“Saw you talking to Ethan,” Odette teased as I met up with her in the hallway to head back to the girls’ dorms. “He seems to like you.”
My cheeks blushed, but I said, “You told me he was taken.”
“He was, but now I’m not so sure,” Odette said cheerfully. “He sure does seem to have eyes for you lately.”
I brushed it off. Ethan could look at me all he wanted. I only had eyes for the Phantom.
“Emma!”
Kiara came jogging down the hallway. “I wanted to ask you. We needed to pick up that new book for illusion class. Would you like to come with me?”
“Sure, I’ll go along,” I told Kiara. “Do you want to come, Odette?”
“No, thank you. I have to meet up with Theo,” she told us pleasantly. “Have fun!”
She trotted off, and Kiara and I looked at each other. “Do you think she’ll ever realize she has a thing for Theo?” I asked Kiara.
Kiara shook her head. “Probably not. But you think she would. They hang out practically every day.”
That was an understatement.Every hourwas more like it. If I was with Odette, it wasn’t unusual for Theo to be too far away.
We decided to walk, as it wasn’t that far. The streets were crowded in the late afternoon, and we had to press close together to avoid being lost in the crowd. Kiara took me to this tiny bookshop in an alleyway that twisted and turned. A stone gargoyle in the shape of a griffin blocked the door.
“Watch this,” Kiara told me. She waved her hand above her head. “The password is…password.”
White magic fluttered down from her hands, landing on the stone gargoyle’s head. The gargoyle came alive, and moved out of the way so we could enter inside.
“Keeps monsters out,” she told me pleasantly. “And those who don’t know the secret code.”
“Why would a bookstore need to be guarded?” I asked as we stepped inside.
Kiara’s lips turned upward. “Siona has some…itemsin here that are strictly contraband.”
Enchanting Whisperswas unlike any bookstore I’d ever been into. It had a coffee shop set up in the corner, tables clustered next to the windows that looked out into Dolinska’s streets. There were shelves upon shelves of not just spell books, but fiction and poetry of all genres. Glass jars with tiny pixies hovered on their own over the bookshelves and illuminated the space. It smelled like coffee and pumpkin inside, and a bit of white sage and incense.
There were a bunch of people in here— they read the newspaper at tables or browsed the shelves while sipping on tea. Along the back wall, I understood what Kiara was getting at when she said the store was stocked with contraband items— there were twisted black wands that looked like they’d been made of roots, staffs set with glass globes, and crystals hanging from long chains.
Arcanea were forbidden to use wands, staffs or crystals to channel their magic. They were considered tools of the Black Claw. It was a scandal if a sorceress drew from any power that wasn’t her own… Lady Korva had drilled that into our heads since the moment I showed up in her class. It was seen as weak to rely on tools to use magic.
“I’ve got one,” Kiara whispered to me as we passed, and she showed me a small white crystal embedded on a gold chain, hanging underneath her shirt. “Not everything they say up at the school is right. Crystals can be used for white magic.”
“Is that how you’ve been able to catch on so quickly?” I asked.
She nodded. “I have a natural talent for it, but the crystal helps me focus and center my powers. You should pick one out.”
My eye lingered on an amethyst crystal dangling on a chain, but I shook my head. “Maybe later.”
“Kiara!” A loud voice caught our attention. A dark-skinned woman, only a few years older than us, gave us a bright smile.
Kiara grinned. “Sis!”
The woman and Kiara hugged. As they drew apart, Kiara turned to me. “Emma, this is my big sister, Siona. She runs the shop.”
“Pleased to meet you,” I said. I noticed there was a green stone hanging around Siona’s neck, similar to Kiara’s. I had a bad feeling her mixed heritage wasn’t the only reason people chose to judge Kiara.
Siona slid a hand through Kiara’s hair. “What brings you girls in today?”
“We need a book for illusion class. Lady Korva requested it,” Kiara said.
