There’s another fireplace in there that’s just as big and grand as the one in the foyer, and several students are gathered around it to stay warm. I slow and look in, feeling nostalgic as always, and a student named April, who helped me research demons back in the spring, looks up. She smiles and waves and then elbows her friend, who looks up just as stunned.
I wave back but keep walking, not wanting to get stopped and bombarded with questions again. Another time, perhaps. It takes another few minutes of walking through the long corridor before we get to the staff lounge. Evander, Ruby, and two other professors are sitting around a large round, wooden table. There’s a pentagram etched into the surface, and the stained-glass window behind them pictures a triple moon, representing our coven.
“Ah, sister!” Evander looks up, smile on his face. “It’s about time you’ve all arrived. I was about to start lunch without you.”
“Hey,” I say back, and the four of us join everyone at the table. Lunch is served soon after that, and we talk as we eat homemade potato soup with fresh cheesy biscuits. It’s a nice distraction, and I forget about all the shit going on for a brief moment.
“Evander has some exciting news,” Ruby says, smiling at him. She had a massive crush on him when we were teenagers, and I can’t help but wonder if she still does now. They’d make a cute couple, that’s for sure, but I’m still holding out hope for Kristy and Evander to realize they’ve loved each other for years and they can’t live apart any longer. I’ve read too many romance novels, I know.
“What is it?” Nicole asks excitedly.
“Headmaster Ainsley has announced his retirement, and I will be taking over.”
“Evander! That’s amazing!” I exclaim. He’s been a professor here at the Academy for a while and became the assistant headmaster several years ago. “Congrats!”
He waves his hand in the air, dismissing the round of congrats and well-wishes. “Thank you. I have the rest of the school year to find and hire a new professor now. Any takers?” He eyes the twins.
“I don’t like kids,” Naomi replies right away.
Nicole tips her head, thinking. “I do. Would it be for your class?”
“No,” Evander tells her. “Ruby is going to take over my class, so it would be for hers.”
Ruby teaches Magic 101, with a fancier sounding name, of course, and works primarily with the younger students.
“If you’re serious, I will get you an application,” Evander tells her. “We prefer to hire from our own coven, you know. The students have not been informed yet, so don’t tell anyone. We will make an announcement at the next gathering.”
I’m still smiling at Evander, so proud of him. “You’re going to love that big, fancy office.”
“I will, though I think you might be more familiar with it than I am,” he teases. “I recall you spending a lot of time in there.”
“Oh, I did,” I laugh. “And these three were with me.”
“Not always by choice,” Naomi quips. “We were guilty by association more often than not.”
“You were the one who suggested I marry that poltergeist,” I remind her.
“I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it.”
We all laugh, reminiscing about the good old days like the old people we’ve become. Dessert comes, along with a pot of warm tea, and another few professors join us for tea and cake. I get up to use the bathroom while everyone else is still talking and eating and run into Tabatha on my way back.
“My darling girl,” she says, throwing her arms open for a hug. She smells like sage and lavender and looks as gorgeous as ever with her hair swept back into a French twist, and a long, plum-purple dress with a light gray cloak over top. She’s always so elegant, and I wanted to look just like her when I grew up. “What the hell were you thinking?” Letting me go, she steps back and looks at me sternly. “Queen of Hell? Of all the shit you’ve pulled over the years, this one tops it.”
Tabatha has always been more of a I’m disappointed in you rather than a I’m mad at you kind of person, and knowing I let her down kills me every time. Right now, I know I disappointed her and she’s mad at me, which hasn’t happened often.
“I didn’t mean it,” I rush out. “I was scared and it just…I don’t even know. The idea just popped into my head, and I knew if I took that power, I’d be able to kill Bael and save Kristy and Lucas.” I inhale, all shaky now, and tears fill my eyes. “I’m really scared,” I admit for the first time. “I don’t want to be Queen of Hell. I don’t want to be damned to live down there forever, and I don’t want demons fighting to kill me more than normal.”