“Okay.” I closed my eyes and blew out a long breath, searching for the right words. “Okay.” I opened my eyes and, having failed to find the right words—if, in fact, there were any—launched into my tale. “Well, last night I was in my room, getting ready for bed, and I just happened to glance out my window, and there were these two hooded figures heading toward the woods…”
The three of them listened as I told them the whole story about Braden’s and my encounter with the masked cult in the woods. The only part I didn’t tell Madam Petrovich about was finding the strange magical stick. I wasn’t sure why, but some instinct told me to keep that information to myself.
Leia and Oliver gasped and exchanged a number of shocked looks during the telling, but Madam Petrovich maintained a stoic expression as she flipped through the pages of her clipboard and made notes.
“Thank you for honesty, Ms. Song.” Petrovich frowned at the clipboard before training her severe gaze back to me. “Only few more questions. You are sure you heard man in beaked mask say ‘first full moon of school year’?”
“Definitely,” I said.
“Hmph.” Madam Petrovich pursed her lips as she glanced down at her clipboard again. “Can you describe man’s knife?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll try.”
Petrovich raised her brow.
I closed my eyes and thought back to the scene in the clearing. I recalled the gold beak of the leader’s mask, though the rest of his masked face was concealed under the grey hood of his cloak. His hands were raised above him, and the silver metal of his dagger glinted in the flickering light of the huge fire.
“It was maybe six inches long? Silver blade, but I guess that’s pretty obvious.” My attention drifted to the prisoner’s terrified face and a surge of grief threatened to overwhelm me. I struggled to push the image out of my mind.
“No, is good, keep going. Anything else?” Madam Petrovich sounded far away, and I felt myself slipping into the memory, like sinking into a deep pool. “Even tiny detail might help.”
I squeezed my eyes shut even tighter, grimacing in concentration. The man’s golden beak shimmered as he nodded his head to emphasize his words. I couldn’t hear him, but I knew the message all too well. Witchkind’s rightful dominion over all creatures. Above his head the firelight caught on the golden cross-piece that ran perpendicular to the knife’s blade just above the handle.
“There was a little golden piece just above where he held it, like a hand guard or something.”
The terrified face of the bound prisoner came into focus again. His head jerked to the side with a horrible crunch and his expression went slack, his eyes frozen open as they regarded the sky with a vacant stare.
I snapped my eyes open, my heart pounding and my breath coming hard and fast. Leia’s fingers were interlaced with mine.
“It’s okay, you’re okay. They can’t get you here.” She patted my forearm with her other hand. Typically I wasn’t much for unnecessary physical contact, but the circumstances were far from typical, and I was surprised to find her touch reassuring.
“What the hell just happened? It’s like I was really back there in the woods. Not just remembering. Like, for real.” I shuddered. The blank, haunting expression of the nameless prisoner lingered in my memory.
Oliver gazed at me and shook his head in wonder. “Just another one of your many innate abilities, I guess.”
I quirked my head in his direction. “Ability?”
“Boy is right. Reflective trance does not come easy to most young witches. Is fairly unusual, especially for one who has not even taken Introductory Divination and Foresight. Madam Solari will be pleased to have student of your gifts.”
“I’m sorry I can’t remember more.” I turned to Madam Petrovich as she scribbled something on her clipboard.
“Is okay, Ms. Song. You did very good.” She looked up from her clipboard and smiled at me, the first time I had seen such an expression on her face. She slipped her pen back into one of the pockets near her waist. “This information will make Mr. Thomas’ recovery much better.”
“Can I see him?” I almost choked on the words as a lump formed in my throat.
Madam Petrovich scowled. “Out of the question. Mr. Thomas needs rest. Come back after classes, before dinner. Maybe short visit is possible then. Besides, you have class starting in,” she glanced over at the small clock on the bedside table, “forty-five minutes. No time for visiting. Not if you want breakfast and shower.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Oliver said. “You expect her to go to class after all this? Meena needs rest, too!”
“Psh.” She waved one thick hand dismissively. “Ms. Song is fine. Those masked idiots drained some of her energy, but she is strong young woman.” She gave me a clumsy wink. “Strong enough I expect to see her in my classroom on time and ready to learn, despite excitement of last night.” She turned to Leia and raised one eyebrow. “And same goes for you, Ms. Barrett. Impressive midnight poultice or no, tardiness rule applies to all students.”
“Are you kiddi” Oliver started to object further, but I interrupted.
“It’s okay Oliver, I’m fine. Little tired, but I can go to class. It’ll be good to do something relatively normal. Besides, I don’t want to attract extra attention to myself by missing the first day of classes. I don’t want anyone involved in that cult to suspect it was me in the clearing last night.”
“Smart girl.” Madam Petrovich raised an eyebrow as she smirked at me, but her gaze intensified as she furrowed her dark, bushy brows. “You must not share encounter with anyone else. You are right to keep secret. Trust no one.” She glanced over toward Leia and smiled. “Except maybe Ms. Barrett.” She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as she regarded Oliver. “This other one, maybe not so much.”
“Hey!” Oliver yelped, his brow wrinkled in outrage.
Madam Petrovich squinted at him for a few seconds before she shrugged and rose from her stool.
“Now run along little ones. Make sure Ms. Song get good breakfast. She need to rebuild strength.”
“Wait, what do you mean ‘trust no one’?” I glanced sideways at Leia, noting that she shared my concerned bewilderment.
“I mean, if cult is worried about school year, safe to assume they are affiliated with school, yes? But don’t worry much. Everything fine. Leave to me.” Petrovich waved a hand as she flung open the curtain. “Excuse me, I have other patients to see before class. For now, carry on with studies and forget this happen. I tell you when I find out more.”
Before any of us could say another word, she disappeared behind the curtain, her footsteps echoing off the linoleum floor.
Oliver scowled at the open curtain. “Well, I feel her bedside manner could be better.”
Leia scoffed. “You’re just grumpy because she thinks I’m more trustworthy than you.” She grinned and stuck out her tongue.
Oliver wrinkled his nose and stuck out his own tongue in disgust. “She only thinks that because you made some stupid poultice with your smelly herbs.”
“Uh, yeah, well those ‘smelly herbs’ probably saved Braden’s life.” Leia smirked as she turned to me for backup.
I raised my hands and shook my head, indicating my neutrality.
“Yeah, okay, fine. But just you wait until we’re in a life or death situation and the only thing that can save us is some obscure piece of historical information.” He folded his arms in front of him and looked away. “Then we’ll see who the trustworthy one is.”
All three of us nearly leapt into the air as a translucent, blue-hued head floated into the room through the open curtain and shouted at us.
“You’ve been discharged, now get out of Medical Wing!” Madam Petrovich’s tight bun and bushy eyebrows were still distinctive despite the shimmering transparency, and even as a floating head her presence dominated the space. Then again, maybe the presence of any floating head would dominate a room. “And remember, don’t be late! Forty minutes! Bre
akfast! Shower! Now go!” The floating head disappeared with a comical pop.
Oliver, Leia, and I all exchanged looks of astonishment before erupting with laughter.
Leia wiped tears away from her eyes as we finally composed ourselves. “Guess we’d better go.”
“Yeah, who knows what other body parts she’ll send after us next.” Oliver gave an exaggerated shudder.
“Agreed. Give me a minute to change out of this thing?” I pulled on the thin fabric of my hospital gown as I eyed my clothes, neatly stacked on a table next to the bed.
“Of course. Take your time. We’ll be right out here.” Leia led Oliver out of the room and closed the curtain behind them.
I held up my grey sweater. It had been covered in blood last night, but there was no trace of it now. The image of Braden’s unconscious face filled my mind, followed shortly by his bloody, gaping wound.
My head swam momentarily, but I forced the thoughts away, drawing a deep breath in through my nose and conjuring an image of a serene lakeside meadow. I clung to the peaceful image as I pulled on my clothes and laced up my sneakers, bracing myself mentally for what was sure to be an excruciatingly long day despite only having two classes scheduled—Basics of Restoration from nine to eleven a.m., then History of Magic 101 from one to three p.m.
I hoped that my first day of classes would prove a good distraction, but really, I couldn’t wait to come back here. I was already eager for the end of the day, when I could return to the Medical Wing and check in on Braden. Madam Petrovich’s belief that he was going to be okay elicited a strangely powerful feeling of hope and relief in me that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with.
Chapter 2
“I can’t believe I’m about to go to a straight up witch class,” I said as Leia and I made our way toward the Nightingale Center for Restorative Magic.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Leia bounced her eyebrows up and down.
“Yeah.” My chest fluttered with an unexpected sense of anticipation. “I mean, everything has pretty much gone as wrong as I could’ve imagined so far—not that I could have imagined any of this. But now that we’re about to really start classes, to learn about magic? I’m excited! I feel like maybe I shouldn’t be, but I totally am. Am I crazy?”
I had to wonder, after everything that had happened at BWA before classes even started. Why was I still here? Sure, I wanted to learn more about my grandmother’s secret life, but wasn’t there a less, I don’t know, deadly way to do that? I couldn’t help feeling I was already in too deep, though. The mystery and grandeur of the Academy had drawn me in, and I couldn’t walk away now. My former life already seemed flat when held up against this new, rich world of seemingly infinite possibility.
“You’re not crazy, Meena. You’re brave as heck. And you should be excited. I am.” Leia grinned and spread her arms wide. “We’re about to embrace our destiny!”
“But shouldn’t I be more disturbed about everything that’s happened?” I lowered my voice as we passed a group of students headed down the sidewalk in the other direction. “I mean, Braden and I almost got killed last night, and here I am enthusiastic about the first day of school like everything is fine and normal.”
“That’s because you’re where you’re supposed to be.” Leia clasped my shoulder. “Nothing can change that. Not some wicked girl, or even a murderous cult.” Her gaze intensified. “Trust me, girl. Once you start to learn to control your powers, nobody’s going to mess with you. Which reminds me.” She squinted and raised one eyebrow. “Why didn’t you tell Madam Petrovich about that staff I found you with?”
“Staff?” I cocked my head at her. “Oh, you mean that stick?” I waved away the question like I was shooing off a fly. “That was just some stick I found in the woods. I couldn’t go rushing in to save Braden empty-handed.” I shrugged and looked off across the quad, feigning disinterest.
She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Meena. You must know that’s not just some stick. There’s some serious magical vibrations coming off that thing.” She pursed her lips. “I know you’re not super in tune with your powers or anything, but even you must’ve sensed something.”
I paused as she eyed me with expectation. Clearly she wasn’t buying it.
“Yes, okay, I did feel some, vibrations, as you say.” I shrugged. “And maybe there was a minor blast of light at one point that may have blown a masked witch back a few feet.”
Leia raised her eyebrows and gave me a healthy dose of side-eye. “May have?”
“Okay, did. It definitely sent her flying.” I grinned, recalling the intoxicating power that had surged through me in that moment.
“Uh-huh. Just some stick my butt.” Leia chuckled. “So, why didn’t you tell Petrovich?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Some instinct just told me not to. It seemed like the kind of thing I didn’t want to advertise, I guess.” I shrugged again, unable to further explain my reasoning.
Leia again considered me through narrowed eyes. “You think we can’t trust Petrovich?”
“I don’t know what to think.” That was the honest truth. “All I know for sure is that some cult tried to kill me and Braden last night, and actually succeeded in killing some other poor guy.” I shut my eyes against the grief and shuddered, thinking again of the man’s wide, vacant stare. I shook off the unwelcome thought. “We know for sure that at least one Broken Wand student was involved, probably more. I think I just wanted to keep something up my sleeve, maybe? It’s better to be underestimated.”
“Hmm.” Leia raised a suspicious eyebrow again before sticking out her lower lip. “Maybe that was a smart move. Petrovich did say not to trust anyone, so she’d probably approve. I don’t know, though. I’m typically a pretty good judge of character, and I think she’s an ally.” She grimaced. “Then again, she’s going to be my advisor, so maybe I’m biased?”
“Yeah, nobody wants to believe their advisor is part of a murderous cult. College problems, right?” I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue in mock exasperation.
Leia cackled. “This place is a bit of a tangle, huh?” She scratched her head as she looked out across the quad. “All this intrigue before classes even start?” She turned back to me with a wild grin. “Kind of exciting, though, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, in a real ‘sure hope I don’t get murdered before midterms’ kind of way.”
“Hey, what’s college without a little drama, huh?” Leia elbowed me, bouncing her eyebrows again.
“I guess I figured it would be more about like, the cute, quiet boy sitting behind me in Lit. class who I can’t get to notice me, but then we get paired up for a group project and end up hitting it off, and he comes to visit me at work and I give him free pie.” I smiled, flashing Leia my cutest puppy-dog eyes. “You know, that kind of thing.”
She let loose her open, honest laugh. “Oh, there’ll still be plenty of that, I’m sure. I mean, maybe not the pie part.” She tilted her head at me and grinned. “But girl, I don’t think you’re going to have any problem getting some boy to notice you. Not only are you drop-dead gorgeous, you’re going to be the best witch here in no time.”
“Oh stop. I literally don’t know the first thing about magic. You’re the one who saved Braden’s life!” Heat spread up from my chest, flushing my neck and face.
She smiled. “You saved his life, Meena. He never would have even made it to me if you hadn’t transported him out of those woods. You know how many other first-year students could have done that?” She closed one eye and looked at me through the circle formed by her thumb and forefinger. “That many.” She dropped her hand and laughed. “I guarantee not even one other first-year could transport just themselves like that, never mind bring someone else with them.” She grinned at me and put her hands on my shoulders as we stopped in front of the Nightingale building. “You are freaking amazing. Don’t you ever forget it.”
“Uh, thanks.” I looked away, embarrassed by the excessive praise.
“Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out for yourself soon enough.” She gave me a sly smile and gestured toward the door to the building. “You ready for the first day of the rest of our lives?”
“I guess so.” I laughed, amused by my own morbid thoughts. “Though, the way things are going, I’m not sure that’ll be so long.”
“Oh, Meena. We’ve got to do something about that grim attitude of yours.” She held up a finger and flashed a mischievous grin. “I’ve got a tea for that.”
“Nope.” I held up my hand with my palm in her face as I moved toward the door. “No more tea, lady.”
We laughed together as we passed through the door and headed for our first class at witch college.
It wasn’t difficult to find the classroom once inside the building. All we had to do was follow the noise. A cacophony of excited murmurs floated down the hall as soon as we stepped through the door, growing louder as we moved toward the back of the building.
I knew from my earlier visit that the Medical Wing was directly above us, on the second floor. I gazed up at the ceiling and pictured Braden laid out on the scratchy white linens of a narrow bed. At least his room probably had walls that reached all the way to the ground. I hoped he was doing better than when I’d last seen him. I didn’t imagine he could possibly be any worse, unless Petrovich had been hiding his peril...
I pushed the thought away, pulling my gaze off the ceiling and surveying the long hallway as Leia and I continued to progress toward the source of the noise.
The interior of the Nightingale Center for Restorative Magic was much different than the other buildings I’d been in at the Academy. The outside of the building was similar to the other buildings on campus in its resemblance to a gothic cathedral, but that old, ominous vibe didn’t extend to the inside.
Inside, the Nightingale building was modern, sleek, and well-lit, but the bright overhead lights avoided the piercing harshness usually given off by hospital fluorescents. The Nightingale’s lighting reflected gently off the polished metallic surfaces and light grey walls, creating a pleasant, reassuring luminosity as opposed to the overwhelming, headache-inducing glare characteristic of hospitals and large office buildings.
Broken Wand Academy Page 12
