I put the fork down and pushed a lock of hair behind my ear, trying to look self-important. There were rumors circulating that I was Nyquist’s favorite. I had saved the man’s life and he’d, very publicly, given me a Dandelion Wish, after all. It was only fair that I should take advantage of the misinformation.
“What reasons?!” Cruise demanded.
“Oh, I don’t know.” I waved a hand in the air, acting clueless.
“Well, they’re wrong,” Pierce said, beet-red with anger. “We can help. We’ve learned tons in the past few weeks. Advanced stuff that has nothing to do with cooking and keeping your warlock husband happy.” He made an obscene gesture like he was sticking something in his mouth and moving it in and out.
He sneered, and I had to stuff my hands under my legs not to deck him right then and there.
“Besides, Nyquist is not what he’s cracked up to be,” Pierce went on. “He’s already failed. Time travel ain’t for old chumps. He needs to let someone else try.”
I almost choked on my own spit and had to hold my breath to make sure I didn’t give away my surprise. Time travel? The subversives were right. That was his plan for the Loopers.
Cruise crumpled his milk carton and stood up, his expression revealing his frustration. “I don’t know why he’s so obsessed with that bitch, anyway. So what if she was dean before he was? He already kicked out the Lessers and put women in their right place. What else does he want?” The question had an edge of desperation to it.
“Yeah,” Pierce added. “That Lynssa bitch is already dead. It’s not like he can kill her again.”
Chapter Fifteen
FALL SEMESTER
LATE SEPTEMBER
“We have to contact them, Lawson. I’m telling you. Something bad is going to happen to Lynssa.”
I stared into Lawson’s eyes, trying to convey my panic as he appeared nonchalant. I knew he wanted it to seem, to the three girls staring at us across the quad, that I was upset by his womanizing, but the smug smile on his face was infuriating.
“Are you listening?” I said, grabbing his shirt and tugging.
"Oh, hey there. Hands off the merchandise, doll. This cost eight-hundred dollars." He extricated my fingers from his oversized Rorschach-patterned T-shirt.
"Did it really?" I asked, incredulous.
He shrugged. "Lawson’s got money."
Whatever. It didn't matter how much his shirt cost. What mattered was the tidbit I'd learned from Pierce and Cruise, which I had shared with Lawson under a cloaking spell on a quick trip to town that we had to cut short when some of his fans spotted us.
Nyquist was trying to get to the younger version of Lynssa. Why? Cruise implied that Nyquist hated the fact that Lynssa had become dean before he did—the same thing Lawson had said. Did the old man’s desire to travel back in time have anything to do with that? Was he so bitter about losing the post to a woman that he was willing to mess with time travel? Or was there another reason? What if he somehow knew that Lynssa was alive and she would soon return to reclaim her rightful place? The subversives needed to be warned and the only person I knew who might be able to contact them was my sexy and incredibly infuriating boyfriend.
Was he my boyfriend? I had no idea and I didn't have time to ask now.
"How can we send a message?" I said, trying to stay cryptic in case others were listening.
He glanced over his shoulder, surveying the scene. It was the middle of the day, between classes. The weather had cooled off a bit and people were out enjoying the sunshine without the sweltering heat. Boys hung in groups trying spells or glancing at girls who sat on benches or blankets strewn across the manicured lawn. Now that they couldn't fraternize in the dorms, a lot more flirting happened out in the open, which made what Lawson and I were doing seem pretty commonplace, but still, we couldn't risk being overheard.
"We'll talk later," Lawson said, getting up and running a mule-ringed hand down his eight-hundred dollar shirt. Then he leaned over where I sat on the bench, his lips brushing my ear in a way that made my spine tingle. "Meet me at eight by the lake."
"I'm not allowed down there that late," I whispered back, hoping no one noticed how flushed I was with his lips so close to mine.
"I spoke to someone we both know the other day. He reminded me of a gift he gave you last year. You'll find it very useful tonight when you come to see me. And bring a friend if you want. The more the merrier." He winked.
He was pretending to be crass but letting me know to bring Disha along as well. But what did he mean the gift I'd been given last year? Nyquist had presented me with a Dandelion Wish but that was gone as soon as I used it.
Then it hit me—the little silver box Fedorov had given me right before I'd traveled back to the Academy. When I'd gotten back to my dorm room the night of the big fight, I found it in my bed. I’d seen Fedorov use it to snuff out Nyquist's protection spells, but that was the only time I'd witnessed what it could do. I'd been too afraid to test it out at school with the M.L.E. around and, when we'd been at Disha's, I'd worried I might blow up her house on accident. All this time, it had been packed in the false lining of my suitcase, shoved under my bed in the hopes I would see Fedorov again and he could instruct me.
Was Lawson saying it could help me break the rules and sneak around a bit? If that was true, it could open up all kinds of possibilities.
But how could I test it out before tonight?
As Lawson sauntered off, I grabbed my bag and headed back to our dorm. As luck would have it, Disha was there, splayed out on her bunk with a book on her stomach. The cover read, "The Modern Witch: Fifty Practical Housekeeping Spells and Recipes."
"Hey," I said, running over and slinging my bag on the top bunk. "I need to talk to you."
"But how can I pull myself away from this mildew cleaning spell? It's just too good." She chucked the book to the end of the bed and looked like she might engulf it in flames with one of the roasting spells we'd learned. "What's up?"
I sat next to her as I slid my suitcase from under the bunk bed. Checking to see that no one was around, I unvelcroed the false lining and showed her Fedorov's little silver box.
"Remember this?"
She nodded. "What about it?"
"The person I went to meet today told me it might be useful. For, you know, getting around some things. Things that we didn't have to worry about before."
I met her gaze so I knew she was following me. We had to be careful what words we used since listening spells had been detected. Certain words or strings of words would alert administration or the M.L.E. so we'd begun to speak in code.
Disha nodded along. "I think I understand. But what are you suggesting?"
"What are you doing later?" I asked. "We need to study at eight PM." I made my fingers look like walking legs at the word study.
"Where do you want to study?"
I pondered this for a while. "Remember where you met Juan Carlos?"
She nodded, her face going dreamy. "He was so sexy. But, Drew is sexier," she added, growing serious.
"Of course. But you remember?"
"Yes. We study. Eight o’clock. With Juan Carlos. And this will help us." She pointed to the box.
"Hopefully.” The plan sounded crazy as she said it. And we risked, not only foibles, but my spy status and possibly our freedom if we were caught.
"If you have plans with Drew, I understand," I told her.
My beautiful friend pushed hair out of her eyes. She looked tired. We all did, but she was as steadfast as ever. "Charlie, if you're studying, I'm studying."
I leaned into her, throwing an arm around her slim shoulders. "I wouldn't make it without you."
She hugged me back. "I know. Your hair would be a mess."
At seven-forty-five, Disha and I "headed for the library." Other than the dorms, it was one of the few places females were allowed to go during the weekdays after seven PM. Most other locations had to have special permission. It made me long for the days of
wandering around campus late at night, getting into trouble. Sure, a lot of bad had happened during those times, but a lot of good too. Plus, being policed like toddlers felt increasingly suffocating. It was supposed to be for our “safety.” What a load of crap!
Either way, when we got to the tree-lined path between our dorms and the quad, I pulled Disha behind a large clump of foliage and drew out Fedorov's secret box.
"Keep a lookout," I said. "I need to see if this thing can cloak us somehow."
"You got it." With her hands in her black hoodie, Disha scanned the surrounding area as I mulled over the box.
It was rectangular with two buttons on the top, very simple in construction with no directions or words on it whatsoever. I knew that Fedorov had cast some magic over it and then pressed one of the two buttons, but I had no idea what he'd said or even which button he'd pushed. Plus, what I was trying to do was different than disarming spells inside a person's house. I was trying to cloak Disha and me without setting off any alarms, but any attempt could instantly bring the M.L.E. down on us.
Frustrated, I bit my lip. "Should I just press a button?"
Eyes darting about, Disha shrugged. "Fedorov didn't say anything about how to use it?"
"Nope. He couldn’t have known we'd be in such a lockdown mode and I would need it. Or maybe he thought he'd see me in time to tell me what to do."
"Or maybe he thought you could figure it out," Disha added.
I chewed on this. Would Fedorov have assumed I knew how to use this thing? Did he think I understood enough to be able to make it happen on my own? To be fair, we'd been under extreme stress during that time and my memories were foggy.
Dammit. I was letting people down again. Anger heated up my cheeks, but I felt another heat, as well. This time it grew steadily from the cuffs. The box had also grown warm as if keeping it in close proximity to my magical items had awakened it. Maybe Fedorov used his cufflinks in a similar fashion. Either way, hope sprouted out of my dismay.
"Hold on," I muttered. Then I closed my eyes and tapped into my cuffs.
Instead of trying to look at the box, I tried to feel the box. Using my cuffs as a guide, I let my mind flow from the magical energy at my wrists to the magical energy in my hand. It was a different sort than I was used to, a chocolate to my vanilla, but I could feel it. Each button on the top also had a different signature. I hovered my fingers over them, testing out their magical flavor. The one on the left seemed cold and the one on the right was hot.
If I was trying to cancel magic, didn't I want to freeze it? Chill it out?
It was the best guess I had.
"Get ready to run," I told Disha as my finger hovered over the button.
I thought of a cloaking spell in my mind and then slowly pressed the button.
There was a whoosh of air as a tingle of magic swirled around us. When I looked up, Disha was staring at a semi-transparent bubble that had formed in a six-foot diameter around us. As I watched, she reached out and brushed its surface with her fingers.
"Is it working?" I asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "Only one way to find out."
She took my hand and, together, we stepped out of our tree cover. We headed toward the library until we saw a group of guys gathered around some sort of light show.
When we approached their circle, we saw that one of the boys was projecting something from the palm of his hand, a memory spell like I'd seen from Bonnie and Nyquist. And judging from the moaning, he’d captured some sexcapade and was replaying for his friends.
Asshole.
"Great wholesome values from the men at the Supernatural Academy," Disha murmured.
"Nyquist would probably pat them on the back and say, ‘Good job,’" I replied with growing rage.
"Hey," I said, out loud. "You guys are jerks."
None of them responded.
"They can't hear you. Let's try something else."
Before I could stop her, Disha began casting, her fingers moving at prodigious speed before shooting outward.
At first, they kept watching the memory spell with no effect, but then, one began scratching his chest. Then another. Soon, all three were examining their chests as small mounds began to form under their shirts.
"Oh, God. What's happening?" They stared down their collars, horrified as their breasts began to swell.
"Disha, what did you do?" I asked, a small panic building.
"One of my textbooks had a boob enhancement spell sketched into the margins," she grinned. "Don't worry. It wears off in twenty-four hours."
"Oh, my God. Let's get out of here before they call M.L.E." I tugged her away. She glanced at them one more time, grinning like a maniac as they crossed their arms over their chests.
"You have to admit it was pretty damn funny," Disha said as she ran.
"Can you imagine them going to class tomorrow with D cups?"
“They’ll probably spend all night between horror and the desire to touch themselves.”
We laughed as we sped toward the lake. No officers appeared to give us foibles or tell us we were out of bounds. The bubble was working and the possibilities now seemed endless.
The sun had disappeared beneath the tree line as we made it to the lake. Disha and I had decided against a transportation spell. Now that we knew our cloaking bubble worked, we didn't want to risk popping it by trying to make it travel. Before we figured out exactly how Fedorov's box worked, the fewer risks the better. There was no way I wanted it confiscated now that I knew how much it could help in my quest.
We approached the water. Tall trees surrounded the quiet, mid-sized lake that rippled in the night breeze. As I glanced around, two figures stepped out of the shadows. Drew and Lawson advanced toward us.
Disha waved excitedly but seemed to think better of leaping onto Drew from inside our bubble. Because of this, the boys couldn't see us and stood waiting patiently as we approached.
"Let's sneak up on them," I offered.
We walked toward the boys until we were only a few feet away. Then, I felt for the magical signature until I could sense which button would turn it off. While I pictured a ceasing spell in my head, I pressed the button.
Another whoosh let me know it had worked.
"Holy shit!"
Lawson and Drew jumped back, startled by our sudden appearance.
"Gotcha," Disha said, strolling over to throw her arms around Drew.
I glanced away, turning my eyes to Lawson. Our friends’ public displays of affection were always awkward, given that our situation was much more tenuous.
"That was some stunt, doll," Lawson said, smirking. His hair was mid-length and pink-tipped this time, though he seemed to be wearing the semi-normal attire of a Braves t-shirt and ripped jeans.
I glared at him for the doll comment and he held up his hands in defense.
"Sorry. Not doll. Woman. Esteemed female of the witching kind. So, the box worked?"
I nodded. "No proximity alarms out here?"
He shook his head. "Drew checked. He has access to all their alarm spell locations. Helpful."
"Extremely," I said. "This box, too. Why did Fedorov wait so long to tell me? I could have been using this thing from day one and making my life a hell of a lot easier."
"They've been busy," Lawson said, his smile turning down.
"What does that mean?”
Drew brought Disha closer so we could all talk. "Charlie, Turkey has been... compromised. They're on the move now. And being pursued."
My throat constricted. "What? Is everyone okay?"
Drew and Lawson exchanged a look. "We don't know."
"You don't know?" I gripped the metal box so hard I worried I might break it. "We need to find out. Fedorov. Nurse Taishi. The McIntosh triplets."
Lawson put a soothing hand on my arm. "We're worried, too, Charlie. I tried to contact them tonight to tell them what you've learned and that’s when I found out what happened. I've thought about leaving and joining them
, see if there's anything else I can do to help."
"No!" I said, reflexively, then backed off. "I mean, don't we need you here?"
He raised an eyebrow but didn't press. "Let's see what they have to say. I'm going to need your cloaking bubble around all of us, though. This communication spell is certain to set off alarms if it isn't blocked. Last time I did it, I was a hundred miles from here."
Quickly, I used the box to project a larger bubble around the four of us while Lawson made a circle on the ground with ashes and animal bones and began chanting. When the incantation was complete, the four of us held hands.
Lawson's face was serious now. "Our spirits are about to travel to where our friends are, but we won't be able to move. They can see us and hear us, but not touch us. It's kind of like astral projection. And it only lasts for half an hour."
Lawson leaned down and lit the circle on fire with a flick of his fingers.
I felt the magic immediately, a hand of energy traveling up and down my body. The taste of metal filled my mouth and my heart throbbed.
Then, I was falling.
I landed in long grass. It swayed around me, tickling the tips of my fingers. A gentle breeze caressed my face.
Light streamed down from a big, bright moon, highlighting a field that extended as far as the eye could see. Disha, Drew and Lawson were in their positions around me. Their features wavered a little like they were holograms of themselves. I, too, felt... less than.
My spirit is here, but my body is back on campus. Weird!
But where was Lynssa?
An explosion of light and sound rumbled the earth behind me. Drew turned to look and his eyes grew huge, as blue and red light reflected in his pupils.
Whirling around, I saw what had drained the color from his face.
There were our friends, only a few yards away, engaged in a magical battle against none other than Mystro Ponomarenko, the powerful mentalist who had fought alongside Nyquist and the regents the day we rescued Anama.
And our friends were losing.
Senior Witch, Fall Semester Page 11