he could finally get the spell to work. Which means—”
“Which means you found out what blood type the Pure One is?” Curtis widened his eyes as he leaned forward on his crutches, though Emma couldn’t help but notice that he was studiously avoiding her gaze.
“That’s right,” Loni continued, oblivious to Curtis’s reaction. “Well, the guy who did this only managed to seal shut his closet door, which isn’t quite the same as shutting the Gate of Linaria, but still, the science makes sense. Not only that but the spell also has the ritual that the darkhel will have to do if he does try to open the gate. So we’re looking for a male who has B-negative blood and who has somehow been connected to Burtonwood within the last thirty-two years, since that’s when your mom would’ve first come here. And obviously it had to be more than five years ago because... well . . . ” Loni trailed off, obviously not wanting to remind Emma of when her mom had passed away.
Emma shot her friend a grateful look.
“So I know that sounds good in theory, but how can we find that information?” Curtis asked, still not looking at Emma. “We can’t exactly go around asking for blood samples.”
“We don’t have to,” Tyler cut in with a grin. “Because thanks to the fact that Burtonwood is über-paranoid about security, every single student and staff member has to have a full medical exam before they come here. I’m talking everyone from the cleaning staff through to Kessler. And that’s not even the best part. You know that security code I gave Loni the other day to get into the system? Well, apparently it lets her in everywhere. Including medical records,” he added.
“What? So now you’re a hacker?” Emma turned to her friend and widened her eyes.
“Of course I’m not,” Loni protested before letting out a rueful grin. “But I must admit that it might make a nice side hobby. Anyway, Tyler’s going to get his laptop since it’s got better specs than mine and then we’re going to get started.”
“I can’t tell you what a relief this is. Finally we’ve got something concrete we can work on,” Emma said, but Loni shook her head and firmly took her by the shoulders.
“Oh, no, not ‘we.’ The only concrete thing that you will be doing is sleeping. You’re going to bed. You can help in the morning.”
“What? No,” Emma protested. “There’s no way I will be able to sleep. Aside from figuring out who the Pure One is, we also need to find a way to banish the darkhel. I’m still convinced that my mom’s necklace is somehow involved, so we can’t forget about that.”
“Absolutely,” Loni agreed in a firm voice. “Thankfully, we can do all of these things without you. So, say good night to Curtis and Tyler, and no more arguments.”
Emma, who was just about to protest, noticed that Curtis was looking relieved, as if the idea of being able to work without her in the room was actually a good thing. She felt the fight drain out of her and nodded obediently.
“Fine. But I still could’ve helped, you know,” she said in a defeated voice as Loni steered her away from Curtis and Tyler and back toward the dorms.
“Like I said, you can help tomorrow,” Loni retorted. “Besides, for all we know, your salt-and-steel thing worked and the darkhel’s already dead. Maybe that’s why we can’t find it. I mean, just because Sir Francis said it couldn’t be killed doesn’t mean it’s not possible to kill it.”
“Maybe,” Emma said, though deep down she knew it wasn’t true.
“So,” Loni said as they reached Emma’s door. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Curtis?”
“Nothing.” Emma shrugged a little bit too quickly, and Loni shot her a telling glance to let her know that she was all-seeing. Emma relented. “Okay, so yes, something happened, but it’s hardly important. I mean, we’re in the middle of a darkhel crisis.”
“It still matters,” Loni insisted in a firm voice. “So spill.”
Emma sighed as she turned to her friend. “We kissed and let’s just say that it didn’t go well,” she said before amending her statement. “Okay, so it went really well, until Curtis suddenly started to act like he had made the biggest mistake in the world.”
“Are you sure? I mean, look what happened last time,” Loni said in a hopeful voice. “There was a completely logical explanation for what happened.”