Trans Witch: College of Secrets Read online

  "Those brutes have my Zach!" Ellen raged at Secretary Sample. "You said that it's unwise to break your word to a wizard, but what happens if a wizard breaks her word to me?"

  Sample shrugged. "I suppose it would be a terrible thing because the word of a wizard is a powerful thing. To break such a promise would have terrible consequences for that wizard. However, as she tells it, she has not broken any word she has given."

  "That's not true!" Ellen advanced on Sample, who stood his ground as though made of wood. "She promised that no harm would come to Lily, her friends, or myself."

  Secretary Sample nodded. "And while she may have friendly relations with her nephew, he does not count as one of her friends for purposes of this deal."

  Lily fixed the man with a glare. " Secretary Sample, you can tell the Dean that if any harm comes to Zach, she can be certain that she'll be audited and that SOAM will be on the front page of the Moraine Daily Herald tomorrow!"

  Sample nodded. "Then it would seem we are at an impasse for the moment."

  "Wait. My cat Monty counts as my friend," said Lily. "You had better not have harmed him, either! Where is he?"

  Ellen looked at Lily in shock. "Really, Lily? My son is being held by monsters, and you're worried about your cat?"

  Lily held up a finger to stop Ellen's objections. "Just answer the question, Secretary."

  The Secretary pursed his lips and typed on his phone, then looked up and said, "The animal has been put in the care of Hannah Johnson and Cameron Davis. The Dean requests that I let you know that no harm shall come to the boy so long as your threat is not carried out. He will be held in comfort until such a time as it is retracted."

  "He didn't look comfortable being held up by those goons!" Ellen spat.

  "Nevertheless, he is unharmed. And now, I have some business to attend to. Ladies, it has been a pleasure." Sample took a step back, threw something at the floor. Sparks flared, causing them to avert their eyes, and when they looked again, Sample had gone.

  "Well, that didn't take long," said Jesse. "Wheeler's a nastier piece of work than even I thought!"

  "All right," said Lily. "Let's get the Quartet together and talk about our next move. Jesse, would you let them know we're regrouping at the Library?"

  Jesse frowned. "Do you think that's a good idea? It's exactly where we said we'd go, in front of Hartman's office."

  Lily's eyebrows rose. "What are you saying?"

  "How else would she have known where to go to get Zach? Or that he was even coming?"

  "You think she heard through the door?"

  Jesse shook her head. "Not exactly. I suspect she used a spell to eavesdrop since she knew where we were. She knows where we are now, too, so maybe we need to go somewhere and not say it out loud."

  "Good point," said Lily, frowning. "Okay, you text where, and we'll regroup there."

  Jesse typed on her phone, then showed Lily and Ellen. On the screen were the words, "Mrs. S's classroom."

  "I still can't believe you care more about Monty than Zach," said Ellen, her expression clouded with anger.

  "Sis, I'll explain when we get there, okay?"

  Ellen slipped on the twisted copper disguise bracelet and changed her appearance. "Fine. But the first order of business had better be getting Zach back."

  Jesse led Lily and Ellen through various portals and hallways, taking a route Lily suspected was designed to shake pursuit or remote observation.

  Once they reached the more mundane surroundings of the English building, they hurried to Lily's classroom. Once they were inside, Lily said to Ellen, "I asked you to bring Monty for a reason. He's got a role to play. I didn't even know Zach would be coming tonight."

  "Are you blaming me for getting him into this?" asked Ellen, her voice a bit shrill.

  "Of course not! I'm blaming Wheeler for being a terrible person who just raised the stakes out of spite. But without Monty, we might just as well give up and go home."

  Ellen wiped at her eyes with balled fists. "But Lily, they have Zach. Maybe I should just offer to trade. You know, call off the threat so she'll release him."

  "Not yet," said Lily. "If we run out of options to help him another way, we'll bargain with Wheeler, but if we give in too easily, she'll have won, and all bets are off for getting Penny back. Or walking away from this with intact memory. Or maybe walking away from this at all."

  Ellen choked on her reply, and more tears flowed. Lily held her sister without saying anything more. I know how you feel, sis.

  Aiden appeared in the doorway. "Hey, Professor S! Good to see you're okay."

  Lily smiled at him. "Hello. Be careful of what you say out loud."

  Jesse crossed the room and clung to Aiden, putting her head on his shoulder. "Missed you."

  Aiden squeezed Jesse and said, "Missed you too, babe. Cam and Hannah say they're on their way."

  "Meow."

  Lily looked around the room. "Monty? Is that you? Where are you"

  A pile of books on Lily's desk shifted position and repeated the sound.

  One of the coats hanging on Lily's coatrack giggled.

  Lily and Ellen exchanged owlish expressions.

  "Okay you two, come on out," said Jesse.

  Coats slid off the coatrack and formed Cameron and Hannah, holding hands. The pile of books became Monty in his cat carrier.

  "That was a good one," said Cameron, a rare smile appearing on their lips.

  Hannah grinned and left Cameron to kiss Jesse on the cheek. "Hail, hail, the gang's all here!"

  Lily placed her fists on her hips. "Well, that just makes my next point for me; we can't be too careful with what we say. We could be overheard by magic or unseen eavesdroppers."

  Hannah smiled and swept her fingers to take in the classroom. "No worries about that just now, Professor Toyota! Cam and I got here early, so I took the liberty of setting up an obfuscation enchantment. Anyone trying to use clairvoyance on this room will get a headache. And we did a sweep for other illusions that might be in effect."

  "So, what's the plan?" asked Ellen, her fingers knotted in front of her.

  Lily drifted to her desk and made kissy noises at Monty and offered him fingers for him to sniff. "Well, we have to get Zach out of Wheeler's clutches. And we have to get Monty to the stacks in the library."

  Hannah nodded. "We can get Monty to the Library easy."

  Lily shook her head. "But I need that key from my purse. Naille said he'd get it for me, but if Wheeler was listening in on us in front of Hartman's office, she'll know about that already, so I don't know how he'll manage that."

  "How can we get Zach away from Dean Wheeler? That Secretary Sample called her a 'powerful wizard'. And we don't even know where she's holding him."

  Lily considered this a few minutes. "I think we can get her to come to us. She knows that the Library is necessary to finding and freeing Penny, so if we go there, I think we'll find her there. And I believe she would bring Zach as a bargaining chip."

  "She'll try to stop whatever you're planning," said Cameron. "Deal or no."

  Lily shrugged. "She can try. She can't harm us unless we break the agreement."

  "Doesn't mean she'll just stand there and watch you do your thing," said Cameron.

  "Cameron, could we use your magical camouflage trick to get past her?" Lily gestured towards the coatrack.

  Cameron shook their head. "That relies on us standing still. And even if we could, she's got those glasses to see through phantasms."

  "But they don't stop enchantments," said Lily. "What can you do to get us through, Hannah?"

  Hannah thought a moment, tapping her lips with a finger. "We-ll, I could do as Hartman says, and direct her attention. I'd need another focus, because it's easier to direct attention to something than away from myself, or worse, a group of people."

  "Aiden, Jesse, do you have any ideas?" asked Lily.

  "I could get a flash-bang potion
from my room," said Aiden. "I have them around, you know, for practical jokes and flashy effects. If she enchanted that to draw attention, maybe it'd temporarily blind Wheeler?"

  Lily nodded and smiled. "That's a good start! Ellen, I think maybe you should stay here and wait—"

  "Not a chance," said Ellen, folding her arms.

  "Wheeler's just going to use her leverage on you if you go," said Lily, eyes pleading with her sister.

  Ellen shook her head. "I'm not just going to sit on my hands while that woman holds my boy hostage. Wizard or no, I'll claw her eyes out if she's hurt him!"

  Lily sighed and touched her sister's arm; Ellen shook her off and wouldn't meet her eyes.

  "Ellen—"

  "Don't, Lily. I'm going with you to the Library, and that's final."

  "You can't get back into SOAM without me, sis."

  Ellen whirled and glared at Lily. "If you leave me outside, I'll tell the bitch that she's won, that I'll delete the audit request and expose' email in exchange for Zach!"

  "You'd sell out Penny, just like that?" cried Lily.

  "I don't want to, Lily, but you're risking Zach to get Penny! What am I supposed to do?"

  "Okay, fine. Come along then. But please let me try everything before giving in to Wheeler?"

  The sisters glared at each other a long moment, then anger softened to tears and Ellen nodded. "I'll try it your way first. For Penny."

  Ellen unclasped the coin pendant from around her neck and fastened it around Lily's.

  Lily hugged Ellen, then looked around the room. The Queer Quartet stood together in a huddle, holding hands or with arms around one another, facing Lily. Monty's sad eyes told her he wanted out of the carrier, but he sat still and waited as patiently as any cat could.

  "There's still the key," said Lily. "I have no idea what to do about that. And I need it. I made a promise."

  "You'll have to trust Naille to do his part," said Jesse. "Since he's one of the 'fair folk', I'm sure he takes promises very seriously. He's also super invested in this working out. He won't let you down."

  Lily searched her feelings, and underneath her worries and anxieties, she found Jesse's words to be a solid place to stand. She might not know Naille well, but the elf had risked himself more than once for her and had believed in her despite his misgivings. She decided that she owed him the same respect in return. "I think you're right; we'll just have to trust in Naille. And Bucher, for that matter, it's her library. And Shanice can help us know whether we can trust what Wheeler, Hartman, or Sample tell us."

  "Speaking of," said Cameron, "Shanice just texted me to warn me that Dean Wheeler just arrived in the Library."

  "That's it," said Lily. "It's time we had this showdown, and let the dice fall where they may."

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  "You can't come in here, none of you!" said the Dean to Lily, Ellen, Cameron, and Hannah. "As Dean of the School of Applied Metaphysics, I forbid it!"

  Lily crossed her arms and glared at the Dean, facing her across the threshold of the SOAM Library. "You have my sister's son in there, I'd like to see you try to stop us!"

  "I can, and I will," said the Dean, holding up her hands, palms facing Lily and company.

  A voice came from behind her. "Actually, as Librarian, I have the final say in this place," said Librarian Professor Wizard Bucher.

  "Since you work for me, you will do as I say," said Wheeler, without turning to look at Bucher.

  "If you consult the SOAM Charter, you will find that's not the case, at least within my library, Dean!"

  Dean Wheeler turned her head to give the Librarian a side-eye. "You would defy me? Then you'll be relieved of your position here!"

  Bucher approached the Dean, a full head taller than her employer. "Again, you need to consult your Charter. I have tenure. You'll find it very difficult to fire me without documentation and a formal complaint made to the Moraine University Trustees. In any case, you can't do it tonight, so I will ask you one more time to let these people into my Library, Dean Wheeler."

  Without waiting for the Dean to move out of the way, Lily pushed past her, with Ellen, Cameron, and Hannah following close behind.

  "Zach! What has she done to you?" cried Ellen, running up to her son.

  Zach's eyes widened. "Oh, it's you!" His body, from his feet to his chest, seemed to be encased in a block of stone. "S-sorry if I made a bad impression the other day."

  "What are you talking about? Are you all right? Can you feel your legs in there?"

  Zach favored Ellen with a goofy smile. "I'm much better now that you're here. No, I can't feel anything below my chest, but it doesn't hurt or anything?"

  Ellen turned to Lily, her eyes wide. "What's wrong with him? Why's he talking like this? Get him out of there!"

  "Ellen, the disguise?" prompted Lily.

  "What? Oh, I forgot I had it on!" she removed the bracelet and the disguise melted away.

  Zach's face fell. "Mom? You were that girl? But I saw you together earlier!"

  Lily held up a hand. "Zach, it was me, earlier. That's not important right now. We have to get you out of there."

  Dean Wheeler moved to stand behind Zach. "You can't. He is stone, from here down. Like a troll, but immobile."

  "How?" demanded Ellen, stepping up to glare at the Dean.

  "A little spell I know. He's safe and healthy. I could turn the rest of him to stone—"

  "Don't!" cried Ellen. "Zachy baby, we'll figure this out somehow!"

  The Dean turned on her thousand-watt smile. "Then can we agree? I will free your son, in exchange for you calling off your threats against SOAM."

  Before Ellen could answer, Lily stepped between her and the Dean. "No. This is an unfair breach of the original agreement, or at least the spirit of it."

  Dean Wheeler's smile turned nastier. "I'm not bound by the spirit of the agreement. I'm bound by my word to hold up the letter of the agreement."

  "Then you won't mind if I go about my business?" asked Lily.

  Dean Wheeler snapped her fingers and Secretary Sample approached, holding Lily's purse. Naille and Shanice stood in the background, next to Snuffles. The elf wrung his hands and chewed on his lower lip, refusing to meet Lily's eyes. Sparks of electricity covered the fluffy, opossum-faced, dog-sized creature. Shanice wore a bored expression.

  "I have asked the Secretary to hold onto this, which I believe you need to 'go about your business', Lily."

  "In that case, Jackie, we have some things to discuss."

  The Dean's smile faded a bit but did not disappear. "Discuss? What is there to discuss? I have your purse and your nephew. You're holding blackmail over my head. We've got a standoff."

  Lily held up a finger to stop the Dean. "One moment. Librarian Professor Bucher, is Professor Stout on her way?"

  The Librarian smiled. "Should be here any moment."

  The Dean's eyes narrowed. "Ophelia? What do you need her for?"

  Lily ignored her, and asked Hannah, "How about Aiden and Jesse?"

  "Same!" chirped Hannah, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

  "Answer me!" growled the Dean, taking a step around Zach toward Lily.

  Lily turned to look at Dean Wheeler. "You'll see, very soon. Since you're threatening my nephew—"

  "And you're threatening this whole institution!"

  "—Since you also won't let me continue my search for my wife, I have some things to say. And what I have to say concerns more than just you and me."

  Aiden and Jesse wandered into the library. Jesse crossed to place Monty's carrier next to Lily.

  "I'll say I'm concerned," said Professor Wizard Ophelia Stout, entering behind the students. "You might even say I'm anxious to hear it."

  Dean Wheeler turned to look at Professor Stout. "Was that another attempt at a joke, Ophelia?"

  Professor Stout shook her head. "Not this time. It's another kind of punishment I'm hoping for."


  "What's that supposed to mean? Are you defying me as well? I'll remind you that you don't have tenure here, Ophelia."

  Professor Stout shrugged and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I'm here as a witness only. I mean, unless it turns really ugly. Don't make me take sides, Dean. I don't want to have to do that."

  "I should think you're on the side of SOAM and its Charter, Professor Stout!" said Dean Wheeler, her smile all but vanished now.

  Professor Stout nodded with such enthusiasm; her heavy coke-bottle glasses threatened to leap off her face. "Oh, I'm a huge fan of the Charter! That's why I'm here, to see that it's upheld!"

  Dean Wheeler pressed her lips into a fine white line, then nodded at Professor Stout. "Very well." To Lily, she said, "What is it you have to say, sir?"

  Lily's heart froze at the deliberate misgendering, but she said, "I'd rather be formal at this point, Dean Wheeler. Since we're talking University policy. Or at least SOAM policy. You may have fired me as Librarian's assistant, but I am still a full professor here at Moraine University. I would ask that you use my title."

  "Very well, Professor Shelley. Get on with your little show. It won't help you."

  Satisfied, Lily said, "Secretary Sample, how well do you know the Charter of the School of Applied Metaphysics?"

  Secretary Sample harrumphed and stood a little straighter. "I am pleased to tell you that I know it word for word, as it is what I guide my career by."

  "So," continued Lily, "what is your duty to, the Charter, or to the Dean?"

  Dean Wheeler shot a nasty look at Lily, then turned to listen closely to Sample's reply.

  "My duty is to the Dean," said Secretary Sample, "except for where that office violates the Charter. I should think that anyone holding the office of Dean of SOAM would embody the tenets set down by the Charter, however."

  Dean Wheeler smiled at this. "Good answer, James."

  "Of course, Jackie," he replied, without looking at her.

  Naille, Shanice, and Snuffles approached, standing near Sample and Wheeler.

  "Keep that thing away from me," said the Dean.

  "Snuffles is a sweetheart! You should know that" said Professor Bucher.