Theodora answers within a minute and her brow pinches with confusion. Music comes from inside, a piano concerto, and a strong and heady perfume wafts towards me through the open door.
“Jamie.” She says my name evenly and runs a calculating gaze along me. “Why are you here?”
Theodora rarely dresses down and even now, she’s in a simple black dress, although appears shorter without her heels. Her auburn hair is loose and shining across her shoulders, the make-up accentuating her beautiful features. The day I arrived at the academy, I already knew the lamia head professor Theodora oozed sensuality. Clearly, some of the other students didn’t, but their nudges and quiet comments were silenced by her commanding presence. Even now, she intimidates me.
“Something happened,” I stammer out.
“Elaborate.”
I take a surreptitious look around me before clearing my throat. “Andrei and Ash are with me. Andrei knows more.”
Theodora’s long eyelashes stroke her cheek as she blinks. “And Maeve?”
I shake my head.
Theodora taps her red-painted nails on the wood, face shadowed. “Please bring them here and explain.”
Her displeasure burns into the back of my neck as I turn to the top of the stairs and beckon Ash and Andrei. Like misbehaving students called for a dressing down, we file into her quarters.
Her room is a recreation of her past—perhaps a former home from hundreds of years ago. Persian rugs lie on top of the polished floorboards, antique wingback chairs draped with blankets, and no television. Even her 'modern’ is old-fashioned; the music comes from a small, outdated stereo in the corner of the room, on top of a large dresser.
Sitting, Theodora folds her hands in her lap and looks at us expectantly. “Where is Maeve?”
“With Tobias,” blurts Andrei.
“And where is Tobias?”
I bite my lip and look at Andrei, who rubs his cheek before saying. “A Blackwood witch took them.”
“Excuse me?” she replies, as if she didn’t hear clearly.
I look at Andrei and Ash, all of us at a loss what to say.
Theodora straightens. “I think you need to tell me what happened. From the beginning.”
“Andrei?” I ask.
I’m used to Andrei’s sullenness in between the snark, but he’s dazed and his expression flickers between panic and fear. Fear for Maeve, like all of us.
Andrei doesn’t speak so Ash begins the story, about Vince’s recent behaviour. I tense, waiting for her anger because we hid this from her, but she merely blinks.
“I’m aware Vincent is causing trouble within the academy, and I also know Tobias’s suspicions that he’s not the man he claims to be.” She looks to Ash. "However, I’m unaware of events that you remembered. Why would Tobias keep this from me?”
“He didn’t want anybody else to know, to keep things quiet.”
“So he could take you into a situation where a Blackwood witch could attack you? Possibly kill you all?”
Ash takes a sharp breath. “Maeve...”
“I saw her disappear. She was alive,” mumbles Andrei.
“What if they kill her?” Ash’s voice rises and his fear infects us all.
“No.” Theodora shakes her head. “I don’t believe they would yet.”
“Yet?” I blurt.
“Maeve has powerful magic they’ll want to access, but who knows what the Dominion's long-term plans are.”
Andrei groans and leans forward, head in his hands. “I should’ve interrupted.”
“Your help would’ve been useless, Andrei. The witch defeated Tobias and Maeve. They presumably worked together to fight her. You fighting her alone? You would've failed and probably died. You did the right thing,” I insist.
Andrei shakes his head, still holding his face.
“Please rewind a little,” says Theodora. “I’m unaware what you’re describing. I thought this was a Dominion attack, not Blackwood.”
“Andrei. This time you need to explain.”
Swearing under his breath, Andrei looks up. “We should be looking for them, not talking about this!”
“Looking where?” I ask. “We’ve no idea where they are.”
Taking a deep breath, Andrei slumps back. My answer is right, but I don’t want to be.
“Explain.” Theodora’s voice is terser this time and her authority seeps through.
The story unfolds and Theodora listens in silence. From Ash’s memories of his night with Vince, to the discovery at the farmhouse. Andrei struggles with details when describing the Blackwoods, or precisely what happened, gripping his hair as he describes events. He's the most freaked out and the distress builds inside him.
Andrei finishes and the only sound in the room comes from a tall grandfather clock in the corner beneath a portrait of a man in Victorian dress. I focus on the sound of the pendulum and attempt to calm myself.
“Answer me this,” says Theodora eventually, voice soft. “Do you believe Tobias led you there for a reason and that is why he never told me?”
I open my mouth to respond but Andrei interrupts. “No. I saw him fight the witch. He tried to stop her.”
“You said she had an owl?”
“Yeah.”
Theodora closes her eyes and her show of despair panics me. “Then definitely Anastasia Blackwood. The Confederacy have taken their eye off the ball if the Blackwood coven are back.”
“They’ve always been around,” says Andrei. “The Dominion protect them.”
Theodora makes a derisive noise. “The Dominion will regret that decision, unless they have a very close relationship, which I doubt. The Blackwoods and the vampires don’t trust each other.”
I rub a hand across the top of my head, silently pleading with Ash and Andrei not to mention the Blackwood pendant. Tobias allowed me to keep it—if they say anything, this implicates him further into Theodora’s suspicions.
Theodora stands and moves lightly over to the window then looks across the academy grounds with her back to us. I moisten my dry lips and again we exchange silent glances. Can Theodora do anything? Does she have answers?
The pendulum swings and the clock ticks as we wait.
Finally, she turns, her concerned face now rearranged into the calm, friendly expression she uses every day.
“Shortly after Lorna’s death, Tobias approached me and asked if he could remove Maeve from the academy for a few days. I will inform people that’s what has happened.”
“But everybody believes Maeve isn’t in any danger now. Wouldn’t people be suspicious?” I ask.
“We both know Maeve is in constant danger. I will tell people that there has been a serious threat against her and she is away. There is no point hiding the fact they’re probably together.”
Together. My stomach lurches again. But Maeve is safe with Tobias. She must be.
Theodora massages her temples. “This is extremely complicated. I can keep the information inside the academy for a few days before questions will be asked. As it's the weekend, we have time, as neither will be missed.”
“Apart from he’s Petrescu head,” mutters Andrei.
She smiles at him. “Professors have personal lives too, Andrei. We don’t always stay here.”