have? Because most contain magic that isn’t safe if the books fall into the wrong hands.
Or the right hands.
6
MATT
Jamie told Amelia about the book. Why else would she take a sudden interest in my reading material?
I take a shaky breath to quell the frustration as I stare in the bathroom mirror and grip the sink. For a fleeting second, I catch a glimpse of my great-grandfather in my eyes: the person my family tells me I've inherited my rare gift from.
Sometimes, I feel he's with me, which is ridiculous since I've no belief in an afterlife.
I waited for another argument or more questions from Jamie when I returned to our room after my time at rehearsals. That and my encounter with Amelia was enough stress for one night and has left me on edge.
I don’t believe Jamie will march me to Theodora's with the book, as I've told him how close to suspension I am.
But he'll take the book.
In the witches' sanctum, below the library where books are locked away from all but the witch students, I pretend to study the crap I already know how to conjure, while reading through the grimoires.
I found the Blackwood grimoire hidden behind others after months of searching the hundreds of leather books on the shelves. I knew the centuries-old book filled with magic from the most powerful witch family existed, and has been passed between witches in secret in the past, but in recent years, the book disappeared and was rumoured to be hidden in an academy.
Who hid the illegal grimoire here? Because they didn’t hide the book well enough, since they put it in the witches’ sanctum.
I've carried the book everywhere the last two weeks, in my bag or in my locker behind a sealing spell and old-fashioned lock and key. If I'm away from the grimoire, I'm tense, worried somebody else may find it and land me in the shit.
The need to keep the book closer grew since their threat to send me to Ravenhold, and the urge to practice the magic contained between the pages grows too.
Amelia looked at me as if I were crazy when I told her reading the book wasn't against the rules the academy laid down for me.
Jamie's judgement pisses me off too.
I won’t keep the book long—I have some spells I want to practice and memorise before I return the grimoire to the sanctum. Nothing bad.
Each day, I find somewhere private to take the book and study, and since I'm only allowed alone overnight, that's the time I use. There're few private places on campus that aren't already used by couples wanting ‘alone time’, or those who meet up to share potions and alcohol. The school turns a blind eye to both—if they cracked down on this behaviour, the students would go elsewhere: off campus and into danger.
Lessons end late here, and some nights I've sat with my book until sunrise. Has Jamie missed me at night? He's asked pointed questions which I've replied with innocent stories about trips to the house kitchen for early morning snacks, or falling asleep in the common room.
I switch the small, ensuite bathroom light out and open the door a couple of inches to look into the room. My small lamp shines across my empty bed and clothes cover the floor between my side of the room and Jamie's.
The beds are too far apart to see if Jamie's asleep, but his light is out and he isn't moving.
Smiling to myself, I grab my black, hooded jacket and tuck the book inside. If time is running out before Jamie finds and takes the book from me, I'm making the most of the nights I have left.
The air is thick with humidity in the warm summer evening, and I wander down to the farm buildings at the edge of the academy. The cows bred for blood to satiate the hemia vampires sleep in the field nearby, and the farm scent of manure and feed follows me along the path to a place human workers use for lunch breaks.
Instead of going inside, I sit around the back of the small building, behind a low wall, hidden from view.
On the walk down here, I've itched to open the book and read; to absorb the magic held within. My photographic memory helps with exams for ordinary subjects—I’m good at History and English because I can memorise words on a page. With this skill, I already possess knowledge from the grimoire, and they can't take