Jagger threw me a knowing glance. “Cordelia, I’ll see you later. We obviously need to talk.”
No kidding. I nodded and watched Jagger pull Ryker up from the sofa and steady him as they left my room.
“I brought some steak,” Dax whispered as he came in a few minutes later. “How is she?”
“Fine. Did she transform?”
Dax peered down at Faustine. “No. I don’t think so, anyway. I wasn’t looking directly at her during class. She was sitting next to me. But no, I didn’t notice anything weird.”
“What class was it?”
“History of eighteenth century vampires.”
“Hmm. I can’t imagine why she’d have an issue with anything in that class, apart from the intense boredom. Boy, I don’t know what to say. She’ll be fine now, and I’ll stay with her. I’ll walk her back to her room when she gets up. Why don’t you head back? I’m sure Martha and Chun are worried.”
“Okay. Call me if you need me. The girls will probably want to come and check on Faustine. Is that okay?”
“Yep. Give it half an hour or so, though. I want Faustine to wake up first. I’ll text you when she’s ready for them to visit. And thanks for calling me, Dax.”
“No problem. I’m just glad she’s safe.”
Once he left, I sat on the sofa bed and watched Faustine sleep. She looked peaceful, as usual. What was different, though, was that she hadn’t been lovingly wrapped in a blanket. She lay on top of the comforter, her shoes still on her feet. Her clothes were intact, so she’d obviously not transformed, not fully anyway. I got up and removed her shoes, then threw a blanket over her.
I slumped down on the sofa again and racked my brain, trying to make sense of it all. What the heck had Ryker been doing there? And why had he confused Martha with Faustine in his rollercoaster story? The simulation had clearly depicted Martha, not Faustine. He hung out with Martha. Had he just inadvertently said
Faustine
, or had he really meant her? Was that whom he had really seen in his version of the scene?
Why? As far as I knew, the two of them had never spoken. Yet, I had noticed the way the two looked at each other.
So, thinking about it from Ryker’s point of view…. Faustine and he had been at Disney World. Faustine–and maybe Ryker–had gotten on the ride, and Faustine fell.
In the meantime, in the real world, Ryker had disappeared from the test lab. How? Faustine had disappeared from the classroom. Why? How? And how and why had they both ended up in my room?
“Can I come in?” Jagger poked his head through the doorway. “Is she still asleep?”
“Yes, to both. Ryker in snoozeland?”
“Actually, no. He was wide awake by the time we got to his room, but still a bit disoriented.”
“Maybe we should ask him about his mom while he’s in a blabby mood,” I suggested.
“Ha! If only, but you know we can’t. Anyway, he did let a few things slip. Faustine, eh?”
“Yeah, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure that one out. It seems like Faustine has his attention in some way. I sorta had an inkling, at least from Faustine, that something was up. It’s in the way they are mesmerized by each other. Wonder what the connection is?”
“It has to be some kind of protective thing, at least as far as Ryker is concerned. He can’t possibly have feelings for a twelve-year-old–”
“Thirteen, now. She had a birthday last week. Besides, he’s only fifteen; that’s just a two-year gap.”
Jagger rolled his eyes. “Really? You think?”
I nodded. “Yeah, based on the way they look at each other. I get chills.”
“Okay. So let’s assume that there’s a connection between them,” Jagger conceded. “What we have so far is a possible connection, and that Ryker protects her somehow. After all, he tried to rescue her from falling off the rollercoaster, in his head, anyway.”
“Yes, he disappeared, then she vanished, and they both ended up here.”
“Did he fetch her somehow?”
“That’s what it seems like, but there’s one way we can definitely find out if that’s the case or not. If Ryker is her secret guardian angel, then that’ll be easier to test now while he’s out of action somewhat.”
“Yep. I can keep him in his room, while Faustine is tested. Do you think Professor Bern will go for it?”
Only one way to find out. I called her.
Professor Bern was unconvinced that it would be a good time for us to test Faustine, since she’d just been through another vanishing episode. She said we had to wait a week. Waiting was not my strong point. I needed answers, and I needed them that minute.
“I take it that was a no?” Jagger looked as disappointed as I felt.
“Yeah. We have to wait a week.”
“I can understand why, but it’s annoying all the same. Anyhow, Faustine’s getting up, so I’m gonna leave. See you later?”
“Yes. Maybe.” I went over to Faustine with the steak that Dax had brought.
Martha and Chun arrived just as Faustine finished eating. I had asked her about her version of what happened, but she couldn’t add anything new to what I already knew. She said that she’d just been sitting in class, daydreaming about the new Manolo collection, when she blacked out. I guessed there was a small possibility that a spider had appeared in her daydream, but she didn’t mention it.
“Girls, if you’re going to be around for a while, do you mind if I split for a bit? I’ll be down in the library if anyone asks for me.” Our library was full of volumes whose content wasn’t available online, and I needed to do some old-fashioned research.
The basement library at the Academy housed the non-electronic books. The eBook library was upstairs in the tech lab, which was full of the various eReaders. The basement was complete with tables and chairs, and rows and rows of shelves full of books. I bypassed all those and made my way to the very end of the main library hall.
“What can I do for you?” the little woman behind the desk asked.
“Could I get into the reference room?”
“Do you have a pass?” she asked, looking at me suspiciously.
I handed over my mentor’s ID. That seemed to work for most things.
“Let me check.” She speed-dialed someone. “Jagger, I have a Cordelia Hammer down here. Can you confirm that she’s with the mentor program? Is it all right if I let her into the ref room?” She put the phone down and stared at me. “Third door on the right.”
I started to turn.
“It’s locked, of course,” she added.
Twirling around again, I asked, “How do I get in?”
“Use the spell. Or a key.”
“Oh, may I have the key, please?”
She held out a key. I took it, and just before I disappeared around the corner, she shouted, “Jagger said he’d meet you down here in five.” Then, she cracked her knuckles. Gross.
I could probably do with the help; the reference room was a daunting place. I put the old, rusted key in the lock and turned it. Or tried. It wouldn’t turn. I tried again, with more force. It wouldn’t budge.
Jagger laughed, his breath cool against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. “The old key trick. Manuela can be a pain in the ass. Here, allow me. Stand back.”
I stepped back, brushing up against his body while he mumbled something under his breath. The lock fell open. He removed it and opened the door.
“Thanks. The key wasn’t meant to work, was it?” I asked wryly.
“Nope. The spell is the only way in, and she couldn’t pass it on to you. So I came down. But she decided to have her fun with the key in the meantime. Anyhow, now that you’re in, what do you need? Or do you want me to go?”
As if he had any intention of doing that. “No, I could use the help, if you have time.”
“Always for you, but you know that. What are we looking for?”
“Something that will help us figure out what Ryker is. We know that he’s half faery. You’re certain of that, right?”
“I don’t know about the half part, but we share a father, so he’s got to be part faery.”
“Well, let’s try to figure out the other part.”
“Okay, how do we start?”
“Well, I was thinking that all the vanishings that have happened can’t be attributed simply to invisibility. Right?”
“Yes. Some of them could, but not all. But we could attribute Ryker’s disappearance to invisibility. There was nothing to stop him from just making himself invisible and abandoning his test.”
“Yes. Okay. Let’s forget his vanishing for a moment and concentrate on Faustine’s and mine, especially mine. I didn’t do that myself, so I know someone else was responsible. Not just because the chamber was physically constrained, but also because Professor Bern had put a confinement spell on it. Those are impossible for any paranormal to escape. Now explain that.”
Jagger shook his head.
“So, I’m wondering if that’s correct, that no paranormals can penetrate a confinement spell. I want to make sure. Let’s start with checking out the confinement spells and who can breach them. Sound like a plan?”
“It does. You want me to get some books for you, or do you want to try yourself?”
“Is this another spell thing?” I pulled a face at him. Demons were pretty much epic failures at spell class. I thought the class a waste of time; I might as well have taken a pastry-making class.
Jagger did his thing–a lot of mumbling under his breath–and books came floating over and landed gently on the table in front of us. Then, the books shook open, and the pages turned, coming to rest at what I hoped were the relevant sections. I counted the books–nine of them.
“Voila, mademoiselle,” Jagger said, sounding pleased with himself. “Let’s get to it. Half each?”
We started reading. I was glad that I’d at least paid attention in Latin. The books were handwritten, most in ancient calligraphy. The writing was hard to read, but I ploughed through it. Soon, it became apparent that what Jagger and I had assumed was, in fact, the case. There was no way around a confinement spell. Only the witch who cast it could break it. Period. I was stumped. I slumped in defeat.
Jagger laced his fingers through mine, his eyes still glued to whatever he was reading. When he was done, he looked up, his eyes gleaming.
“You found something?”
“I might have. A clue perhaps. There’s a brief story in here of an unsubstantiated report where a confinement spell was breached in London at the start of the seventeenth century. The oldest daughter of one of the noble Wanderer families had been confined by a powerful witch. The girl just disappeared from confinement. No one knows how.”
I shared his excitement. “Jagger, could you get the Wanderer reference manual for me?”
The book was already flying toward me. Jagger was on the same track. I didn’t wait for it to open, instead doing it myself. I skimmed through the pages. I had learned most of the contents during class, but that had been nearly two years ago. I needed a refresher, since Wanderers, like witches, were rarely sent to the Academy. The Wanderers were supernaturals who were able to time travel. Some of them possessed additional powers, but time travel was what made them unique. They could travel not only through time, but also through dimensions. I had never met one before, as far as I knew.
“Okay, stop there for a minute,” Jagger said, pointing to a page.
The Sigma Wanderers
. “Wanderers who can travel geographically in addition to through time and dimensions.”