The emergency room's crimson light glared relentlessly through the night.
Vivian stabbed a finger at me, and her voice rang out shriller than a fire alarm. "You planned this. This is murder, and I am reporting you."
My face throbbed, my lip was busted, and dark bruises mottled my arms where I had been dragged around. My ears kept ringing—whether from the slaps or the screaming, I could not tell.
The crowd around us buzzed with whispers and judgmental stares. Phone cameras pointed my way.
"Who does something this evil?"
"Expose this witch..."
If my professor had not burst in when he did, I would have been handcuffed on the spot. He planted himself between me and the mob, solid as a fortress wall. "I am standing by Aria until we get the full story."
"Professor," I said, and my voice
