Matthew had been doing his best to keep his distance from Diana Bishop in the weeks that followed her magical display in the library. For those first few days he'd found himself watching the witch everywhere she went, hoping to get some answers about who she was – about what she was.

It wasn't until Miriam had called on the third day, demanding to know why she was the only one turning up for work every day when it was his laboratory and his research they were conducting, that he was forced to admit he was perhaps becoming a little too fascinated by the mystery the young Bishop witch had presented. So he resolved to keep his distance, only allowing himself to watch as she glided her way down the river every morning. After all, she insisted on leaving the safety of her college before the sun came up, and there could have been anything lurking in the shadows.

That particular afternoon, he'd been on his way to a bar to meet with Miriam and Marcus when it had happened.

Matthew felt a crackle of electricity that seemed to zip through his body, filling him with a need he'd never felt before. A charge had infused the air in Oxford, calling out to all of the creatures in the city, luring them in with the promise of something wondrous.

The blood that normally moved sluggishly through his veins seemed to rush faster as his heart pumped harder. And for a brief moment, Matthew felt almost human once again.

Whatever had been released into the atmosphere was calling to him, urging him to move, to seek it out, and to claim it for himself. But it took him a beat too long to realize where that siren-song was coming from.

The Bodleian.

Matthew's legs were moving before he was aware of his desire to run. They carried him down the familiar streets at a pace that was just fast enough not to arouse the warmbloods' suspicions, as his mind began screaming at him.

There was only one creature in Oxford that would be in the Bodleian Library at this time of the day on a Saturday evening. And there was only one creature in the city who didn't seem to be aware that there was a supernatural side to the world she lived in.

Whatever Diana Bishop had done was huge, of that he was certain. The kind of magic that was coursing through his veins and vibrating every particle of his being was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. If every other creature in the city could feel it too, he knew it was the kind of magic they would do anything to experience again.

Matthew only hoped that he could get to Diana before somebody else did.

If she was truly unaware of the supernatural beings living side-by-side with humans, then she was in even more danger than he'd initially believed. There was no way the creature population of Oxford would believe that a Bishop witch was unaware of her heritage. And there was no telling what they'd do to try and force her into recreating whatever had just happened.

When he was close to the library, Matthew forced himself to slow his steps. He'd spent years carefully curating a professional image for himself, and running down the streets into the library after a graduate student wasn't going to help with that image.

The vibrations of his phone in the breasts pocket of his jacket had his steps faltering for a moment, and Matthew pulled it out to see Miriam's name illuminating the screen. He didn't hesitate to silence the call and slide it back into his pocket. Whatever she needed could wait.

His heightened senses were already honing in on the other creatures in the area. There weren't many vampires living in Oxford, but the daemons and witches were already headed his way, whispering about what could have possibly caused the event they'd all felt. Which meant that he didn't have long to get Diana as far away from the library as he possibly could.

Maybe he could lure her back to his rooms at All Souls with the promise of a book that would help with her research proposal?

Matthew was startled out of his musings when the door to the library was shoved open and Diana Bishop emerged out into the courtyard. She was dressed just as she had been earlier that morning, when he'd seen her leave her room at New College, but she was much paler than she had been before. With every few steps she took, she turned to look back over her shoulder and shifted the strap of her bag a little higher up her arm before moving again.

Whatever had happened inside of the library had clearly rattled her, which meant that she wasn't as unaware of her magic as Matthew had first thought her to be. Whatever had happened inside of the building she'd sensed too, but it seemed to have had a completely different effect on the young witch than it did on the rest of the creature population.

"Miss Bishop?" he called out, as she approached the place where he was standing.

Diana either didn't hear him or didn't want to acknowledge him, as she simply shifted her bag once more and hurried straight past him.

Matthew took a moment to consider his options before he turned to follow the young graduate student. He told himself that he was only doing so to make sure that she got home safely, and that no other creatures followed her back. But it wasn't the first time that Matthew had followed the witch, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Every time he encountered Diana Bishop, the mystery surrounding her just seemed to deepen.

And Matthew had always loved solving a good mystery.

That, he told himself, was all he was doing with the witch. He was simply attempting to solve the mystery surrounding her magical abilities.

But even after making sure that she was back in her room, safe and sound, Matthew couldn't bring himself to leave. Instead, he found himself climbing a drainpipe to situate himself on a rooftop a few buildings over from her own, that gave him a direct view straight into her room. He didn't abandon his spot until he saw Diana Bishop leave her college the following morning, headed for the boathouse once again.


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