A Drop Of Haunted Blood [REMOVING FOR PUBLICATION DEC 1] [WATTYS WINNTER 2023]

Chapter Twenty-Three: Party Planning

Heavy rain the next day forced Felix and the others to carry out training in an indoor gym on the fourth floor. Arisa's anxiety about getting into trouble had passed, but Mason was still on edge. His thoughts were clearly elsewhere as he and Felix ran through a few practice matches. Felix actually managed to beat him in the second one, but Mason came back more aggressive in the third.

"Whoa!" Felix jumped to the side to dodge one of Mason's fireballs. He barely stopped himself from stepping out of the box. "Uh, that one was pretty big."

"This is a waste of time," Mason stormed out of the rectangle, but Felix had a feeling he shouldn't count it as a victory. "I don't need to control my demon powers. I need to get the wand back and figure out how to turn myself back into a human."

Felix frowned. "I didn't realize you were trying to do that. Is that possible?"

"It might be, with the Ironwood Wand."

Arisa looked up from where she was playing a game of cards with Clementine. "We could try bothering Sebastian again when he gets back. Maybe if we tell him about Mason's energy masking spell, he'll be more open to helping us break into Ernest's house before the party."

"I didn't want to tell him about the energy masking spell because I didn't want him knowing we were planning to sneak out." Mason sighed. "But I guess since we don't have a chance of getting past Adrienne, trying to convince him to take us might be our best bet. I don't like our chances, though."

The gym door opened and Sebastian entered, sliding his phone into his pocket. "Sorry, that call went longer than expected. How's it going in here?" He looked around the gym. "Arisa, I thought you were practicing those banishing sigils Mason showed us."

Arisa held up one of the cards she was holding and pointed to the sigil she'd drawn on the back.

"Alrighty," Sebastian said. "Well, I have news. You all have permission to go to the student party."

"Student party?" Felix asked.

Arisa groaned. "Seb, do we really look like the kind of kids who want to go to a party?"

Felix frowned. "I want to go to a part—"

Mason clapped a hand over Felix's mouth and glowered at Sebastian. "What the hell is a student party?"

"Oh, they're pretty standard when a lot of Guardians are going off to an event," Sebastian said. "Since so many parents and teachers will be at Abernathy's birthday, the students get to have the ballroom to throw their own party."

"They're not as fun as they sound," Arisa said. "There are still Guardians here at the castle supervising. It's basically a high school dance."

Sebastian shrugged. "Well, if you change your mind, you have permission to go."

"How about you take us to Ernest's party, instead?" Mason tried. "I have the energy masking spell figured out. We could move around his house without anyone being able to sense that we're there."

"I'm sure you could pull the spell off, but it's still too risky," Sebastian said, shaking his head. "Ernest wants you dead, and if he catches you at the party, he'll find a way to make it happen."

"What if he tries something with the wand?" Mason asked. "He's not going to sit around with it forever. He obviously intends to use it against the Brightlands."

"That's probably true, but he's not going to do anything at a party where he's outnumbered by Guardians. The entire council is going to be there."

"What about the king?" Felix asked.

"Oh, no, the king never goes to things like this," Sebastian said. "He'll probably hang out in that gloomy office of his and come up with new ways to waste our tax money."

"Guardians pay taxes?"

"Well, I don't."

"Doesn't that technically count as treason here?" Arisa asked.

"Yeah, don't tell anyone I said that."

Felix couldn't have cared less about magical tax evasion. "Is Archer going to the party?"

"He is," Sebastian answered. "But I'm guessing he'll stand in a corner and glare at everyone the whole time. That's how it usually goes, anyway."

Mason had yet to give up on trying to convince Sebastian to take them. "There might be a lot of Guardians at the party, but any number of them could be spies. If Ernest has enough people on his side, he might decide to fight."

"Oh, he won't win," Sebastian said. "Not if I'm there."

"You sound confident."

"I have good reason to be. You still haven't really seen me fight."

"What are you talking about?" Felix asked. "We saw you fight those werewolves."

"That wasn't a fight, that was me killing a pack of werewolves."

"I don't know," Mason said skeptically. "The wolves did do some damage."

"They were Supermoon Wolves, and they took me by surprise." Sebastian's gaze moved to the window and the rain falling outside. "It won't happen again."

"Even if you can handle a fight with Ernest, why not let us help?" Arisa asked.

"You don't have enough experience to take on a Guardian."

"We fought demons!"

"Archer had to save you."

Mason folded his arms. "We did well against the wolves, considering how strong they were."

"Yeah, but we still would have died without Sebastian," Felix muttered.

"I trapped a poltergeist on my own," Arisa said.

"And I helped!"

"Not really."

Sebastian held up a hand. "Listen, you all have the potential to take on someone as powerful as Ernest Abernathy—"

Felix and Arisa's faces lit up. Even Mason's eyes widened a little.

"—someday," Sebastian finished. "Today is not that day, and I have a feeling two weeks from now won't be, either."

Mason's hands tightened at his sides. "Promise me you'll at least get the wand. This is your best chance, since he's inviting you in."

"I'll do my best. And if I fail, I won't rest until I've helped you get it back." Sebastian moved his hand to his chest. "Promise."

Mason looked skeptical. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Even if you can't trust me, trust that the Bright Guardians as a whole will stop Ernest." Sebastian's expression darkened. "Turns out we're not the only victims of his energy masking spells. More and more Guardians have been reporting that their missions have turned out to be far more dangerous than they were supposed to."

"Has anyone died?" Felix asked.

"You don't need to worry about the details," Sebastian said. Felix had a feeling that meant the answer was yes.

"That's all the more reason to take action now," Mason said.

"It's all the more reason to be careful," Sebastian replied. "But I will put all of my focus at the party into finding the wand and coming up with a way to stop Ernest."

"Fine," Mason said after a long moment. "We'll leave it to you."

When they left the gym at the end of the training session, Felix fell into step at Mason's right. "I'm surprised you agreed to stay behind during the party so easily."

"Me too," Arisa added.

Mason's gaze darted around the hallway. His voice dropped to barely more than a whisper. "I haven't given up yet," he said. "I don't know how we'll avoid the spiders or get to Ernest's, but I did realize one thing: the energy masking spell can hide us from Adrienne, too."