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The sudden cry made me jerk, spilling the potion on the sheets. Helena tutted and went off to her storeroom to get me another one.
“Don’t talk to me,” I hissed. “Not after you hurt Mom for no fucking reason! Daciana was comforting me because she knew Alex and I were over. Not because I told her anything about you. You’re an evil, manipulative bitch who enjoys destroying lives, so either fuck off, or let me talk to my mom.
“Either I hear she’s okay from her right now, or I’ll tell the whole school about you.”
“Are you finished with your tantrum?” She couldn’t have sounded more bored and unfazed if she tried. “I interrupted you, stupid girl, because you were about to waste a perfect opportunity to speak to a daughter of Hecate. Even possibly the daughter of Hecate that erected the barrier at the mouth of my prison.
“My ally tells me it is she who erected all the barriers around the academy.”
I blinked. Sweet, old Healer Helena was the power behind the invisible walls that kept some of the strongest demigods in the world trapped in this pretty prison?
I do need to know how to get past that barrier no matter what. If Mom is okay, and she has to be okay, she’s still waiting to be rescued.
She returned with another vial for me. I turned over in my head what to say to her.
“Madame Helena, can I ask you something?”
She paused turning away. “Certainly, dear.”
“It’s about magical barriers.”
“Ah, yes.” She gave me a knowing look. “I always get a few questions about that at some point during the season.”
I chewed my lip. I couldn’t come right out and ask her how to get past one, but the children of Hecate didn’t walk around the castle wearing badges. Here was one right in front of me, and not in a dusty, dry tome.
“I was wondering,” I began. “Why aren’t there barriers around every home and village? If they work so well to keep monsters out, isn’t that the solution to saving us?”
“Oh. That wasn’t the question I was expecting, but it’s a very good one.” She took a seat at the foot of my cot. “The answer is yes. Barriers around every town, home, and city would go a long way to protecting us from the monster scourge, and if every child of the goddess had the full power of Mother Hecate, we might be able to do so.
“But the fact of the matter is we don’t,” she said. “We only have a piece of her power within us, and like all demigods, it manifests in different ways. Some of us are able to erect powerful magical barriers. Most of us are not.”
I nodded taking that in. “Does it take a lot of power to erect a barrier?”
“Without question. A Sisyphean Hecate demigod could not do it.”
“What if Titan Hecate demigods were messing around and putting up barriers around the castle to keep Sisypheans out of theirterritory? Would they get in trouble for that? I didn’t see it in the handbook.”
“They would most certainly get in trouble,” she cried, planting her hands on her hips. “Barrier magic is strictly prohibited by the council. Only demigods with special permissions from the palace are allowed to practice the magic.Everyone knows this.” Her eyes narrowed. “Where have you been seeing these barriers? Who’s behind this?”
“I don’t know who it was. I ran into one literally the other day when I went down to the dungeon training rooms to practice. It was probably done by a couple who wantedprivacy. Some people use the practice rooms for that.”
“Gods,” she sighed, shaking her head. “Because you don’t have perfectly good beds for such things. I swear, my most brewed and used potion in a single week is the contraceptive potion. I’m all for enjoying your youth, but erecting unsanctioned barriers is irresponsible in the extreme. If one of the staff had stumbled on such a thing, they’d have been forced to report them to the council for a mandatory prison sentence of ten years.”
My tired eyes bugged. I wanted to ask why so harsh, but if that was another thing everyone already knew, I’d be giving away my ignorance. “I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm. Besides, I can’t be the reason someone is sent to prison for ten years. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” I said, turning away.
“You were right to mention it, Aella. This is more serious than a lover’s tryst. Only the witch who erected it can bring down a barrier. Only a complex, closely guarded transport potion can get you on the other side of one. What if there was an emergency and you wound up trapped behind a barrier you couldn’t get past?”
I already know what that’s like.
“That would be a disaster caused by accident, but ill-meaning children of Hecate have used barriers for far worse. Theft, ransom, hostage-taking, murder.”
My brows climbed higher and higher.
She patted my ankle. “If you run into such a thing again, do your duty and report. They will face the consequences they have coming to them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Helena didn’t move. “Drink up now.”
