Celeste’s POV

*****

A bright violet light flared in my mother’s eyes as she placed a hand on Lysandra’s forehead. The latter thrashed around nervously, shaking her head and trying to get my mother to stop.

But it was futile.

"You fight it and you’ll have only yourself to blame," Odessa warned, her other hand grabbing Lysandra’s shoulder. "Stay still. And let me look..."

I glanced around the Dean’s office just then.

All my mates watched from different spots with tense expressions. All except Azrael. Because he wasn’t here.

My brows furrowed when I finally noticed that. Didn’t the others tell him the interrogation was happening now? Or—?

"N–No! No!" Lysandra screamed all of a sudden, making me snap my head to her. She had her eyes wide open, tears spilling down her cheeks as she pleaded. "P–Please. That’s enough. You’ve seen enough."

I couldn’t see Mom’s face clearly from this angle but I noticed the way her body stiffened. Slowly, her hands withdrew from the Australian princess, her head turning around to take in the rest of us.

Luther was the first to speak. "Well?"

Even the Dean stretched his neck anxiously, eyes shining with expectation.

However—none of us heard what we were expecting.

"She’s innocent." My mother made it final. "No knowledge of the Vein other than what is available to the general public. Nothing on Celeste’s true nature..."

She paused.

If she found out Lysandra was innocent then what could she have seen or felt that made her look so defeated?

Meanwhile, Lysandra buried her face in her hands. For the first time in my life, I witnessed her sob. Genuine, raw, shaking. Lysandra Carrington was actually showing... weakness.

Subconsciously, my eyes travelled to Luther’s. He seemed just as stunned, meeting my gaze.

"During most forceful mind-reading spells," Atlas explained, taking calm steps to my side, "the person whose mind is being read can relive all their memories. And emotions. All at once with almost no breaks."

His voice held some form of pity, stalling for a beat before he added with a whisper. "The person who’s doing the mind reading also ends up sharing the burden of those memories and emotions in the process of searching for the desired memory."

I looked at my mother again in time to see her lips stretching in a small smile.

"You’re such a knowledgeable witch for your age." She whispered before pivoting to Lysandra.

Her expression softened, a familiar light flickering in her eyes. She skipped through Lysandra’s memories. All of it. Which meant she also saw all the times she hurt me or how she manipulated Luther.

But when she stood before the Australian princess, she didn’t show any coldness. No anger. What she showed instead was an odd understanding. And warmth.

"Your mother," mom’s hand stretched toward her head, this time not with force. But with care. The moment she touched Lysandra’s hair, the latter froze, her breath hitching. "... What happened to her wasn’t your fault."

She lowered herself to Lysandra’s level, all while I stood there with my mouth parted. I’m not going to lie, a part of me felt sick seeing my mother showing the girl affection.

Yet I also knew my mother. Her heart was as kind and merciful as it was fierce.

"I know people have told you this same thing all your life," my mother went on while Atlas’ fingers interlocked with mine. "And I know you’ve carried the pain. The guilt... the anger knowing your father never loved you as much as you deserved because of it."

Lysandra’s hands lowered, her sunken eyes quivering as she stared at my mother.

My mother stared back, her smile widening. "... Hurting others who you think have it better than you because of that pain won’t take it away. Ever. Because the truth?"

She glanced over her shoulder.

My own mother’s eyes gleamed with tears she didn’t let fall. That stunned me, my heart skipping a beat.

"The truth," Odessa choked out, her smile turning wry. "The truth is, those you envy also have their own struggles. And also feel unloved because of things out of their control."

I didn’t know when my eyes started leaking. But they did. And at that moment, my grip constricted around Atlas’ hand. Thank goodness he knew when to hold me.

"Still," my mother’s head snapped back to Lysandra, tone firmer, "you don’t see that turning them into sources of others’ pain."

I knew instantly who and what she was referring to. I mean, anyone would.

The fact that she still felt some kind of guilt about unintentionally neglecting made my chest tighten.

Just like that, an interrogation session had turned into something heavy. It was safe to say we all knew we couldn’t continue with this.

At least, for now...

.

.

"Phew," I flicked a finger over an eye with a chuckle once we all got out of the Dean’s building. "Was that intense or what?"

Atlas still held my hand, letting me rest my head on his shoulder. Silas walked behind us while Luther soon got to my other side, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"You sure you’re okay, Cel?"

I nodded once. "I’ll be alright. It’s Lysandra that I feel kinda bad for. She had to go through all that trauma just now and we still have no clue who our culprit is."

A collective sigh left the mouths of the Hale brothers. But Atlas remained calm, his eyes distant. Calculating.

"While that may be true," he started. "We do at least know that whoever it was, used an illusion of sorts to frame someone else. And not just anyone either. The perfect scapegoat whom we would’ve naturally all believed because of her history with Celeste."

"So we’re dealing with one smart, manipulative bitch." Luther snorted. "She’s been playing us like chess pieces all this time. Now she threw us a bone, made us feel like we were getting close to the truth..."

He scoffed and all I could do was think.

The mysteries just kept stacking up, huh?

"We need to head to class," Silas mumbled behind us. "You should probably go get ready Celeste. But then again, your mother could easily get you not to do anything today—"

"Hell nah." I shook my head, slipping away from them. "I’m not letting my grades dip more than they are on top of all the chaos in my life. I’m going to freshen up."

Silas chuckled while Atlas smirked. "We’ll all see you at Supernatural History and Politics then."

"Save me a seat!"

.

.

Upon getting in front of my suite door, I heaved heavily. I was about to pull out my key card when I realised that the door was open.

That’s... odd...

Willow had just been getting ready for the first classes of the day before I left. I imagined she should’ve gone out by now and there’s no way she’d leave the door open.

"Willow?" I pushed the door open, barely taking in the room as my gaze trailed in the bathroom’s direction. "Since you’re still around, could you wait for me? Maybe I’ll give you a little of the tea on my mom and—"

Words hooked in my throat like bile when a familiar smell caught my nose. One that I’d smelt too much of since the beginning of this semester.

Blood.

The first thing to slam my chest was confusion. Then realisation. Then... fear.

"Willow?" Her name barely left my mouth when I looked over at the vanity where I last saw her.

And there she was.

Lying still on the cold marble floor, arms splayed beside her and eyes facing the ceiling. Her dress was soaked with her own blood.

Raspy, hurried breaths left her.

I didn’t know when I shoved aside the fear and moved.

"Willow?!" I knelt beside her, ignoring the pain that came with how hard my knees scraped the floor. "W–Willow?" I grabbed her shoulders, lifting her onto my lap. "Girl, look at me. It’s Celeste. By the gods, what happened?"

Scanning her body, I soon realised where all the blood was from. A large gash was made in her stomach. When I imagined the pain she must be going through, a shaky sob broke out of me.

"P–Please," I hardly knew any spells to help but I still placed a hand on her stomach, silver light glowing on my fingers. "Stay with me. I’ll get... I’ll get help—someone help me!"

I glanced back at my door, the tears falling so hard my chest ached. "Please! Please, help me! Help us!"

Suddenly, her hand reached for my face. I shivered, bringing my eyes back to her. Taking that as a sign of her regaining strength, my lips quivered with a smile.

"You’re okay. Thank Selene, you’re—"

"She was—too strong..." blood spilt out of her mouth when she spoke.

I panicked, grabbing her hand. "Just stop talking and save your strength. Help is—gods, I closed that damn door!" My scream broke the door off its hinges, the sound of it collapsing resounding through the room.

But I didn’t care.

"Celeste," Willow shook her head, more blood trickling out of her mouth. "A note... she left a note..." Her other hand rose to my face.

A white note was clutched in it. One word written in blood.

Consequences.

I only pried the note out of her fingers and held both her palms together. "I want you to stop talking and focus on the sound of my voice. Okay? Breathe. I’m not... I’m not losing you—"

"I really tried to fight back..." tears flowed down her face too. "She was too strong. Way too... strong. W–Who knew a professor..."

My eyes widened.

A... a professor?

"Willow?!" I shook her shoulders. "Y–you can tell me all about it once help arrives. Right now just... just—Willow? Boo? Girl, don’t do this to me."

But it was too late.

Her eyes fluttered shut for the very last time, her head falling back limply. The world crumbled beneath me right then.

Footsteps trooped into our suite, alongside shocked gasps and shouts. A hand grabbed my shoulder, someone asking me what happened. I could barely hear. I could barely breathe.

All I could do was stare into nothingness, reality once again serving me a cold dish.

My best friend. My confidant. The first person in this forsaken academy to see beyond my weaknesses and love me regardless—

—Was dead.