Thar arrived ten minutes later. Morta, Amma and I left the library and our secrets inside, and descended to the first floor. I told Martha to put the kettle on and hoped my mother wouldn't suddenly want to partake in my life by ruining our chance at conversation.

I opened the door and let him in, my gaze catching the murky yellowish sky outside.

"Hey." My smile was stiff. "Let's go to the patio. Morta and Amma are there."

"Great." Thar's smile was stiffer.

He dragged himself through my house, and it made me think he hasn't slept last night. I hugged myself as we walked in silence, feeling the distance between us lengthen. Maybe we really needed to discuss what happened, or what it meant, or why the fuck we weren't able to speak like regular people to each other. But we just kept dancing around it, like it might disappear with time.

Well, at least we had demons and conspiracies to keep the conversation going.

"Have you had any progress with convincing my father to rehire you?" I asked.

"I haven't seen him." Thar had his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, and his shoulders jumped up and down. "But I'm sure he'll come around."

"As long as you're sure." I mumbled and opened the door to the patio.

Morta was staring out the glass windows, her lower lip between her teeth. It had started to snow while we were in the library, and thick, large snowflakes glued to the grass, creating a fluffy white carpet. Amma sat in the woven armchair, covered with a blanket. The tea was steaming on the table.

"Hi, Professor Adara." Amma smiled politely.

"He's not your teacher anymore." Morta murmured.

"Hi, Amma. Morta." Thar looked too big for my patio, and against the whiteness outside, he also looked too dark and gloomy.

"So," I sat in the chair. "What did you want to talk about?"

It obviously wasn't us, and since he hasn't seen my father, it wasn't that either.

"I just got off the phone with my uncle." Thar sat opposite of me, next to Amma, and leaned against his knees. "He works in administration at The Veiled Hall."

Morta visibly swallowed, "I hate that fucking place. The damn stones are whispering there."

"What's that?" Amma looked up.

"Arch Mage's White House." I murmured and looked at Thar, "What did you find out?"

"There is going to be a meeting." Thar squeezing and releasing his fists. "On Valentines' Day. All the important figures are meeting to discuss the recent events."

Morta raised her eyebrow, "One would think they wouldn't wait this long."

Thar took in a breath, just a little shaky, "Turns out, the thing that's happened in our school has been happening all over the world."

My gut twisted at his words, and a numbing pain spread through my stomach.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

Morta shrugged, "We know the same thing happened at the Winston Academy."

"And Leon said that the Headmasters are dead." Amma added. "So, the protective shields around the schools are crap."

Thar kept suspiciously quiet, before he said, "No one's found their bodies. We don't know if Headmasters are dead or just missing."

I wrapped my hands around myself, spite lacing my voice, "At least our school has a new Headmaster. Maybe he'll protect us."

Thar met my gaze, "Jade, there's something we have to consider."

"Oh, great." I squeezed through my teeth, and hurt flashed over Thar's expression. "Sorry, go ahead."

Thar stared at me for a long moment, before he took in a sharp breath.

"Your father cannot possibly be behind it all." He shook his head. "He just can't be here and in Japan at the same time."

Defeat dragged my shoulders down and a bitter taste laced my tongue.

"Demons have been breaching into our world for centuries, Jade, and it's gotten worse in the last few months." Thar spoke. "They've taken thousands of lives."

I pulled the sleeve of my shirt up and pointed at the pentagram with all five points filled blank.

"Even before this?" My nail dug into my skin. "Even before the door opened?"

Thar's gaze hardened. It was a familiar expression, one that usually followed before reprimand, but in the last moment, something shifted in his eyes. They softened.

"You might be right." He said, rendering me speechless for a second. "I just think we need to be extremely careful about it."

I glanced at Amma, who glanced at Morta, who glanced at me.

"Who's invited to the meeting?" I looked at Thar again.

"Everyone who's someone." Thar said. "Including your father. And Morta's mother."

Morta let out a low chuckle, "Splendid."

I leaned against the backrest, "I wonder what my father is going to tell them about the attack. I mean, he basically admitted to being behind it. Darth thinks he's behind it. How is he going to convince the Arch Mage that he's not?"

"Maybe the Arch Mage is in on it." Morta murmured.

"That would mean everyone is evil." Amma sighed. "What are we supposed to do if everyone is evil?"

The snow kept falling outside, covering everything in bleak beautiful whiteness. All glimpses of green disappeared under it.

"Not everyone is evil." Thar said, attracting my attention. "There are people we can go to, people who know what's going on. We just have to find them. And we have to be very careful whom we trust."

His use of 'we' filled me with hope. We weren't alone.

Thar has always been there. Sure, he didn't always approve, but he always found a way to help. He offered to take the burden on his shoulders without thinking twice.

"I have to tell you something." I mumbled, and Amma and Morta looked at me.

Thar scooted closer to the edge of the chair, looking a bit too big for it, "Yes?"

"There are a couple of things I haven't told you." I bit my lip.

Amma sucked in a breath.

Thar's dark eyes roamed over my face, "I'm listening."

Pushing the words over my tongue felt much harder than when I told it to Amma and Morta.

"I don't have magic." I sighed, and Thar stood up immediately, but I continued. "I- I can't access it."

"You are going to have to elaborate." Thar said and set his jaw.

"Sit down." I commanded, frowning. "You're too big when you're standing."

This messed him up a bit, and he awkwardly sat back down.

"I'm suddenly feeling a bit peckish." Morta said. "Amma, how about we find something to eat?"

"Uh, sure."

"Martha can fix you something." I murmured.

They left the patio, leaving me alone with Thar.

He looked uncomfortable in the chair, like he wanted to bolt. I didn't blame him. I wished I could run away from myself, too.

"I lost my magic the day I brought Leon back." I said, predicting the tension setting in his facial muscles. "Suddenly, I couldn't feel the black ooze anymore."

Thar's gaze jumped across my face, "That's never happened."

"Trust me, I know." I ignored the pang in my chest. "I've gone through my entire library in the hopes of finding any mention of it."

"Magic doesn't just disappear, Jade."

"I know." I repeated, voice sharper. "Leon said it's not gone completely-"

"You talked to Leon about it?"

I leaned back and looked at him, "Just for a bit. No one saw me, I swear."

Thar glanced through the window, and the white snow made his skin appear paler. I didn't want to say anything else, because all I ran into was judgement. Fucking sue me. I was that girl. I got out of my bed and went out into the cold when he called me. It was dumb. I was dumb. Why did everyone feel the need to say it out loud?

Thar's facial muscles relaxed and his mouth fell open when he looked back at me.

"Jade, what if he ate your magic?"

My brain scrambled, "What?"

"He's a demon." Thar said. "Demons feed off magic. Maybe he needed a boost when he just woke up and took the only thing in his proximity. Your magic."

My gaze jumped over the coffee table. It made sense. He would have done it on instinct.

"But he said the magic came back when he's-"

Ah, crap.

Thar's gaze darkened, "He took someone's magic, didn't he?"

"His chef's." I sighed. "But it came back! Mine hasn't come back and it's been three months."

"Jade, if he's dangero-"

"Can we not?" I snapped. "I know. I'm aware. He's a demon and I have to stay the fuck away from him. Lesson learned."

Thar's expression changed into one of... discomfort, which took me aback. He took in a slow, deliberate breath and exhaled.

"I can't tell you to stay away from him." He spoke, and something inside me cracked. "If you want to see him, you'll see him. But if he's done something to someone, I think you owe it to all of us to share it with me."

Shame flooded me, "Of course. I- I mean, I would never endanger someone-"

"I know."

"And it's not like I want to see him." I added. "I'm done with him. For real."

"Okay."

Silence sat between us, thick and full of tension.

"Is that all?" Thar asked.

"Well..."

He breathed in.

"I think there's a demon following me. And it's not Leon."

For a few seconds, Thar just blinked. Then, out of nowhere, he laughed. It was a deep, throaty laugh that set my veins on fire. A chuckle rumbled in my throat and I let it out. It felt out of place and wrong, but also entirely appropriate. Thar's laugh died out.

"Of course there's a demon following you. Since when?"

I pursed my lips, "Since the attack. It's... well, it's trying to teach me their language."

"What the fuck?"

"Right?" I laughed. "Amma is trying to decipher it."

"Fuck." Thar buried his face in his hands. "How far did she get?"

I shrugged, "I believe we know around five letters now."

"But why?"

"Because her scientific curiosity is bigger than her fear of the unknown."

"Why is a demon talking to you?"

"Oh, that." I leaned against the backrest. "It's bored?"

Thar's gaze jumped across my face again, covered in that weird expression again. Like he wanted to do something but wasn't quite sure whether he should. I cocked my head to the side, waiting.

"What do you want to do about the demon?" He asked.

My mouth fell open, thoughts abandoned my head.

"Uh, well, Amma wants to learn its language." My voice sounded choked. "But- I just want to get rid of it. She thinks we can do both, and I- I don't know."

Thar nodded, head stopping mid motion, and his jaw tensed. His behaviour was off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe he just wasn't used to not knowing what to do. Then, like he'd just decided what to do, he looked at me.

"Can I help?"

My eyes widened, warmth flooding my belly, "I- I mean, sure." A chuckle. "I thought you'd tell me I shouldn't mess with it. That I should leave it to you. But, yes, sure. Help."

A ghost of a smile passed over Thar's face, "Well, I'm not your teacher anymore. I don't have to tell you to be smart."

A tense chuckle fell off my lips, "Right. That's true."

We stared at each other for a long moment, while my heart gradually began to beat louder. He wasn't my teacher anymore. Not my teacher anymore. The thing standing in our way has been torn apart. I swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry.

"Thar-"

The door burst open, and my gaze jumped to Morta's distraught face.

"What?"

She sucked in her lower lip, "Your father is here."