Panic tore through me and I sucked in a breath. Thar stood up, one foot already out the door.

"Don't bother." Morta shook her head."He's on his way."

Thar and I exchanged a glance.

"Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck." I hopped past him and Morta, hoping to catch my father in the middle of the hallway and stop him from seeing Thar.

But he's already seen his car parked outside.

"Jade-" Thar's voice stopped me.

"You can jump out the window!" I suggested.

"Jade."

"You can hide in the snow!"

My father showed up on the door to the patio that very second, dressed in all-black fancy attire, with a robe and a tie and everything. I had his eyes; two dark glowing orbs staring with unbearable intensity. The beard hid most of his face, making his usually sharp features appear gentler. The patio turned cold suddenly, and I became painfully aware of the snow covering the forest beyond the walls. The wind whooshed outside, sending the snowflakes straight into the glass. The uncomfortable thought of being snowed in crossed my mind.

Thar, Morta and I lingered awkwardly, like children caught doing something naughty. No one dared to move before my father spoke.

"There's a snowstorm outside." His dark gaze escaped to the whiteness beyond the patio glass. "I barely made it to thehouse with the car."

The normalcy of that sentence took me by surprise before the implication set.

"What- Are we stuck in the house?" I asked, panic biting my veins.

"Until it stops, yes." My father turned on his heel and walked to the door, where Morta glued herself to the wall, her eyes following his every move.

I was holding my breath.

My father glanced over his shoulder, "Join me in the dining room. Martha will prepare dinner."

And then he was out.

My shoulders sagged the moment he shut the door behind him.

Morta's wide eyes found mine, "We're stuck in the house with him."

"I'm aware." I rubbed the spot between mybrows. "What now?"

Thar took in a sharp breath, "How about dinner?"

"You want to have dinner with my father?"I squinted towards him.

"Or we can avoid him until the weather changes." Thar shrugged. "But I don't particularly feel like acting like a sixteen-year-old."

I raised my eyebrow, "You are aware he thinks we slept together while you were my teacher?"

Thar's throat bobbed and he glanced away. "Well, we haven't. It would be way more awkward if we have."

Goddess, it was absurd that my father showing up would be the thing that made us talk about it. I looked at Morta,who crossed her hands on her chest and arched her eyebrow.

"Fine." I sighed. "You want to have dinner with my dad? Let's do it."

"I'll let Amma know." Morta offered a tight-lipped smile, then stormed out.

I breathed out, the weight of the situation sitting on my chest. How were we supposed to act normal around my father when I believed with every fibre of my body that he was responsible for so much death and destruction? How was I supposed to keep my composure, keep my mouth shut?

"Jade, it's fine." Thar said, making me look at him. "Remember the most important thing right now."

"And what's that?"

"Getting you back in the school."

Shit, he was right. I closed my eyes for a second, letting my priorities align.

"I don't trust him." I whispered.

"Neither do I." Thar said. "But we have no other choice."

I opened my eyes, "I guess you're right."

Part of me wanted to argue that there was always another choice, but what good would that do? It wasn't like I knew of another choice. I didn't even know if this would work. Usually, when my father set his mind on something, he didn't reconsider. We had that in common.

"Let's go." I murmured, cutting the tension between us with my departure.

Thar followed me down the hallway where we met with Amma and Morta, and then continued to the dining room, where I had been eating with my mother for the past three months. She wasn't here tonight, though, and I wondered if it had anything to do with my father. Or she figured there were people in the house, and just didn't want to meet anyone.

I glanced out the window, but couldn't see much aside from the drowning whiteness. The knot in my stomach tightened. Would we be able to leave?

"Where do I sit?" Amma asked, glance jumping between five plates, lip sucked into her mouth.

"Anywhere." I murmured, and was tempted to sit at the head of the table, but Thar seemed to read my thoughts because he shook his head.

"Don't piss him off."

I let out a sigh.

Morta and Amma sat as far from the head of the table as possible, and Thar sat opposite of me.

"This is so fucking weird." Morta murmured.

"Tell me about it." Amma kept the blanket over her arm, and her eyes were dim and tired.

Maybe because she was about to eat dinner with the man most likely responsible for her loss of a limb. The memory of that night resurfaced in my brain. The blood. The ooze. The dead bodies with limbs cut off in a desperate attempt to stop the cursed death. Thar said it has been happening all over the world.

The feeling of being watched returned to my gut.

My head fell to my lap, and I swallowed a few times, hoping to push down the sudden panic. My palms sweated and my heart thudded.

"Jade." Thar called me, making me lift my head. "Are you okay?"

I tried to breathe in, but air stuck in my throat. What if it was everywhere? What if it listened to every conversation I ever had? What if it knew all the thoughts in my head?

"Check." I breathed out, my eyes wide and lips apart, "Check for the demon. Please."

Thar's expression hardened, and with a swift nod, he closed his eyes. His muscles tensed, and the vein in his forehead bulged, but after he released the breath and opened his eyes, he simply shook his head.

"Nothing."

I leaned against the backrest, expecting to feel relief, but it didn't come.

Was I turning paranoid? Was it all in my head?

My father entered the dining room and cut my worries short. In silence, he sat at the head of the table, took the white tablecloth and put it on his lap like some kind of a mannered gentleman.

Fuck, this was weird.

"How are you?" He asked, gaze jumping between us all.

I looked at Thar, whose eyes immediately found mine.

"Oh, you know. Awesome." Morta spoke while reaching for the bottled water. "Aside from the raging PTSD, but what else should be expected from college?"

I almost choked on my own spit.

"I understand." My father leaned forward, put his elbows on the table and intertwined his fingers under his chin. "I have arranged a psychologist to come talk to everyone. You can seek out individual counselling, which I encourage you to do."

Amma's panicked gaze found me, but I could only shrug.

"Has she seen dozens of people die infront of her?" Morta murmured.

My father opened his mouth, like he'd prepared the answer before he heard her question.

He cleared his throat, "She's an expert."

Morta brushed it off, "If she hasn't seen dozens of people die in front of her, I don't want to talk to her."

"Don't mind Morta." Thar cut in. "I'm sure students will be glad to have someone to talk to."

I wanted to roll my eyes so badly.

"Except for me." I mumbled. "I'm expelled."

Thar coughed.

My father looked up at me, "You can always talk to someone if you want to."

"No need." I shook my head. "I can handle it on my own."

Fortunately, Martha came and served the food. Roasted chicken and tomatoes. I put the food on my plate even though I lost my appetite. At least pushing it around the plate gave me something to do. We ate in silence, gazes meeting every once in a while. Only my father seemed at ease, and I wanted to ruin his meal, so I cleared my throat.

"Where's mom?"

His fork dropped on his plate with a clink,"In her garden."

"Skipping meals again?"

"You know she doesn't eat meat."

"Doesn't eat rice anymore either." I murmured as I munched on the piece of meat.

My appetite returned.

"It's best if we don't talk about her right now." My father took the fork again.

Confused looks circled the table, except Thar's. He shook his head lightly, telling me not to poke around. But this was my family. In all of its dysfunctionality. I had every right to poke.

"We never talk about her." I mumbled.

"Jade." My father and Thar said my name at the same time.

"Oof." Morta murmured, making all of us look at her. "Sorry, I remembered something."

I took in a sharp breath-

"She's not doing well, I know." My father cut me off. "And you know we've done everything in our power to help her. If she doesn't want to be here, I can't do anything about it."

My eyebrow arched, "Maybe you should get her a psychologist."

Under his breath, he murmured, "I tried that, too."

Another wave of uncomfortable silence swept the table.

It made me want to scream just to hear something other than chewing.

My father put his fork down, "There is going to be a meeting in a week."

Thar looked up at me immediately, eyes slightly widening.

"What kind of meeting?" I tried to keep my voice from sounding choked to no avail.

"At The Veiled Hall." My father poured himself some water. "The Arch Mage will be there, as well as me, and Morta's mother."

"Her presence always lights up the room." Morta bowed her head, but her voice was full of mockery.

I couldn't help a small chuckle.

"We will discuss the recent events." My father continued, unfazed. "And decide what should be done to prevent it from happening ever again."

Maybe they should think about getting rid of you.

I didn't say that out loud.

"What are you going to tell them?" I asked, allowing my voice to slip into coldness, bitterness. "About what happened at Hunt Academy."

"Well, the truth." He met my gaze, and the coldness and sharpness inside matched mine. "That a demon has broken into our school and taken dozens of lives. We were almost powerless against it."

"Almost." I echoed.

Thar stepped on my foot under the table lightly, which had to be the most childish gesture I've ever seen him do. I glared at him.

My father, oblivious to our interaction, reached inside the pocket of his robe and took out a golden envelope. He handed it to Thar.

"I would like to officially invite you to the meeting."

Morta almost spat out water.

Surprise jolted me.

Thar seemed to share the sentiment, but he shook it off and stepped into his teacher mode, which I haven't seen surface in months.

"Thank you." He took the envelope. "Are other professors invited as well?"

"Darth and Lange." My father answered. "Since they know more about the curse that has befallen you during the attack. But you've been in the middle of the fight, and I thought it would be best if you had a chance to speak about what happened."

I couldn't fucking believe my ears. Glancing at Morta and Amma, I tried to communicate my distraught, but judging by the dread in their eyes, they seemed to share it.

"Thank you for the opportunity." Thar nodded. "I will be there."

My gaze jumped between the two of them. There was something so... psychopathic about my father giving out this invitation. It felt like mockery. Come and get me, the gesture said. Come and get me if you can.

"You should stay here tonight." My father pulled out the chair and stood up. "The storm still hasn't calmed down. We have enough spare rooms."

I didn't know what to say except fuck you all the way to hell, which would shift the vibe too much for anyone's liking, so I kept quiet.

Before he left the dining room, my father glanced over his shoulder, "Oh, and you're allowed to bring a plus one, of course."