by Martha Carr
Leander stepped toward her, kept his head at eye level, and stopped with nothing more than a foot between them. His hot breath blew the air away from her face but the young mage stood her ground. “I can smell a human lie, girl.”
“Good.” She pressed her lips together and raised her chin. Don’t blink. “Then you know I’m not lying.”
He stared at her for a moment longer and when she didn’t budge, he grunted and jerked away from her to stalk across the field. “Find her.”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.” Running a hand through her hair, Bella turned around to face Professor Worley.
The man stared at her, his mouth slightly open, and cleared this throat. “Miss Chase, that was…um…”
“You’re welcome. I guess riding a dragon for five minutes in the middle of a battle gives me special negotiating abilities or something. How long has he been out here?”
The man scratched the side of his mouth and glanced at the dragon, who paced across the field. “I came out maybe fifteen minutes ago. He was making all that noise a long time before my wakeup call.”
“So Headmaster Flynn’s probably awake too, right?”
“Probably, yeah.”
“I need to talk to him.” Bella hurried toward the stone archway.
“Miss Chase! Wait!” He strode after her. “I don’t like the idea of leaving Leander out here on his own—”
“He’s not going anywhere, Professor. He’s waiting for his mage.”
Worley stopped in his tracks as the young mage maintained a purposeful pace toward the school’s main courtyard. He glanced at the fuming dragon now under some semblance of control and nodded. “He sure is. I’m coming with you, Miss Chase. The headmaster’s more likely to open his door this early in the morning if I’m on the other side of it.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ten minutes into the History of Magic class that morning, Professor Gilliam stepped into the room with a gentle knock on the door. “Excuse me, Professor Bixby. I’m sorry to interrupt after you’ve barely started, but I would like a word with Mr. Derks and Miss Murphy, if you don’t mind.”
Bixby’s gaze shot right toward the named pair, her magnified eyes even wider as she blinked at them. “I don’t mind at all, Professor Gilliam. Go ahead.”
Henry and Murphy exchanged confused glances.
“Quickly, please,” Gilliam added.
The students gathered their things and stood from their seats. His desk screeched across the floor when he knocked into it.
“Sorry. I just…my bad.” He returned the desk to its place, elicited another screech, then shrugged and hurried toward the door. “Murphy, wait up.”
Snickers and whispered conversations filled the room as the two disappeared down the hall. Bixby clapped sharply and leaned over her podium. “Did Professor Gilliam address any of you? I don’t think so. That’s none of our business, and after the two days you had to yourselves, I should think you’re all quite rested enough to focus. So, focus. Please and thank you.”
Gilliam set a brisk pace through the stone hallway of Fowler’s main building. Fritz darted between their legs, and Henry had to pay extra attention to his feet as he leaned toward his friend. “What’s going on?”
“How would I know?” Murphy stared at the tight bun on the back of Professor Gilliam’s head. “Did you do something I should know about?”
“Did I— Come on, Murphy. No way. Even if I did, I wouldn’t set you up to get in trouble for it.”
She gave him a sidelong glance and smirked. “Well, I appreciate that hypothetical chivalry, but it doesn’t change the fact that we were pulled out of class for no reason.”
“What if it’s about Raven?”
Professor Gilliam stopped at the bottom of the winding staircase that led into the tower and the headmaster’s quarters. She studied them both for a moment, her lips pressed firmly together, then walked ahead of them and simply expected them to follow. They did.
“Henry, for the bajillionth time, I don’t know where Raven is. She’s more likely to tell you if something happened.”
“I dunno.” He scratched his head and followed her up the stairs. “What if it’s something more for…you know. Girl talk or whatever.”
“Really? You think either of us are super into girl talk?”
“You’re girls. And you talk.”
Murphy exhaled a sharp sigh. “Unless she suddenly decided she hates both of us and cooked something up to get us in trouble, I really don’t think this has anything to do with Raven.”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
“I know.” Henry almost knocked into her when she stopped below Professor Gilliam at the top of the staircase.
The woman knocked quickly on the door, and Headmaster Flynn’s voice came through with perfect clarity. “Come in.”
Gilliam opened the door, stood on the second-to-last stair, and gestured for the two young people to enter. Murphy took a deep breath and walked into the study. Behind her, Henry gulped and glanced at Maxwell’s head peeking over the top of his messenger bag. “We’ll be fine, Maxwell. Don’t worry.”
The professor stepped into the room, stopped beside the door, and closed it behind her. Headmaster Flynn stood behind his desk. On the other side of it, three chairs had been placed in a half-circle. In one of them, Bella Chase turned to look at them with wide eyes. Wesley perched on her shoulder with his tail wound tightly around her neck.
Henry frowned. “What’s she doing here?”
“Miss Chase is the one who asked me to pull you both from class and have you brought here to join us, Mr. Derks.” Flynn’s long beard jerked oddly against his chest as his jaw clenched and unclenched. “I wanted to wait but Miss Chase was more insistent than usual. She has already spent considerable time with Leander and I was unavailable when she first arrived at my office. Given the nature of the problem, she is understandably impatient.”
“We didn’t do anything,” Murphy added. “Whatever it is, it wasn’t us.”
He glanced at Gilliam with a small frown, then gestured toward the open chairs beside Bella. “You’re not here for punishment, Miss Murphy. Please take a seat. You won’t want to be standing when you hear what we have to say.”
The girl rubbed her forehead slowly and headed toward the chair beside Bella, who watched her with a concerned frown and glanced at Henry.
“Aw…fine.” He sighed heavily and shuffled toward the last chair. “This doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.” Bella bit her lip and leaned back in her chair. “But it could be worse.”
“Oh, yeah? How?”
Headmaster Flynn stared at his desk as he lowered himself slowly into his own chair. He folded his hands neatly on his desk and gazed at each of the missing mage’s friends. “This morning, Miss Chase brought to my attention a certain development regarding Raven Alby, and we both agreed it was the right thing to let you know what’s happened.”
All the skepticism drained out of Henry—along with all the color from his face—and the armrests of the chair creaked beneath his tightening grasp.
“We have reason to believe that Miss Alby was abducted during the early hours of the morning—”
“Abducted?” The young man lurched forward in his chair. “You mean like kidnapped?”
“Perhaps.”
Murphy paled too. “By whom?”
“We have yet to discover that missing piece of the puzzle, Miss Murphy.” Flynn’s upper lip twitched in discomfort. “As of this moment, Miss Chase has confirmed that your friend is still very much alive and so far unharmed. We’re now doing everything we can to find her and bring her safely back to Fowler Academy.”
Henry cleared his throat. “What about Leander?”
“He is outside on the field.”
He folded his arms and slumped in the chair again. “I call bull.”
“Mr. Derks—”
“Nope. No way. If Raven really was kidnapped or abducted or whatever, that dr
agon would be out there getting her back.”
“Please lower your—”
“If anyone even tried to put a hand on her, Leander would rip them to pieces. You know that. What’s really going—”
“We’re not making this up, Henry,” Bella shouted and twisted in her chair so she could face him. “Raven contacted me this morning with basically a calling potion, okay? She told me everything.”
“Then why’s her dragon here?”
“They were separated,” the headmaster interjected. “Professor Worley has spent the last few hours this morning getting as much information as he can from Leander. Who, I might add, is incredibly distressed by this turn of events.”
“So am I!” The young man gestured wildly, then settled his hand on his head and rubbed his hair vigorously.
Beside him, Murphy sat rigidly in her chair and stared at the edge of the desk. When she blinked, a tear rolled down her cheek, and she looked at Headmaster Flynn. “What can we do?”
Henry perked up a little. “Yeah. Tell us what needs to happen, and we’re on it.”
The man took a deep, heavy breath. “I admire your dedication to Miss Alby and your willingness to step in during a crisis. I really do. But as of now, the responsibility falls onto this school and its staff, not it’s students.”
“What are you saying?” Henry leaned forward.
“I’m saying there is nothing you can do, Mr. Derks.” Flynn’s eyebrows drew together in pain and sympathy. “Let us take care of it. And when we know more, we’ll tell you.”
“Are you serious?”
“Quite.”
He stared at Murphy and Bella, his eyes wide and pleading. “Did he tell us to do nothing?”
Bella folded her arms. “He’s been telling me that all morning.”
“We can’t just do nothing,” he shouted. “My best friend’s been kidnapped, we don’t know where she is, and the only person who can really protect her isn’t actually a person and is here instead of with her!”
“Mr. Derks—”
“We helped with the raiders.” Murphy’s voice was low and soft but it held steady as she looked up to meet Flynn’s gaze. “Should we have done nothing that day, too?”
The headmaster’s lips parted to reply, but he glanced at Professor Gilliam instead. She didn’t have anything to say, either. “Miss Murphy, protecting this school and your professors by being in the right place at the right time is one thing. Intentionally putting yourself in harm’s way to find and rescue your friend, wherever she may be, is something else entirely.”
“No, it’s not. You said we helped save the kingdom after the raider attack. All of us. Finding Raven and bringing her back is saving the kingdom.”
“Yeah!” Henry pointed at his friend. “That’s exactly what I was gonna say next.”
“We’re Raven’s friends,” the girl added. “If anyone should help to find her right now, it’s us.”
“Until we know more about the situation, Miss Murphy, I can’t allow any of you to—”
“We’ll help you find out more,” Henry interjected and pushed to his feet. “We’ll talk to everyone, talk to Leander, ask if anyone saw what happened—”
“Sit down, Mr. Derks!” Headmaster Flynn’s voice cracked through his circular office despite the fact that he hadn’t left his chair and didn’t move. On the far side of the room, Rider snorted.
The young man stumbled toward his chair and dropped into it.
“I’m sorry to have to take these measures. The three of you have done more than your fair share for Fowler Academy, Brighton, and the kingdom. But I will not endanger any more of my students, and I will not allow you three to endanger yourselves. I expect to see you all in your classes, studying diligently to pass your finals at the end of the year—which is coming up rather quickly. And it is my fervent hope that each of you passes your first year to continue your schooling at this academy.”
The three young mages stared blankly at their headmaster.
Professor Gilliam cleared her throat. “You’re excused from the rest of your classes for the day. But tomorrow, you’re to return to your regular schedules and attend every class. That is how you can help Raven the most. Keep taking care of yourselves and uphold your responsibilities until we bring her safely back to Fowler.”
“Thank you, Professor Gilliam.” Flynn nodded at her, flustered by his inability to do anything else. His gaze drifted over the three students. “You may go.”
“Yeah.” Henry lurched to his feet and jerked his shoulder bag toward him when it caught on the armrest. “Raven can’t go anywhere, though, can she?”
Flynn held the boy’s gaze until Henry whirled and headed toward the door. Bella and Murphy pushed to their feet silently and followed. “Let me make this clear, young mages.”
Henry stiffened and didn’t turn to face the headmaster. The girls gave him wide-eyed glances over their shoulders.
“If I see or hear or even suspect any of you are looking into this on your own, you will be removed from this school. This is not a game.”
The young wizard thumped his hand against the door and shoved it open. Murphy and Bella followed him into the winding staircase, and Professor Gilliam pulled the door shut, leaving her and Headmaster Flynn alone in his office.
“I can’t believe this,” Henry muttered as he stamped down the steps. “He wants us to do absolutely nothing. It’s not like this is some other kid we met at the beginning of the year. This is Raven.”
“What are we gonna do?” Murphy stopped on the stairs to scoop Fritz into her arms and held him close to her chest.
“Not nothing, Murph. I’ll tell you that much.”
“You heard him, though. We’ll be expelled if he thinks we’re doing anything but sitting like good little students through all our classes.” The girl sighed despondently. “Do they seriously think we can simply forget about Raven and focus on school like nothing happened?”
“That’s why he wanted to wait until the end of the day to tell you,” Bella said.
“Oh, but you wanted to bring us in first thing in the morning and ruin our entire day.” He waved his hand dismissively but didn’t turn to look at her. “Real thoughtful of you, Bella.”
“Hey, my day started with Raven waking me up way too early with that spell and telling me to get over here and handle everything for her.”
“Poor Bella Chase.” He snorted. “Here’s what I wanna know. Why the hell did Raven use a calling potion to talk to you? I’ve been her best friend since before we could walk. And you… Do you guys even like each other?”
Wesley screeched as they reached the bottom of the staircase. Henry ducked his head as the sharp sound echoed against the walls and he stormed into the hallway.
“Henry!” Bella shouted.
His shoulders slumped before he turned slowly to face her. “What?”
“I get that you’re upset, okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Good. Then we’re on the same page—”
“Will you please—” Bella glanced up and down the hall and lowered her voice. “Listen to me for two minutes. That’s it.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets and fixed her with a deadpan stare. Murphy stepped quietly beside them to form a small triangle of mage students in the empty hallway.
“First of all, Raven and I do like each other, actually. And yeah, I’d even say we’re friends. She’d probably say the same thing.”
“Congratulations.”
Murphy elbowed him in the side and shook her head.
“Look, if I didn’t care about what happens to her, I could’ve simply forgotten about the whole thing, gone back to sleep, and left everybody else to figure this out on their own. But I do care. And I’m the person she called, so I’m a part of this too.”
“And you still haven’t answered my question about that. Why did she call you?”
Bella took a deep breath and closed her eyes. I can’t keep secrets now. “Because the spell she cast t
o do it only works if the person you’re trying to contact knows the same spell and can use it too.”
Henry snorted. “That’s a lame excuse.”
“It’s the truth, Henry. Alessandra taught us the spell only a few days ago. It’s a good thing Raven and I are as skilled with magic as we are. Otherwise, no one would know a thing beyond what her terrified dragon can spit out between his attempts to tear the stables down.”
The two friends shared a glance, and Murphy clutched Fritz a little tighter before she asked, “You talked to Leander?”
“Yeah. I guess he likes me too or something. I don’t know. But that’s…” She shrugged and glanced at the front doors of the main building. “Actually, I have an idea.”
“Good for you. I’ll take a walk.” Henry whirled and stormed toward the front doors.
“Come on, Murphy.” Bella nodded and hurried after Henry.
The other girl watched her and muttered, “My friends call me Murphy.”
“Well, if we’re not friends after we save Raven together, I’ll stick with calling you Anne Marie, okay?”
The mages headed outside into the warm morning. Henry glanced over his shoulder and snorted. “I didn’t ask if you wanted to come with me.”
“I don’t care.”
“Wait a minute.” Murphy hurried to catch up. “You said after we save Raven. Are you serious?”
“Of course she’s not serious, Murph.” He spun and gave Bella a disparaging look. “She cares more about graduating at the top of the class than anything else. Even Raven. She’s not gonna throw that away and risk being expelled.”
Bella folded her arms and shifted her weight to one side. “You really think you have me all figured out, don’t you?”
“It wasn’t very hard.”
“Guys, can we please cool it for two seconds?” Murphy stepped between them and Fritz leapt from her arms. “Seriously. Bella said she had an idea and she wants to help.”
“I do.” The other girl nodded. “And for your information, Henry Derks, the only thing I really wanted before this morning was to graduate first in our class and get out of Brighton with the best mage assignment I could find. That’s been my dream for longer than I can remember.”