Diabolical by Cynthia Leitich Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

it.
    Freddy adds, “He claimed the building’s physical structure was impenetrable. Unless you’re an enrolled student or a staff or faculty member, simply touching the outside — a door knocker, a chimney, or a window — is enough to trigger a fatal magical charge. That defense system is a Scholomance trademark. You can bank on it.”
    “How does anyone get in?” I want to know.
    “An incantation making individuals immune to the charge is routinely completed for students upon admission. Faculty and staff, too, I’d assume.”
    I don’t want to find out what it means for an immortal angel to be magically electrocuted. “Any suggestions?”
    Freddy shoos me from the computer. “If it were any other demonic establishment — any other not potentially affiliated with Lucifer, that is — I’d suggest we ask for the eternal queen’s assistance. But in this case, I recommend faking it.”

    “Stick to your real names. That’s how you’ll be identified in the spell. You don’t want to end up in a coma or worse because you used an alias.”
    Freddy is a genius. Anyone on the receiving end of that note would assume Kieren and I — like him and Harrison — had been raised off the grid among the living servants to the high-class vamps. “I’m still not sure about taking Kieren.”
    Freddy’s hand hovers over the keyboard. “Would you like me to go instead?”
    I think it over. He is a grown-up. The school’s target market appears to be older teens. I look about twenty, which may be enough of a problem. Besides, as a human, Freddy is more physically vulnerable than the Wolf. “Nah. Thanks anyway.”
    Freddy hits a link to download the admissions application.

WITH WEATHER DELAYS and pit stops, we don’t drop off Quincie until after 5 P.M. Sunday. She gives me a quick hug in the living room of the historic B and B in Montpelier. “How long will you two be gone?”
    “It depends on Lucy,” I say. “How quickly we can convince her of what the school is really about. Whether after finding out, she’s willing to leave with us.”
    “Why wouldn’t she be?” Kieren asks. “Any sane person would run screaming.”
    Quincie’s phone ringtone goes off. It’s Pavarotti singing “Mamma.”
    “There’s a reason you-know-who is called the Prince of Lies,” I reply. “He figures out what people want most. He uses that information to tempt them.” I don’t say what we’re all thinking: that the devil has managed to lure Lucy there in the first place.
    “Howdy,” Quincie says into her phone. “Damn.” She bites her lower lip. “Are you sure? What was the number? Thanks.” Quincie raises a finger and makes a quick call. Covering the receiver, she looks up at me. “That was Yani from the hostess desk at Sanguini’s. Sabine left a message for you at work. She said it’s important.”
    Sabine, the vamp queen. Crap. The school must’ve checked our references.
    Quincie asks for Her Royal Majesty and hands over the phone.
    I gesture at the young couple to stay put and step outside Norma & Harry’s B and B. It’s getting chillier every minute. “Zachary here.”
    “Friend Zachary, I am confused. If you have fallen, why would you go to the American Scholomance and not instead come to me?”
    “Sabine . . .” She’s helped me in the past, when it was in her best interests. I’m tempted to let her think that I’m a fallen angel now. It would make my enrolling at the school more plausible. But what was I just saying about lies and temptation? “I need to talk to one of the students. A friend of Miranda’s. What can you tell me about the place?”
    “You should stay away from it.”
    “Sabine —”
    “Non!” she exclaims. “You should not have involved me. Do you know what happened to the last eternal royal who tried to deceive Lucifer?”
    I couldn’t care less. “Not exactly.”
    “Neither does anyone else! This afternoon I received an electronic letter from the school, requesting