Changeling (Sorcery and Society Book 1)(75)

“We broke into my mother’s study and took my blade back. Oh, and these are for you.” Alicia reached into her pocket and pulled out six letters with my name on them, written in Gavin’s messy scrawl.

“What?” The envelopes slipped through my fingers like wet tissue.

“My mother kept them in the same desk drawer where she hid my athame. I think she told the servants not to post them.”

“Because of the rumors?” I guessed.

“No, Mother is just very possessive of Gavin, and I would imagine she didn’t like how often he was writing you,” she said. “Good luck with that. What’s taking so long with the ropes, Ivy?”

“Well, Miss Morton may be absolutely insane, but she’s a dab hand at tying very complicated knots.”

Alicia scowled. “You know, you could speed the process along by using magic. Or that enormous knife in your sleeve.”

Ivy scowled right back, whispering an incantation over the ropes binding my ankles and wrists.

“Where is she?” I asked, slowly coming to some form of awareness.

“She’s up in the bell tower, preparing for some sort of ritual. She’s got the Mother Book with her,” Ivy whispered.

“I’ve been such a fool,” I sighed.

Alicia assured me. “I’m sure it’s not so bad.”

“She’s using the book to suck the magic out of me so she can raise an army of the dead to topple the Coven Guild government.”

“All right, that is rather serious,” Alicia admitted.

“Is there any other adult on the grounds? Can we scry message for help?” Ivy asked.

“There’s no time. What she’s planning, she’s planning to do right now.”

Together, they nodded. “And it will be dangerous.”

I received more nods and was pleased that they didn’t hesitate. These girls were my true friends, there to support me, to help me, even if I was about to do something completely reckless and stupid. They gave me strength, creeping into my limbs and making it a little easier for me to stay upright. “We could probably be seriously injured. If not killed.”

More nods, though just a little slower.

They helped me to my feet and held me steady as my equilibrium fought to right itself. “Before we go rushing in to a very dangerous situation without a semblance of a plan, I have to tell you something. I’m not Cassandra Reed. I’m not a Guardian, like both of you. I’m a Snipe. I was a servant in Mrs. Winter’s household until a few months ago. I don’t know why I can do what I can do. But I will understand if you decide that you want to run home.”

Neither girl’s expression changed at all; no anger, no hurt, just the same steady exasperation they usually showed me.

“All right then,” Ivy said. “Anything else?”

I frowned. “I lied to you.”

“Yes,” Alicia said.

“Everything you know about me is a lie,” I said.

“Yes, and Ivy’s not really a descendant of Morgana,” Alicia told me. “My mother’s family originally made their money selling magic beans. All of our histories are riddled with little inaccuracies. Yours is just bigger than most.”

Ivy said, “And we can sort all of this out later. Right now, there’s a magic-wielding maniac trying to end the world as we know it.”

“I just wanted you to know before you ran at the maniac headlong,” I said.

Ivy patted my hand. “We appreciate that.”

“You’re the same girl who was our friend when no one else was. You’re the same girl who defended me from Callista and risked your social neck for Ivy,” Alicia told me. “Everything else can be managed.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, my head bowed. Both girls squeezed my arms gently.

After a silent moment, a thought occurred to me. “Alicia, what would happen if the wards your brother put on you were removed?”

Alicia pulled a face. “I would have a major burst of power, but as long as the wards were replaced, well, it would put me in the sick wing for a while, but I would be OK.”

I smiled. Ivy’s mouth dropped open as she picked up on my intentions. “Oh… no.”

“It will be fine,” Alicia told her. Ivy frowned, so Alicia added, “It will be fine, in general.”



It took us surprisingly little time to concoct some semblance of plan. I slowly climbed the ladder to the tower, careful to make very little noise. Ivy was going to use all of her ward-manipulating skills to remove the limitations on Alicia’s magic while I distracted Miss Morton. Then they would “prop me up” like they had when we’d reclaimed my lost book while I made use of the “banishing of an evil spirit” spell the Mother Book had shown me weeks ago. I figured there was no spirit more evil than someone who was planning to raise an undead army.

The bell tower glowed an eerie green from the light of hundreds of tiny candles. Callista, Jeanette and Helena were bound and gagged, tied to desk chairs. They were slumped against each other, unconscious. Miss Morton was dressed in a positively glamorous black gown embroidered with white owls while she danced around the tower, maneuvering around candle stands and drawing symbols in the air with her athame. Their shapes were dull and sickly grey, fading into the air like a stain. She skidded to a halt when I emerged into the tower.