Blood Pledged (Arcane Arts Academy #3) - Elena Lawson Page 0,93

rushed over to him, taking the elder gentleman gently by his arms to force him to look at me. “Who?” I demanded. “Who was in here with her?”

Martin regarded with sad eyes and removed his monocle. “My eyes don’t work as well as they used to, Miss Harper,” he said by way of apology. “But I think the gentleman was older. The girl was crying, and the man was one of your professors, I believe—he was comforting her, or perhaps offering to escort her home.”

Of course, Martin would think the best. He would think that a grown man was acting like a gentleman towards her. In his sweet little mind, he couldn’t fathom what was really happening. That something sinister was going on right under his nose.

“I’m afraid I’ve made a terrible mistake.” He stepped back out of my grasp. His lips pressed into a firm line and he straightened his shoulders. “I’ll notify the Arcane Authorities,” he said, and made to turn back down the corridor.

“No.”

He cocked his head at me, confused for a moment before understanding flickered across his face.

“You can’t, Martin.” After everything the Arcane Authorities had helped cover up, I was starting to believe they couldn’t be trusted, either. For all we knew, it was an Arcane Officer who was doing these things. They’d been around the academy enough that they could’ve. “For all we know, they could have something to do with this.”

His brows drew together and his milky gaze darkened, but he didn’t argue. “I’ll send the rest of the guests away, then,” he said. “And then I’ll be back to assist you in any way I can.”

Once he was halfway to the stairs, I turned back to the men in the room. “Where’s Draven?”

“Here,” he said, and came out from the closet. He must’ve been getting tired of hiding in dark, damp places.

Elias ran a white-knuckled hand over the stubble on his jaw, his voice rough. “It can’t be a professor. I know them all. They aren’t capable of murder.”

Is that what we were talking about here? Had Kendra been… murdered?

My teeth clenched. No. Just because there was a bit of blood didn’t mean she was dead. Whoever it was would want to question her. They would want to interrogate her to find out if she knew something.

Bianca’s eyes were welling up and she was shaking her head over and over in disbelief. “Why is this happening?”

“We have to find her.”

“How?” Cal asked, his expression grim. “The guy who took her was obviously a witch. He could’ve portaled anywhere.”

Shit.

“Right about now would be a good time to try that spell I was talking about.”

I whirled around. “Rose?”

She stood there in all her 20’s flapper glory, the feather in her headband bobbing as she nodded her head. I was so relieved to see her, my eyes brimmed with tears. Had I been subconsciously calling to her?

I swear I was just thinking to myself that we would need a miracle to find Kendra, and boom, here she was.

“Rose?” Adrian asked, looking at the spot where my eyes were fixed near the door and then back to me, scratching his head.

“Hey, toots.”

“Is there any other way?” I asked her. “Anything else we could do.”

Solemnly, she shook her head.

“Who are you talking to?” Elias asked, looking confused and worried and slightly afraid all at once.

Bianca answered for me, her voice tense. “Her great aunt. She’s a… a ghost.”

The room quieted.

“That’s one way to silence a crowd,” Rose said with a snort.

There was no time for explanations. If we didn’t find Kendra soon there was no doubt in my mind she would end up just like Lacey and Heather. Face down in the dirt. Drained of blood.

If we were right about the person who was killing students being the same person who was tampering with Bianca’s mind then…

“You have to find out what she knows,” Rose answered the thought. “You have to find out what’s been hidden in the recesses of her mind.”

I swallowed hard and bit the inside of my cheek. “B.” My voice shook a bit as I turned to face her. “I need you to do something for me.”

Her perfectly manicured brows lowered. “What?”

“Rose knows a spell,” I started, and Bianca’s eyes widened, knowing exactly where I was going with this.

“I won’t do blood magic, Harper. I’m sorry.”

“No,” I said, rushing to correct her. “That’s not what I’m asking. Rose knows a spell—you’re right, it’s a blood magic spell—but you wouldn’t be helping me perform