Page 17 of Strength of Desire

“Obviously, I went to check the ward room as soon as I felt the wards fail,” he said as he wrapped up. “I was here, in the staff room with Ayah and Sarah, but I ran all the way there. Autumn was already there when I got there, and Teresa and Sheridan arrived a little later.”

“None of you were in the ward room during the attack?” Isaac asked.

“Not as far as I know,” said Hans, which was a weaselly answer if I’d ever heard one.

Autumn seemed to agree with my assessment. She drew herself up, straightening her posture, and sent Hans a cool look. Interesting.

“Anyway, once we were there, it was clear the wards had been penetrated,” Hans continued. “We reset them immediately, and one of us has been physically present with the wards for the rest of the day. That’s where Sheridan is now. We’retryingto figure out what went wrong, but I regret to say, it was a clean attack. Whoever did this didn’t leave any traces for us to follow.”

“Indeed,” Isaac said. “Autumn, is there anything you’d like to add?”

“My frustration,” Autumn growled. “An attack like this shouldn’t have been possible. The fact that it was means there was a flaw in the initial spell design. That, or someone at Vesperwood lowered the wards from within.”

The room went even quieter than before.

“I went to the ward room as soon as I felt the breach as well,” she continued. “I was with a group of students from my Advanced Artifice class, discussing their midterms projects. I only got to the room ten seconds before Hans,” she added, and there was no mistaking the steely glint in her eye.

Very interesting. Both she and Hans were trying to establish that they weren’t alone when the attack took place.

“There was nothing wrong with the initial spell design,” Teresa said, her voice diamond sharp as it cut through the room. “I was part of the team that invoked the original incantation. As was Isaac. I highly doubt either one of us would have made a mistake.”

She made a good point. She was one of the first faculty members Isaac had gathered when he reopened the academy seven years ago. Teresa might be arrogant, but she was a meticulous witch, as was Isaac. It wasn’t likely a design flaw would have escaped their notice.

Which left only one option.

Isaac turned to her. “Thank you, Teresa. We are extremely fortunate to have a witch of your experience and expertise as a wardkeeper.”

Teresa nodded as though this praise were no more than she was due. I noticed Isaac hadn’t begun his questioning of the wardkeepers with her, though. She was far too touchy for that. I also noticed that she didn’t deign to shareherwhereabouts when the wards were broken. She probably didn’t feel like she needed to account for herself to us plebs.

“I can look into any histories mentioning the moraghin,” Sunny offered from his armchair. “I doubt we’ve missed anything that would explain how moraghin themselves could breach wards like the ones guarding Vesperwood, but I’ll use a fine-toothed comb. See if I turn anything up.”

“And I can check the records of the initial enchantment,” Nat offered. Teresa sent her a stony look from across the room, but Nat wasn’t cowed. “I wasn’t here when the spell was first cast, but a fresh pair of eyes reviewing the plans can’t hurt.”

Teresa held her gaze a moment longer, then gave the tiniest nod of her head. Nat blew out a breath of air, looking slightly relieved. As the head of Hex, Teresa was Nat’s direct supervisor, and she had a reputation for ruling Hex with an iron fist.

“Thank you,” Isaac said to Sunny and Nat. “I’m sure we’d all appreciate that.”

He turned then to look at Ismene, standing against the wall near me. “Did the Hierophants sense anything that might have indicated an attack was imminent?”

Ismene moved only her eyes to look at Isaac. “We would have told you if we had. We share anything that is relevant to the school.”

Would you have? I wondered.

The Haunts were a strange bunch. They didn’t teach many classes, focusing their efforts on their own research instead. That, and shepherding the odd student who turned up at Vesperwood with the gift of prophecy.

I didn’t think they saw the world the way the rest of us did. Who was to say what information they would pass on, or what they considered good or bad? Couldtheyhave lowered the wards without anyone knowing about it? They were witches, of a sort.

Another unanswered question.

Motion by the door drew my attention again, and I saw Cinda slip into the room. Her long skirts danced as she threaded her way through the crowd, coming to stand between Ismene and me.

“I’m glad you could join us, Cinda,” Isaac said, in a voice that could have been a rebuke or a simple statement of fact.

“And I’m glad to have a free moment to do so,” Cinda replied. “But I’d prefer to get back to my patient as soon as possible.”

“The girl,” asked Teresa. “She’s recovering well?”

“Yes,” Cinda said. “Sleeping now. That’s what her body needs most. But if she passes tonight and tomorrow peacefully, I’m willing to discharge her the day after tomorrow.” She flicked a glance at me. “No combat for two weeks, though.”

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