“Phaines had a personal spy on campus. One who could access his research and keep him apprised of any new developments with the Melissa Milan prophecies.”
I glance up at Kirin, his eyes filling with pain. It’s not his fault my mother’s work was stolen, but I know he can’t help blaming himself. He hasn’t stopped apologizing to me since he first told me about the attack at the library.
At this point, I’m less concerned about the memento of my mother’s work and more concerned about what Eastman wants to do with it.
“So Anna Trello has been asleep at the wheel this entire time,” Professor Broome says, shaking her head. “We’ve certainly locked horns a few times over the years, but I never would’ve expected such complacency.”
“Or duplicity,” Professor Maddox says.
“Trello’s been in league with Phaines from the start,” I say, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice. “She murdered him to cover her tracks. She knew he was stealing students’ magick. She knew about the fairy’s breath and the possessions. She was obviously working with him—she said their agreement was over. That they’d come to the end of the road.”
“I don’t know what agreements they had in place before my arrival,” Casey admits. “But I assure you—she was working with us. After the first wave of student attacks, Trello immediately suspected Phaines. She could sense his dark magick at work, but she didn’t know whether he’d been hiding on campus the entire time, or somehow found a way back through the security portals.”
“After she assured everyone on campus that he wasn’t a threat,” I say.
“As I’ve said before, I don’t always agree with her decisions or communication tactics, but I do know she has the Academy’s best interests at heart.”
I stifle an eye-roll that would make Carly proud.
“Anyway,” Casey says, “not long after Janelle’s arrival, Trello caught her messing with the security cameras outside the library storage area. Janelle played it off, insisting she’d found them that way, but Trello didn’t buy it. Then, even though she’d set Janelle up in a nice house here in Red Sands, she discovered Janelle was spending most of her nights sleeping in Phaines’s old office. So Trello waited until Janelle fell asleep one night, then crept down to the basement. That’s when she discovered Phaines’s setup. It was clear to her that Janelle was keeping Phaines alive and helping him with his experiments.”
Carly barks out a bitter laugh. “Goddess, if that woman had put half that much effort into being a mother instead of an evil henchwoman, I might not need to spend the rest of my life in therapy.”
Casey offers a sympathetic smile. “Your mother wasn’t working alone in this, Carly. After Trello’s grim discovery, she brought her suspicions to Agent Quintana and me. From there, we pored over the myriad findings from our contact in New York and determined that Eastman was also involved in supporting Phaines. Apparently he’d learned about Phaines’s experiments with spying and siphoning magick through his online connections, and saw an opportunity. We don’t know exactly how it all came together, but at some point, Eastman made contact with Phaines and struck up a deal of his own. He wanted access to Phaines’s magick, and Phaines wanted back on campus. Eastman figured out how to break the portal security and bring him back in, and from there, they joined forces with Janelle. They kept Phaines alive, and helped coordinate the attacks and magickal thefts—also with the help of other students or faculty they managed to convert to their causes.”
“Like the dark mages who attacked us in the library,” Kirin says.
“Exactly,” Casey says.
“We had all these theories,” Quintana says, “but no hard proof. Until the brilliant Agent Appleton decided to go in as bait—an idea I opposed from the start.”
“So did Trello,” Casey says. “But ultimately you both knew it was the best way to get the irrefutable proof we needed.”
“Without telling me,” Quintana says, “she set herself up for the attack.” He glares at Casey something fierce, but his energy is nothing but protective.
“We knew the patterns—late at night, students walking in more remote areas. I dressed up in Academy clothing and took a jog out behind Flame and Fury. Two cloaked mages nabbed me right away. I figured they’d try to siphon my magick—I had an undetectable counterspell in place for protection. But I wasn’t prepared for them to shoot me full of Fairy’s Breath and let Phaines take my mind and body for a