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“Yes, but—”
“Then come on forward,” he insisted. “Let’s see what you can do.”
Leroy laughed under his breath as I reluctantly stood from my chair. He wasn’t a necromancer, either. His Mortana magic was much more sinister. He was the worst kind of Death Warlock—the kind that could kill on sight. I’d like to see him give this a shot.
I headed to the front of the room, my knees shaking the whole way. Oliver kept his eyes on me, watching closely. The closer I came to the front, the more I wanted to rush back to my seat. Hell, I wanted to race out of the room and just keep running, until I was as far away from this guy as I could get. I couldn’t explain it, but an innate knowing told me something was amiss.
“I’m really not—” I started.
“It’s ungraded, I assure you,” Professor Leto interrupted. He gestured for me to stand in front of the corpse. “Show us what your death magic can do.”
I stood there for a second, not really sure what he was asking. “I don’t work with corpses.”
“You’re Mortana. Of course you do,” he said, like what I’d said was ludicrous. “You must have some influence over death. You might be surprised by what you can do. Give it a go.”
He wanted me to show him my powers? All right.
“I have lived a full life,” I said. “I am ready to go.”
Leroy laughed. “So dramatic.”
Leto, on the other hand, eyed me curiously. “What does that mean, exactly?”
I shrugged and gestured to Mr. Livingston’s corpse. “Ask him. It’s what I heard when he died.”
I thought I read intrigue in Leto’s features, but it was hard to tell. “What is your name?” he asked.
“Lucas Taylor,” I told him. There was no recognition in his features, and I was surprised he hadn’t heard of me. I was the only one of my kind in all the coven. “I’m the Reaper’s Apprentice.”
His face fell for a moment, before lighting up. “Ah, yes, of course. Mister Taylor… I’ve been looking forward to having someone like you in my class. Reapers can read energy signatures, correct?”
He winked at me, like we shared a secret, but I had no idea what he meant. Whatever energy signatures he was talking about, I’d never sensed them…
“You may return to your seat.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, but I stopped dead.
The whole room seemed to vanish, and an ominous sensation swept through me. I couldn’t explain the feeling that hit me, because I’d never felt anything like it before. An image of a ram’s head might as well have flashed in front of my eyes and replaced Professor Leto’s human features; that’s how eerie the feeling was. It was there one second and gone the next. I just knew the truth. Whoever this guy was, he didn’t belong in this realm.
The rush I’d felt vanished, but that uneasy feeling in my gut remained. He seemed unaware of what I’d just experienced. I glanced around the room, wondering how no one else had noticed. They all just sat there, waiting for me to return to my seat. How did they not see what I did?
My magic twisted in my belly, confirming the truth over and over again. I realized that Professor Leto had been right. Reapers could read the energy signature of a soul. We were responsible for moving souls from one realm to the next, and so we had to know where a soul belonged. I was the only one who knew the truth.
Professor Leto was a demon.
The demon.
The one the priestesses had summoned. The one they’d made a deal with. He must’ve had magic to conceal his true features, but I knew without a doubt it was him. That’s why he looked so familiar to me—because I’d seen him in the Imperium headquarters, stepping out of a portal to the Abyss.
Every instinct in my body told me to slay this demon right here and now. He belonged in the Abyss, not roaming the halls of Miriam College of Witchcraft.
But I couldn’t kill him. Demons weren’t alive… not really. Everything I’d learned about vanquishing demons involved spellwork, but this was no ordinary demon. He’d made a deal, which had tethered him here. He had business here on Earth. Banishing him to the Abyss wasn’t going to be easy.
“Mister Taylor,” Professor Leto prodded. He cocked his head toward my desk. “I said you may return to your seat.”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah, it’s just… our hour’s up.”
He stared me down for a second, before his lips curled into a smile. “I suppose it is. Class dismissed.”
Everyone shuffled out of their seats. I went to leave, but Leto’s hand tightened on my shoulder. My body went rigid as he leaned into me.
