Chapter 46

When Alastair woke the next morning, the undead were gone. Vanished without a trace of ash or remains. The city was in ruins again—some of it visible from his office windows beyond the Emberstone garden walls. Anyone who hadn’t seen the midnight activities may have thought it nothing more than rioting by regular humans—or mages.

Mayor Lamkin is going to be furious.

They hadn’t even finished cleaning up after the last riot.

Alastair wound to his desk and scrawled out a letter asking to schedule a meeting with the mayor at the earliest opportunity—to discuss both that and a potential search for Ozelius. Then he asked Quicksilver to call for Eloise.

While he waited, he poured a hot cup of coffee, and pondered how he could possibly make right all the things that had gone wrong this year.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Coming!”

Before Alastair could reach the door, it opened.

“Yer girlfriend’s here,” the gargoyle knocker said.

“What’s up, Ally?” Eloise said. All of Alastair’s regular guests had learned to ignore the blasted thing.

He couldn’t help but notice that, while her tone was bright, she seemed subdued. The events of the previous night had hit everyone hard.

“I’m worried about the gang,” he said. “Ari, Brendan, Julia—they all live in town. Have you heard anything from them?”

“Not yet. But it’s early.”

“Let’s see if they want to join us for drinks at the Horse and Hound later. If it’s still standing…”

“Night Coven or not, they won’t touch the Horse and Hound,” Eloise said with a mirthless chuckle. “Everyone loves that place.”

“Bring Sebastian. If you want.”

She gave him a look. “Bring… Sebastian? Everyone hates Sebastian!”

“You don’t,” Alastair said. “I don’t. Maybe it’s time for a fresh start—for everyone. But only if you want.”

She rocked from foot to foot, then smiled. “Alright. I’ll bring him. And I’ll reach out to the rest to see where they are tonight.”

“Make sure they’re alright.”

“They’re mages. They’ll be fine.”

“I suppose.” He was still worried. He couldn’t help it. The bedlam had unsettled him more than he’d like to admit.

While there were no undead monsters pounding at the doors, the rest of the day was a mess. Some of the younger students were still on the tail-end of their crying. The older students were clearly trying to stay strong, and everyone could feel the anxiety festering in the air.

Alastair could have predicted what happened next. The first parents showed up halfway through the afternoon.

“Got here as soon as I could,” a woman with long, sleek brown hair said as she embraced her second-year daughter. “First train I could get. I hope you’re feeling alright. Sorry, Headmaster.”

“I understand,” Alastair said, jaw set.

“It’s just—it’s not safe here. We’ll pull her out, homeschool her for a few weeks, see what her transfer options are. We don’t think it’s your fault, of course. But—”

“No need to explain.”

“And—I mean—I know it’s tacky to talk about money—”

“You’ll get a refund for what remains of the semester. Not to worry.”

By the time the school gates closed for the day, a third of the remaining students were gone. Alastair watched the last of them hurry over the bridge and sighed. He’d have to talk to Ms. Snapdragon and see how much last night’s unrest had cost them in refunded tuition.

* * *

As he dressed for a night out on what was left of the town, Alastair found himself thinking again. He couldn’t let Marcus Gold and his deviants win. In that moment, he determined to do whatever it took to bring that man down.

Eloise and Sebastian met him at the Entrance Chamber.

“Alright,” she said. “Let’s do it! Horse and Hound! It’s on!”

“Feels a bit silly now, doesn’t it?” Alastair asked.

“What?” Eloise and Sebastian both said at once.

“Going out after what happened last night. And then today—”

“We need to decompress,” Sebastian said, a rare voice of reason.

“He’s right. This isn’t some kind of celebration. It’s therapy.” Eloise placed a hand on Alastair’s shoulder.

“And everyone’s fine?”

“They’re all fine, Ally. Like I said, they’re mages. They just warded their flats and rode out the night. Now, enough moping. There’ll be time for that tomorrow.”

“And the next day,” Sebastian said.

“For now, beer and pizza!”

Alastair bit his lip, looking through the open doorway at the half-empty Main Hall. “Alright. Let’s go.”

The air was crisp and clear—though the truly cold snap had finally ended. A slick ice still coated the cobblestones, but the snow had been cleared in the riot—thanks in part by Alastair’s magical fire—and, hopefully, no more would fall this year. Tomorrow, they would turn the corner into March and, from there, they were just a few short weeks from spring.

The mayor’s office had begun the clean up, but there was still plenty of trash and broken glass on the cobblestones once they got out of the warded magical district adjacent to the castle. Alastair felt guilty as he passed the janitorial crews. A flick of his wand, and all would be spic-and-span in a jiff.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Eloise said. “Don’t bother. Everyone is so down on mages right now, it would only make things worse.”

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She’d barely finished the sentence when Alastair noticed the evil stares he was receiving from the townsfolk.

“I guess.”

The Horse and Hound, once they got there, was completely intact. Its windows were glowing brightly with flickering candlelight, and fiddle music filtered through to the streets from inside.

“See?” Eloise said. “Told you no one would touch it.”

The other three were already there, and they eyed Sebastian with undisguised loathing as he slid into the booth.

“Interesting,” Brendan said. “Eloise mentioned you might be coming, but I wasn’t sure if you’d actually show.”

“I’ll go buy a round,” Sebastian said. “Cider?”

“Ale,” Brendan said. “Good old working man’s ale. Cider’s for rich kids.”

“Ale, then.”

Eloise watched Sebastian go, then turned back to the table, furious. “I’ve seen you drink cider, Brendan. You’re just being a jerk. And ‘working man’s ale’? You prattle nonsense for a radio station, Ari’s a contracts lawyer, and Julia’s a classical musician.”

“Leave me out of it,” Julia said. “I’m just here because the bar next to my house burned down.”

“Egads,” Alastair said. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I’m an Elemental Mage, Ally, I can handle a basic Anti-flame Ward.”

“I’m just saying,” Eloise went on. “None of you are exactly hurting for money. So don’t pretend—”

“We’re not as fancy-pants as Mr. Shelley here,” Brendan said. “That’s for sure. Don’t pretend we’re the same.”

“I knew this was a bad idea,” Eloise said to Alastair.

“How’s it going, Ari?” Alastair said, a little desperately. This was exactly what he’d been worried about.

“Oh, you know. Business is great. Disasters are good for us. Lots of work to be done. Breaking contracts. Enforcing contracts. Writing new contracts. Money coming in. I’ll be busy all week.”

“That’s… cool.”