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“Rain check?” I offered.
“Oh, god yes,” he said.
The door opened and Ben looked out at us. “Did you two forget that you have to turn the handle and push to get the door to work?”
“Aren’t you funny?” I asked as I walked toward the door.
Ben tried to hide his smile. As much as he and Luka butted heads, I had noticed them talking more often at lunch lately. It was almost like they were friends. I knew better than to push it but I had to admit, I was hoping they’d continue to get along.
“Oh good, we’re all here,” Professor Halifax said. “Have a seat. I have news.”
The room suddenly felt very small and my legs felt heavy as I moved to the bench with the others. There was no way this was good news.
I sat down and Ben quickly sat next to me on my right side and Matt slid in next to me on the left. Luka and Zach sat next to Ben. The five of us stared up at our professor, waiting to hear whatever she had to say.
Professor Halifax’s expression was grim as she walked over to the five of us. “Listen carefully. There has been a change to this year’s trials.”
“What kind of change?” Matt asked.
She glared at him and he pressed his lips together into a tight line. She looked away from him, taking us all in with her focused gaze. “Due to something we’re not allowed to know about, they’ve moved up the date of the trials.”
“What does that mean?” Zach asked. “Something we’re not allowed?”
Her nostrils flared as she took a deep breath. “I don’t know. They won’t give the reason. But apparently there’s some kind of risk or something going on so they’ve moved up the trials.”
“To when?” I asked. This wasn’t good for me. My magic was finally doing what it was supposed to do. In fact, it was stronger than most of my classmates. But I had only been here a semester. I needed more time. I wasn’t ready.
“The end of the week,” she said.
“What?” I blurted out.
“That’s crazy,” Matt said.
“Why would they do that?” Luka asked.
“That’s not how it’s supposed to go. Are they going to move up graduation too?” Ben asked.
“Good question,” I said. “We’re supposed to be here till June, right?” I wasn’t ready for the outside supernatural world. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that I had four mates and that I was going to have to find something to do for a living after I finished here. But I thought I had more time.
The five of us started talking over one another, peppering Professor Halifax with questions.
She held up a hand. “Silence.”
Her words echoed through me, knocking me back a little. There was magic behind that word. She’d never used magic on us before and it freaked me out enough to shut my mouth without question.
All four of my mates were silent too. They’d clearly felt the magic behind that word, too.
Professor Halifax looked tired. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment, then opened her eyes and dropped her hand. “I tried to petition this, but I was overruled. I don’t know how this will impact graduation. I just know that this will be our last session together and we didn’t even touch on the things I wanted you to learn.”
“The magic meld,” I whispered.
She looked at me. “Yes. But you’re not ready.”
“Do you think we can complete the trials without it?” I asked.
“I hope so,” she said. “I can’t in good conscious ask you to attempt a magic meld with all of you.”
She couldn’t ask, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t try it on our own. “How dangerous would it be if we tried it?”
