Chapter Sixty-Three

“That’s what the Madness is, Lydie. He hasn’t been to school in the past two days.”

My head begins to pound so I reach to rub my temples while I recall the images I saw of the creature in the woods around the school. “Why hasn’t anyone done a wellness check on him until now?” I demand, feeling anger spark in my stomach. “What is Adrian going to do to him? And why is Jasper even on the school property while he’s like that? No one was going to do anything? What if he killed a student?” The questions spill out one after the other as my heart begins to pound in my ears like the thunder of a hundred galloping horses.

Serene reaches her hand out to gently touch my arm, casting a concerned look over at The Dean. “They’ve been monitoring him, don’t worry. If a student was in danger he would be subdued.”

I lower my hands from my head to give her an incredulous look. “And how exactly does one subdue him while he’s like that?” My voice gradually grows softer as the image of the growling beast, dark as night and angrier than the devil himself crosses the forefront of my mind again. My heart drops to my toes as a wave of grief suddenly crashes over me. That monster is Jasper. He’s out there in the snow without any recollection of who he is. “How do I help something like that?”

Serene squeezes my arm through my coat, her expression tense. “You can’t do anything productive just yet, so put that out of your mind,” Her tone is a warning, making me look up at her. “Adrian is probably down there already looking for him. He’s the only one who can restrain Jasper until the Madness subsides, so we have to let him handle this for now. You need more practice before you can even think about facing Jasper while he’s like that, fo you hear me? He isn’t Jasper when The Madness has a hold on him. He’ll kill you.”

I clench my jaw so hard that it aches, curling my fingers into a fist. I refuse to believe that Jasper would intentionally hurt me, let alone kill me. We’ve been best friends since we were little kids, so there’s no way that he wouldn’t remember my scent, my voice…. Right? Whatever hope I have crashes like a plane into a mountain. I was riding on that, but if his own mother couldn’t recognize his screams as a child, what hope do I really have? “He… he wouldn’t…” The lack of confidence in my own ears is pitiful as the realization hits me. How can I hope to help him, then? I can’t even get close to him, at least not without Adrian to protect me. But then, he’ll find out about my magic being freed. Maybe he would let Jasper eat me at that point.

I shake my head forcefully removing the idea, making my head pound even worse. Once I reign in my emotions enough to focus, I swallow around the lump in my throat and look up to Serene again, setting my jaw. “Tell me what to do next.”

She glances at The Dean again, who has reminded incredibly quiet as he watches the scene unfold. Judging from the blank look that he casts towards my feet, I find it safe to say that he’s busy keeping an eye on Jasper’s presence in the woods. “We should get out of here before Adrian comes back. He’ll catch your scent still lingering too strongly at the school and he’ll come looking for you. If he catches you here, smelling like magic…”

I rake my fingers over my hair, wishing that I could tear it out of its bun, which suddenly feels too tight. “So this was pointless, then,” I say in frustration, leaning my head back to gaze at the exposed rafters of the study. “All I can do is guess the color of rocks.”

“No, that isn’t true,” Serene says, insisting that I look at her. She places a hand on my cheek as she peers at me through her bangs, eyes so big that I can see my reflection in them. “We’ve learned a lot about you already. You’re just as powerful as we’d hoped, Lydie. We just need some more time to strengthen your control and you’ll be the strongest Sorceress in centuries. Don’t give up, yet,” Then, as if I needed the reminder right now, she adds, “Besides, the Hybrids are going to be looking for you now. Aurelius can cloak the school for as long as possible so they can’t find you, but off-campus there’s no guarantee they won’t locate you sooner.”

I definitely don’t feel stronger right now. “Fine, but I can’t go home like this. Will he smell me at your dorm? I need to shower or something to get this smell off of me.”

Serene bites at her cuticle, dropping my face as she pushes herself to her feet, shoving her Grimoire back into her back. “I don’t think so. My scent will be too strong for him to notice yours, plus he’ll be almost three miles away looking for Jasper. It should be fine, and I’ll wash your clothes, too.”

I still don’t feel any better about my choices, but I sigh and force myself to stand up, too. I don’t have another choice right now unless I want to expose myself as a lier to Adrian, which isn’t even an option right now. He needs to focus on helping Jasper calm down and remember who he is before he can’t come back to his senses. Besides, I can’t back down now; I did this. The Hybrids aren’t going to waste any time finding me to try and kill me, and I won’t risk anyone else’s life trying to hide behind them. I wanted to do this, so it’s up to me to become strong enough to protect everyone and take care of those monsters once and for all.

“Aurelius,” Serene snaps her fingers in front of The Dean’s face, bringing him back to the present. Once his eyes are focused on her, she continues, gesturing at me behind her. “We’re leaving before Adrian gets too close and senses Lydia. Thank you for the help.”

De Leon blinks, still seeming a bit distant but nods in understanding. “Yes, of course. Go, children, while you can. Alpha Adrian is closing in quickly, so I’ll cover your tracks as well as I can.” He stands upright and shoos us with his hands towards the elevators, glancing nervously out the window again.

Serene loops her arm around mine and drags me to the doors, determined not to waste a moment in getting back to her dorm. Though my mind races with doubt and other thoughts about everything that’s happening during the descent back to ground level, Serene mutters an apology beneath her breath, followed by something else that I can’t understand. Latin maybe? The doors ding open and she guides me out, surprising me with her fast pace considering her short legs. We practically sprint through the hallways towards an exit that I don’t recognize, popping out on the opposite side of the building than usual. Instead of trees and parking lots, this side of the campus is dotted with smaller, more modern-looking buildings that are lined with smaller lots for the on-campus residents to use. Serene doesn’t pause for me to take in the scenery, though, continuing to tug my arm as she trudges fearlessly through the snow, continuing to mutter the strange language beneath her breath.

Something inside of me stirs at her words, urging me to join her in the strange chanting. My jaw remains clamped shut as we trudge through the snow as quickly as possible, making it to the dormitory buildings within a matter of minutes. Judging from the way her hands shake as she types in the code to unlock the front doors tells me that Adrian may be much closer than I thought. As soon as the glass doors open for us, she shoves me inside ahead of her and pulls the doors shut behind us, whispering something as she traces a pattern over the glass.

I can feel the magic shimmer over the doors, nearly invisible as it covers the entrance like an invisible lock, keeping us safely inside. I open my mouth to ask what she did, but she pushes me forward through the second set of doors that lead to the warmth of the building and shuts those firmly behind us too, tracing a similar pattern onto the glass of the second door, too. I swear she doesn’t breathe until the shimmering settles over the inside doors and she turns to face me finally, looking exhausted as she finally relaxes. “What was that about?” I ask, glancing back at the doors cautiously. The glimmering energy is gone, but I can still feel the spell in action, cloaking our presence within the building.

“I erased our presence that leads to the dorms, so Adrian won’t be able to track you here,” She explains, sounding out of breath. Serene nods her head to the side, urging me to follow her down the hallway. The lounge area that we’re in is empty, probably because everyone is in their rooms doing schoolwork or playing games with their roommates. As we pass by the rooms, I’m suddenly able to tell what species resides behind the doors by a feeling in my gut. There are a lot of Vampires and Sorcerers, luckily, meaning that the odds of us running into a Werewolf that could tell Adrian about my presence here is very slim.