the academy know about it. I’m one of only a handful of professors that were let in on the secret, and even I don’t know where the objects are or how to get to them.”
“None of the attacks on students make sense,” I point out. “I mean, they do if the attacker is just a psycho, but there was no real pattern. Serial killers are caught because they have a predictable pattern, and this person didn’t. And taking off our cuffs? That didn’t make any sense. Why do that? Just for the love of anarchy? There was no rhyme or reason to any of it.”
Roman doesn’t respond, but he’s gazing at me intently. He’s listening to what I have to say, at least. That’s a good start. Because I know I’m onto something.
“None of the attacks make any sense—unless whoever was carrying them out was hoping for exactly this. Hoping for a school-wide assembly that would put all the students, faculty, and security personnel in the same place. Unless they wanted to throw the school into a panic and have admins going to check on the hidden artifacts, potentially revealing their location and how to access them. Unless they wanted to set everyone up as sitting ducks for a time-freeze spell so they could go in and grab the artifacts, taking their damn sweet time, and then bust out of there unimpeded.”
“Fuck.” Dmitri’s lip curls in anger.
“Holy shit, Sin.” Cam’s eyes widen, and he looks at me proudly. “You’re like a damn detective.”
“Yeah, but why would whoever did this put Trevor’s body in Roman’s room, then?” Asher asks.
“I was trying to figure out who was behind this.” Roman runs a hand through his hair, his dark eyes thoughtful. “Snooping around. It’s why I was roaming the halls when I ran into Elliot and we—” He breaks off, his gaze flashing to me. Then he clears his throat. “Anyway. I’ve worked for the Circuit in law enforcement before, and I’m one of the few people at this school, and the only one outside the security team, who can raise the dead to interrogate them for information.”
“You were getting too close, and whoever it is wanted you out of the way.”
“So now everyone’s frozen.” Dmitri crosses his arms over his chest. “Fucking fantastic. What do we do?”
“We’re not frozen,” I blurt emphatically. “And whoever did this is probably going after some very dangerous artifacts right now. I say we stop them. If they think everybody got trapped by the time-freeze spell, they won’t see us coming.”
Roman shakes his head. “No, I can’t allow you to get involved. I’ll handle—”
“No fucking way!” I shoot him a glare. I don’t have time for his protective professor bullshit. Never mind that the thought of him facing some murdering psychopath on his own makes my gut churn with worry.
“Elliot—”
I raise a hand, cutting him off. “No. We’re not your students right now, Roman. We’re all you’ve got. I know we’re not as well-trained as you are, but there’s safety in numbers. And at least having us with you as a distraction is better than going in on your own. You need us. We need each other. And besides”—I can’t help the little grin that tilts my lips in triumph—“I think I know where the artifacts are.”
Chapter 25
Roman stares at me. The other three are looking at me as well, three sets of eyebrows raised.
“How do you know that?” Roman asks, sounding surprised but not angry.
“What did you think I was doing that night we ran into each other?” I reply. “I was trying to figure out what was going on in this place too. I found an area in the east wing where I sensed magic—really fucking strong magic. I tried to get in but couldn’t, so I gave up for the time being. And then… I ran into you.”
He nods. I’m glad he doesn’t ask me why I didn’t tell him what I was doing. He’s a smart guy, he’s already figured out that I didn’t know at the time if I could trust him or not.
But I do trust him now. And I hope like hell he trusts me.
Something in my heart warms a little when he speaks with zero hesitation. “All right. Show me.”
“Wait, first things first.” I hold out my arm. “Braces off.”
Roman looks less than pleased with this. “Are any of you able to control your magic well enough?”
Damn. That stings, I have to admit. “I thought you said my control