Fallen University: Year One

“Very well. Enough, Cassandra.”

The music stopped. I wanted to scream at her to give it back, I needed it, I would die for it. God, that was some powerful stuff. I swallowed hard and wiped my face with a scowl. Very deliberately I turned away from Cassandra to face Toland again. He looked relieved.

“You are cleared,” he said. “Vesper will show you out.”

I nodded, my lips pressed tightly together. After the wringer they’d put me through, I didn’t know what would come out if I let myself relax. As I turned my back and followed the assistant—Vesper, apparently—back into the darkness, Toland spoke again.

“You did a good thing, Piper. Many more would have been lost if you hadn’t acted.”

It should have made me feel better, but it didn’t. Many more, he’d said. So at least one person had been lost. I nodded a silent acknowledgment and let Vesper lead me out of the room.

Neil went in after me and came out again looking pale and shaky. Oran went next, and looked even worse than Neil when he returned. We were all silent as Vesper led us out of the labyrinth. I couldn’t be sure,

but I suspected she took us out a different way than she’d brought us in. Either that, or the hallways were moving.

All I wanted when I got upstairs was to see Jayce, but he was nowhere to be found. Hannah was pacing the hallway anxiously and ran up to me as soon as she saw me.

“There you are! What happened? What did they ask you? Did they use magic? People are saying some awful things about what goes on down there, and now with the guys gone—”

“Wait. My guys? All of them?”

She nodded, then shook her head. “Jayce, Xero, and Kingston. I don’t know about Kai, I forget that he’s part of all of this sometimes. They went down right after you did, the other assistant came to get them. Didn’t you see them on your way up?”

I shook my head. “I think that was on purpose. This place is weirder than it looks.”

“Anyway, was it horrible? Tell me everything, I’m so scared, they’re going to work their way around to me eventually.”

I told her everything. Well, almost everything. I didn’t want her to know how much I blamed myself for people getting hurt, and I didn’t want her to know how the siren song had brought me to tears. I had a reputation to think about. But I told her everything I could to prepare her and ease her mind, though I don’t know if I managed it. She was still twisting her hair around her finger and chewing her lip long after I’d finished.

We sat on one of the wide windowsills and watched students go by.

“How long was I down there?” I asked.

“About three hours,” she said. “But like I said, the guys went down right after you. They should be up here any minute.”

As if called by her words, Jayce and Kai walked in together. Jayce looked utterly unruffled, because of course he did. What could he possibly have to feel guilty about, ever? Kai looked tired but not completely tapped. I jumped off the windowsill and reached them in a few quick strides. Kai didn’t move away, which was nice for a change.

“How did it go?” I asked, not even bothering to disguise the worry in my voice. I’d never cared about any guy I’d dated as much as I cared about the four men I’d bonded to—and I wasn’t even dating most of them. But still. Fuck with my men, you fuck with me.

“We’ve been cleared,” Jayce said happily. “Shit though. That was some interrogation, wasn’t it? That woman with the singing, she’s something else.”

“She’s a siren,” Kai said coolly. “So… yes. Something else.”

“It’s weird that the school nurse is a siren, isn’t it?” Hannah asked.

Kai shrugged. “Not really. A siren song is better than anesthesia if it’s used properly.”

Ah, so the man will talk when he’s given a reason to.

I was just about to add my two completely unnecessary cents to the conversation when I spotted Kingston over Kai’s shoulder. He glanced around shiftily, then turned his back to the main hall. I thought he was about to take a piss against the wall or something, but I saw him tuck something away in his pocket.

What the hell? He straightened up and slicked his hair back, then sauntered over to us.

“All clear,” he said in a bored tone. “Of course.”

“Crazy stuff, right?” Jayce’s eyes were still wide.

Kingston shrugged. “Not entirely unexpected. This is a magic school, after all. How would you suggest they go about things? That was far more efficient than an electronic lie detector. Probably more accurate, as well.”