The Charm (H. Academy Series #2)

Chapter 13: Noble Causes

I sat on the sofa, and Thar politely sat on the chair opposite of me. He kept crossing and uncrossing his legs and arms, grabbing the glass and putting it back on the table. I held my in my hand and stared at him over the rim. 

This was weird. 

Thar cleared his throat, "So, you said the demon has been following you since you brought Leon back."

Right, back to business. 

"Yes." I took a sip; the wine was good, not overly sweet, but still hinting at it. "But it seems like it's grown stronger in the last few days. Ever since it started talking to me. Now I can't get rid of it."

Thar leaned forward, against his knees, "Is it weaker if you're within shields?"

Regret pinched my heart. This was the role he was comfortable in, the role of a protector, a teacher. I took that away from him. My father took it away from him. 

"Not really." I shrugged. "You checked the shields in this house, said they were stronger than the ones at school. I feel it here, too."

Thar's eyes widened, "That's why you asked me to check the shields."

"Yes."

He gulped the wine, fingers squeezing the glass. He probably didn't know what to do. After all, this is something we hadn't dealt with before. I felt alone again. 

"So, you can feel it everywhere." He nodded. 

I decided against telling him what Leon said; that the demon wasn't there when Leon was. I haven't confirmed that yet, and I felt like Thar wouldn't appreciate it all that much. 

"Yes."

"Fuck." He took another sip. "I- I'm out of my league here. I don't know what to do."

I pursed my lips. 

"You have to find out its name." He continued. "If you can learn its name, maybe we can banish it. We will have to go to Darth to do that. He's an expert."

A knot tightened in my stomach, "But why is it talking to me? What does it want?"

"Goddess only knows, Jade." Thar finished the glass. "But you have to tell someone who knows more about it-"

"I don't trust anyone." I cut him off. "Hell, I don't even trust Darth anymore. I mean, he took the curse off teachers that prevented white magic from working against the ooze and he hasn't said a word to anyone! My dad is still in charge like nothing's happened."

"That's politics, Jade."

"People died."

"Politics doesn't care about that." Thar shook his head. "Teachers are laying low, even Lange said we have to wait with the accusations until we have tangible proof."

"Leon has a photo of my father on the night of the massacre."

"That's not admissible."

"Why not?"

"Because you can't fucking see who it is!" Thar's grip tightened on the empty glass. "You can only see a figure in a black robe, it could be anyone."