But sitting in the art history hall on the ground floor of a converted nineteenth-century church, Vivi couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder as she watched Professor Barnum flip through slides that demonstrated Caravaggio’s use of chiaroscuro. Studying magic had changed the way she thought about pretty much everything. The world was much less random than she’d believed; there were invisible forces at work and hidden meanings everywhere if you looked, and art was a reflection of that.
Yet despite Vivi’s newfound appreciation, her assignments for Kappa took priority over her reading for class, and she knew she was woefully unprepared for today’s art history lecture, which was an especially big problem, given Professor Barnum’s slightly sadistic tendency to call on freshmen. Tiffany had asked for her help with a glamour for the Homecoming Ball that weekend, and last night she’d stayed up until almost four a.m. to finish an assignment from Scarlett: writing out spells to make a heavy object light as a feather, to summon a rainstorm, and one to make someone’s toenails fall out. She fantasized about using that one on Zoe the next time her roommate invited friends over for a nightcap at two in the morning.
It was all wonderfully weird and fascinating, of course, but part of Vivi wished the sisters could spend a little less time on toenails and a little more time on the strange things that’d been happening at Kappa House lately. Vivi was only a freshman, but even she could tell that something wasn’t right. Her encounter with Gwen on the quad the other day had left her almost as shaken as when she heard about the burning scarecrows, but Scarlett seemed unwilling to discuss any of it.
“Vivian, would you care to answer?”
Startled, she sat up in her seat to find Professor Barnum standing in front of her, looking characteristically antagonistic. He was a brilliant lecturer but not known for being sympathetic. Rumor had it that he’d once failed a student who’d missed a midterm because of emergency surgery.
Next to her, Sonali stared at Vivi wide-eyed, as if trying to communicate something.
“I’m sorry.” Vivi looked at the slide on the screen. It was a dramatic oil painting of a boy wearing only a sheet and holding out a glass of wine. “Can you repeat the question?” she asked, stalling for time.
“I asked why Bacchus was such a popular figure among sixteenth-century patrons. Perhaps, though, the question shouldn’t be relegated to such a historical context, given your own wan appearance and lack of interest in my lecture. I might recommend laying off the late-night Greek life activities and focusing on the real reason you’re here: academics.”
Vivi felt her face turn bright red. A few people in the back of the class snickered until the professor turned a narrowed glare on them, too.
Then, like a lifeline, Sonali’s voice sounded in her mind. Patrons often commissioned portraits of Bacchus to reflect their own wealth and success.
Without stopping to wonder what spell Sonali had just used, Vivi shot her a grateful look, then turned back to Professor Barnum. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you at first,” she said, then repeated Sonali’s answer. She was about to sit back in her seat when Sonali sent her another thought, so she continued speaking. “This particular portrait, which was commissioned by Cardinal del Monte, also alluded to both Caravaggio’s and the patron’s surmised sexuality. It contains pagan undertones recast in Christian symbolism.”
The professor stared at Vivi for a moment, then nodded. “Very good. Now, as a counterpoint, let’s talk about Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne . . .” He moved on.
Thanks, Vivi mouthed to Sonali with a grin, making a mental note to ask her to teach her that spell.
Anytime.
Warmth flooded Vivi’s chest, but for once, the heat had nothing to do with embarrassment. Sonali hadn’t hesitated a second before coming to Vivi’s rescue. For most of her life, Vivi had been hard-pressed to find people she thought of as real friends, and now she had a whole house of them. Better than friends, in fact. Sisters.
He needs a bacchanalia of his own, Sonali thought at her. Maybe then he’d relax a little.
A mischievous, un-Vivi-like idea took shape in her head. She opened a new Word document on her laptop and typed: Maybe we should help him with that, then tilted her screen toward Sonali.
Sonali’s lips curled into a smirk. Hell yes.
Vivi glanced at the other people in their row to make sure no one was looking, then closed her eyes and whispered the illusion spell she’d been practicing, keeping her words hidden beneath Professor Barnum’s booming voice.
A moment later, the slide on the wall glamoured into a nude portrait of none other than Professor Barnum himself, sipping wine on the edge of a hot tub with a strategically placed towel over his lap. A couple of people gasped. Barnum whirled around to look at the screen and turned a fiery red. He cursed and grabbed his laptop, frantically clicking through slides, but the glamoured photograph stayed stubbornly on the screen.
Vivi and Sonali traded delighted grins as muffled, shocked laughter filled the room.
“We’re clearly having some technical difficulties. Class is dismissed for today,” Barnum said, then muttered about IT tampering with his computer and about filing a complaint with the administration.
Vivi managed to contain herself until they’d fled the classroom, then she and Sonali fell into each other, laughing so hard, they both began to cry.
“That was amazing,” Sonali said, wiping her eyes.
“You were amazing,” Vivi told her. Her phone buzzed in her bag. She pulled it out, and her giddiness evaporated at the sight of the text on her screen. I need to talk to you immediately. Meet me in the woods in back of Kappa House. Leave now.
Vivi felt her stomach drop into the rich brown ankle boots she’d glamoured that morning to mask her Converse. Whatever this was about, it didn’t sound good. She glanced over to see Sonali staring perplexedly at her own phone. “Did you get one too?” Vivi showed her the message.
Sonali nodded. “Just now, from Mei.” Her forehead pinched with worry. “You don’t think they know about . . .” She glanced pointedly over her shoulder at the classroom.
“I don’t know . . .” Vivi trailed off as a new wave of panic rose up within her. Using their magic out in the open like that had been risky, especially since they weren’t full-fledged sisters yet. Maybe their Bigs had some way to monitor them to ensure they didn’t use their magic inappropriately.
Vivi wasn’t actually sure how the process of failing a pledge worked. Was there an official ceremony where everyone gathered? Or could Scarlett summon Vivi at any time to tell her she hadn’t made the cut? What else could I need to talk to you immediately mean besides “I have bad news for you”? And then what would happen? Would Scarlett wipe her memory so that the best weeks of Vivi’s life became nothing more than a strange twinge in the back of her mind? For the first time, she had friends; she had purpose. Was she about to lose it all?
“We’d better go,” Vivi said with a sigh. “Whatever they want, we’ll only make it worse if we’re late.”
* * *
The sun was setting by the time Vivi and Sonali reached Kappa House. Instead of going inside, they walked around and headed for the thick glade of trees that grew beyond the back garden. The temperature had dropped suddenly, and Vivi rubbed her arms, wishing she could grab a sweater before stepping into the shadowy gloom.