Page 55 of Messenger of Death
“You aren’t going to get in trouble for asking these questions, are you?”
“Not at all. Headmaster Mykene supports me asking. She was the one who hired me and a lot of people didn’t want me teaching on this side of the school.”
“So, the pools are underground and in caves? Could someone accidentally find them now?”
“I suppose it’s possible, but it would involve breaking and entering and avoiding some very powerful supernaturals. They either have schools built around them like this or they are on lands it’s a felony to be on if you don’t belong there. Those people have their own supernaturals and reincarnations living among them and from what I understand, protect their pools.”
“What if they were born on those lands?” I asked.
“Then they wouldn’t be here. We don’t pretend to know everything here and we don’t know more about certain cultures than they do. If someone already has a system for dealing with reincarnations and originals, we don’t act like we can do it better than them.”
“Egypt doesn’t have a school like this?”
I was surprised at that. I was already coming here for Oxford and I didn’t regret anything because I wouldn’t have met Sage. Radames, Iman, Mazen, and several other students would have been snatched in Egypt.
“They do. It’s closed for renovations and has been for the past three years. They’ve been working with the other academies to take the students they would have gotten. From what I understand, it’s a complete overhaul of their systems and building. It’s going to be top of the line when they are done with it, but it’s not ready yet.”
I nodded. That made sense. My work study hours were almost over and I’d learned a lot.
“Do you have a map of all the pools?”
“I do. I’ll email it to you. You’re a bright boy, Khalid.”
She got my name right. I didn’t know if it was the start of her getting it right or it was just an accident.
At any rate, Professor Kane was one of my favorite professors here.
There were still no disappearances or murders. I should have been relieved, but I wasn’t. Harami and Hemlock were up to something. We were coming up on Halloween. I hadn’t been allowed to celebrate that before and it wasn’t really as big in England as it was in the United States, but we didn’t celebrate it at all here.
We celebrated Samhain. I learned that the veil was thinner then and that the Morrigan was celebrated then. Professor Gefn was trying to prepare Khalid and me.
“So, we’ll all be contacted by different spirits while the veil is thinner. Since you haven’t mastered what I’m trying to teach you, you’ll want to keep protectors with you at all times. Lucianand Liam should do likely, as would Ari, Ivar, and Alexios. I’d say use Morgana, Petros, and Elliot, but they will be out having their fun.”
“Should we be worrying?” Khalid asked.
“People’s ancestors are going to want to contact their descendants. Sometimes, they can get a little annoying, but they can’t hurt you. They should appear to their families, but sometimes, they are drawn to those with a stronger connection to the veil.”
“I meant about Hemlock and Harami since we don’t know who they are in this life.”
That, too. They made a big show the first few weeks of school and had been quiet. I still had no proof Lola was Hemlock. Her file proved shewasa backpacker, so she could have found any of the pools and woken up. I was still the only one who suspected her. Everyone else was still scratching their heads over who they could be. I had no clue who Harami could be.
“It’s so cliché to kill someone on Samhain. It’s not about the devil or demons. We make a bonfire and food, for the living and the dead. We typically share the food meant for the dead with people who might not be able to afford a feast. We call it Samhain now, but other cultures had similar end of summer rites.”
“What can we do to prepare?” I asked.
“Practice what I’ve been teaching you. You aren’t going to master anything before next week and I wouldn’t expect you to. You’llfeelthe veil getting thinner before you start seeing shades. You’ll want to up your protection in your dorm rooms and don’t go anywhere alone. You’ll both be in high demand. You might want to work with Morgana, too. Some witches are gifted with communing with spirits and Morgana isthewitch. She’s also a brilliant student. That’s all I have for today.”
I slipped my hand in Khalid’s as we left. I rested my head on his shoulder. I felt closer to all of them than ever. It was pretty amazing.
“I have a theory,” Khalid said.
“Oh?”
Maybe it was something likemytheory and I could ask someone to help me find my proof. I felt like an utter coward not bringing it up to the men I was coming to love, but at the same time, if it was Lola, she’d covered her tracks well.
“I think Harami and Hemlock are planning something big for Samhain. I don’t think Harami is from a culture that celebrates it, but Samhain is Celtic and we know a lot of fairies ended up in that culture. They could have brought their holidays with them. Hemlock could be planning something big. It’s why they’ve been so quiet lately.”
“Could be. Morgana thinks it’s her ritual. It could be that, too. They might not beableto do anything yet. We haven’t had much luck finding proof who they are either way.”
