Sophie looked away, an old darkness rearing into her heart. “Just like my mother.”
Lady Lesso arched her brows, intrigued.
“My mother was the third wheel, watching my father and her best friend fall in love,” Sophie said, eyes pinned to the floor. “And my father and Honora didn’t care.”
“Because they knew your mother didn’t have the courage to fight them.”
Sophie nodded. “It’s why she died so young. She couldn’t face the rest of her life alone. She just . . . gave up.”
“Then it looks like your best friends are betting an old story can be made new,” said the Dean.
Sophie slowly lifted red eyes.
“Like mother, like daughter,” said Lady Lesso. “Is that what you want?”
Sophie’s body hardened to steel.
“My job as Dean is to ensure you do not end up alone, Sophie,” Lady Lesso soothed. “My job is to ensure you and Rafal win your Happy Never After. But I made you a teacher because I need you to find out how Agatha and Tedros plan to break in.”
Sophie frowned. “How would I know how they plan to—”
“Because there is a spy working for your friends inside this school,” said Lady Lesso harshly. She shoved forward the crumpled scrap she’d been studying. “The fairies snatched this from a white mouse near the school gates, before it escaped.”
“It’s a map of your movements,” said the Dean. “Why the notes about the fog, I haven’t the faintest clue. But someone in this school is telling Good how to find you.”
Sophie looked up, the last of her fear draining away. Good was spying on her? That’s how desperate they were to destroy her happy ending? Suddenly, any remaining desire to see her best friends scorched to wrath.
“I haven’t told Rafal, of course. He’s so drugged up on teenage testosterone that he’d exterminate every last student in this school,” griped Lady Lesso. “I need you to find out who the spy is, Sophie. A white mouse messenger suggests it’s an Ever, but you know Agatha and Tedros’ friends better than I. As a teacher, you can keep your eye on any suspects and help us uncover how exactly your friends plan to invade our castle.”
Sophie bridled. “But I don’t have the foggiest idea how to teach a class!”
“Pollux has been teaching your class the past few weeks and will stay on to help you settle in, especially with double the number of students to manage. That said, I’m quite sure they’ll prefer you to that twit even if you pick your nose the whole time. Focus on finding the spy, Sophie. We don’t have much time. Agatha and her prince will be here in days. And if you don’t end your fairy tale now, the sun will soon end it for all of us.”
Sophie nodded, adrenaline coursing through her . . .
Then she saw the empty Dean’s desk in the corner. Guilt dampened the storm inside of her. “But surely Professor Dovey knows a way to close our storybook without me hurting anyone—”
“Professor Dovey is no longer a Dean,” Lady Lesso said stiffly.
“Where is she?” Sophie asked, startled.
“She and the other Good teachers have been imprisoned in a secure location, where they will remain until the School Master deems otherwise.”
Sophie gawked at her. “But she was your friend! You two always helped each other!”
“Like you once helped Agatha.” Lady Lesso’s purple eyes cast down as she caressed the basket of plums. “But a witch can’t be friends with a princess no matter how hard she tries, Sophie. Haven’t we learned that lesson well enough?”
Sophie’s mouth dried out, her voice trapped in her throat. “But then . . . then who is the other Dean?”
The door flung opened behind her and a tall, menacingly handsome boy in a sleeveless black leather shirt swaggered through with spiked black hair, deathly pale cheeks, and lethal, violet eyes.
“Morning, Mother. Brought you fresh coffee,” he said in a deep, strapping voice.
He put a mug of blackish liquid on Lady Lesso’s desk, then leered at Sophie. “Well, well, I see you’re getting our new teacher settled in.” He leaned against the sunlit window, a coiled black whip gleaming on his belt. “Funny, we’ve never quite met have we, Sophie of Woods Beyond? You’ve seen me, of course, in your invisible cape and in your elfish boy’s body, sneaking through the School for Boys . . . Filip of Mount Honora, was it? Threw me against a wall one night to stop me from torturing your precious Tedros. Oh yes, now I see Filip in there . . . those same pretty eyes and succulent lips. But of course you aren’t Filip anymore, are you? So perhaps I should forgive your impertinence . . .” His purple eyes slashed into her. “I wouldn’t want to hurt that delicious little face.” The boy licked his lips and slid his hands into tight pockets, blue veins flexing through his biceps. “Wish I could stay, ladies, but I have to administer punishment to a few Everboys in the Doom Room. Caught them writing letters to their parents, asking to be rescued. As if anyone could get in or out now that the School Master’s returned.” He headed for the doors, then looked at Sophie. “You do remember my name, I hope?”
Sophie cowered into her nightgown, unable to speak.
“Aric. Best remember it this time, since I am your Dean,” he purred, backing through the door. “See you at lunch, impertinent little Sophie. Faculty gets its own private spot on the balcony. Now that we’re friends, I look forward to getting to know you more . . . intimately.”