“How did you get her to follow you?” I questioned. Why did she go with him?Why did you walk off into the night with him Percy?
“‘It was easy. She was sad and didn’t want to go back to the ball. I offered to walk her home. It wasn’t meant to happen like it did.’” Heidi translated.
“Now, he’s whining loudly,” Heidi cried, her hands on her temples trembling.
“You were nothing more than a useful fool for Oskar to play,” I told him and turned to Heidi. “You can break the connection now.”
I left the room and Heidi followed closely.
“Selene, I’m so sorry,” she said, following me towards my personal suite. The door opened to reveal Rylan, Leilani and Ana waiting on the couch.
“Leilani, you are excused. Gather all Borealis students and have them prepare to return home. You will return home also. Do so quietly, do not draw the attention of other Houses,” I told her.
“Yes, my Royal Highness,” she answered and left quickly.
Sanguis Academy was no longer safe. Oskar Halvorsen had betrayed me and Ardens had made it onto Academy grounds with malicious intent.
“Ana, can you track?” I asked the witch, who sat anxiously fiddling with her yellow dress.
“Yeah, I’m not the best, but -” she answered.
“Percy has been abducted and I need you to find her for me,” I told her, walking to my bookshelf and retrieving my maps, finding House Ardens.
“I need blood. I’d need her blood,” Ana told me as I laid the map of House Ardens on the coffee table.
“I understand that a soul match’s blood is equally effective,” I told her. Her eyes lifted from the map to me.
“You and Percy?” She asked quietly.
“Yes,” I answered.
“What? No! Selene, this is too much unwelcome excitement for one night,” Heidi gasped beside me. I thought about sending her away, but chose not to in case I required her again.
“I need a - a crystal on a string,” Ana said, regaining her composure.
“Any particular crystal necessary?” I questioned.
“No, any will do, but preferably Soldavite.”
“Oh, oh!” Heidi sang, pulling at her earrings. “These are Soldavite,” she said excitedly.
I walked to my room and the small, locked jewellery box I kept in the closet to gather a thin silver chain to which I could attach Heidi’s earring.
Once complete I handed Ana the makeshift crystal pendulum.
“Thank you. Uh, I need your blood,” she said awkwardly.
“How much?” I asked.
“Enough to dip the Soldavite in.”
I walked to the kitchen and collected a small bowl that usually held Percy’s strawberries. I returned to the coffee table, handed the bowl to Ana and brought my wrist to my lips, biting into my flesh and dripping the blood that flowed into the bowl.
“That’s more than enough,” Ana told me, and I withdrew my wrist back to my mouth to clean the healing wound.
I watched closely as she dipped the attached earring into my blood. Her magic visibly ran from the centre of her chest down her arm to her fingertips, her veins a bright red under her skin.
The makeshift pendulum began to swing in large circles over the map, decreasing in circumference. This motion repeated, before Ana looked up apologetically.