The Curse ✔️

Chapter 36: Eyes Full of Madness

On the way back to the party, I checked my phone for any updates on teachers' whereabouts. Lorenia, Lange and the rest of the teachers were in the teachers' quarters, minding their own business. My father was in his chambers and Thar was still at the party, which has by now turned into a rave and everyone was black-out drunk.

I remembered to bring Leon's rose back with me, knowing I would once again need it.

Another aspect of my returning to the party bothered me.

Leon and I had to walk in the same way we left – through the male dorms' backdoor.

"It's been an hour and a half since we left." I murmured, walking across the dark backyard on a safe distance from Leon.

He offered a cocky grin, "Worried Thar's going to think you had fun with me?"

I eyed him, "I doubt Thar will believe you last that long."

"Ouch." He grimaced. "You wound me."

Once we approached the backdoor, I stopped, "Can I tell you something?"

"Is it a dirty little secret?" Leon faced me and leaned against the door. "If so, I'm all ears."

I ignored that, "I think I heard a demon back there."

That snickering sound still reverberated through my skull.

Leon cocked his head, "If all this – all the conspiracies and broken shields and lying, evil fathers – if all of it is true, do you truly think we're far from encountering an actual demon?"

His words replaced the snickering in my head for a second.

"If you ask me," Leon pushed the door open with his back, "I think someone wants the demon in our world, probably because that someone wants to use it for something."

He was right.

"I'm beginning to think you're smarter than you let on."

Leon disappeared inside with a chuckle, "Don't. I'm still a cliché."

There it was again. What the fuck was wrong with me?

Once again pissed off, I followed him inside. We rushed to the second floor and then slowed down. Leon went up to his room and I needed a second to step back into the drunken whore role. I leaned against the wall. Sweat washed over me. I've gotten used to the chill inside the abandoned eastern building and the lust charm lingering in the air here was like a heat wave.

This was it.

Professor Darth would take care of our mess. He'd study the black ooze. All I had to do now was distract everyone in case of an emergency. I opened up my senses and focused on the magic around me.

The lust charm slammed into me; thick and sweet and alluring. Underneath it, I could feel the quiet reverberation of the school's magic, but nothing unusual. Nothing I wasn't used to.

Would I feel the demon as strongly as I'd felt the black ooze when it first attacked? Or would its magic cover the demon, making it easier to sneak up on us?

Leon returned with a bottle of gin then, and the sudden exposure to the lust charm made me painfully aware of our strained situationship.

"Is it water?"

"No." He handed the bottle to me.

He held my gaze, challenging me. It didn't take long; I took the bottle and a sip. The taste burned my tongue, but I allowed it, enjoying the feel of something other than magic overtaking my senses.

"I had fun with you today, Jade."

"I had fun with you, too." I said without thinking.

He chuckled, "Come on, we've got more teachers to distract and students to get drunk."