I’ll have to find a chance to talk to one of them tomorrow.
At least, that’s what I assume. I share brief good-byes with my friends, head over to the street to let Maurice know I’m ready to be picked up… and pause when a tendril of ephemera tugs at my wrist.
Fixing my face in a neutral expression, I let the thread guide me around the campus and onto one of the nearby residential roads. A quiver ripples over my skin, and suddenly Byron and Asher are standing on the sidewalk right in front of me.
Byron’s smile looks stiff. “You couldn’t see us at all until you walked through that shell?”
I let out a laugh that’s both relief and surprise. “No. What’s going on?”
He dips his head to Asher first. “Solid technique. You’ll have to tell me more about the nuances later.” Then he turnsback to me. “Did you notice anything strange about the tests we just went through?”
“Not really… other than you following me.” I knit my brow. “Didyousee something strange?”
“I don’t know. Not to begin with.” His mouth twists. “When Professor Jovak first joined up with your group, there was something about him… Like he was anxious, even though he wasn’t the one being tested. It just struck me as off. I didn’t want to take any chances.”
The chill on my skin seeps right into my chest. “And after that?”
His dark eyes look almost apologetic, as if anything he’s about to tell me is his fault. “When you were fighting off the bear… when you lost your balance for a second and it made contact… No one else was looking at him—they were too focused on the animal. But he didn’t know I was there.”
The chill expands until a shard of ice might as well be radiating cold into my heart. “What did you see?”
Byron’s voice drops. “Hesmiled. Like he was happy the illusion managed to get past your defenses.”
My throat goes so tight I can’t speak. All I can think of is the moment before I stumbled.
My gaze jerks to Asher. “During the fight with the bear—did you feel any other magical effects? Like a shove or something tangling your feet, anything like that?”
He shakes his head, his forehead furrowing. “No. I wouldn’t think—the bear was enough of a challenge.” He pauses, understanding dawning on his face with a side of horror. “Isthatwhat threw you off?”
I swallow hard. “Yeah. I guess that extra element was only aimed at me.”
He was only a few feet over, just as close to the bear as I was. Why wouldn’t the effect have hit him too… unless it was specifically meant for me?
Byron steps closer and tucks his arm around my waist.His solid frame and his crisp scent take the edge off my discomfort. “Why would Jovak be trying to trip you up?”
“I don’t know. He wascomplimentingme just before that…”
Was I put in this intensive combat program to help me learn how to defend myself better… or to expose weaknesses someone might want to exploit?
When I showed up in Jovak’s class right after Kenneth’s last attack, Ididthink he looked surprised. I wrote it off as a more general concern… but what if he somehow knew I wasn’t supposed to make it through the night?
I lean into Byron’s embrace, queasiness pooling in my belly.
Aunt Daphne was right about one thing—the threat might be coming from places I’ve never even considered.
And that means my matches and I can’t just hang around waiting for disaster to find us.
Twenty-Eight
Colson
As I stroll along the limestone path between the plots of vegetation, the sharp taste of kavish leaf saturates my mouth. Every blossom and twig around me buzzes with its collected ephemera. The humid greenhouse air congeals against my skin.
Normally, I’d be heading to the academy around now, wanting to make an early review of my plans for the day’s classes. This conservatory opens an hour before my workday begins.
And it’s in that hour I’m hoping to cross paths with my target.
You’d think that when aiming to chat with a fellow professor, I’d be able to track him down at school. But Ivan Jovak has proven particularly difficult to pin down.
