She picked up the school’s copy and flicked through it. Whoever had owned the book had written a lot of notes, but none of them seemed particularly new or insightful. Nanette had read newer books covering the same points, presenting them as long-established facts rather than new discoveries. She didn’t see anything new, certainly nothing that appeared unique. The whole mission struck her as pointless. There were definitely darker — and more interesting — books in the cage.
But it’s what he wanted me to do. Nanette looked at her repaired wrist. And he paid for it.
“Penny,” she said. “Come here.”
The enchanted girl ambled forward, swinging her hips in a ludicrously sexy manner. Nanette wondered, idly, what she was seeing. Or where she thought she was. The enchantment didn’t force its victim into a specific scenario. Instead, it guided the target into crafting their own reality. It worked, if only because the victim didn’t want to look away. Their own mind filled in the gaps. Penny was trapped, and would remain so until she fell asleep or was shocked back to reality. Nanette watched her, carefully, as Penny took the copy. The moment she fell asleep, the spell would collapse.
“Put the book back on the shelf,” she ordered. “And then close the cage.”
Her heart beat like a drum as Penny drifted back into the cage. The alarm would be raised, sooner or later, but she wanted to put as much distance as possible between herself and the school before the staff realised something was wrong. And they would, if Nanette was still in the library when Penny fell asleep. The wards weren’t supposed to allow Nanette to enter without the Deputy Head Girl.
Good thing they didn’t demote Penny when she blasted Lillian, Nanette thought. That might have been awkward.
She watched Penny gliding back out of the cage, her hands moving in a manner that that suggested she was unsure of whether or not she had a purpose. They moved in fits and starts, starting to drop to her sides before being raised again to carry out her orders. Nanette smiled as the cage door closed, feeling a flicker of victory. She’d transferred the spell, put the copy in the original’s place, and now…
“Sit down and enjoy yourself,” she ordered. She didn’t need Penny any longer. The girl could lose herself completely in her fantasy if she wished. “And don’t go to sleep.”
A dull alert flickered through the wards. Nanette tensed, expecting to feel magic crackling around her at any second. But nothing happened. It took her a moment to realise the diversion had finally gone into effect. She glanced at the clock, noting it had taken longer than she’d expected for her hacking to work. The flyers had cast the spells in the wrong order, creating a whole new framework of magic. She wasn’t sure if it would kill anyone — it depended on how quickly the staff and guests reacted — but she was certain it was a display they’d never forget. And Penny was lucky not to be there.
She scooped up the stolen book and shoved it into her knapsack. The clock ticked faster now. It wouldn’t take long for the staff to realise what had happened and come looking for Penny. Once they found her, they’d realise she’d been enchanted and start looking for the enchantress. Nanette hoped they’d check Nadine’s suite in Pendle. The aristo brat didn’t deserve to spend the rest of her life as a goldfish. Probably. If nothing else, the experience would probably teach her a lesson or two.
A surge of magic flashed behind her. She sensed it, too late. A hex slammed into her back, blowing her right across the room. She cursed her mistake as she hit the far wall and crashed to the floor. She’d lowered her protections when she’d enchanted Penny. It had been the only way to do it, but she hadn’t thought to rebuild them when she’d left the bedroom. She could have kicked herself. Making that sort of mistake at Mountaintop was just asking to be hexed, or forced to act like a buffoon, or turned into a frog.
And the alert snapped Penny out of it, she thought numbly. The impact had jarred her badly enough to make it hard to focus. A desk floated into the air and threw itself at her. She tried to dodge, too late. She felt her arm break — again — as the desk struck her. Good thing she’s not thinking too clearly either.
“You…”
Penny threw a wave of magic at her. Nanette felt herself lifted into the air and pressed against the wall. She forced herself to think, to try to muster a countercharm, as Penny advanced. Her blonde hair was billowing around her, as if it were caught in a storm; her eyes flashed anger and murder and a guilt Nanette didn’t understand. She’d never looked more beautiful. And terrifying.
She’ll set off the alarms if she does something more dangerous, Nanette thought. It looked as if Penny didn’t want to really hurt her. That was going to change. She’d seen one girl hex another girl into a bloody mass for cheating on her and… and what she’d done to Penny was far worse. She couldn’t have been angrier if Nanette had slipped her a lust potion and then had sex with her. All she has to do is aim at the wall and fire.
“What did you do to me?” Penny raised a hand. The pressure on Nanette’s ribs started to grow. “What did you do?”
Nanette found herself speechless. There was no good answer she could give. The confusion in Penny’s eyes was the only thing standing between her and death. She wasn’t sure what was real and what was part of the fantasy, not yet. It would take time for the disconnect between wherever she thought she’d been — and where she was — to settle. But it wouldn’t take long. Wherever Penny had been, it wasn’t the library.
“What did you do?” Penny’s voice rang with betrayal. “What did you do?”
“I…” Nanette started to gather herself to cast a counterspell. It might set off the alarms, but Penny was going to do that anyway in a moment. “I gave you what you wanted, and you…”
Penny’s magic grew, pressing Nanette harder and harder against the wall…
… And then she crumpled to the floor as someone hexed her in the back. The magic vanished a second later. Nanette fell to the ground, her legs buckling. And…
“Nadine,” Lillian said. “What happened?”
Chapter 11
That’s why Emily does it, Nanette thought, numbly. She was in pain, terrible pain, but… she forced herself to get to her feet. She helps people and they help her in return.
“The spells went wrong,” Lillian said. “The flyers started dropping out of the skies! Did she do it?”
Nanette felt an odd pang as she muttered a pair of healing spells. It wasn’t safe to heal herself, but no one else was going to do it for her. Lillian didn’t have the training and Penny… she stared down at the girl. Lillian had saved her. And yet… she’d turned against the school. She didn’t know it, but she’d turned against the school. She’d be in real trouble when the staff figured out what she’d done. Just as Frieda had been expelled…
She felt guilty as she raised her eyes to study the younger girl. The guilt gnawed at her, tearing at her soul even though she knew she should be grateful. She’d copied Emily’s tactic and it had worked out. Lillian had saved her, at the cost of destroying her schooling. She might get the blame… she might be blamed, even if they interrogated her under truth spells or probed her mind until they’d uncovered and explored every last one of her secrets. The school would want a scapegoat and Lillian, poor common-born Lillian, was the best candidate. And she’d only tried to help.