“Me?” I put a hand to my chest and shook my head. “No, I don’t know anything. But there’s a lot of rumors going around campus. Some students think it was an accident, magic gone wrong. Others think it was suicide.” I shrugged and glanced off in an effort to mask how closely I watched his reaction. “Some people think he was murdered.”
“Mmm, yes, students are prone to gossip.” His expression stayed even, his tone flat and sympathetic. “Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to Lucas either. From what I understand, Professor Wallace is conducting an investigation. Hopefully Henry can provide us all with a sense of closure.”
Interesting. Maybe I could extract some information from Professor Wallace during my advisor meeting in the afternoon.
“I heard Lucas did some work with you over the summer. You didn’t notice anything unusual?” I strained to keep my tone casual, but suspected I’d failed when Professor Yates chuckled.
“Funny, it almost seems you’re conducting an investigation of your own, Ms. Song.” Professor Yates smirked as he considered me through narrowed eyes. “I’m not a person of interest, am I?”
“Of course not!” I shook my head emphatically. “I’m sorry. It’s only that I’m so new to this school. It kind of freaked me out, someone dying on my second day here. I’m just looking for answers, I guess.”
“Don’t worry yourself, Meena.” Professor Yates leaned his elbows across the table. “I’m sure Professor Wallace will get to the bottom of it shortly.” He waved his hand as he settled back in his chair. “To your earlier point, Lucas did do some work with me at the beginning of the summer. But he was offered an opportunity to work with the head of the Department of Transmogrification, Professor Lyle Phorm. He’s supposedly working on some ground-breaking research that’s recently set the Academy abuzz.” Professor Yates shrugged and gave a faint eyeroll. “The whole department are a bunch of looneys, if you ask me. But you didn’t hear that from me.” Yates held up a bony finger to his pursed lips to request my secrecy. “Anyway, Lucas was a very gifted Transmogrification student, so Phorm asked him to come on as a research assistant. I tried to convince him that it would be better to focus on our martial training, but I suppose the prestige of Phorm’s work was too alluring to young Lucas. He wound up spending most of the summer in Phorm’s lab, just down in the basement there.” Professor Yates inclined his head towards the floor. “I’m afraid it didn’t seem to have a positive effect on him. He became quite withdrawn after a few weeks of working in the lab—started skipping training sessions, missing meals. I mostly attributed it to a lack of sleep, but who knows?” Yates shrugged and pursed his lips. “Maybe the stress of the high-profile research was too much for the poor lad.”
“What is Professor Phorm’s research about?”
“I wish I knew.” Yates furrowed his brow. “It’s all been kept very hush-hush. Even Lucas wouldn’t spill the beans about it, and we were very close, as far as Professors and students go.” Grief cast a sheen over his dark eyes. “I don’t know what Phorm is up to down there.” He nodded his head toward the ground again. “But whatever it is, the Academy is going to great lengths to keep it all under wraps. Chancellor Singh might be the only person who knows what he’s up to other than Phorm himself.”
I wondered what lengths the Academy would go to. If Lucas was in possession of some dangerous knowledge—like the existence of a murderous cult within the Academy, for instance—would they be willing to kill to keep it a secret?
“Anyway, Meena, don’t worry yourself about all that. You’ve a very promising career as a witch ahead of you.” Professor Yates pressed his thin lips into a smile, having shaken off the gloom that had settled over him while discussing Lucas. “If you focus on your training, there’s no telling how powerful you could become.”
“Yeah, uh, thanks.” What did ‘career as a witch’ even mean? What kind of jobs awaited a graduate of witch college?
“I know the semester has just started, but I hope you’ll consider choosing Martial Magic as one of your primary focus areas.” Professor Yates stood and strode to the door to see me out. “You’re an absolute natural, and our department would be delighted to have you.”
My brow ruffled as I followed Yates to the door. “I can do that? I didn’t know I was supposed to choose.”
“Of course!” Yates cocked his head as he opened the door. “Didn’t Henry tell you?”
“Nope. Honestly, he hasn’t told me much of anything yet.” I rolled my eyes as I passed the tall professor. I didn’t want to come off as too harsh toward Professor Wallace, but I was frustrated by the lack of guidance so far. I shrugged and forced a weak smile. “But we’re meeting tomorrow morning, so hopefully I’ll learn more then.”
“Well, I do hope you’ll consider joining us, Meena. It would be my honor to work with you.” Professor Yates bowed with remarkable grace from the doorway.
“Thanks, I’ll think about it.”
He smiled and tilted his head in a slight nod before shutting the door to his office.
When I reached the first floor of Morgana LeFay Hall, I noticed that there was a thick door of yellow metal next to the staircase. Blue block letters above the door read Department of Transmogrification, and smaller red lettering on the door declared Access Restricted. The back of my neck prickled as I stepped toward the door.
Why would an entire department be off-limits? What went on beyond this door, which looked as if built to withstand a nuclear explosion? If Lucas Billings’ death was related to his involvement with Professor Phorm’s mysterious research, how did the masked cult fit into it? Maybe Phorm’s research and the cult were connected. Could Phorm be the man in the beaked mask? And in that case, Chancellor Singh would have to know about it, wouldn’t she?
A shiver shot through me as I cupped my hands around my face and pressed them to the glass window of the metal door. All I could make out on the other side was a dim, stone staircase that descended into shadow.
“Hey.”
I was so startled by the cheerful voice behind me that I bashed my forehead against the thick glass.
“Oooh, sorry.”
I whipped around. Serenity stood several feet away with a huge grin spread across her narrow face.
“I didn’t frighten you, did I?”
Chapter 9
“She what?” Leia’s brow twisted in disbelief as Oliver choked on his turkey sandwich.
“She wants me to join her ‘study group.’” I put up air quotes with my fingers as I chuckled and shook my head. “I don’t understand it, either.”
Oliver finally managed to swallow his food and articulate his own incredulity. “But I thought she hated you?”
“Yeah, well, maybe she was impressed by my capacity for violence.” I cringed at the recollection of Genoveve’s destroyed shoulder. The injury had only been temporary, but the regret lingered.
“It’s not your fault, Meena.” Leia reached across the lunch table and patted my hand. “That’s the whole point of the Martial Magic Department, to seduce you with the promise of power and manipulate you toward conflict.”
I suspected she was right. And yet, I couldn’t deny that part of me had enjoyed the power. I wanted to believe Leia, that what had happened in the Arena wasn’t my fault, but no one had forced me to retaliate. I had made the choice to strike back at Serenity, and the consequences of that choice were mine alone.
“So what did you tell her?” Oliver asked, taking another oversized bite of his sandwich.
“I told her I’d rather eat my own foot, of course.”
Oliver entered into another fit of coughing as his sandwich went down the wrong pipe again. Leia chuckled quietly as she forked kale into her mouth.
“Well, obviously she doesn’t know it was you in the woods the other night, since she basically just invited you to join the cult.” Leia shrugged as she dug into her bowl for more leafy greens. “So that’s good.”
“I think I’m going to do it.”
/> It was Leia’s turn to choke on her food, leaving Oliver to speak for them both.
“You’re what?” He stared at me gape mouthed as Leia struggled to regain her breath.
“It might be my best chance to find out about Lucas.” I looked around the room and leaned across the table, speaking quietly. “I know that Serenity had something to do with it. Braden said she was super interested in him all of a sudden, and then he turns up dead? It can’t be a coincidence.”
Leia finally recovered enough to speak. “What about the whole thing with Professor Phorm?” she asked, her eyes betraying a deep concern. “You don’t know that Serenity had anything to do with Lucas’ death. What we do know is that she’s involved with a very dangerous cult that’s already tried to kill you once.” She shook her head. “It’s too risky, Meena.”
“All I have to do is pretend to like her.” I scoffed and waved a dismissive hand. “She’s so vain, she’ll never suspect a thing.”
“And what if she invites you to one of their little gatherings in the woods?” Leia raised her eyebrows and glanced at Oliver, then leaned down close to the table and spoke so softly it was barely audible. “What if they try to kill someone else?”
I shrugged, hoping that I portrayed more confidence than I really had. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to figure out who’s behind the cult before that happens.”
Leia, Oliver, and I all had Introduction to Illusion together after lunch, where we learned a basic concealment spell. By the end of class, all three of us had succeeded in obscuring a pencil from view on the desk. It was a simple enough task, but the effect of using magic to cause an object to disappear even temporarily was mind-blowing.
After my lackluster first day of classes, day two had proved a bit too exciting. By the time we left Professor Wilkins’ classroom on the second floor of Phoenix Hall, I was overwhelmed. My veins hummed and my head pulsed. I worried that I was on my way to a second bout of vomiting, so while Oliver and Leia went to meet some friends on the green, I headed back to my room to lie down before my meeting with Professor Wallace.
I went into my closet and pulled out the stick that I had found in the woods the night of my encounter with the cult. A cool wave spread through my body when I grasped the smooth, pale wood. I recalled the words my grandmother had told me so many times when I had been stressed about a paper or a test.
Breathe, Meena, just breathe.
I closed my eyes and inhaled a few deep breaths while holding the stick or, as Leia had referred to it, the “staff”. My body released the day’s tension, and despite the preoccupying clutter of my mind, a profound sense of calm came over me. I set the alarm clock on my nightstand for a half hour before my meeting with Wallace and laid down for a nap, my staff on the bed next to me.
Professor Wallace’s voice issued from within just as I raised my hand to knock on his office door. “Yes, come in.”
I was so startled by the pre-emptive response that, for a moment, I could only stare at the door with my fist suspended in the air.
Professor Wallace’s smiling face greeted me when I recovered my wits enough to enter. “Meena, so good to see you again! I’m sorry I haven’t been available to you before now. I’m afraid I haven’t been much of an advisor. Please, sit.”
He settled himself in one of the chairs near the low table in the center of the room and indicated that I should sit on the badly upholstered couch. It was hard to believe it had only been a few days since I had woken on that couch after fainting from the shock of my initial—involuntary—transport to Broken Wand Academy.
“Thanks.” I pulled my mouth into a thin smile as I sat.
“So?” Professor Wallace leaned forward with an eager grin. “How have your first few classes gone?”
I pursed my lips and raised my eyebrows. “Well, I accidentally maimed a girl, so not ideal.”
“Yes, unfortunate bit of business, that.” He grimaced and sat back in his chair, his enthusiasm diminished. “On the bright side, I heard it was quite an impressive display for a first-year, even for a Proteus.”
“Yeah, so they say.” I shrugged as I tried to push aside the shameful pride that blossomed in my chest. “I guess I wish my talent didn’t involve quite so much carnage.”
“Understandable.” Professor Wallace nodded his sympathy. “Speaking of carnage, I heard about your, incident with Mr. Thomas.” He raised one brow. “Chancellor Singh tells me it was a training accident?”
“Yep.” I kept my gaze steady and my tone even, but my heart hammered in my chest.
He cocked his head with an impish grin. “So it was completely unrelated to the unsavory characters that just happened to be gathered in the South Woods that same night?”
“Huh? No, uh, what?” I strained to hide my shock, but I was fairly certain it was a failed effort.
“Right, of course not.” He waved a hand as he frowned and shook his head. “Though you would be forgiven for failing to mention any potential conflicts with such a group.”
“How did”
“In fact,” my mouth hung open as Professor Wallace held up a finger and cut me off, “were someone to run afoul of said group, I would highly recommend they keep a tight lid on that information until such time as the scoundrels can be dealt with. And let us say no more on that subject.” He held a finger to his pursed lips and winked, and I sensed the forming of an alliance.
Many of the people I had met at Broken Wand Academy—both faculty and students—seemed untrustworthy and even malicious. But Professor Wallace, Madam Petrovich, and, of course, Leia and Oliver, all seemed to be decent people. I suspected we would all find ourselves in desperate need of each other at some point. Gratitude for my newest allies reminded me of my oldest ones.
“Is it possible for you to do that thing with the door again?” I blurted out the request before I had time to second-guess myself. “To send me back home so I can visit my friends and my dad?”
“What?” Professor Wallace blinked and pressed his lips together.
“You know, the thing you did to bring me from the diner to here.” I gestured back at the office door. “Only the opposite.”
“Well, yes, of course it’s possible.” He shrugged and flashed me a cocky smile. “I’m a master of illusion. I can do many things.”
“Great! I don’t have any classes until late tomorrow night, so if you could just send me back now and maybe come get me tomorrow afternoon?”
He smiled as he fidgeted in his chair. “You’ll have a nice long break for Thanksgiving, wouldn’t that be a lovely time for a visit home?”
“Thanksgiving?” Confusion drew my face into a scowl. “That’s more than two months away! I’ve already been gone for nearly three days, and without my phone, I haven’t even been able to contact anyone.” My temper flared as I leaned forward and threw my hands up. “Everyone probably thinks I’m dead in a ditch somewhere!”
“Relax, Meena, of course they don’t think you’re dead.” Professor Wallace maintained his composure in the face of my outburst, but his discomfort was evident as he continued to shift in his chair. “We’ve already explained your absence with a carefully crafted text message.”
I tilted my head and furrowed my brow. “You told them about the Academy?”
“Of course not!” Professor Wallace’s cheeks flapped with the vehemence of his head shake. “We would never expose ourselves like that.”
“Right, I didn’t think so. But then what did you say?” I strained to remain calm, but suspicion simmered just below the surface, poised to bubble into rage.
“Are the details really important?” He forced an unconvincing smile. “The important thing is that they know you’re okay, and they don’t expect to hear from you until sometime around Thanksgiving.”
I fixed Professor Wallace with a fierce, piercing glare. “Of course the details are important! This is my life you’re talking about! My friends, my dad!”
“Really, Meena, just trust”
“Okay, okay. I can see that you’re upset, and I don’t blame you.” Professor Wallace patted the air in front of him. “Just understand, I do the best I can. There’s procedure to follow.” He raised his hands in a helpless shrug. “It’s largely out of my hands.”
My patience had completely run out. “Just tell me what you said!”
“Well…” Professor Wallace sighed as he glanced toward the windows behind the large desk to his right. “They received a text message stating that you had caught a bus headed west, where you would take some time to ‘find yourself’ as you processed your grandmother’s death.” He winced and looked away. “And also that you may be inaccessible for a couple months, but you’d be in contact when you could, probably around Thanksgiving.”
“WHAT?” I leapt from the couch and stormed to the windows at the back of the room. “How dare you!” I whirled back toward Professor Wallace. “You basically kidnap me away to your messed-up school, and then you use the death of my grandmother to cover it up?” I stared at Professor Wallace in disbelief. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry, Meena.” Professor Wallace shook his head and shrugged weakly. “It’s not exactly how I would’ve liked to handle it, but it’s standard school policy for new students who come from non-magical families. The school is extremely serious about avoiding exposure to the general public.”
“You had no right.” A wave of nausea rippled through my gut, and my hands shook. “No right. You need to send me home right now.”
Professor Wallace glanced at me with a sad smile. “I’m sorry… it’s just not possible.”
“Of course it’s possible! You just told me it was possible!” I threw my hands up as I paced to the couch. “You can’t just bring me here against my will and then lie about it to my friends and family. I’m going back and clearing things up.”
Broken Wand Academy Page 18
