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BELLA
After the night with Luke and the morning at the library, I had a hard time concentrating on the conversation at the lunch table. Everyone seemed to have a theory about who broke in, why they didn’t take anything, and whether or not the guardians had anything to do with it.
Meanwhile, my mind was fixed on my brother. I wasn’t sure if Luke was telling the truth about the night in the cave not counting, but at the very least, I had to resist the spell for two more nights. I just needed to stay strong tonight, and then again tomorrow night, and then I would be free to refocus my energies on school.
“You okay?” Cori asked, her dark eyes concerned, as we dropped off our trays on the way to our afternoon classes.
“Just tired,” I said.
“I’ll bet,” she winked at me, but it was half-hearted.
“You know nothing happened, right?” I asked her.
“Yeah,” she admitted. “Anya told me. “Do you really think you can resist for two more nights?”
“I have to,” I told her simply.
As we continued down the hall, something occurred to me.
“Hey, do you know of any magic that could help me?” I asked her.
She glanced over at me, looking shocked.
“I don’t,” Cori said. “But Bella, even if I did, using it would violate our treaty with the guardians.”
She had a point, but I hated to concede it.
“This is me,” she said, indicating a classroom. “See you later. And, hey, Bella?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“If you really don’t want him, I hope you succeed,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it, and there wouldn’t be a choice at the end if choosing to refuse were actually impossible. Lots of things seem impossible, until someone comes along who’s strong enough to do them.”
I hadn’t really thought about it that way. Up until last week, I would have said that magic was impossible, and now I was surrounded by it. I made those vines move, and if I could do that…
The thought made me feel just a little better about my prospects.
“Thanks, Cori,” I said sincerely. “I appreciate it.”
She blew me an air kiss and I pretended to catch and eat it, feeling more myself already as I continued down the hall.
I arrived at my next class a few minutes later and grabbed the seat beside Anya. Nina and Lark filed in and sat on my other side.
“You’re early, excellent,” the professor said, before we could even greet each other. “We have a lab today, and it’s best to get started right away.”
She handed each of us a small tray with a ring of shimmering metal about the size of a donut.
“What’s this?” I asked Anya.
“It looks like spell-forged mercury,” she said. “Don’t worry. It’s not dangerous.”
“Yup,” Lark said. “Which means we’re doing the sympathetic magic lab today. Professor Batts is famous for it.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Oh, I’d hate to ruin it,” Lark laughed, pushing her purple cat-framed glasses up her nose.
The rest of us looked at each other and shrugged.
