Chapter 18 · Dropped Into Witch Academy at Midnight - Chapter 18: She Never Stayed Dead

Cassandra's hand is cold. Not winter-morning cold. Morgue cold.

I don't let go. Can't. The black thorns are still wrapped around my ankles, and the real Midnight Summoner is standing ten feet away watching us like we're a play she already knows the ending to. My mom's voice is still echoing in my head. Come home, baby. Come home.

But my mom's been dead for six years.

"Let her go." Cassandra's voice is flat. She's not looking at me. She's staring at the Summoner, and there's something in her face I've never seen before. Not anger. Not fear. Recognition.

"You know I can't do that," the Summoner says. She tilts her head, and the thorns tighten just enough to make me gasp. "She has what's mine. I want it back."

"She doesn't even know what she took."

"Then explain it to her." The Summoner steps closer. The arena lights flicker. "Or I will."

Cassandra finally looks at me. Her eyes are still that cold silver, but there's something underneath now. Something that looks like regret. "Alex. When you came through the gate, you weren't alone."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means you pulled something with you. Someone.