Page 68 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

James, a Kingstone, had gifted the necklace to Dottie, a De Loughrey.

Since the crystal first belonged to Dottie, and now it's cradled in my palm, I assume that the De Loughrey bloodline is meant by the last phrase.

The Kingstones and De Loughreys are rivals. Or at least had been. James and Dottie clearly broke that cycle, since no one ever warned me about the all-so-mighty Kingstone family. But maybe that was the reason why Archer kept his distance from me.

I looked up as Naomi groaned beside me.

“Oh no,” Maisie mumbled anxiously, and I followed their eyes to the entrance of the school, where Professor Kane stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a stern expression. He was in his late twenties, but each time his features darkened, he looked much older.

“I guess I won’t be his favourite any more,” I muttered, a little disappointed at the thought. Frankly, having my favourite teacher hate me wasn’t on my to-do list for today. If he made class hell for me, I’d be quite sad, actually. I love history.

“If that’s your only fear,” Naomi hissed in a whisper as we reached our professor, who looked us up and down before he pushed off the wall.

Professor Kane wore his usual smart clothes except for the tie that was always missing. Almost all the teachers wore ties, except for him. He apparently liked his neck free of anything.

“Had a morning walk in the woods, ladies?” The question was rhetorical, so we kept silent, waiting for the blow.

“The doors to the dining hall open at six in the morning, and, frankly, I enjoy drinking my coffee in peace before the first students spill into the room around seven—not to mention how much I despise being supervisor of teenagers in puberty. Imagine my mood when Miss Tanner was already waiting for the doors to open to snitch on how two very rude classmates broke into her room at night, kidnapped her roommate and sneaked off school grounds.” His voice was deadly calm, and I almost pleaded he’d scream at us because I hated the deadly calm before the storm.

“Stupid snitch,” Naomi mumbled angrily beside me.

“We weren’t technically off school grounds, Professor,” Maisie corrected him, and his eyes slowly moved to her while he pressed his lips to a thin line.

“Do you think this excuses your actions, Miss Alderidge?”

Maisie shook her head and narrowed her gaze, almost embarrassed. “No, Professor.”

“Good, because all three of you are in serious trouble,” Professor Kane yelled at us, and I flinched at the sudden change of tone in his voice, even though I knew it was coming. “This school doesn’t have many rules, but the rules we have are to be followed. Curfew starts at nine pm and ends at six am, and you aren’t allowed to leave your room, especially the building, outside these times for a reason. Your parents laid your safety in our hands. Do you think we have eyes everywhere just in case some students think they are too good for these rules?!” he continued, and I bowed my head to look at my muddied shoes.

“Miss De Loughrey, I asked you a question.”

I stiffened, not looking up as I muttered my answer, “no.”

“It’s incredibly disrespectful to not look at someone when you talk to them,” he reprimanded me, making my head shoot up to the man in front of me.

“No, Professor.”

He crossed his arms again and clenched his jaw in anger.

“I expect an answer as to why all three of you believed those rules didn’t apply to you when you decided to leave the building before the lift of curfew.”

None of us answered because we couldn’t really tell our teacher that my dead great aunt visited me in my dreams and asked me to find her friend who had also died several years ago and speak to her ghost.

Yeah, that would give us a premium ticket straight to the next psychiatric hospital. This was a bad idea, especially considering our past.

I opened my mouth, trying to think of a decent lie that wouldn't get us in trouble and also wouldn't make us sound totally insane.

“Professor Kane, would you mind going back to your place in the dining hall? Headmaster Shaw advised me to take over this situation.” A very familiar voice saved me from having to come up with a story.

Kane sighed, annoyed, and turned to face Chadwick, who stood in the entranceway with a much kinder expression than the man in front of us.

“And don’t let them stand outside in this cold, or they might get sick. You said it yourself, Asher. It’s our duty to keep them safe,” Chadwick added, stepping aside for us to enter the warm building.

Naomi was the first to rush inside, and Maisie and I followed, ignoring Professor Kane’s deadly stare as we passed him.

I had history in the third period. This was going to be a blast today—or for the rest of the school year.

“Head to my office. I’ll meet you there,” Chadwick advised us, and we had no choice but to do exactly that.

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