to be happy for her.
But the idea of her marrying Nero, moving into Hexing House. It wasn’t done often, but it wasn’t entirely without precedent, either. They’d give her a job. Would it be better than Thea’s?
Would they start a family?
Good lord, would Flannery want to become a fury, too?
But it does mean Pete is free. For good.
Thea pushed the thought away. That kind of complication was the last thing she had time for.
She was relieved when dinner finally ended and they all said their tense goodbyes. Thea wanted nothing more than a warm blanket and a soft pillow.
Unfortunately, she was to have neither. Especially not the latter.
The first clue that something was wrong was the light coming from her bedroom. Thea had come a long way since her days of putting bells on her doors and checking the locks three times (no more, no less) whenever she left. But she hadn’t gotten so nonchalant as to carelessly leave lights on.
The second clue was the smell. It was faint, but definite: blood.
Her bedroom door was closed, and for a second Thea was back in her vision, seeing that crack of light underneath.
The monsters are back.
She recoiled, afraid.
What the hell, Thea? You are the monster. Nothing in that room can hurt you.
Not entirely convinced this was true, she reached out and opened the door nonetheless.
But she was right about that much: it certainly couldn’t hurt her. It was beyond either hurt or pain.
The bedside lamp was on, the better to illuminate Thea’s pillow, which was slick with shiny blood. More blood than she would have expected to come from the tiny thing lying in the center.
At first she thought it was a mouse, but then she saw the wings. Detached, spread out a few inches to either side of it.
There was a dead bat on her pillow.
A dead, headless bat.
Traditional means of investigation, like searching for fingerprints, turned up nothing, but Gordon from Security assured Thea that he would have his best people looking into the bat incident. She considered calling Holgersen as well—Mr. Fanatic, at least, had trespassed on the campus before—but knew Alecto would never allow the intrusion of human authorities in the colony.
Personal Services had a new pillow and fresh linens in her residence within the hour, but Thea went to spend the night at Cora’s anyway. Elon was already there, and Nero came as soon as he heard.
Of course Nero was beside himself, taking this as further proof that those associated with the superhex lab were being targeted. But a call to Flannery assured him that nothing unusual had happened on her end.
“Nero, come on,” Thea said. “This was clearly the Concerned Citizens For A Fury-Free County .” She used finger quotes around the name, pitching her voice to sound like Caulfield’s, making Cora laugh. “They blame us for what happened at Hemlock Heights.” She remembered what Holgersen had said to her. “And thanks to that picture, I’m the face of Hexing House now.”
“Maybe,” said Nero. “But that means one of them not only got onto the campus—”
“—which we already know Mr. Fanatic can do,” Cora reminded him.
“—but got into your residence,” Nero finished.
“Knew which one was your residence in the first place,” Elon added. “Does Mr. Fanatic even know your name?”
Thea frowned. “You know, I have no idea. But it’s not unlikely that someone said it in front of him at the protest.”
“Even so,” said Elon. “Going from a face and maybe a name to an address in an enchanted location is a pretty big leap. Even if we do want to blame the Concerned Fury-Free Whatever Society, Gordon needs to be looking for someone on the inside who helped them.”
The incident was certainly disconcerting, but assuming it was part of the aftermath of the Hemlock Heights situation, solving the larger problem would solve the smaller one. So while Thea left Gordon to investigate the break-in, the first thing she did the next day was try to
But the idea of her marrying Nero, moving into Hexing House. It wasn’t done often, but it wasn’t entirely without precedent, either. They’d give her a job. Would it be better than Thea’s?
Would they start a family?
Good lord, would Flannery want to become a fury, too?
But it does mean Pete is free. For good.
Thea pushed the thought away. That kind of complication was the last thing she had time for.
She was relieved when dinner finally ended and they all said their tense goodbyes. Thea wanted nothing more than a warm blanket and a soft pillow.
Unfortunately, she was to have neither. Especially not the latter.
The first clue that something was wrong was the light coming from her bedroom. Thea had come a long way since her days of putting bells on her doors and checking the locks three times (no more, no less) whenever she left. But she hadn’t gotten so nonchalant as to carelessly leave lights on.
The second clue was the smell. It was faint, but definite: blood.
Her bedroom door was closed, and for a second Thea was back in her vision, seeing that crack of light underneath.
The monsters are back.
She recoiled, afraid.
What the hell, Thea? You are the monster. Nothing in that room can hurt you.
Not entirely convinced this was true, she reached out and opened the door nonetheless.
But she was right about that much: it certainly couldn’t hurt her. It was beyond either hurt or pain.
The bedside lamp was on, the better to illuminate Thea’s pillow, which was slick with shiny blood. More blood than she would have expected to come from the tiny thing lying in the center.
At first she thought it was a mouse, but then she saw the wings. Detached, spread out a few inches to either side of it.
There was a dead bat on her pillow.
A dead, headless bat.
Traditional means of investigation, like searching for fingerprints, turned up nothing, but Gordon from Security assured Thea that he would have his best people looking into the bat incident. She considered calling Holgersen as well—Mr. Fanatic, at least, had trespassed on the campus before—but knew Alecto would never allow the intrusion of human authorities in the colony.
Personal Services had a new pillow and fresh linens in her residence within the hour, but Thea went to spend the night at Cora’s anyway. Elon was already there, and Nero came as soon as he heard.
Of course Nero was beside himself, taking this as further proof that those associated with the superhex lab were being targeted. But a call to Flannery assured him that nothing unusual had happened on her end.
“Nero, come on,” Thea said. “This was clearly the Concerned Citizens For A Fury-Free County .” She used finger quotes around the name, pitching her voice to sound like Caulfield’s, making Cora laugh. “They blame us for what happened at Hemlock Heights.” She remembered what Holgersen had said to her. “And thanks to that picture, I’m the face of Hexing House now.”
“Maybe,” said Nero. “But that means one of them not only got onto the campus—”
“—which we already know Mr. Fanatic can do,” Cora reminded him.
“—but got into your residence,” Nero finished.
“Knew which one was your residence in the first place,” Elon added. “Does Mr. Fanatic even know your name?”
Thea frowned. “You know, I have no idea. But it’s not unlikely that someone said it in front of him at the protest.”
“Even so,” said Elon. “Going from a face and maybe a name to an address in an enchanted location is a pretty big leap. Even if we do want to blame the Concerned Fury-Free Whatever Society, Gordon needs to be looking for someone on the inside who helped them.”
The incident was certainly disconcerting, but assuming it was part of the aftermath of the Hemlock Heights situation, solving the larger problem would solve the smaller one. So while Thea left Gordon to investigate the break-in, the first thing she did the next day was try to
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