The next morning, I tell myself that I'm going to meet with Ezra, Ace, and Harlow whenever I can in order to get a word in with them. I want to find out from Ezra what he knows about the journal, Ajax, and my familiars, and I want to figure out which of Ryder's siblings gave us the journal in the first place. Maybe they'll know something more that could help us. In that case, why wouldn't they just tell us if they really want to help Ryder? Either way, I need to figure things out. I also need to tell Ryder about his curse, who, speaking of which, I forced to stay in bed for the day. I'll be bringing him his books and homework after classes are over. He refused at first, but I managed to convince him to spend at least one day resting and that he can return to classes tomorrow. I'll also need to meet with Tempest and Solstice to tell them what I find out sometime. And I should probably study Augustina a bit more since Tempest is so suspicious of her. I admit, she has been acting pretty weird lately, and with everything that's been going on, well...

I sigh as I clutch the straps on my left arm from my bookbag harder as I walk down the stairs and towards my classes. I really just want Ryder to be okay. Meanwhile, as I continue walking down the stairs, Antheia pops her head out of my bag in her fox form and glances around.

"What's up?" I ask, glancing down at her briefly.

"Flinn keeps kicking me in his sleep," Antheia says irritably, "I can't get any rest."

"What?" I frown, wondering why Flinn's so restless, "that's unusual for him."

"Well, having a head is about to be unusual for him if he keeps it up," Antheia snaps.

I sigh once more as I round the corner of the staircase and continue walking down it at a leisurely pace, thinking about how Flinn has been acting weird lately too. He's been acting weird ever since the beach trip, especially since he kissed me. I don't know what Ezra figured out, but it also makes me even more motivated to get to the bottom of this. I really care about Ryder and Flinn, in different ways, of course, but I don't want to lose either of them. They're both really important to me, just as everyone else in my life is.

Once I'm at the bottom of the stairs, my eyes widen in surprise whenever a hand grabs my wrist from the side and pulls me around the corner of the staircase. My eyebrows raise whenever I see Ezra standing there with a finger pressed to his lips. Ezra then drags me off to a storage room and Antheia pops her head out of my bag again. Ezra grabs my bag and pulls out Flinn, who starts to wake up upon being grabbed. Within seconds, Ezra pulls out his wand and casts a sleeping spell on Flinn, a flash of blue light and dust going off in the process.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ezra?" Antheia protests and transforms into her regular form after jumping out of my bag.

"Philomena, look. It's about Ajax. The one he bonded with is Flinn," Ezra explains and my breath hitches. "If you want to save Ryder, you'll need to keep Flinn away from him and find Ryder's familiar. Flinn might know more about Ryder's connection to the Dark Lady."

"What? My brother's soul is bonded with who?" Antheia furrows her eyebrows.

"Could you be any more conspicuous?" Harlow sneers sarcastically as she pulls open the door to the storage closet and stands there with her hands on her hips. "Honestly, it's as if you want to get caught."

"Harlow?" I question, my eyes flickering between her and Ezra, "what are you doing here?"

"Good question," Antheia glares and crosses her arms.

"Harlow is the one who asked you to help Ryder," Ezra sighs and puts his hands in the pockets of his black dress slacks. "She left Ajax's journal. I asked her to meet with us before I dragged you three here."

"Why do you care?" I cross my arms and raise a brow. "Is it because you were sent to make sure Ryder doesn't screw up? You can't tell me you actually care about him. If you do, you have a terrible way of showing it, and by that I mean you don't.

"I know I may not seem like I value my brother's existence, but I do care about him. I care about both of them. You just have to believe me," Harlow says, her lips pursed. "We do not have much time. Ryder will die if we do not do something soon. I happen to know who is invoking the Dark Lady's abilities and continuing her work, but I can not take her down by myself. That is why I came to you. One of the real reasons why I came to this academy was not just to keep an eye on Ryder, but it was to save him. I have been investigating since the day I got here. I admit, at first I was suspicious of you, Philomena, but now I know you have good intentions. I am still not fond of you, but you make Ryder happy and I cannot deny that, I suppose."

"Hang on, what is all this? What's going on?" Antheia frowns. "Ryder's curse? Flinn's soul? The Dark Lady? You can't mean Lolita."

"Solstice, Tempest, Ezra, and I have been looking into Ryder's curse. Ryder is dying, Antheia. He hasn't found his familiar because his familiar is being trapped and tortured. The more Ryder uses his magic, the faster he dies," I explain. "Harlow found a journal explaining a man with the same curse. Evidently, his soul bonded with Flinn's once he died. Ryder's curse comes from the Dark Lady. Ryder's familiar is an immortal whose life force is slowly being drained, which is what is inevitably killing Ryder."

"Is that why Flinn has been acting differently lately?" Antheia asks quietly and glances at her sleeping brother.

"Do not worry. Flinn will be fine if we can get rid of Ryder's curse and the presence of the Dark Lady, as well as her protege," Harlow says reassuringly. "We must act now. The Dark Lady's protege will be heading to the catacombs underneath the academy within the next half hour to continue her work. She always sneaks off at the same time."

"What can we do?" I ask.

"Antheia, I need you to take your brother back to the dorms and send a message to Ace and Spade informing them to meet you as soon as possible. Once you meet them, inform them of the truth. Ace has lessons to teach, so I'm sure it will be a while and that they may not even reach us before it is over. However, if things go wrong, then at least they will know," Harlow says. "Tell them to investigate Augustina if we do not succeed. Lolita had a sister who had a child. Over the generations, there continued to be more children until Augustina came to be. She is the last of their bloodline and she is the one who we must face, but she is not the only danger. Philomena, I fear you have made a grave mistake in your company, but we cannot change that now. Ezra, I want you to go to Ryder and watch over him. Keep him safe."

"You mean to tell me that just the two of us will be facing Augustina?" I raise my eyebrows. "Harlow, you said you needed help. Not to say that I'm useless, but I'm not great at magic and this is a big deal."

"Philomena, you are one of the worst sorceresses I have ever met," Harlow says bluntly, "but that is because you are not a sorceress."

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows, "I don't understand. I'm able to cast magic. And my necklace...Ryder told me--"

"Ryder is intelligent, yes, and he is very much aware of what your necklace means. I am also aware of what it means, but I happen to know something Ryder does not," Harlow says. "Philomena, you are not a sorceress. Your necklace is a powerful rune that symbolizes you are a magic user who does not need a wand, one of few in existence. You are not a sorceress because you are the embodiment of living light. You are able to cast spells because you have magic in your blood, but not the right kind of magic. That is why they never properly succeed."

"But how come I could never use light spells?" I frown.

"You will understand soon enough. In your heart, you will know when the time is right," Harlow says. "I trust that you will find the answer when you need it most."

"Can't we at least ask Solstice and Tempest to help us? I mean, wouldn't it be better to have more people on our side?" I ask.

"We must do this ourselves and you must trust me," Harlow says, her icy eyes burning into my uncertain ones. "If you want to save Ryder and Flinn, you will trust me."

I uncertainly look over to Ezra and Antheia, who both nod in encouragement.

"Let's do this then," Antheia breathes out and picks up Flinn in his fox form. "We've got no time to waste."

"Agreed," Harlow says.

"That's a first," Ezra mutters under his breath as he leaves the closet with my bag to go check on Ryder.

"Come on," Harlow grabs ahold of my wrist and guides me towards the catacombs, "we must hurry."

Ryder, I'm going to save you. I promise.