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“But there are… how many contracts now?” I wondered. “The wand, all the Executor badges, and whatever he used to possess someone earlier this semester. We may have to destroy them all to weaken him, and we don’t even know what they all are.”
Professor Warbright shrank into a corner of the room, clutching his pocket watch and looking around nervously. I eyed him curiously, and all the pieces began coming together in my head.
“Or… maybe we do?” I realized.
Professor Warbright’s gaze darted toward me, and he trembled. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I took a cautious step toward him. “I think you do. You said in the ballroom you didn’t know what was happening. You’d blacked out, hadn’t you? In fact… you’ve been blacking out all semester.”
“I—I’ve been having health issues,” he stammered.
Goddess, Professor Warbright had no idea.
“You were at the scene of the first crime,” I pointed out. “You were supposed to meet up with Professor Perez, but you found him dead.”
“It wasn’t him,” Lucas said in realization. “That’s what Perez said when he died. He knew you’d been possessed. He meant to tell me it wasn’t you who killed him, even though it appeared that way.”
“You’re a necromancer,” I added. “Leto used you to plant that skeleton to run The Hearse off the road. You were at the school the day Lena was hanged. Leto must’ve targeted you because no one would suspect you. You’re too kind.”
Grant gasped, like he’d just realized something. “I brought you the music box because you’re the music teacher. I thought you could help us, but you cursed it so we couldn’t fix it.”
Professor Warbright shied deeper into the corner. “I don’t remember a music box.”
I glanced down at the watch he fiddled with. The inscription was unmistakable if you knew what you were looking for. “Your pocket watch…”
“I bought it at an antique shop over winter break,” Warbright said in a trembling tone.
“Right when your blackouts started?” Talia asked.
Warbright’s jaw hung open in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he’d done—but it hadn’t been him. Dark magic had taken over him and made him do these terrible things.
“Professor, it’s not your fault,” I assured him. “We can end this, if you just give me the watch.”
Professor Warbright’s features changed in an instant, and he lunged at me. I landed hard on my back on the floor, and Warbright pinned me down. His hands curled around my throat, and I gasped for breath.
Several hands landed on him all at once, and my friends pulled him off of me. I gulped a greedy breath of air, but my throat felt like it was on fire. Warbright fought against my friends.
“Don’t touch his watch!” Chloe shouted.
Warbright yanked free and pinned Lucas against the wall by his throat. He was several inches shorter than Lucas, but he was strong. Warbright pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it between Lucas’s eyes.
A blast sounded throughout the room, and a ball of light smashed against Warbright’s back. His eyes rolled back in his skull, and he crumbled to the ground.
My gaze darted toward Charlotte, who was pointing her wand at Warbright. Lucas stepped away from the professor’s limp body, breathing heavily.
“Is he dead?” Miles asked.
“No.” Charlotte dropped her wand to her side. “It was merely a stunning spell.”
“And a potent one at that,” a sinister voice came from across the room. We all turned to see Professor Leto stepping forward. He must’ve followed us here. Demons could teleport if they were strong enough.
Charlotte threw herself in front of us, aiming her wand at Professor Leto. “You will control him no more!”
Leto held a wand in his hand, and with the simple flick of his wrist, we were all tossed upward. His magic pinned us to the wall, all lined up in a neat row with our toes dangling inches off the ground. It was like we were life-sized dolls placed on a shelf for display. Lucas’s fingers touched mine, and he strained to move, but there was no breaking through this spell. Energy poured off of Leto, so much that it made my whole body buzz. There’d been so much death tonight, so much trauma for him to feed off of. He was more powerful than ever.
So why did he need a wand?
“Demon scum!” Adrik’s ghost shouted. All around the room, spirits lunged for Leto. They were dead set on revenge.
