As midnight came and went, I sat calmly in the School Master's window, my hair wet, my ebony dress bunched at the knees as I pressed bare toes against the wall. I looked out at the fluorescent green bay, reflecting the shadows of two black castles, both dark and quiet.
Just this morning, I'd been reeling with doubts: from a school that turned Evers into Nevers, from a schedule that called me a teacher of Evil when I still didn't feel quite Evil.
I turned to the Storian over her storybook, painting a scene of Agatha, Tedros, and Sophie following a white rabbit through the Woods. With every minute, my friends were getting closer to school, closer to seeing me again, closer to convincing me to leave Evil behind forever . . .
And part of me wished to listen to them.
But another part of me, a much darker part, did not. I had felt it before—when I had sampled the power that accompanied the taste of blood, when I had killed. There was a part of me that wished to succumb to the pull to be Evil. Because the power that went along with it was intoxicating.
I smiled at the ring on my finger.
He was intoxicating.
***
But two hours earlier, I had been chasing after the School Master, as he crossed a green breezeway tunnel into the old Valor tower.
"Teach Evil? Teach Curses and Death Traps? Have you lost your mind!"
"It was the Dean's suggestion. Wish I'd come up with it myself, if only to prevent her the satisfaction of a good idea," Rafal groused, ascending the staircase carved HENCHMEN. "Now that I'm young, she's been treating me like I'm incapable of running my own school. Even had the gall to tell me that my flights over the bay are disruptive since students keep peeking out the window during challenges. I am the School Master, thank you. If I want to go for a spin, I'm perfectly welcome to—"
"Rafal."
My voice was so sharp that he stopped and stared down at me through the gap in the black staircase.
"Whoever this Dean is, she expects me to be a teacher at this school, but they will not listen to me! And I don't know the first thing about teaching. And Agatha, Sophie, and Tedros are coming to kill you and here I am in a nightgown, expected to give homework and grade papers—"
But Rafal was already at the lone black-marble door atop the staircase.
"Professor Dovey's office?" I asked.
But then I saw that the door once inlaid with a glittering green beetle was now inlaid with two violet, intertwined snakes. Beneath the snakes, letters cut from amethysts spelled out a single word:
DEANS
"There's more than one? But who are—"
The door swung open magically, revealing a thin, tight-jawed woman with a long black braid and a sharp-shouldered purple gown, studying a scrap of parchment at Professor Dovey's old desk.
"Lady Lesso?" I rasped. "But where's Professor Dovey?"
Then I saw the second desk near the window, identical to the first, which had never been in the office before. No one was sitting at it.
"Let me guess, Rafal. Took her for a joyride over the bay?" said Lady Lesso, not looking up from the parchment. "Supposed to have her here twenty minutes ago. Would be nice to prepare our new teacher before she assumes my old class, don't you think? Never mind. I'll take it from here."
Rafal scowled. "I believe I give the orders at this school, Lady Lesso. And I believe you forgot a 'Master,' along with your respect. Something your fellow Dean seems to have in spades."
Lady Lesso's slitted violet eyes slowly raised to the teenage boy in front of her, dressed like a dark prince. "Apologies, Master," she said, her tone snide and cold. "Shall I take it from here?"
Rafal gave her a filthy look and pulled me into his flank. "See you at lunch, my love," he whispered, kissing me tenderly on the cheek. He shot Lady Lesso a last glare and slammed the door behind him, rattling the two desks.
I whirled to my former teacher. "None of this makes any sense. What the hell is really going on here—?"
"Sit down," said the Dean, eyeing the gold ring on my finger.
I scowled and dropped into the chair facing her. Lady Lesso stared at me carefully, framed by the usual plum basket and crystal pumpkin paperweights on Professor Dovey's desk.
I glanced at the desk across the room. Why wasn't Lady Lesso sitting at her own desk?
Lady Lesso sighed. "I've grown fond of you, Y/n." She leaned back in her chair. "You and I share quite a bit in common."
"I doubt that."
"Look closer. Both of us are naturally gifted at Evil, both of us make sensational witches when provoked," the Dean explained. "And yet, each of us is afraid of being alone. Each of us has been deprived of love in our lives. . .you, the love of a sister. Me, the love of my own child."
"You have a child?" I said, stunned.
"Nevers have children, just like Evers. But as I've said in class, the difference is that our families cannot last, for there is no real love at their core. Villain families are like dandelions—fleeting and toxic. Try to hold on to them and you are battling against the wind." Lady Lesso fingered a pumpkin paperweight. "I should have abandoned my child forever when I came to the School for Evil as its Dean fifteen years ago. Thankfully I learned my lesson before I could make any more mistakes."
Her clenched jaw eased. "But what's remarkable is that we're finally on the winning team! Once upon a time, Evil had majestic victories too: Finola the Fairy Eater, Children Noodle Soup, Rabid Bear Rex, and others, long forgotten. All anyone remembers now is two hundred years of Good victories, over and over, robbing balance from our world, until Evil became a death sentence, pitied and maligned, until Good became nothing but Balls, kisses, and arrogance. But you've changed all that, Y/n. For the first time, Evil has love on its side because of how hard you and Rafal have fought for each other. Don't you see? Your fairy tale can reverse the slaughter I've fought against my whole life. All you have to do is prove you love Rafal as much as Agatha loves Sophie and Tedros . . . that you'll sacrifice for your love as much as Agatha would for her prince, her friend . . ."
Lady Lesso glowered darkly at her. "Which means you must kill the three when they come for you."
I held her icy stare.
Then my gaze dropped. "I'm hoping it won't come to that."
"My dear," Lady Lesso said, "Evil attacks and Good defends. And when Evil attacks, it kills. I warned you our very first day of class, Y/n."
I didn't look at her.
"Listen to me, Y/n." Lady Lesso's tone cut sharper. "I told you the story of my child for a reason. As long as those three are alive, you will never have a happy ending. Either you kill Agatha and and her friend, her true love . . . or they will kill yours. Those are the only two ways your fairy tale ends."
I stood up abruptly, slamming my hand on the desk. "Why must everything always end in death?" My eyes were flaming, an image of Tristan laying dead in the tree flashing to the forefront of my memory.
"Because this is your storybook!" Lady Lesso shouted back. "That is why the Storian has yet to close it. It is waiting for you to make your choice between who lives at The End: your best friends or your true love. Good or Evil."
I clenched my jaw and sat back down slowly. "But what if there was a way to resolve this peacefully?" Again, I saw Tristan's face as he smiled up at me, bleeding out from Aric's cut.
Lady Lesso gripped my hand across the desk. "Y/n. You wear the ring of Evil's darkest soul. Ask yourself, this: if you could save Good, would you sacrifice Rafal? After finally finding someone who loves you for your true self, would you choose to be alone? Just so your friends can be happy?"
I followed her eyes out the window to Rafal soaring over the Blue Forest, back to his tower in the sky. I could still feel myself flying in his arms, safe and protected.
"Could you give him up, Y/n?" Lady Lesso pressed.
A single tear fell down my cheek. "No," I whispered.
"Then you aren't just Evil," said Lady Lesso, letting go of me. "You are its deserved queen."
A muscle in my jaw jumped. Absentmindedly, I caressed the ring on my finger.
Lady Lesso swallowed subtly and straightened in her chair. "Look, I'm here to help you, Y/n. Because like you, I too have a chance to prove my loyalty to Evil. And this time, we can't fail. Even if our leader now has the maturity of a pubescent boy." She grimaced sourly. "Now pay attention to what I'm about to say."
Lady Lesso flattened both hands on the desk and crouched forward like a panther. "Agatha and Tedros will soon try to break into this school to see you. The fate of Good rests on them earning back your loyalty and killing Rafal before the sun extinguishes completely. Do not doubt their resolve or wiles. They do not care about your happy ending, only theirs. And if they take away Rafal, what will you have left?"
My body hardened to steel.
"My job as Dean is to ensure you do not end up alone, Y/n," 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."
"Shouldn't we focus on fortifying—"
"Our wards have already been breached," Lady Lesso said harshly. "There is a spy working for your friends inside this school." 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, plus fog cycles," said the Dean. "Why the notes about the weather, I haven't the faintest clue. But someone in this school is telling Good how to find you."
I stared at the paper in my hand. Why would anyone care when I ate breakfast or dinner? Sure, if I was leaving the tower, it would make sense to track my movements. But I wasn't. The notes were pointless when I was confined to a single location. Were they a red herring, maybe?
"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, Y/n. 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."
"This plan is a good course of action," I said, "but you forget—I haven't the slightest 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 Focus on finding the spy. 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."
I nodded, adrenaline coursing through me. . .
Then I saw the empty Dean's desk in the corner. Guilt dampened the storm inside of me. "But surely Professor Dovey knows a way to close our storybook that doesn't result in war—"
"Professor Dovey is no longer a Dean," Lady Lesso said stiffly.
"Where is she?" I 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."
My eyes flamed, but I calmed the fire in them to a steady simmer before my temper could explode. "Was there a justified reason for this?"
"You should already know the answer to that."
My mouth dried out. I forced myself to move on. "Who is the other Dean?"
The door flung opened behind me 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 me. "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, Y/n, Daughter of Pan? You've seen me of course, last year, but you weren't quite you. I won't give you a hard time for the threats you gave me." His purple eyes slashed into me. "I wouldn't want to hurt that delicious little face."
I fought to keep my delicious little face impassive.
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 me. "You do remember my name, I hope?"
I fixed him with a cool glare. "Of course, Aric."
He raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Best remember it, since I am your Dean." He backed through the door. "See you at lunch, impertinent little Y/n. Faculty gets its own private spot on the balcony. Now that we're friends, I look forward to getting to know you more . . . intimately."
He winked at me like a devil and then he was gone.
I slowly turned to Lady Lesso, brown drawn.
She sniffed the coffee and poured it into the plum basket. The plums liquefied with a smoking, poisonous reek.
"School Master forbade him to kill me but he still tries," she said grimly, pitching the mug out the window. "Yesterday, he put an asp in my toilet. Nearly managed to kill me too in the brief chaos after the Trial, before the School Master took control," the Dean said much softer now. "I don't blame him, of course. When I accepted the position of Dean of Evil fifteen years ago, it was my duty to sever all attachments—children included. But instead, I hid Aric in a cave near school, stealing in to see him at night, year after year, pretending like he had a mother who would always love and protect him."
Her voice quavered and she fiddled with the plum basket. "The School Master found out and sealed me inside the gates. Never even had the chance to say goodbye to my son. Aric will never forgive me for it . . . leaving him there, six years old in the Woods, all alone. And he shouldn't."
She looked at me. "Like I said, you and I must both pay the price of our mistakes—and mine is having my own son vengefully plot my death, while he shares my power as Dean."
"He shouldn't be employed as a Dean," I said, strained. "I can already tell that boy needs to be exiled."
"No!" Lady Lesso shouted. "He may be a terror, but he is still my son!"
"And I am your queen!" I roared, eyes flashing acid green.
Lady Lesso flinched.
I was repulsed by how much I enjoyed her fear.
I took a deep breath. "I understand you still care for him, even after all he's done. But the moment he does something that is truly worrisome, I will take him out of my school myself."
Lady Lesso held my gaze, then sighed and gazed wistfully out the window. "Suppose it's just like the School Master wants. Mother and son as Deans . . . a former student teaching my class . . . a timeless Master and his young queen . . . Old and New working together for Evil."
I followed her eyes to what used to be the School for Boys across the bay, now the crumbling, pockmarked School for Old. There were shadowy figures on the roofs now: hulking, misshapen, and clearly not human, with bows and arrows slung on their backs, like a monstrous castle guard. Then beneath them, through a tower window, I noticed another shadow—this one human. Stepping closer, she glimpsed a man's silhouette with a boat-shaped hat, like a pirate's . . . and where his hand should be, a sharp flash of metal instead . . .
A tuft of fog floated in front of him and when it cleared, the man was no longer there.
Rafal had refused to tell me anything about the Old castle. But I was queen, wasn't I? I had a right to know what he was hiding in the other school.
"Lady Lesso, tell me what's in the School for Old," I said firmly.
"Students of the old fairy tales, of course, just like we teach a new fairy tale here. But the School for Old is the School Master's domain—not yours," the Dean snipped, before a cacophonous crackle broke through the castle, like an army of demented crickets. "That's the fairies signaling end of session." She stood up and clacked towards the door in her steel stilettos. "Shall we? Students won't respect a Curses teacher who's late. Especially a teacher who's supposed to be the new me."
I almost began arguing once more, but remembered the importance of me doing this job. I had a mission now, one that could tip the balance either in our favor or against.
I crossed my arms. "I need to change first. And learn the class material. I don't know any of the new fairy tales—"
"I said a new tale. Not tales."
I blinked. "You expect me to teach a yearlong course on one tale?"
"Of course. It's the only fairy tale we teach at the School for New." Lady Lesso glowered at me, holding open the door.
"Yours."