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“Interesting,” I said.
“What’s wrong?” Zach asked.
“Whatever it is, I can feel it radiating off of you,” Matt said. “Spill, Raven.”
“Not now,” I said. “I can’t say anything here.”
Zach grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“You will be silent when I speak,” a woman’s voice called out.
A hush fell over the class and I turned to the center of the room where a tall, silver haired woman with visibly pointed ears was standing. She was wearing a green dress that was assembled in pieces, like patchwork. Though, it had an elegance to it I didn’t typically associate with a style that usually looked so bohemian. Her silver hair was pulled up in an elaborate series of twists and knots on top of her head, and around her throat she wore a necklace that reminded me of bones.
She was chilling and enthralling all at once and she was obviously not shy about showing her fae heritage. Though, I shouldn’t be surprised considering Dr. Green’s statement that she’d come through just to teach here. Illegally. The whole thing made me a little uncomfortable and also oddly impressed by Dr. Green’s rule breaking. I didn’t think he had it in him. Though, I was learning more about him with each passing week and his file would not be clean for sure.
“That’s better,” she said. “I am Professor Flora and I am replacing your disgraced professor. Do not expect that because she was fae and I am fae that we are the same.”
There were a few gasps around the room at the truth bomb dropped by the new teacher. I grinned. It was refreshing in a school full of lies and deceit and hidden truths to have someone be upfront for once.
She turned her gaze on me and my eyes widened, my smile faded. Her eyes were gold and reminded me of a cat. I forced myself to stare back, unblinking for as long as I could, but I couldn’t hold. After I blinked, she turned away.
“I was told you focused on elemental magic last semester,” she said.
“That’s right, professor,” Jane McCarthy said. I’d know that voice anywhere. If there was an opportunity to suck up to a teacher, Jane took it.
“I didn’t ask you to speak,” Professor Flora said.
I heard a stifled squeak from behind me and imagined that Jane was very red-faced right now. I’d never heard a teacher call her on her insufferable brown nosing before. I liked the new professor more every second.
“You should all be well versed in all four elements with your strengths and weaknesses by now,” Professor Flora said. Her eyes narrowed and I got the feeling she was daring the class to say something. Nobody spoke.
“Which means you’re ready to move on to more advanced spells,” she said. “Raise your hand if you consider yourself well versed in all four elements?”
The twins raised their hands. Zach elbowed me.
I shook my head. I didn’t consider myself well versed in all four elements. I was comfortable with fire, but that was about it. My studies had been limited with everything else going on.
I glanced around the room. I was the only person who didn’t have their hand up. My stomach twisted and I felt hot. That was not the way to be singled out with the new professor. I nearly put my hand up just to join the crowd, but she was looking right at me now.
“Interesting,” she said. “Either I have a class of geniuses, or many of you are lying. Such an odd skill that we fae do not possess. It still strikes me as a feat any time I see it performed.”
She clasped her hands in front of her and began to pace in a slow circle around the auditorium. The whole class was the quietest I’d ever heard them.
“Things will be different for the remainder of the semester. My job is to prepare you for not only a fictional trials in a controlled environment, but also for the real world beyond this classroom.” She stopped walking and stared out into the class. “The only way I can do that is to get you into real world situations.”
I straightened. This sounded interesting. And terrifying. What could she be planning for us?
She turned and walked toward the desk in the center of the room and picked up a large top hat. I was sure it hadn’t been there before. Did she just make that appear? “You’ll draw a topic out of my hat.” She smiled, as if waiting for the class to get the joke. Nobody said a word. I smiled despite myself.
She walked straight to where I was sitting and held up the hat. “Cheeky, right?”
“Very,” I said. The fact that it was a top hat, the kind humans associated with magic didn’t get lost on me, though I doubted my classmates were in on the joke. The fact that she knew this also told me she understood humans. She might have come from the fae realm, but she’d been here before. And fairly recently if she knew about top hats and magicians.
“You’ll go first, my little fae.” The words were endearing but her face was a mask of indifference. She was impossible to read.
I stuck my hand inside the hat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She then moved the hat to Zach, then Matt before walking around the room to each student.
I glanced at my mates and I could tell all of us were confused by this process. Matt shrugged and then opened his paper. I looked down at my own folded paper and opened it.
