is so wonderful, sometimes I still feel nervous with her. It’s early, after all, this relationship is still new.
“Just happy, I guess.”
“That’s good,” she sighs, burrowing her nose into the crook of my neck. Her warm breath tickles, and a shiver rises through my whole body.
Splash. Rae immediately turns her head toward the lake and frowns. I follow her gaze. A mermaid fin crests the water, like an arrow pointing.
A witch on a broom descends over the lake. Her long emerald cape waves elegantly in the wind.
It’s Lydia. She lands perfectly on the ground outside the castle entrance, her cat familiar hopping off her broom as she disembarks. The large wooden doors open and she turns. She spots Rae and I, entangled on the bank of the lake. She’s too far away to read her expression, but Rae gets the message and I feel her move away from me.
My mother disappears into the academy. Irritation blooms in my chest. Rae reaches for her clothes, lying in a pile beside us.
I try to keep my voice steady. “You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s ok,” she says, pulling on her jeans. It’s the same worn-out gray pair she always wears.
“It’s not,” I reply. “Really, just ignore her.”
Rae is quiet, so I fill the silence. “They’re just so hypocritical. I mean, it’s not like their relationship is mainstream. They’re three women in a polyamorous triad! And they want to tellusthat we can’t be together. It’s totally ridiculous.”
“It’s not that we’re two women,” Rae mutters, running her fingers through her long dark hair. There’s a blade of grass behind her ear.
“Well…Iknowthat.”
“It’s that you’re a witch and I’m a wolf shifter,” Rae continues. She’s not meeting my gaze. My chest tightens.
“I mean, yeah…but it’s still so antiquated. You and I are both magical! My mom got involved in this whole academy in order to, like, join the magical communities together and help us learn from one another. Why wouldn’t that include being in relationships? There must be other couples from different magical groups…”
“You don’t get it,” Rae says, her brow furrowed. “It’s not that common. And my pack…we were justdecimatedby the panthers and most of the witches who are running this school. Our Alpha is in the Cave, along with our other senior pack members and the vampires who allied with us. It’s not just that I’m a wolf and you’re a witch, it’s more complicated than that.”
She shakes her head.
“Maggie, It’sdangerousfor you to be with me. The only reason we weren’t thrown in the Cave too is because we were underage, but that’s changed now. One wrong move and we could join my uncle and packmates there.”
