Cursed to the Bone

23. Anchors Away

Flying through the doorway, I lunged down the steps without care for the noise I made and raced through bookshelves in search of Lauvet. I stopped roughly fifteen-yards away. She stood with her back facing me as she peered over the edge of the balcony.

"My apologies, young man," Lauvet said reaching over. "This is nothing personal."

"No!" I didn't wait to find out what she had planned. I threw my hands forward and cast Push, blowing her off the balcony. My magic recoiled instantly, sending jolts of frosty shock racing through my bloodstream that left me gasping for breath.

"Vee!" Nix shrieked from the ledge.

I rushed to look over the rail and silently thanked the Goddess. He was still there. Reaching over, I grabbed two fists full of his coat and pulled. Once he was high enough to get his foot on the edge, he jumped over and sent us both to the tiles.

"We gotta get out of here," Nix said, his voice distorted.

Oh, hell. I blinked through spotty vision, watching as Nix looked over the balcony. Then I was yanked to my feet.

"She isn't dead."

"Sorry," I said, stumbling after him. My mouth tasted like metal—another bad sign. "That doesn't feel right."

"You all right?" Nix slid to a stop at the arch leading downstairs and I slammed into him. Thankfully, he didn't let me fall. He pulled me into the stairwell and down.

"Just some strain." That, and my head felt like it was cracked open with a mallet.

We burst from the stairwell into the entry room where Nix screamed, "There's a killer in there. She wants us dead."

The witch shot magic at the chimes hanging behind the desk, looking disapprovingly between the four of us. "I don't know how you two got up there, but you can explain it to the headmaster. Come along, then. Quickly."

None of us protested as we made for the exit. The doors flew open before we could get to them. Of the three that barged in, I only knew Lucien and Tedric. I'd never seen the third professor before, but she stood nearly as tall as Tedric.

Lucien stared at me, his eyes in such a glare I knew I was in trouble. "Miss Tate. What did I say about casting?"

There must have been some sort of physical indicator, as there was no way he should know. I gazed at my hand, and sure enough, there were sprawling blue veins that looked like lightning beneath my skin. "Oh."

"There's no time!" Nix pointed behind us. "The woman who wants Vera is here and she tried to kill me!"

Naomi gasped.

The female professor barreled into the archives, her heels clicking the tiles behind us. Lucien shared a look with the headmaster, as if having a silent conversation between them, before Tedric abruptly rushed after the woman to help her go after Lauvet. "Get them out of here. We'll discuss the details shortly."

"Come. All of you. We must go to the infirmary." Lucien started forward and grabbed me by the arm only to spin around and drag us from the archives.

***

True to his word, Lucien fit me with a pair of anti-magic cuffs the moment he finished fixing some of the damage I caused to myself.

Naomi, Nix, and Rhett stood awkwardly by one bed as I sat on another. Lucien stood between us, making certain the cuffs were appropriately sized so I couldn't slip them off. They felt like anchors on my wrists that forced all my magic to my core. I didn't like it one bit.

"It wasn't her fault," Nix said, wringing his hands together. "She saved me. The witch would have killed me!"

Stepping backward, Lucien looked between us all with crossed arms and an expression that was anything but impressed. "What were the four of you doing in the archives, and why did this happen?"