"Oh no," Rhett whispered.
"Oh yes," Rook countered, his hearing apparently excellent. "Come, come! We need a volunteer for our first demonstration: The Probability Pivot."
Ivy looked at me. I nodded encouragingly. "Go. He seems... fun?"
"He seems insane," Ivy corrected, but she stood up. She marched down the stairs, her sequins shimmering.
"Excellent!" Rook hopped off the desk, landing silently beside her. He was tall—taller than Stone, but leaner. While Stone was a mountain, Rook was a willow branch—whip-thin and impossible to break.
"Now, Miss Hollow," Rook said, circling her. "Chaos magic requires a catalyst. A spark. I want you to think of something you want. Something you crave. Don't say it! Just feel it."
Ivy closed her eyes. I saw her jaw tighten. I wondered what she was thinking of. Her impounded broom? Vengeance on Stone?
Or maybe just the Stone part.
"Good," Rook purred. "Now... hold this."
He handed her a glass orb filled with swirling grey smoke.
"When I count to three, I want you to push your intent into the orb. Don't control it. Just... shove. Ready? One. Two. THREE!"
Ivy shoved.
BOOM.
The orb didn't shatter. It exploded into a cloud of pink glitter.
But not just glitter.Sentientglitter.
The sparkles swirled into the air, forming shapes. Tiny, glowing butterflies. Miniature brooms. And—I squinted—was that a tiny, glittery pair of handcuffs?
The class gapped.
Rook threw his head back and laughed—a sound like chimes in a storm.
"Marvelous!" he crowed, catching a glitter-handcuff in mid-air. "Subconscious desire manifest as atmospheric particulate! You, my dear, are a natural agent of entropy!"
Ivy opened her eyes, blinking as glitter rained down on her. "Did I... did I do it right?"
"Right? Wrong? Irrelevant!" Rook draped an arm around her shoulders. He leaned in close, his silver hair brushing against her blue. "You wereinteresting. That is the only metric that matters."
Up in the back row, Rhett stiffened. "Why is he touching her?"
"He's a Fae," Lucien murmured. "They're tactile. And he likes her aura."
"I don't like it," Rhett grumbled.
Rook released Ivy, but before she could return to her seat, he leaned down and whispered something in her ear.
Ivy’s eyes went wide. She nodded slowly.
"Class dismissed!" Rook announced suddenly, hopping back onto his desk. "Your homework is to do something unexpected. Surprise the universe! Go!"
As the students filed out, confused but entertained, Ivy practically ran back up the stairs to us. She was covered in pink dust.
"What did he say?" I asked as we shuffled into the hallway. "He whispered something to you."
Ivy looked around, then leaned in. "He said: 'The Dean doesn't have a scent because he ate it. Tell the Wolf with the target on her chest to watch her blood'."
