Maddy flipped it open with the reverence a book that looked ten thousand years old deserved. Concerned it wouldn’t even be in English, I peeked over her shoulder, fingers crossed behind my back.
“It’s the history of winged shifters,” she said, awe tingeing her voice. Page by page, she leafed through the book. With every turn, the writing grew more current and legible; gone was the scratch of a crude implement. By the final page, it was filled with the lofty scroll of a quill and ink—utterly beautiful. “This says that, as of the time this was recorded, there were no longer winged shifters in existence.” Her words came out hollow, and I whipped around to look at her.
“But you exist, Maddy, so clearly that’s wrong. Maybe they missed someone?”
She rushed to the tiny table in the center of the room and placed the book down. “Let me go through some of the rest of it. I want to see what else it says.”
“All right. Guess it’s time for the magical-balls book, then,” I said, backing away to give her space. “You got anything on crystal balls that like to pop out of nowhere into my pocket?”
Just as it had for Maddy, the room’s light shifted to a book on the farthest wall, so high that I thought I'd have to climb onto Maddy’s shoulders to reach it. But like a good ancient tome, it wiggled itself free and fell to the floor with an elegant thud.
My sister was too entrenched in her reading to be bothered, so I sat down next to the book and gingerly set it in my lap. There was an ornate symbol woven in metal on the front, protruding from the leather. There was something familiar about the pattern, but foreign at the same time. I didn’t know what to make of that, but I did know that the marble in my pocket warmed in its presence, as though the magical book of balls called to it.
I began to open the cracked leather cover carefully, but the faint sound of footsteps approaching sent Maddy and me to our feet, our panic blending together into one massive ‘oh shit’ aura.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
“What do we do?” The footsteps grew louder, and Maddy’s body went rigid.
“I was hoping you had a suggestion, because I really don’t want to try my ‘burn it all down’ idea right now.”
“They’re getting closer!” she hissed at me.
“Fuck!” I grabbed Maddy’s hand and squeezed it hard. “We have to get out of here right now!”
Before we could move...before we could blink...before another thought could even begin to form in our minds, the library disappeared. In place of the vintage shelves and dusty books, we found mint green walls, two twin beds, and a bathroom whose door remained shut from when Aidan had closed it.
I looked to where Maddy clutched her book to her chest, just as I did mine.
“Cece,” she said, her voice illustrating just how unnerved she was, “where in the hell are we?”
“My room, Mads,” I told her, my voice as shaky as hers. “We're in my room.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Maddy
When someone banged on the door, I jumped, and my wide eyes met Cece’s.
“What if it’s the headmaster or a keeper?” I whispered. “We’re not allowed to have anyone in our rooms.” Aidan had used glamour the night before to keep us hidden, but neither Cece nor I had that skill.
“Hide,” she hissed, flicking her hand toward the room in general.
Sure. In an eight-by-ten room? I glanced around frantically and ditched my initial crawl-underneath-the-bed idea. Bathroom. While Cece smoothed her dyed-blue hair and tightened her spine, girding herself for whoever might be outside, I scurried into the small, musty bathroom and yanked the door closed.
“Who’s there?” Cece called out. Kudos to her for sounding sleepy, as if she’d just woken up from a nap. If I’d been in her place, I’d be grinding my teeth to dust and coated with sweat.
Wait. The book about winged shifters! Crap. I’d left it on Cece’s bed. I poked my head out of her bathroom and was about to scurry toward the book when Aidan’s voice filtered in from outside.
My pulse halved in a second, and my shoulders loosened. Before my legs gave way, I crossed the room and dropped down onto the bed. Cece opened the door and yanked Rhys and Aidan inside, then slammed it shut behind them.
After shooting her a frown, Rhys joined me on the bed, his face relaxing. “Hey,” he said. He stroked a strand of hair off my face, tucking it behind my ear, and smiled. “Missed you. Where you been?”
“Oh, just jumping out of trees and exploring hidden rooms.” And hiding in bathrooms. Normal, everyday stuff.
Aidan’s shoulders twitched, but he remained near the door, his intent gaze focused on me. I barely resisted squirming.
“You are not going to believe what happened,” I gushed, my nervousness shoved aside by excitement.
“Maddy has had quite a morning,” Cece said. She dropped down onto the floor and leaned against the wall opposite Rhys and me, stretching out her legs. Aidan continued to hold up the door, though now he’d linked his arms across his chest.
I explained about Wolfy, the tree, and jumping.
“Wait,” Rhys said, “how far up in the tree were you?”
I shrugged. “Twenty, thirty feet? Not sure.”
“She sprouted wings!” Cece said in excitement. “Or at least we think they had to have been wings…” Her gaze flicked to Aidan before darting back to us. “This means her shifter side isn’t buried like she was told.” Her head slanted toward Aidan as she explained. “When Mads still hadn’t shifted, her mom took her to a doctor who told her—”
“That my witch side must be so strong, it was suppressing my shifter ability,” I jumped in to say. “With the power I’ve been able to manifest, it made sense that the other part of me might remain dormant.”
“Yet here you are.” Rhys’s approval and admiration made my heart sing. “What do you shift into? Obviously not a fox like your mom.”
“I’m not exactly sure.” I pulled the book out from behind me, where I’d half sat on it. “But I think this might give me a clue.”
Rhys traced his finger across the embossed griffin on the front.
“When Cece and I were in the back of the library, a hidden room appeared,” I said. “Inside, we found a bunch of crud, cobwebs, and spiders.” I shivered. “But also books. Lots of them. Old ones like this one.”
“I just went to the library to look for you. Which room exactly are you talking about?” Aidan said softly, though a band of steel grated through his voice. If it wasn’t for the tic in his temple, I’d believe he was indifferent about all this.
Cece’s gaze was caught by his, and color rose into her face. Hmm. He was hot and all, but this boy breathed flames. If things were going in a romantic direction between them, he and Cece might be well matched. She always had enjoyed playing with fire.
“Let me think,” Rhys said with a frown. “There are tons of rumors surrounding this place. My grandfather once mentioned something about hidden rooms, and that must be one of them…” His gaze swept across the room. “Like the tunnel in the basement you and I crawled through. I hadn’t heard about a hidden library, though.”
“That’s not all,” I said. “When I was up in the tree, I saw that Wadsworth has a fourth floor. I don’t remember anyone mentioning that and it wasn’t on the blueprint we found.”
“I checked that level out after I arrived here,” Rhys said. “It’s mostly storage; more like an attic and not a real floor.”
No denying I was disappointed to hear that. It would’ve been nice to discover another Wadsworth secret. “I still feel like I need to see it.”
Rhys frowned. “Then let’s find a way.” He leaned back, staring down at me. “I guess you have had a crazy day.”
“I’m going to pore through the book tonight, but I thought I’d quiz Wolfy about my shifting ability, since he was obviously trying to force it by dragging me up into that tree. Well, I hauled him up there, actually.” Closing my eyes, I sent him a message. Hey, buddy. Time to ta
lk?
Silence stretched for too long before I tried hailing him again. Nothing. Weird. Usually, I could sense him in the back of my mind, but now it felt as if we’d never created a bond. As if he was somehow blocking me, or he’d never existed.
I didn’t like it. Rising, I turned to Rhys. “No reply from Wolfy.” I gnawed on a fingernail. “I’m worried. We don’t exactly chat a lot, but the few times in the past when I've sent him a message, he always replied.”
Rhys got up, too. “We could take a look around for him, if you want.”
I nodded, and my gaze fell on Cece, who’d climbed off the floor.
“You two do that,” she said. “Aidan and I…” He’d left the door and advanced toward her. “Let’s see if we can get back inside that room. We freaked out and bailed earlier when we heard someone coming because we thought we’d be caught. A blink later, and here we were.” While I sputtered, surprised she’d said anything about the teleportation, she seemed to realize what she’d divulged and quickly played it off. “I mean, not actually in a blink, but it just all happened so fast...”
Aidan’s fingers twitched at his sides. “I guess I must have just missed you two, then.” He didn’t comment further, not that I expected him to. He may have been chatty with Cece when they were alone, but he’d said almost nothing when he was around me.
“Hey, um, Rhys,” I said to change the subject, “let’s go look for Wolfy.” His ongoing lack of reply made me eager to rip the place apart to find him. Which wouldn’t go over well. It was enough that we’d tried to destroy the rogue power source in the basement. No need to tear down walls looking for a wolfling who would normally be spending his time in the headmaster’s office playing guard dog.
We parted.
After hiding the book under the mattress in my room, we combed the accessible areas on the first two floors, avoiding keepers and even the headmaster by ducking into empty rooms and closets. We found no trace of my mini-wolf friend. Our search ended in the hall with the classrooms.
“I wonder where he is,” I said.
“He’s around somewhere. I imagine he’ll find you when he wants to see you.”
“You’re probably right.” I huffed. “Maybe he decided chasing mice and bugs was a good idea after all.”
“Bugs?”
“An inside joke.”
“Tell me more later, then? I’ve got a class,” Rhys said.
“Classes here are not worth attending.” Jumping from a tree, however, might have been just what I needed.
With a mischievous smile, Rhys nudged me up against the wall and braced his forearms on either side of my head. He nuzzled my neck, his breath tickling. “You smell good.”
“Fresh air. Sunshine.” Trees, but... My thoughts swirled away from me when his lips captured mine. I pressed myself against him and wrapped my arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss.
“Excuse me? Students!” an older voice said. “That’ll be enough hanky-panky in the halls, please.”
Rhys lifted his head, and his eyes locked with mine. A tease played across his lips. “Hanky-panky, huh?”
We both laughed, though we kept it quiet as the teacher came closer.
Defying her, Rhys gave me another kiss before easing away from me. His hand slid down my arm to link our fingers together.
We turned to face Nancy from Group Session standing nearby, glaring.
“Break it up, kids,” she said, her gaze narrowing on our linked hands. She directed her attention to me. “Do you have a moment to chat, Madeline? I won’t take up too much of your time.”
I leaned into Rhys’s shoulder. “We were just—”
“It’s okay. I really do have to go,” Rhys said, defiantly kissing me again, though quickly. “I’ve got to get to that class before I’m late. Save me a seat at lunch?”
I nodded and stared after him while he walked down the hall and through the door. My attention remained focused in that direction until Nancy tugged on my sleeve.
“Madeline? This won’t take but a minute or two.” The smile she lifted shone in her eyes. “Interesting young man. From a nice family.”
“Um, yeah.” And, um, no, I didn’t really want to talk about my boyfriend or our relationship with Nancy.
“Why don’t you come into my classroom?” she said, leading the way to a room further down the hall. She tugged open the door and her smile remained true as she waved for me to go ahead of her. “I was thinking back to what happened the other day.”
“With Janie?” I asked.
Her penciled-in eyebrows furrowed. “Actually, I was thinking about your difficulty working with your magic and how stressed you must be about it.” Dragging two metal chairs close together, facing each other, she patted one. “Please. Sit.”
Suppressing a long sigh, I perched on the edge of a chair while she dropped onto the one across from me.
She clasped her hands together loosely on her lap and sent me a look that suggested she was trying to come across as kind and reassuring. That I could spill my guts without her smile wavering. “I wondered if you’d like to set up some private sessions, solely with me, where we could see what we could do to coax your reluctant magic to the surface.”
“But…” I sputtered, “you still want me to practice with my magic? After what happened?”
Leaning forward, she rubbed my arm. “Now, dear, don’t fear. We all have problems making our magic cooperate on one occasion or another. You’re going to have to work a little harder, that’s all.” She pressed her back against the chair and clapped her hands, a big smile appearing on her face. “I know we can make this work for you. While you might never achieve your full potential or be able to do more than rudimentary spells, I know we can fine-tune your magic enough that you’ll be able to live a satisfying life.”
I was filled with a solid urge to leap up from the chair and bolt from the room. My hands grew sweaty where they hung at my sides, and my heart had decided it should flail against my ribcage.
“We’ll only need a few sessions,” Nancy said. “I can schedule you for say...Monday? Or would Wednesday or Friday at seven be better?”
“I thought you brought me in here to talk about Janie. You were pissed off when I…when she was hurt.” Hurt was an understatement, but the prickly feeling along the back of my neck suggested caution.
Nancy’s sunny mood fled, and a frown dragged down her lips. “What do you mean about Janie?”
“My magic…it...” My mind was yanked back to how weird the headmaster had acted in his office. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Cece, Rhys, Aidan, and I were the only ones who remembered that anything outside the norm had happened at Wadsworth.
“Your magic?” she prompted. “That’s what I meant, dear. I’d love to help you fully develop your skills.”
“But you made me believe I’d killed Janie.”
Nancy’s jaw dropped. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s just…”
“Janie’s…” She went rigid, and her eyes rolled back in her head. Her arms jutted out at her sides, and her legs stretched forward and twitched. Full shudders took over her body.
I leaped to my feet and backed away from her, my mouth drier than sand.
She toppled onto the floor and flailed over onto her side.
I wrenched open the door, and as I rushed through the opening, I glanced back.
Nancy lay unmoving, staring forward.
With horror splintering my bones, I raced down the hall, opening each classroom door as I passed but finding no one inside.
“Help!” I yelled. My pulse pounded in my throat, and my breathing raged. “Someone! I need help!”
Wrenching open the door at the end of the hall, I slammed into a solid body and yelped.
Bill. One of the older keepers. Nice enough guy, though I’d only had a few short conversations with him. Apparently, he hadn’t been one of the headmaster’s crew the night before. Lucky guy.
I latched onto hi
s arms. “I need help,” I blubbered. “Nancy’s sick or…I don’t know. Just please, come with me!”
“Now, slow down there, missy.” His lips curled up in light humor, though the expression in his eyes would’ve made a would-be robber turn and flee through the front door of a bank. “Hold on. Take a moment to catch your breath and then tell me what the problem is.”
“Nancy. We were talking. Magic. Janie. She started twitching. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell on the floor.”
“Janie?”
“No, Nancy! I think something is really wrong.” I yanked on his sleeve, dragging him through the doorway and down the hall to the classroom.
His hand rose, and magic sparked across his fingers. “Wait here,” he said in a gruff voice. He strode inside but came to a quick stop. Growling, he turned back to me, his tone dropping quicker than the temperature at night in the middle of winter. “I don’t appreciate being fooled, missy.”
I pushed past him and stumbled into the classroom.
“Ah, Madeline,” Nancy said. Her hip rested against the desk, and she held a piece of paper in her hand. Reading glasses perched on the tip of her nose. “I was going to come looking for you.” Dropping the paper onto her desk, she lifted a notebook and pen and strolled toward me. A cajoling tone came through in her words. “Do you have a few moments to talk? I was thinking we could set up a few sessions.”
Reeling away from her—from him—I darted into the hall and ran.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Cece
The door clicked behind Maddy and Rhys, leaving Aidan and me and the big pink elephant alone in the room. As the silence stretched out, panic blossomed in my gut. I knew an interrogation was headed my way.
Which is why I was shocked as hell when I didn’t get one.
“So,” Aidan said, stepping toward me, “you bailed on me pretty quickly earlier.”
“Yeah, I just needed some space.”
Silence.
“About this morning—” He cut himself off, his focus shifting to the wall beyond where I stood. “I really didn’t mean to snub you. It wasn’t done out of malice. And it wasn't meant to diminish what we’ve been through together…”
Rogue Reformatory: Broken (Supernatural Misfits Academy Book 2) Page 6
