Heli raises one eyebrow at me, and I chuckle. Then, after I signal to them both to start moving away, we begin picking a path through the overgrown grass, heading back to Heli’s car.
We haven’t made it far, though, before it happens: A gunshot rings through the air, cleaving the stillness in two.
Heli and I scream, and even Percy jumps. Mrs.Mason-Price, the same woman who’d ordered me to euthanize Percy on the first day I met him, is running across the vast expanse of her lawn, brandishing a magical gun exactly like the one Darghan Briggs had pointed at me.
“Run!” I scream. Dropping all attempts to remain quiet, we start crashing through the tangled undergrowth. My heart is poundingin my throat, my breaths coming in ragged rasps. We’re so close, we’re so close, it’s only a few paces away—
Another shot rings out, and behind me, Heloise screams. I whirl around, yelling her name, and she stares at me, wide-eyed as she crumples. Her hand is clamped on her upper arm, and even in the darkness I can see that around it, there’s a dark stain creeping slowly outward, seeping into the sleeves of her cream-colored shirt.
“Heli,” I pant, sprinting back to her. “Oh my god, Heli.” I fall to my knees, pressing my hands over the wound. Then, not even thinking about the fact I’m not technically allowed to do it, I perform a quick healing spell to cauterize the blood vessels, then seal the wound shut.
Percy lets out a plaintive meow, and I drag Heloise’s arm around my shoulder. Together, the three of us stumble toward Heli’s car, while behind us Mrs.Mason-Price screams obscenities at us. She must have thought we were trying to trespass—perhaps she’s more paranoid after the last break-in—but at least she seems to have given up hunting us, now that we are at a distance.
Somehow, I manage to yank open Heli’s car door. Percy leaps in and onto the back seat. He sits bolt upright with his tail curled around his body, shivering following the close encounter with his ex-owner.
I start to bundle Heli into the back seat, but she waves me away. “Gwen, I’m all right. You healed me already, remember?”
“But—but you wereshot!”
“The bullet must’ve just grazed me. Get out of the way, G, I’m driving.”
“Heli—”
Heli gives me a stern look, hands on hips, her eyebrows at a severe slant. “Be serious, Gwendolynne.You.Are not drivingmycar.”
Percy pipes up from the back seat.You should listen to the Beautiful One.
“The who?” My mind is sluggish, not quite keeping up, but the next second, it clicks. “Oh.You mean Heloise.” Of course Heloise is the Beautiful One, while I am deemed alopecic.
Yes, her.Percy’s intonation is a mixture of conceited and concerned.We have both witnessed your fast-twitch reflexes, and…well.
Rolling my eyes, I concede defeat. Heli’s right. My nerves are shot. I probably wouldn’t even be able to work out how to start such a fancy vehicle anyway.
Heli and I tumble in, and I’ve barely managed to tug the passenger-side door shut when the mage-powered engine kicks in and Heli floors it.
Halfway down the motorway toward Seamere, as she’s hunched over the steering wheel, gripping it with both hands, Heli lets out a giggle. She presses her lips together, giving me a sidelong look, trying to stifle her mirth.
She fails.
Catching my eye, she lets out a snort, then another giggle. A bubble of elation expands in my chest, and I start snickering too, then outright laughing. And then we’re both laughing, tears leaking out of the corners of our eyes, me clutching the stolen black box in both of my hot little hands.
Maybe it’s ridiculous to be proud of it, but I must say: I’ve gotprettygood at rule breaking recently. The adrenaline and endorphins are pumping through my blood vessels like the headiest of designer drugs.
The electric windows slide down, Heli pumps up the stereo, and then we’re zooming along, singing at the top of our lungs, completely off tune. Percy sniffs disdainfully, but even he can’t hide the fact his tail is twitching in time to the music.
I’ve been reinstated at Seamere. Heli and I are almost graduated. We have a Source,andwe’ve managed to steal one of Magecorp’sblack boxes. All we need to do now is get Conall to help us figure out how the fuck to use it.
And as the shadowed scenery zips past us, the glowing orange streetlights blurring in our vision, we belt out bad ’90s pop into the night air, exhilarated.
I, Gwendolynne Chan, am going to ace my exams. I’m going to beat Harrisford. I’m going to win…
AndI’m going to fucking figure out what’s causing all these surges.
I, Gwendolynne Chan, am back in the game.
39
Harrisford
