Crooked Magic - Eva Chase Page 0,1

and a force strong enough to topple the older barons who’d ruled our society.

“I won’t say anything about ‘former’ antagonism,” she said now, still smiling. “But maybe if you stopped looking at the rest of the student body as ‘dregs,’ you wouldn’t be groaning about spending another few months here?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I sat back up, my stomach twisting uncomfortably.

Truth: it wasn’t so much that I thought of the other students as lacking as vice versa. Out in my parents’ part of the fearmancer world, where the most important things were who had the biggest mansion and the most profitable business holdings, I was a stinking traitor who’d turned on them when it’d been time to take a stand. Here at Blood U, I was the daughter of two of the most prominent supporters of the former barons, so everything about me was automatically suspect.

The frustrating part about Rory’s compassion was that she couldn’t quite wrap her head around the idea that everyone else might keep holding my past and my family ties against me. But then, at least having her support meant that after Victory had graduated last year, I’d had one person around who truly believed I wanted to be here and not just as some kind of treacherous infiltrator.

Rory hefted her suitcase, Archie twining around her ankles. “Anyway, I’ll still be stopping by the university all the time. As long as Holden, Noah, and Agnes are still students, we’ll keep holding a lot of the meetings of the pentacle on campus.”

“I’ll be grateful for any moments you can spare from the important business of ruling all fearmancer kind,” I informed her, managing a smile of my own. “Here, I can carry your other bag for you. I’ve got to head out to my Illusion class soon anyway.”

We weren’t the only ones carting luggage around. Out in the common room, the other two senior students in our dorm who’d stayed for the summer term were gabbing away as they ambled to the door wheeling carry-ons behind them. I’d gathered from conversations previously overheard that they were taking off for a weekend in New York City as soon as they’d finished with their Friday morning classes.

They’d never have mentioned the trip directly to me, of course, let alone invited me along. The best I got was the wary glance and terse nod of acknowledgment they aimed at me now before they beamed much more warmly at Rory. “Don’t forget us after you’re full baron!”

She laughed. “Blood U won’t get rid of me that easily. Enjoy your trip!”

They weren’t even scared of me, which might have been a tiny bit satisfying in a vaguely uncomfortable way. When you dealt in magic fueled by fear, it was easy to tell if you’d provoked that sort of feeling in someone. I’d have felt even the slightest tremor of true uneasiness traveling from them into the thrum of magical energy behind my sternum, but I got nada. No, their reaction to me was only an impenetrable combination of distrust and disdain that I’d rather not dwell on too much.

We all tramped down the stairs and headed across the grounds to the garage with the warm July breeze washing over us. Rory and I tossed her bags in the trunk of her Lexus. I wiped my hands together, knowing I should get a move on to make it to class but feeling awkwardly adrift.

“When are they doing the ceremony to officially appoint you baron?” I asked.

“Later this afternoon. They don’t want to waste time. We went almost twenty years without a Bloodstone baron already, and not everyone recognizes Maggie the way they should.”

Her gaze slid beyond me, and I suspected she was thinking of the brief span when her mother had returned to claim the title—and proceeded to lead the other older barons into a massive assault on nonmagical society. Rory’s mom had tried to kill her when Rory and the other scions had stood up to them. I was lucky my parents had stuck to scathing phone messages and now only the occasional hostile magical missive of disappointment. How could I complain?

A lot of things had changed since the rebellion had left four of the original barons dead. To begin with, instead of the oldest child from each of the five barony families automatically getting a spot in the pentacle—unless some relative managed to off them and steal their place—the scions now shared their power within their families. Rory’s older cousin Maggie had held