Tarot Academy 4 - Sarah Piper Page 0,8
“When I say he needs to find his own way back, that doesn’t mean the rest of us do nothing. Quite the contrary. We will take care of him. We will feed and bathe him. We will encourage him with love and support—not just through spells and prayers, but by reminding him of everything and everyone waiting for him back home. But in the end, Ani’s soul will return by the strength of his own will and determination, or…” She trails off and squeezes my hand, her eyes shining with emotion. She doesn’t say the rest of her sentence out loud. She doesn’t have to.
Ani’s soul will return by the strength of his own will and determination…
Or it won’t return at all.
“Can I see him?” I ask.
“Professor Broome is staying with him tonight—she wants to make sure he doesn’t have an adverse reaction to the spells. But tomorrow, yes. Go to him. Tell him how much he means to you. Talk to him. Tell him stories, share memories, let him hear your laughter. The stronger the connection we can create for him here, the more likely he’ll be able to anchor into that feeling and use it to guide his spirit home when he’s ready.”
When, she said. Not if. A small sliver of hope, perhaps unintentional on her part, but I’ll take it.
I’m about to ask them both if they’d like some tea when a commotion at the front of the house draws our attention. Seconds later, three women stumble out of the closet, hauling enough luggage for a month-long vacation overseas.
“Goddess, you two are even more annoying than Stevie. Remind me never to portal with you again.” Carly flicks her raven’s wing hair and waltzes into the foyer, Nat and Isla following behind. “We brought all your stuff, Twink. You can thank me later.”
Relief floods my limbs, but it’s not about my stuff. Without warning or precedent, I run into the foyer and launch myself into the arms of frenemy number one.
“Goddess, I was so worried about you.” I crush her in a hug, inhaling the scent of her overpriced hair products as she squirms against my hold.
“Whoa! Pump the breaks, girl. I did not consent to this level of personal space invasion.” She finally breaks free, but her energy says it all—she needed that hug as much as I did.
“Are you okay?” I ask, looking her over. The last time I saw her—really saw her—we were back at Jumpin’ Jack’s Java after our gruesome discovery at the library, waiting for Doc and Kirin to meet us. I barely remember the trip to my suite, and after that, there’s only Ani.
“You mean, aside from the fact that we witnessed a murder and Ani’s trapped in some kind of dream realm battling Dark Arcana forces and my mother is an evil minion who pimped herself out to a dark mage and now she’s chained up in the basement and I had to pack up your entire ridiculous wardrobe and all your tea shit and basically everything is terrible?” She shoots me her usual eye-roll. “I’m awesome. Truly stellar.”
“I take it Kirin filled you in.”
“That he did.” She walks past me, taking in the sight of the huge, open-plan house as if she’s already deciding. “He’s still out looking for Baz, but he asked me to round up the Wonder Twins here and head back to Red Sands. How’s Ani, anyway?”
“He’s… stable,” I say, leaving it at that for now, despite the sincerity in her energy. “Carly, I’m really sorry about your mother. I wanted to tell you earlier, but everything happened so fast…”
Carly waves a hand. “It’s fine. I probably wouldn’t have believed you anyway. You do have a tendency toward the dramatic.”
Ignoring the dig, I say, “Do you want to see her? She’s—”
“That’s really not a good idea,” Doc says, shooting me a warning glare.
Shit. I forgot about Janelle’s “transition” out of the binding. She stopped screaming a while ago, but who knows how long that little respite will last. Doc says she’s still in and out of consciousness, and chances are he’s going to have to bind her again anyway—assuming we can trust Casey’s dire warnings.
Ugh, Casey. We haven’t even had time to tell the other professors about her disappearing act yet, let alone the ominous note.
“Maybe Doc’s right,” I say, but Carly’s already shaking her head.
“Let her rot, for all I care.” She blinks back tears, dark clouds sweeping through her energy. “What the hell was she