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Coming to a stop forces Alaric to bump into me.
“Ow.”
I’m assuming the whole line has to come to a stop with my move, but walking like this is becoming senseless.
“If you weren’t distracted, you wouldn’t have bumped into me,” I mutter and glance over my shoulder to confirm Azrael, Blair, and a few more people in the line have followed my lead.
Some are making similar ‘ow’ and ‘hey’ comments with the abrupt stop, but I don’t have the time to focus on that. I end up centering my attention on Blair, Azrael, and Alaric.
“I think we’re stuck in a loop. If we keep walking, it’ll be a problem,” I voice, though my eyes are specifically looking at Blair’s. The unique shade of blue draws you in, like the open sea. I wonder if she knows how pretty she really is.
“I don’t think we should stay still for too long,” Blair admits, outstretching her hand at the same time as I do. The two of us grab onto our ‘partnered’ twin.
“Huh.” Azrael blinks a few times before he’s looking between Blair and me. “Wait. Why are you guys holding onto us?”
“Look at your brother and tell me why,” I counter while I notice how the once single line is beginning to fall apart. “Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped.”
Blair follows my gaze, as do at least ten others in the line behind her, to see the chaos happening farther down. Multiple students are moving away from the line formation, their gazes as dazed as Alaric’s expression as they slowly make their way to the rose bushes.
“Plan, Miss Guinevere?” Blair inquires.
“Ophelia,” I correct. “As for plans, we have to make the decision. Are we dragging these two?”
“You don’t need to drag me,” Azrael mumbles, looking at his brother in deep concern. “Alaric! Snap out of it!” He elbows his brother, but he’s not snapping out of it. His eyes are so dilated and transfixed with the roses, I know if I let go, he’s a goner.
“Your brother is a goner if Ophelia lets him go,” Blair points out and pouts her glittering pink lips. “Ophelia? I bet you don’t want to be dragged down, but I think we should bring them along.”
“Because?” I ask, more out of curiosity than actually caring. If I wanted, I could bring all these students with me to the finish line, but what would be the point of that?
Thanks to the little sister who has to take her older sister’s place. We’re totally in debt to you.
Please. They’ll laugh and say they didn’t ask to be saved by some weak bitch with connections.
“Do you believe they want us to stay in a single line for the entirety of the trial?” she inquires.
“No.” That was obvious. This path is made to create disparity.“Twos are the max.”
“Bingo,” she declares and lets go of Azrael’s arm so she can grab his hand. Gold vines ignite from Blair’s intense focus—the creation of mystical life wrapping around her wrist and proceeding to wrap around Azrael’s.
He doesn’t look annoyed, but he does look confused.
“Why are you helping us?” I can see the worry in his eyes now. He’s looking at his brother, who’s in a complete trance. “This can only be the beginning. If I fall into a trance like my brother, we’re dead weight.”
“Then try not to,” I conclude as I let go of Alaric and curse under my breath because he’s taking off toward the roses.
He crashes right into a black wall—the summoned shadows I ignited with bare thought begin to move him back until he’s next to our group.
“Your brother better be nice to me when this is over,” I complain and snatch his hand. The dark wall dissipates until it’s a flowing stream of wind, drifting until it spins and coils around Alaric’s wrist. Just as quickly, the visible shadow strings of wind wrap around my right wrist, sealing the next spell that has me handcuffed to Mr. Know It All.
“The irony,” I mutter to myself. “This is not how I wanted to be handcuffed, but beggars can’t be choosers.”
Blair snickers while Azrael gives a meek smile.
“Sorry,” he apologizes. “Hypnotic spells are Alaric’s weakness. He can’t fight them off, no matter how hard he tries. He won’t realize he’s been a victim of it unless someone snaps him out of it.”
“Lovely,” I comment and look at Alaric, who’s still staring at the roses like they’re a new fascination. “You can just buy us lunch the whole semester, year, or whatever allotted time we spend at N.M.U.” I use my other hand to point to Blair. “And your brother stops calling her Barbie. It’s rather insulting when she’s prettier than a doll.”
That has Blair grinning from ear to ear.
