“Who knows?” I replied. “In case you forgot, they’re insane killer people who sent crazy witches to murder you last year, so we shouldn’t be that surprised when they do, you know, crazy murderous things.”

My heart was still pounding, an intense mix of irritation and fear shooting through me, and I focused on the green fields flying past, trying to calm my temper.

My school. The place I worked so hard to make nice and safe, and they’d used it as one of their... their testing grounds. They’d damaged it, set it on fire, could’ve freaking destroyed it for good.

That was so seriously not okay.

Next to me, David drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I read Alexander’s mind, Harper. He didn’t want to hurt me, I could feel it.”

“Maybe you were wrong,” I answered, but he shook his head as he turned the car onto the dirt road leading to the house.

“I’m just saying, hear the guy out before you go in there guns blazing.”

Twisting in my seat, I faced David. “Hear him out? Even if he set the Grove on fire?”

David didn’t answer, but kept watching the road, and I flopped back into my seat with a huff.

“Well, if they did set it, they must have kept an eye on you and known you weren’t where you were supposed to be.”

I didn’t exactly hear David sigh. It was more like I felt it, a shiver of irritation that ran through him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the assembly,” he said in the most even tone known to man. “But I had something I needed to do, and I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“Something you wanted to do,” I countered, and I got the sense he was counting to ten in his head.

“Let’s focus on the task at hand, okay?”

“Fine by me.”

When we pulled up to Alexander’s, the late morning sun was playing on the windows, making them sparkle, and I was struck again by what a pretty place this was. Had this been what the original house looked like, or had Alexander—or a Mage, I was guessing—made it to suit himself? In any case, I liked it.

Too bad the person inside was a total jerk.

The car was barely in park before I was out of it, heading up the front steps with David close behind.

“Should we knock?” David asked, and I glared at the big wooden door in front of us.

“Oh, I’m going to knock,” I told him, and gave the door a vicious kick. Even if the magic on this place kept me from being able to break in, kicking it was still pretty satisfying.