The Last Apothecary

Chapter 24.

My heart was still pumping hard by the time I walked back to Dekoran's room for my after-school lessons. Even with one of my last classes being History, I hadn't been able to get into it as much as I normally could, Mr. Benson's explanations of Witches practicing in the Aztec era passing by me in a total blur.

No. The only thing I could think about was the look on Blyke's face as his magik was ripped away from him. The way he'd clutched the fuzzy, beige collar of his jacket until it was returned to him with a warning. He hadn't even done much, just been a bit of a class-clown, and those were his consequences. I gulped, thinking back to how Dekoran had been titled 'The Most Powerful Witch Alive' on the news not even two weeks ago. He was not someone to mess with, but here I was, hand on the door, waltzing in.

"There you are," I heard him mutter wearily as he swept his long, grey hair behind his shoulders. He didn't seem angry at me, at least, not yet. Just... jaded. "Sit down, please. There is something I'd like to discuss with you." He gestured to the stool he had placed in front of his desk and I complied, sitting up straight to try and stay on his good side as long as I could.

I didn't know what he wanted to talk about, but it was probably another random concern, like the scanners he'd complained about, or Blyke's attitude. He seemed to frown upon anyone who wanted to do anything more modern than his Medieval-themed wardrobe. But whatever it was, there was no way it was more important than the cult, so I cut ahead. "-Actually, I wanted to talk to you too. I want to come clean."

"Come clean? You don't mean to say..." He stopped, tilting his head like an owl.

"Yeah." Nerves coursed through me as I ran a hand through my floppy bangs, but I forced myself to keep going. "You remember the other day how I wanted to make that salve for a friend? The cursed one?" He nodded silently, though I could already see his green eyes narrowing. "Well, I couldn't just leave it there. Not when they were suffering. So I... I went to the school at night to try and get it back."

"Crow!" The bellow was quick, and it sent a jolt through me. "What did I tell you about the dangerous effects of magik on Humans?"

"I know but... I just couldn't take that chance!" I argued before shaking my head. "But that's not the point. The point is when I got here, there was this cult and-"

"No, the point is that I gave you very easy-to-follow, simple instructions as your teacher, and you deliberately went out of your way to break it! I try to teach you how to use your own magik, figure out your specialty for you, and you go ahead and betray me, all because you're too hot-headed and prideful to listen."

The words stung, and I broke under his hard, furious gaze a moment, but... This was never about betrayal. It was for Eileen. I knew that, same as I knew his reaction to what I'd done was pretty much going to turn out like this, but I hadn't come to get the guilt off my chest. I came to make sure no one else got hurt because of me, ever again.

"Fine, call it whatever you want, but what I'm trying to tell you is that when I got here, the same cult that rioted yesterday was here, stealing my potions. That's why they were able to do as much damage as they did. I don't know what kind of protection spells you have to lock people out, but it's obviously too weak. They got a hold of it, and used it to hurt people. We need to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"You know what would have made sure this never happened in the first place?" His voice was quiet now, cold words creeping under my skin like roots. I wasn't sure I even wanted to hear the answer, but he gave it anyway before I could respond. "If you weren't going around, telling every single Witch, every single power-hungry Human that you're an Apothecary. The amount of times I heard that today, walking around the school... You didn't even attempt to hide it. Do you think this cult simply assumed that there would be potions here to attain? How do you think they came to know of their existence?"