Lock and Key (Nocturne Academy 1)

Avery arched an eyebrow at me.

“Please—he’s a washed-up warlock has been. I like to think I’m more like Chris Angel—he’s so much more edgy and sexy.”

Emma snorted.

“It’s more like living with Mary Poppins than David Copperfield or Chris Angel.”

Avery frowned at her.

“Now that was a very hurtful comment. Just because I have a few domestic skills doesn’t mean you can stereotype me like that!”

“I think she means because of that scene in the movie where Mary Poppins is pulling all those impossible things out of her carpet bag,” Kaitlyn offered quietly.

“That’s exactly what I meant,” Emma said, frowning at him.

“Oh, well…” Avery sniffed. “I thought you were saying that because you’re under the impression I’d like to sleep with a handsome chimney sweep. Which I would—don’t get me wrong—there’s just something about a man who works with his hands and gets all dirty doing it…”

Emma and Kaitlyn cracked up and I couldn’t help grinning myself. But we had other things to attend to.

I cleared my throat.

“I think we’re getting off the subject of dinner and I’m hungry, Avery. Are we going ‘shopping’ or not?”

“Oh, most assuredly.” He was suddenly all business. “All the Others should be in their dorms in the towers by now—let’s go.”

“Uh—could you give us back the couch cushion first?” Emma asked. “It kind of leaves a big hole here if you don’t.”

“Certainly.” Avery took the invisible bag out of his pocket, stroked it once to make it visible, then began unfolding it until it was its normal size again. He then reached into the bag and pulled out the large blue overstuffed couch cushion which absolutely should not have fit into it in the first place. He passed it to Emma, who rearranged it against the back frame of the couch and nodded.

“Thanks. And happy hunting.”

“Get a chicken,” Kaitlyn suggested.

“For you, Katydid, anything.” Avery bowed gallantly and nodded at me. “Come on, Princess Latimer—let’s go.”

“Right behind you,” I told him. As we climbed the spiral staircase up to the Dining Hall, I felt my heart pound and the key jump between my breasts.

I didn’t know why but I had a feeling we were going to find more than dinner upstairs tonight.

27

“I want to thank you for what you did for Kaitlyn today,” Avery said in a low voice as soon as the trapdoor with its camouflage of carpet which led to the Norm Dorm was firmly and securely shut. “You were incredibly courageous, standing up to the Drakes that way. Especially Sanchez.” He made a face. “He’s a nasty piece of work.”

I shifted from one slippered foot to the other, uncomfortable both with his thanks and his praise.

“That’s okay—it was nothing.”

“It was not nothing!” Avery said indignantly. “You stood up for Kaitlyn and protected her, like a true coven-mate would.” He nodded at me approvingly. “I knew you were our fourth the minute I saw you. You belong with us and you certainly proved that today.”

“I wasn’t trying to prove myself,” I pointed out. “I just wanted to keep Kaitlyn from getting hurt—well, from getting hurt any worse than she already was,” I amended.

Avery nodded. “She’s had a really hard time—when she came here, she wouldn’t talk at all, just kept her head down all the time. It’s taken ages to coax her out of her shell a little and now it seems like she’s back to square one.” He shook his head sadly.

“She’ll bounce back,” I said, hoping it was true. “We just need to support her.”

“Oh, we will! I don’t know if you know this, but Kaitlyn is kind of like a little sister to me. Well, Emma is too, but Kaitlyn is so much more fragile.” Avery sighed. “I’m just so glad you were with her to defend her like you did, Megan.”

“I just did what any decent person would do,” I protested.

Avery shook his head.

“No, most ‘decent people’ are afraid to get their hands dirty or stand out in the crowd. Look how everyone else in the class treated her—I’m sure there were a few who weren’t very comfortable with the remarks Sanchez was making but you were the only one who spoke up for her.”

“That’s not quite true,” I pointed out. “Ari Reyes stepped in, too. He punched Sanchez and said something in some weird language I’ve never heard before. The two of them had kind of a stand-off right there on the field.”

“Yes, I heard about that too.” Avery looked thoughtful. “It’s really surprising, you know—a Drake going against his own kind like that. I wonder why he did it?”

“I got the impression he was protecting Kaitlyn from Sanchez,” I said. “Do they have any kind of history or anything? I mean, Kaitlyn and Ari Reyes?”

Avery shook his head.

“Not that I know of. Reyes is pretty new to the school—he only started here at the beginning of this semester. Before that he was being educated in the Sky Lands.”