“You’re right,” he says. “Nowisn’tthe time for carelessness. We must be vigilant, friend. Keep our eyes open and see what’s right there in front of us. Behind every beauty lies death, behind every death lies beauty. The question is, how do we know which is which? Hmm? We open our eyes and see. Then wecloseour eyes and see. See?”
No. No I don’t. But I don’t know how to express myself in this strange new landscape, so all I can do is bark.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I really thought you of all beings would understand.” The Fool stands again and hikes his bundle higher in his shoulder. Turning away from me, he takes a step toward the edge, looking out across the expanse of nothingness once again.
He looks back at me, frowning. “I know. But I told you to open your eyes, friend. Maybe next time, you’ll listen.”
And then he leaps.
“No!” I gasp, reaching out for him…
“Stevie?”
I blink rapidly, the cavernous classroom slowly coming into view. Ani’s got his hand on my shoulder, his head bent close to mine, his brow creased with worry.
“Whoa.” I take another deep breath, wait for Ani to come fully into focus. “That was… freaky.”
“You okay?” he asks. “You were kind of trancing out on us there.”
“I had a vision,” I say, keeping my voice low. Last thing we need is Agent Seen-Some-Shit nosing around up here, asking questions about my wacky visions. “The Fool told me to open my eyes.”
“Among other things.” Ani gestures at my notebook, where two pages are filled with my writing, frantic and nearly running off the edges. It reminds me of some of my mother’s prophecies, scribbled in haste, perhaps in a frenetic vision just like mine. “You were writing like mad the whole time.”
I glance over the pages, pretty impressed with myself. Somehow, I recorded everything about that vision, right down to the feel of the grass between my doggy paws and the scent of the Fool’s wool tunic.
“Maddox is going to love this,” I say with a grin. “There’s some juicy shit here, if I do say so myself.”
“Show off,” a deep voice rasps in my ear, and I hold back a shiver at Baz’s sudden nearness. Since our night together on All Hallow’s Eve, his effect on me has only gotten more intense, despite the issues between us. Earlier this morning, it took every ounce of willpower I possess not to drag him into the nearest supply closet and… ahem… forgive him. Fully.
In fact, if I wasn’t so gross and sweaty after my run—and Carly’s cougar mom wasn’t plotting my swift demise—I might’ve done just that.
I close my eyes, inhaling his scent. Goddess, I already miss the touch of his hands, the hot press of his mouth, the perfect thrust of his—
“Time’s up, team Tarot!” Maddox is on the desk again, rudely breaking into my fantasy. “Please pass your essays forward. Don’t worry about perfection—you will be graded on your interpretations and insights, not on your style or grasp of the English language—yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Glendale. The dictionary is your friend.”
“Stevie?” Ani asks, and I open my eyes to find him watching me with fresh concern. “You okay? You tranced out again.”
“Um… no. I’m good.”
“Another vision?”
“Fantasy. I mean, yeah. Something like that.”
“Fantasy?” His brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
“It’s nothing.”
No worries! Nothing to see here! Just fantasizing about your best friend’s magnificent… wand! Keep calm and carry on!
Turning away from Ani’s all-knowing gaze, I pass my paper forward and pull out my tablet. Maddox wants us to read a few chapters from her book,Arcana: Magick, Mystery, and Mayhem,while she grades our papers.
Under normal circumstances, I might actually enjoy the reading time. But William Eastman, who’s been in my life all of one hour, is tossingnormalright out the window. He’s left his post behind Professor Maddox’s desk, and now paces the aisles of the classroom, stopping at each chair to peer down over our shoulders and inspect our reading material.
No, dude. Not invasive at all.
“Hardcore,” Nat mouths to me, and I nod. This guy is even more of a rule-enforcer than Dr. Devane. If the other two APOA agents are like this, bad guys don’t stand a chance at this academy.
Maybe that thought should put me at ease, but it doesn’t.
