“Explains a lot,” Destin said miserably.
Tailor slammed the door and turned on us, furious.
“You four are idiots,” Tailor snapped. “This isn’t Scooby-Doo. There are no rubber masks, no disgruntled janitors hiding Aztec gold, no consequence-free ending. You think that detention is the worst the principal can do? A note to your parents? Expulsion? You should pray for expulsion. The more you dig up, the more likely it is that Rin will never let you leave. These are forces you aren’t old enough to handle - forces that could easily destroy you even if you were. If you would just keep your heads down, you might be able to graduate before she pieces things together, and go live normal lives. You are helping her,” he pointed an accusatory finger at me and Camille, “and you have to stop. And you,” he turned on Mac, “are even worse. Bea told me everything. You have no idea what you almost did at the library.”
“Hey, how were we supposed to know tattoo lady was going to - um - what exactly did she do?” Mac asked.
“And then,” Tailor went on, ignoring him, “you go baiting imps and chasing them through the halls. You’ve always been impulsive, Dupree, but you’re bordering on suicidal. That thing could have left you anywhere!”
“Imp?” he brightened. “The catbat is an imp?”
Tailor groaned. “Mac, what do I have to say to make you understand?” he said, running a hand over his face. “You’re the only one in this room who’s definitely normal. In two years, you’ll be free. The only thing you should be worrying about is how to hide Heron’s infernal feathers so he can escape them too.”
Destin’s cinnamon skin flushed. “What? I don’t...I mean, what feathers?”
“Learn to keep them under control before someone else notices,” Tailor snapped. “And pray you don’t develop anything useful.”
“What happens,” Camille said, speaking up for the first time, “if we’re useful?”
He gave her a hard look, but I thought I saw pity under it. Of all of us, she was clearly the most supernatural one. As far as he knows, I thought, my fingers flexing. Was he worried about her? “Fine,” he said, and pulled a nearby chair. He propped his right foot on it, like he was going to tie his shoelaces, but instead he rolled up his pants leg and pushed down his sock. Wrapped around his ankle was a blocky tattoo in the design of a chain.
“Never pegged you for a tattoo kind of guy,” Mac said.
“It’s a spell,” Tailor said icily, rolling his pants leg back down. “When the Uminos find a toy they want to keep, they make sure it can’t run away. I’m bound to the school. I can’t go more than twenty miles away. It’s like running into a brick wall.” He grimaced. “Magic hasn’t worked in our world for almost a thousand years. But over the past hundred years or so, it’s been slowly trickling back - and it’s been getting worse the last few years. Most of the fae and ferals here still don’t even know what they are. There’s not even a guarantee you’ll develop any powers,” his eyes flicked to me for a moment, and I suddenly recalled his horror when he’d met me. “It’s all still so random and unpredictable. But the Uminos are a family with a long memory, and they want to control all they can. They’ll find a way to make you a deal you can’t refuse, and you’ll be theirs. Unless you can stay off their radar,” he said, glaring at each of us in turn. “And you certainly shouldn’t be piecing together any of their research for them,” he said, giving me another hard look. “You’re all preposterously lucky that I was the only person here today.” I swallowed, remembering Kei’s brief appearance. “And even then,” he went on, “if Rin were to ask the right questions, I’d have to tell her. There’s only so much help I can give you. So please, if you have any sense of self-preservation, stay out of Umino business, stay away from the imp, and for the love of god, stay away from the Ender.”
Camille’s eyes widened.
“The Ender?” Mac asked.
Tailor sighed. “The woman you nearly helped burn down the library. Meredith the Ender. All you need to know is that she is immortal, certifiable, and made out of fire. I don’t know why she’s come back here,” he said grimly, “and the sooner she moves on the better. You see a woman in leather, you stay away from her. Got it?” He looked curiously at Camille, who had gone fairly pale. “Alright, Teague?”
Camille shook her head, as if to clear it. “Yeah,” she said. “Yeah, alright.”
“Then please, all of you get out of this building before you cause any more damage. Good luck explaining your state to your mother,” he shot a look at Mac, who seemed chilled by the prospect.
The others filed out the door ahead of me.
“Jul, wait,” Tailor said. “A word.”
I paused, looking back at him fearfully. It occurred to me just then that he was the only adult who hadn’t persisted in calling me Juliet.
“Shut the door,” he said.
I swallowed and did as he asked, returning meekly to stand by his desk.
“Your grandmother told me you’ve met Gabriel Katsura,” Tailor said, folding his arms and leaning back against the desk. His gaze was cool and cautious behind his glasses. I wondered briefly if he would look less intimidating without them.
“Are you going to tell me to stay away from him too?” I asked.
“Absolutely yes,” he said. “Him, but not Camille. I think she can be freed from his influence, and I think you could use her attachment to you - ”
“Use her?” I interrupted, surprising myself. “Gabriel’s been nothing but kind - he just wants to help. What has he done that’s got everyone so mad at him for? All I hear is what bad news he is, but you’re the one talking about using people - ”
“Don’t,” Tailor snapped, with real venom, and I startled into silence. “Don’t you ever talk to me about using people - ”
He froze, and turned away swiftly. What little I could see of his expression was blank. He let out a long breath. “No. I didn’t mean you. That wasn’t right. Forget that.” His hand went up to rub the back of his neck, his fingers in his mousy brown hair.
“Is it my mom?” I asked. “Is...is that why you don’t like me?”
I could see his shoulder muscles tense.
“Ms. Miller said...that you all went to school together.” And she drew you all in her journal. “She said you didn’t get along.”
He turned back then, and gave me a long, evaluating look, and again I got the feeling that he was waiting for something, as if there was something under my skin that would reveal itself at any moment.
“Simon was my best friend,” he said. “And she ruined him. In every possible way. So no, I’m not a fan of hers. She was like Gabriel that way. People just fell over themselves trying to make her happy. Simon included. I don’t trust charming people. They never say what they mean.” He looked at me again, then sighed, shaking his head. “But you’re not her. You look so much like her it’s hard not to treat you the same. Maybe if you looked anything like Simon it would be easier,” he smiled wryly. “But he was kind of an ass too.”
“You sound like you need better friends,” I said.
“Friends can be more dangerous than enemies,” he said. “I learned that the hard way. But not having any can be even more dangerous. The truth is that Kyra never did have friends. She had admirers, and Simon was obsessed with her - but she always kept everyone at arm’s length, even him. It was...unhealthy.” His brow creased. “You’re not her. And stupid as their actions have been today, you seem to have better taste in friends than I did, so I’m not going to tell you to abandon them. I will reiterate,” his gaze sharpened, “that you’re messing with some things that none of you are equipped to handle. Camille’s the only one of you with powers - unless you count Heron’s molting - and hers aren’t very strong. Not yet, anyway. Rin Umino is an extremely dangerous person to get on the wrong side of, and she already has a close eye on her. I thought when she arrived that she’d be a young female Gabriel,” he said, shaking his head. “I miscalculated, same as I did with you. My advice - do what you can to remove her from the Uminos’ watchlist, not push her higher up it. I’m going to have a hell of a time explaining how the prophetic scrolls they’ve been trying to translate for months just suddenly revealed themselves. How did you do that? How did you even get into the room?”