moderation in maternal things the most of all. I headed downstairs to deal with edgy students, a smart-aleck familiar, and a warder who still needed to be forced into submitting to urgently needed medical care.
For that matter, we needed to get Zach Spencer to the emergency room. And I’d have another try at getting Cassie to see a doctor. All immediate threats might be safely put away, but my evening was just beginning.
The tall case clock struck midnight as I headed down the stairs. Samhain was over. The new year had begun. And the Jane Madison Academy was officially open for business.
CHAPTER 4
Saturday, I slept until noon, only coming to my senses when David brought me a tray with hot buttered toast, crisp sliced apples, and a giant pot of pear oolong tea. I struggled to sit upright, to reach for my clothes so I could check on my students. I needed to know how they were handling the aftermath of our disastrous working.
David assured me, though, that everyone was fine. He’d conferred with their warders. The witches were resting, restoring the health of their bodies, preparing their minds for Monday’s classes.
“What about Cassie?” I asked. “Did she go to Pine Ridge?”
“She went with Zach to have his arm set. Tony drove them.”
“Did she see a doctor?”
He shook his head tightly. “She refused. But she was calm enough to make up a story. She told the doctors she was knocked down by a goat in the barn. She said Zach came to help her, but the billy turned on him.”
There were enough farms in the countryside that her story might have been true. And Cassie had escaped without any physical damage, beyond a few scrapes and bruises.
David said, “Zach helped her to sleep when they got back.”
Warder’s magic. It was better than nothing. Better than a lot of things, actually.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why would Pitt send a satyr to interrupt our first working? It’s not like he gets any benefit if the magicarium shuts down. He’s not a witch. He can’t stake a claim to the Osgood collection.”
David’s jaw was tight. “He doesn’t care about the Osgood collection. He’s trying to punish me.”
“You?”
“I’m the one who’s made his life difficult. I reported him to the Court. I caused the inquest to convene. I’ve cut off the flow of his income and his power—no witch would be stupid enough to bribe him now that Hecate’s Court is involved.”
“But isn’t that a little indirect, bringing a satyr into my working to get at you?”
David’s gaze was steady as he reached over to brush a lock of hair behind my ear. “He knows what matters most to me. Hurting you is the worst thing he could ever do to me.”
The admission melted something deep inside me. I turned my head and kissed David’s palm. “How are you doing?” I asked. “How are your ribs?”
“Broken,” he confessed. “But Neko taped them up.”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To the basement. I’m getting my aventurine. You need the healing power of a crystal.”
“I need you to get some rest.” David looked exasperated.
“Fine. We’ll compromise. I’ll stay up here, but I’ll have Neko bring me the crystal.”
“I don’t need—”
But it was too late. I’d already summoned my familiar.
Neko stuck around to help me energize the healing stone, to focus the power that I poured into the green crystal. The spell was enough to send me back to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.
~~~
On Sunday, I had to roll out of bed a lot earlier. It was time for my monthly brunch with Gran and Clara.
My grandmother had instituted Mother-Daughter Brunch when Clara first came back into my life. It was Gran’s blatant attempt to make me like my mother. I think she thought I’d come to associate great food with positive family emotions. Clara still assaulted my nerves like lemon juice on a paper cut, but I’d consumed an awful lot of
For that matter, we needed to get Zach Spencer to the emergency room. And I’d have another try at getting Cassie to see a doctor. All immediate threats might be safely put away, but my evening was just beginning.
The tall case clock struck midnight as I headed down the stairs. Samhain was over. The new year had begun. And the Jane Madison Academy was officially open for business.
CHAPTER 4
Saturday, I slept until noon, only coming to my senses when David brought me a tray with hot buttered toast, crisp sliced apples, and a giant pot of pear oolong tea. I struggled to sit upright, to reach for my clothes so I could check on my students. I needed to know how they were handling the aftermath of our disastrous working.
David assured me, though, that everyone was fine. He’d conferred with their warders. The witches were resting, restoring the health of their bodies, preparing their minds for Monday’s classes.
“What about Cassie?” I asked. “Did she go to Pine Ridge?”
“She went with Zach to have his arm set. Tony drove them.”
“Did she see a doctor?”
He shook his head tightly. “She refused. But she was calm enough to make up a story. She told the doctors she was knocked down by a goat in the barn. She said Zach came to help her, but the billy turned on him.”
There were enough farms in the countryside that her story might have been true. And Cassie had escaped without any physical damage, beyond a few scrapes and bruises.
David said, “Zach helped her to sleep when they got back.”
Warder’s magic. It was better than nothing. Better than a lot of things, actually.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “Why would Pitt send a satyr to interrupt our first working? It’s not like he gets any benefit if the magicarium shuts down. He’s not a witch. He can’t stake a claim to the Osgood collection.”
David’s jaw was tight. “He doesn’t care about the Osgood collection. He’s trying to punish me.”
“You?”
“I’m the one who’s made his life difficult. I reported him to the Court. I caused the inquest to convene. I’ve cut off the flow of his income and his power—no witch would be stupid enough to bribe him now that Hecate’s Court is involved.”
“But isn’t that a little indirect, bringing a satyr into my working to get at you?”
David’s gaze was steady as he reached over to brush a lock of hair behind my ear. “He knows what matters most to me. Hurting you is the worst thing he could ever do to me.”
The admission melted something deep inside me. I turned my head and kissed David’s palm. “How are you doing?” I asked. “How are your ribs?”
“Broken,” he confessed. “But Neko taped them up.”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“To the basement. I’m getting my aventurine. You need the healing power of a crystal.”
“I need you to get some rest.” David looked exasperated.
“Fine. We’ll compromise. I’ll stay up here, but I’ll have Neko bring me the crystal.”
“I don’t need—”
But it was too late. I’d already summoned my familiar.
Neko stuck around to help me energize the healing stone, to focus the power that I poured into the green crystal. The spell was enough to send me back to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.
~~~
On Sunday, I had to roll out of bed a lot earlier. It was time for my monthly brunch with Gran and Clara.
My grandmother had instituted Mother-Daughter Brunch when Clara first came back into my life. It was Gran’s blatant attempt to make me like my mother. I think she thought I’d come to associate great food with positive family emotions. Clara still assaulted my nerves like lemon juice on a paper cut, but I’d consumed an awful lot of
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