Page 97 of Trivium

“Yeah.”

“First lesson: don’t tell anyone the type of magic you have.”

Loveleena was about to argue her case when Adeyemi’s voice bellowed from the door of the building.

“INSIDE! NOW!”

Her mind was elsewhere, turning over Orla’s words. But all of that disappeared as soon as she entered the abandoned classroom. Because there, unconscious on the floor, lay a girl who looked eerily like Ahmina. Dark wavy hair spilled across the floorboards, half veiling her face.

Except Ahmina stood right beside her.

66

ZEINA

Zeina awoke to fifteen pairs of eyes staring down at her while she lay on a hard, dusty wooden floor. She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there; everything felt fuzzy.

“I found her out in the bushes, and when she saw me, she ran.”

“And did what, exactly?” Adeyemi’s voice was tense. “Charmed her into oblivion?”

“I panicked,” the student said, pacing.

Zeina’s eyes focused as she took in each of the confused students and the headmaster. As soon as she noticed that Ahmina was one of them, she froze. Her cover had been exposed.

Ahmina’s face was a mirror of Zeina’s own worry.

Her only hope was that the dirt covering her face and tangled hair would conceal her identity. The urge to run clawed at her, but she felt too dizzy, so instead she hugged her knees tight to her chest, her fingers gripping her pant legs.

“Unacceptable. The first rule of Charming is not to use it on people! I swear on the great Goddess…” Shaking their head, Adeyemi crouched down next to Zeina and placed their palm on Zeina’s forehead. “How do you feel?”

“She needs a healer. We will take her,” Ren said, interjecting. “Ori, Alva, you’re with me.”

Zeina didn’t want to go with him, but staying seemed worse, so she stood up, following orders, almost toppling over as she did. The room spun as Ahmina and Ren grabbed her elbows to steady her. “Come, let’s go, quick,” Ahmina said in her ear, peering over at their classmates. “So they don’t notice.”

Once outside, Ren took a sharp turn and led her toward the wall, Loveleena and Ahmina in tow.

“What are you doing?” Loveleena whisper-yelled, her eyes darting from Zeina to Ahmina, confused.

Ren ignored her, and Loveleena protested, cursing under her breath. But Zeina tried to tune them out because her head felt like it was going to implode.

They swiftly travelled across the school grounds, and Ren snuck them through a secret gap in the wall, hidden within the trees—much easier than going through the underground tunnels, she thought. She bookmarked the location in her mind to use later. They walked for a long time before coming to a small, abandoned house with a fire crackling outside. In front of it stood two people talking quietly. As they got closer, she realized it was Lennox and Serena.

“Which one is which?” Ren said, annoyed.

“That one’s Zeina,” Lennox confirmed, looking between Zeina and Ahmina. “What happened to her?” Zeina could feel Lennox’s eyes on her as she rubbed her head to knead out the headache pounding at her temple.

“She’s been charmed,” Ren stated.

Lennox laughed. “Oh. How did you manage that?”

Zeina scowled. “I was busy looking for translucent fire mushrooms when some idiot attacked me.”

“Um, hello?” A confused Loveleena cut in. “Is anyone going to explain!?”

Zeina snuck a quick glance at Ahmina, who grimaced.

“This is Zeina, we’re sisters.” It still felt weird to hear it, but she appreciated Ahmina speaking for them. “Twins, actually.”