Brock stared down at it. “I wondered whether you were going to come clean about that or not.”

I started guiltily. I’d been hoping that up till now he’d not remembered that I’d been wearing it when I’d come across him staggering his way home.

“Well,” I said, pushing it at him, “now I am coming clean. And the skirt’s clean too. So if you give it to her, then you’ll be able to show her how thoughtful and caring you are.”

He took it from me, blinking rapidly. “I don’t know, Mack. Maybe you should just give it to her.”

I frowned at him. “No. This is your chance, Brock. Show her what a good guy you are. Go and find her now, she’s probably in her dorm, and you can return it to her. Then, I don’t know, you can suggest that she celebrates by putting it on and going out with you for a drink. Not now, of course,” I said hastily, “later when everything else has died down.”

He licked his lips nervously. “I can try, but…”

I gave him a stern look. “There is no try.” Oh my God, did I just say that? Luckily Brock was either too polite, too young or too nervous about what I was suggesting to pull me up on it.

“Okay, Mack.” He stroked the fabric lightly and squared his shoulders. “Yes, I can do this.”

I beamed at him. At least I was managing to get something right today. I reached out and smoothed his hair down, then straightened his robes and pulled him out from the threshold of his room. Then I gave him a gentle push down the corridor. “You’ll be fine. Do it now before you lose your nerve.”

He nodded to himself. “Okay. Yes. I’ll just tell her that I found it now.”

He continued on muttering away to himself as he slowly walked towards where the girls’ dorms were situated. I looked over at Aqmar, who was watching me with a grin on his face and winked at him then held up my hand.

“Fingers crossed.”

He mirrored my gesture, then reached out and high-fived me. “I have every faith in the boy,” he stated solemnly. “He will do us proud.”

I gave him a mock salute, and then left.

Chapter Twenty-three

I was just leaving the dorm room area, when Alex bounded up to me.

“Mack Attack! Dude, I was just looking for you, where have you been?”

I chose not to answer that. I didn’t think that Alex would care all that much about the love lives of my fellow students at this particular point in time.

“Um, just wandering around,” I demurred. “What’s up?”

“The Arch-Mage wants to see you right away. I think he and Lord Shifty have concocted up some kind of plan.” He shrugged. “It might work.”

“And Thomas? The Dean? What’s going to happen to them?”

Alex’s mouth twisted. “Thomas is being taken back to the Ministry headquarters. The Dean is still in charge for now, but I’m not sure how long that’s going to last.”

Heat sparked up inside me. “They can’t blame Thomas for what he did. He was just standing up for me.”

“Yeah, I think they get that. I reckon they’ll go easy on him. But his career as a teacher is probably over.”

Damnit. Something else I had to feel guilty about. “Okay. Where’s the Arch-Mage?”

“In the Dean’s office. You should head there straightaway.”

I peered at him. “And you? What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving right now. I don’t really have time to explain because I need to shoot off. The Arch-Mage will tell you.” He leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek then turned round and darted off.

I watched him go for a moment, then slowly walked over to the office. The staircase and corridors were conspicuously empty. I wondered if all the other mages were now in hiding, hoping to avoid the fallout from what had transpired outside. My thoughts tripped over one another as I tried to think of something that I could do to help Thomas’ situation. I’d fall on my sword in a heartbeat if it didn’t mean damning Mrs. Alcoon at the same time. Fuckity fuck fuck.

When I reached the door to the Dean’s little room, I paused for a second, then took a deep breath, and knocked on it. Squirming tension was fluttering away inside me. A voice from inside called out for me to enter, so I twisted the doorknob and walked in.

Both Corrigan and the Arch-Mage were seated on a small striped sofa to the side of the Dean’s desk. Fortunately, of the Dean himself, there was no sign. The Arch-Mage gestured to me to sit down on the chair opposite them.

“So,” he said finally, after I’d seated myself and was gazing expectantly over at them, “as much as we want to keep the circle of people who are involved in this as small as possible, it appears that you are inextricably linked to the fate of the Palladium. This would be a lot easier if you and Mage Florides had come to me in the first place.”

Somehow I doubted that, but I kept my thoughts to myself and stayed silent.

“Mage Florides has left already. He is going to continue to track down the whereabouts of the wraith’s original body. Once those have been located then we can easily rid ourselves of it.”

I cleared my throat. Both Corrigan and the Arch-Mage stared at me.

“What?”

“We’ve already established that the Palladium has no powers,” I said carefully. “It’s the Ancile that ‘s the worrying object. So why don’t we just give the Palladium back to Tryyl and be done with it.”

Corrigan smirked. “That’s the plan. You and I are going to travel to the place where your mage friend found the thing in the first place. We’ll leave it there and let the wraith retrieve it.”

Oh joy. More alone time with the Lord Alpha. I ignored the little trip and flutter of bloodfire inside me.

The Arch-Mage leaned forward. “Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean that Tryyl won’t still come after us for having had it in our possession in the first place. That’s why Mage Florides is still going to try to find his bones.”

“I thought he tried that already and couldn’t manage it.”

The Arch-Mage lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “There are a few things he can try yet. He’s rather talented at Divination, as you know.”

“And we’d expect that the wraith’s largest bone of contention is with the vampires anyway,” added in Corrigan. “If he’s going to take revenge out on anyone, it stands to reason that he’d go there first.”

I wasn’t convinced that a shadowy creature of death really had that many powers of logic and reasoning, but I wisely kept my mouth shut. I shrugged and looked at them both. “Okay then. Let’s do it.”

Corrigan stood up, and pointed towards the Dean’s desk. I noticed for the first time that the Palladium was standing rather forlornly on it. I gazed at it for a moment. Why such a small thing could cause so many stupid problems I had no idea.

“As you have already handled it, it makes sense for you to do so again. That way we can limit our physical contact with the thing.” The Arch-Mage’s voice was calm, but I felt the stirrings of annoyance with his words.

“Of course. That way it’s only my life that’s in danger, not anyone else’s.”

Corrigan reached over and took my hand, holding it gently but firmly in his. His emerald green eyes fixed upon mine. It was virtually impossible for me to look away. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said softly.

Now I just felt even more irritated. “Actually, I won’t let anything happen to me. I don’t need your protection. As I recall, you were pretty useless against Tryyl anyway.”

His eyes flashed in anger and he dropped my hand. Fine.

The Arch-Mage laughed mirthlessly. “At least it’s not just me that has issues with controlling her.”

I stared at him in annoyance, mulling over whether Thomas had been right about him forcing me to come to the academy just so that he could show the Dean who was really boss. “If I do this, then you need to do something for me,” I stated evenly.

“I’m not going to release you from your oath,” he said warningly.

I shook my head. “Not that. But you need to let Thomas – um, sorry, Mage Thomas – off. It was only because what the Dean let the vampire do that he flipped.”

“I think you’ll find that the Lord Alpha here has already considerably highlighted the error of the Dean’s ways in that respect.”

I sneaked a quick peek at Corrigan. His jaw was clenched but otherwise the expression on his face was unfathomable.

“Still,” I continued, “he shouldn’t be punished for it.”

The Arch-Mage gave an imperceptible nod. “He will be given an alternative position as a gatekeeper, working out of London.”

“He’ll be very good at that,” I said softly.

The Arch-Mage agreed. “I know. Now, take the damn Palladium and get out of here.”

I scooped it up. It still felt like nothing more than a chunk of roughly hewn wood. Whatever. It was time to put the thing to rest for once and all.

*

Corrigan and I walked out to the front of the academy building, neither of us saying a word to the other. Part of me wanted to thank him for standing up for me and Thomas, whilst the other part was equally bristling at the idea that he thought I needed him to do so. Regardless of anything, I was gallingly aware of his proximity. He had slowed his steps deliberately so that I could keep pace with him without having to trot beside him, and the tiny gap of air between our bodies was achingly small.

He turned right, heading for the portal, and I was about to do the same when I heard my name being called from behind. I turned round and saw Thomas, supported on either flank by two mages, and jogged back over to the steps and next to him.

“Are you okay?” My eyes scanned his face, checking to see what lingered damage had been done.

He coughed slightly. “I’m fine. You’ll have heard I’m being sent back to the Ministry?”