Tarot Academy 4 - Sarah Piper Page 0,28

with her hands.

Rage and confusion cement me in place, but she’s already moving past me, reaching for the wall switch. She hits the lights hard, bathing us in near-darkness once again.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she demands, still keeping her voice low. For the first time since she climbed out from behind the desk, I notice the gun in her hand.

The words finally break free from the knot in my throat. “You’re going to shoot me for walking into my own office?”

“You shouldn’t be here.” Casey lets out a sigh, then holsters her weapon, her voice laced with defeat and exhaustion. “Neither of you. Go back to Red Sands and wait for me there.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me why you broke into my office.” I try to hold onto my anger, but it’s already dissipating. In its place, concern for my sister seeps in.

“Dickhead move on your part, Case.” Baz drops his duffel and steps in front of me, crowding into her space, forcing her to look up to meet his eyes. He’s got several inches on her, and right now he’s just pissed off enough to be scary. “Trashing your own brother’s office? Seriously? Have you heard of family therapy?”

Never one to be intimidated, Casey simply wrinkles her nose. “Are you drunk?”

“It’s a long story,” I say.

“Yeah, it goes a little something like this,” Baz says, still looming over her. “Once upon a time, some crazy-ass bitches took me and my friends hostage at gunpoint, demanding we retrieve a magickal sword from the dream realm for them… Wait, stop me if you’ve heard this one before.”

Casey doesn’t back down. “We were possessed by Professor Phaines. I never would’ve—”

“We know.” I hold up my hand, sparing us all another recap. “But that doesn’t explain why you bolted from Red Sands with nothing but a cryptic note, and now you’re breaking-and-entering, destroying Academy property, and stealing my shit. Where are my laptops?”

“I have no idea, Kirin. Goddess, I just got my body back from a psychotic mage—not to mention one hell of a binding spell. And don’t even get me started on Dr. Devane’s bedside manner. Do they seriously allow that man around students? And now you’re accusing me of stealing?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Baz says, glancing around at the disaster zone formerly known as my office, “but I believe this is what you agent-types might call a smoking gun.”

“It was like this when I got here.” Casey finally steps away from Baz and heads back to the desk, her feet crunching over broken glass. Coffee mug? Picture frame? No idea, but I’m pretty sure none of my personal effects survived the ransacking.

She picks up the fallen books and places them back on the shelf, a futile gesture that nevertheless makes my heart hurt with longing. For her, for our family, for all the things I’ve missed.

“Why are you here at all?” I finally ask. “Why did you leave Red Sands before we even got there? Phaines is dead—he was murdered tonight by Trello.”

If this last part surprises her, she doesn’t show it. In fact, she has no reaction to this news at all.

“You knew,” I say.

“I needed to see your research,” she says, turning back to the shelves and busying herself arranging the books. “But apparently someone beat me to it—a scenario I was really hoping to avoid.”

“Why are you suddenly interested in my work? What about Eastman and Quintana? Are they in on this too?” Anger simmers inside me again, threatening to erupt. “You could’ve been honest with me, Case. You could’ve—”

“There was no time, Kirin. Goddess, there’s still so much you don’t know.”

“So tell us!” Baz says, just as exasperated as I am.

“Not now. I need you both to leave. Get back to—”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I say. “Ever since you got here, you’ve been sneaking around, asking all your prying questions while never sharing a single thing of relevance, despite the fact that all our lives are in danger. We could’ve come together on this. Compared notes, figured out—”

“Come together?” She lets out a bitter laugh, apparently no longer concerned about the noise. “For fuck’s sake, Kirin. You’ve ignored me for a decade. You put me in cold storage and never once looked back. Now you’re mad because I didn’t show up with a six-pack and a big smile, hoping we could pal around and sing a few campfire songs?”

I turn my back on her, unable to meet her eyes. I