“Can I have some water?” I ask through lips that feel absurdly parched, considering I’m not wandering the Sahara.

“Yeah, of course.” Macy grabs something from her backpack and hands it to me—a stainless-steel tumbler with the lid off. I take a long drink. Then go back for two more as my throat finally begins to feel human again.

As does the rest of me.

The cold water has the added benefit of getting my brain going, and as soon as I’ve slaked my thirst, I turn to Jaxon with what I’m sure are still sleep-fogged eyes.

“What’s going on?” I ask. “Why is everyone in Macy’s and my room?”

There’s a weird silence as the four of them look at one another, then back at me.

“What?” I ask again.

Macy sighs. “I hate to break it to you, Grace, but this is definitely not our room.”

“Whose room is it, then?” I ask, looking around. And that’s when panic hits me, because I realize Macy is right. This isn’t our room. It isn’t Jaxon’s room. In fact, I’m pretty positive it isn’t even a bedroom, unless the person furnishing it is a huge fan of Scary Dungeons ’R’ Us.

“Where are we?” I ask when I can finally find my voice again.

Amka steps in before Jaxon or my family can answer. Squatting down next to me—and for the first time, I realize I’m on the floor—she asks, “Where do you think you are?”

“I don’t know.” I look around again, this time hoping to find a clue as agitation builds inside me. I’m just beginning to realize that not only do I not know where I am, but I also have absolutely no idea how I got here.

And can I just say, this is seriously getting old?

The last thing I remember is sitting down to work in the library, with a sparkling water and some M&M’s. After that…nothing. It’s a blank. Again.

“Is someone hurt?” I demand, panic roaring through me. “Did I do it again? Did I attack someone?”

“No, Grace. Everything’s fine.” Amka puts what I know she means to be a calming hand on my shoulder, but it doesn’t work. It just makes me more freaked out, as does the low, soothing tone of her voice.

“Don’t do that. Don’t try to placate me.” I push away from her, leap to my feet…and turn to Jaxon. “Please, please don’t lie to me. Did I hurt someone? Did I—”

“No!” He says it much more vehemently, voice adamant and eyes steady as he stares into mine. “You didn’t hurt anyone, I swear. You’re the one we’re worried about right now.”

“Why? What happened?” I believe Jaxon, I do, but the memory of waking up covered in blood this morning is so strong that I can’t help looking down at my hands, my clothes, just to make sure. Just to feel safe.

I’m not bloody, thank God. But the sleeve of my blazer is ripped all to hell. Because that’s not terrifying at all, considering it’s just now reaching a high of freezing outside.

Suddenly, the concern on everyone’s faces makes a lot more sense. They aren’t worried that I hurt someone. This time, they’re worried that I’m the one who’s gotten hurt.

I swallow the fear exploding inside me like a hand grenade and try to breathe. I am going to figure this out. It’s bad enough that I lost four months to this mess. No way am I going to just accept that I’ve brought it back with me. No way am I going to let this become my new normal.

“Where am I?” I ask for a second time, because I am absolutely positive I’ve never been in a room with a crystal ball before ever, let alone at Katmere Academy. And I’ve certainly never been in a room with a candle collection that rivals Bath & Body Works—if Bath & Body Works was into carved-up ritual candles and enough incense to cover Alaska twice over.

“You’re in the casting tower,” Macy tells me.

“The casting tower?” I didn’t even know there was such a thing.

“It’s on the opposite side of the castle from my room,” Jaxon adds in what I assume is an attempt to help me get my bearings.

“Oh, right. The smaller tower on the gazebo side.” I shove a hand—one that I’m working overtime to keep steady—through my curls. “I guess I just always assumed it was somebody else’s dorm room.”

“Nope.” Macy shoots me a grin that almost touches her eyes. “Your boyfriend is the only one who rates a tower. This one belongs to all the witches.”

Of course it belongs to the witches. If it belonged to anyone else, I’d be really concerned. Especially since I just looked down and realized that I am standing dead center in the middle of a giant pentagram.

And not just any giant pentagram. The giant pentagram that makes up the center of an even more giant casting circle…

Oh, hell no. Lia cured me of ever wanting to be anywhere close to the middle of another spell. Ever.

I take several big steps backward, not because I want to get away from Jaxon or Macy or the others but because I am getting the hell out of this circle. Now.

Call it an overabundance of caution, call it PTSD, call it whatever the hell you want; I don’t care. No way am I spending another second in a circle surrounded by red and black candles.

No, thank you.

The rest of them follow me, because of course they do. Each of them takes a step forward for each step I take back. My uncle and Amka look really concerned, and Macy looks curious. But Jaxon… Jaxon’s got a small, rueful smile on his face that tells me he knows exactly what’s got me so freaked out. Then again, he’s the only one here who was down in that tunnel with me.

With everything that happened to him that day, too, I’m surprised he hasn’t run screaming from this room. God knows I’m considering it.

“Grace?” Macy asks as I continue to step backward. “Where are you going?”

“Out of, ummm…” I break off in frustration as I realize I’m still in the circle. “How big is this thing anyway?”

“It takes up most of the room,” Uncle Finn answers, looking even more confused. “We have a lot of witches who need to fit around the circle. Why?”

But Macy seems to have finally clued in. “Oh, sweetie, the circle isn’t cast. Nothing can hurt you right now. And in here we do magic that does no harm anyway. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Of course there isn’t. I know that. I’m still just going to…” I use my thumb to point backward over my shoulder.

“Would it make you feel better if we left this room completely?” Amka asks.

I focus on her as relief sweeps through me. “So much, I can’t even tell you.”

“Okay, then let’s go.” Just that easily, Uncle Finn starts herding everyone toward the door. “There’s something you need to see in the library anyway.”

“In the library?” Now I’m even more confused. “You mean the gargoyle books Amka got out for me? I saw them earlier, and I’m planning on working my way through them.”

“No. Something else. We’ll talk about it when we get there.”

That doesn’t sound ominous at all. I’m about to press for details, but my uncle looks grim. Really grim, and it scares me more than I want to admit.

Before Katmere, I never imagined I’d be afraid of walking into a library. Then again, before Katmere, I never imagined a lot of things.

25

And the Blackouts

Just Keep

on Coming

As soon as we get outside the casting room, Jaxon stops me with a light hand on my wrist.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, more than willing to take as long as possible to get to what I’m rapidly beginning to think of as the library of doom. “Do you need something?”

“No, but I’m pretty sure you do.”

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t. He just tilts his head to the side—and listens like he’s waiting for something. A minute later, Mekhi is standing before me. And holding a large black jacket that I recognize as Jaxon’s.

He grins at me and bows, presenting the jacket as if to royalty. “My lady.”

For the first time since I woke up in a giant magical circle, everything seems like it might be okay. Mekhi isn’t treating me weirdly. He’s grinning at me like he always does. And I can’t help but grin back.

I give a mock curtsy and take the jacket from his hands. “My liege.”

“I’m going to want all the details later, but I’ve got to book it to my next class right now. See ya, Grace!” And with that, he vanishes. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how fast vampires can move.

“You didn’t have to ask Mekhi to do that.” I take off my ripped-up blazer and don Jaxon’s jacket, inhaling his scent as I do.

“I know.” He watches me carefully. “I like taking care of you.”

My already battered heart aches a little more at his words and the look in his eyes. I just wish I knew how to respond. There’s a part of me, a big part, that wants to lean in to him and press my lips to his. But I also know my gargoyle won’t let me yet, which is super frustrating on pretty much all the levels.

I mean, why let me kiss him that first time when I just got back to school, only to make sure I never let him near me like that again? It bothers me, and I can only imagine that it bothers Jaxon, too, even though he doesn’t say anything. In the end, I do the only thing I can do. I hold his gaze, hoping he can see in my eyes just how much his caring means to me.

“Come on, let’s go,” Jaxon finally says, and there is a gruffness to his voice that isn’t usually there. He holds a hand out to me.

I take it, and the two of us head down the winding steps together.

“Do you know what Uncle Finn wants to show me in the library?” I ask as we make it to the correct floor.

“No.” He shakes his head. “I got a frantic text from Macy telling me that you were missing, so the guys and I started looking, along with Finn and her. They texted us that they’d found you in the tower, but that’s all I know.”