The Nightmare Dilemma

5 The Sheriff, the Student, and the Oracle

The Will Guard arrived seconds later. Captain Gargrave came through the door first, pointing his staff at Eli, who went rigid, his arms pinioned at his sides. Across from him, Nick stood in a similar state. The principal had said the Will Guard was armed with magic detectors. Apparently, they were really good ones.

“Are you all right, Miss Norton?” said Katarina, helping the fairy to her feet.

Miss Norton let out a groan as she rubbed her chest where Eli’s jab jinx had struck. I did an inner double take at the thought. Eli had done magic. There was no denying it. I’d seen it with my own eyes. Heard it with my own ears. But how was it possible?

I looked Eli up and down, half-convinced he was someone else in disguise. The dark, dangerous expression on his face was familiar, but also inscrutable. He could be thinking anything.

“This is the second time I’ve had to break you two up,” Gargrave said, glancing between his captives. Then he turned toward Eli and yanked the talking stick out of his hand. “And according to my information, you’re not supposed to have a wand, Mr. Booker. Where did you get this?”

“It’s mine.” Miss Norton stepped forward and seized the stick from Gargrave. “It’s … it’s just a classroom tool.” She hugged it close to her chest as if fearing Gargrave would take it back.

But the captain shrugged and returned his attention to Eli. “Come with me. I think the principal is going to want to hear about this.”

The spell holding Eli in place let go, and he shook out his arms as if to get the blood flowing again.

“Why just him?” I said, unable to stand idly by. “Nick cast a stunning spell first.”

Gargrave scrutinized the Ira demon, considering the matter. He shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s a demonkind and therefore entitled to a little more tolerance.”

Although Gargrave didn’t say it, the word ordinary seemed to sound throughout the room. It echoed over and over again inside my head.

“That’s not fa—” I began, but Eli cut me off.

“Leave it, Dusty. I’ll be fine.”

With an effort, I closed my mouth.

Gargrave turned toward the door, and Eli followed after him. Our eyes met for a moment, and I saw he wasn’t angry at being the only one punished. Instead he seemed resigned to his fate.

As soon as he and the Will Guard were gone, Miss Norton ordered all of us back to our seats. We spent the rest of the period in silent reading. Although I kept my eyes glued to the page, none of the words registered. My head was too crowded with questions and doubts all vying for my attention like unwelcome houseguests. The image from Britney’s dream kept coming back to me. I didn’t want to believe Eli was involved, but I couldn’t ignore what I’d witnessed—he had done magic. Was I wrong about Eli like I’d been wrong about Paul? Feeling sick, I wrapped my arms around my chest.

I wanted desperately to talk to Eli, but by the time first period ended, he hadn’t returned. I walked to my spell-casting class alone, ignoring the gossip filling the hallways. Everyone was talking about the ordinary boy who’d somehow done magic.

When I descended the stairs into the tunnels and caught a familiar whiff of canal water, my thoughts turned to Britney. Guilt and relief battled inside me. If I had told Lady Elaine about Eli being in her dream, he would be in even more trouble. Then again, if he’d been the one to attack her …

Stop it, Dusty. Not everybody is a power-crazed villain in disguise.

With an effort, I forced the thoughts from my mind. The task proved easier once I arrived at spell casting. Today we were working on illusion spells, a subject we’d been studying nonstop since the semester began. According to our textbook, there were three levels to illusion spells, starting with the simplest and working up to the hardest. We’d already learned the level-one stuff, which involved transforming the appearance of an existing object into something else. We started small, first turning pennies into quarters, and then textbooks into pillows.

Now we were moving on to level two: duplication. Five minutes into my attempts to make a duplicated illusion of a penny appear beside a real one, sweat broke out over my skin, and I started panting from the effort. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remove the telltale blurriness from the false penny. Who knew creating something out of thin air would be so difficult?

Still, I was grateful for the distraction as the period slipped by quickly. I only checked the door twice, hoping Eli had arrived, and I was too busy concentrating to be concerned about what he might or might not have done.

But when class ended, my worry came back full force. Wishing I’d just asked Eli for the truth when I’d had the chance, I hesitated at the stairs leading up from the tunnels to Monmouth Tower and my history class. Then, on impulse, I turned and doubled back, making a right at the next intersection. If I hurried I would have time to swing by the administration office in Jefferson Tower to see if I could find out what was keeping Eli so long.

Halfway there I realized it was a stupid plan and a little on the desperate side, but it was too late to turn back. Besides, the substitute teacher we’d been stuck with for history since our old teacher Mr. Marrow had turned out to be a power-hungry murderer, wasn’t much concerned with tardiness. Mrs. Rosencrantz was a hamadryad and well past ancient. With her treelike patience, she spent most of the class dozing while we were supposed to read from the text.

I marched through the door into the administration main office intent on asking the secretary about Eli, but when I arrived, the reception desk sat deserted. The only sign of life came from the large plant in the corner behind the desk. I had no idea what it was—biology was a junior-level class at Arkwell—but it was definitely of the magical variety. Its leaves kept rustling in random spurts, and the multiple yellow flowers perched on the tops of its stems had turned toward me when I entered the room, their dark centers like large eyes watching me. Thank goodness it didn’t have vines; otherwise I would be worried it might reach out and grab me. No plant should show so much interest in a person.

I ignored the creepy feeling crawling over my spine and peered down the hallway behind the desk that led to the principal’s office as well as to a couple of conference rooms. I thought I heard the sound of voices down there. Deciding that a quick peek wouldn’t be too big a risk, I slipped past the desk and tiptoed down the hallway.

A familiar, gruff voice froze me in my tracks as I reached the door to the first conference room on the right. I stopped just outside it and listened as Sheriff Brackenberry said, “So you claim that Britney left your little”—there was the sound of paper ruffling—“Terra Tribe, the Society for the Betterment of Nature, meeting at nine P.M., and that you two were the last ones there.”

Brackenberry stopped speaking. I strained my ears to hear the person answer, but it must’ve been a nod or a head shake for the sheriff continued, “And you don’t know where she went and you never saw her after that.” Another pause. “And you went straight back to your dorm.” A third pause.

Brackenberry let out a doubtful sigh. “Well then, as it stands now you were the last person to see her before she was attacked. I’m not saying that you were involved, but if you remember something, I would encourage you to report it at once. You can find me at this number.”

There was another sound of sliding paper.

“You’re free to go.”

Gulping in panic, I turned, dashed down the hallway and back around to the reception desk. I leaned my arms on top of the desk and lowered my gaze, trying to appear nonchalant. My heart pounded so hard in my chest I was certain everyone in a two-mile radius could hear it. The plant rustled its leaves, letting me know it had seen me. I hoped it couldn’t talk as well.

I didn’t look up at the sound of approaching footsteps until the person was almost next to me. When I did I saw it was Oliver Cork. I smiled at him, trying to appear friendly but worried I looked mostly guilty. Why were the police interrogating him? Did that mean they hadn’t fingered Eli for the attack? And what the hell was the Terra Tribe?

When I spotted Sheriff Brackenberry scowling at me from behind Oliver, the questions stopped midstream and the smile vanished from my face.

“What are you doing here?” Brackenberry said, hands on his belt.

“I … um…” I glanced over my shoulder, stalling until Oliver had left. I turned back to the sheriff. “I just wanted to know if Eli was still here.”

Brackenberry frowned, not buying it.

I willed the guilt out of my expression. Coming to find out about Eli was the reason I came. The eavesdropping about Britney was just an unintentional bonus.

“Eli’s not here anymore.”

“Oh.” I began to twist my fingers through the strands of my hair hanging down over my shoulder. “Did he go back to class?”

The sheriff shook his head. “They’ve taken him over to Lyonshold for the rest of the day. The Magi Senate is very interested in learning how an ordinary suddenly started casting spells.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of this news. On the one hand, it meant they hadn’t yet found Eli guilty of anything to do with Britney. On the other, a trip to the magickind capital city to be interrogated by the Magi Senate spelled big trouble.

“Oh, okay.” I took a step back from the desk, preparing to leave.

“Not so fast,” said Brackenberry. “We planned on waiting until this afternoon, but since you’re here.” He waved at me to follow as he headed back down the hallway and reentered the conference room.

I walked in behind him, each footstep heavier than the last. Brackenberry motioned for me to sit while he pulled a cell phone off the clip on his belt and slid his finger over the touch screen, opening it. The cell must’ve been brand-new because it didn’t give him any trouble as he dialed.

I glanced around the room, taking in the long, glass-topped table and the dozen matching high-backed chairs upholstered in a bright pattern of blue and yellow roses intermixed with sprites—tiny winged creatures with humanoid bodies and chameleon-like skin. A folder sat opened on top of the desk, and I wondered if it was the case file on Britney. I leaned in for a better look, but Brackenberry flipped it closed.

A moment later he said into the receiver, “It’s me. Destiny Everhart is in the administration office right now … she was asking about Eli … yes, I know. Are you on campus yet? I figure it would be better if she heard the news from us. I’m sure some of the senators’ kids already know.” He nodded his head a couple of times. “Uh-huh. Right. See you in a minute.”

Brackenberry ended the call and returned the cell to the holster on his belt. Then he sat down on the opposite side of the table from me and folded his hands across his ample belly. The buttons on his navy blue policeman’s uniform bulged outward, the fabric beneath them strained. “Lady Elaine will be here soon.”

I bit my lip. What could be so bad they would have to tell me about it in person? A thousand possibilities flitted through my mind like a flock of rabid birds, each one pecking away at my ability to sit here in this seat and pretend not to be having a panic attack.

Then the worst possibility occurred to me. It could be about my mom. She’d been in England for the last two months, but was due to come home soon. I didn’t know when exactly, because she kept pushing back the date. But what if something had happened? Cold sweat beaded on my forehead and the back of my neck. I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, bracing for the worst.

But when Lady Elaine arrived some five minutes later, she didn’t bring me bad news about my mother. Even so, what she had to say hit me with the force of a wrecking ball.

“Today,” she said, her voice grave and her frail body rigid as she stared down at me, “the Magi Senate decided to drop all charges against Paul Kirkwood. He has been set free and will be resuming classes here at Arkwell in a few days.”

My heart seemed to freeze up inside my chest and my blood turn to ice water. Paul Kirkwood, free? It had to be a joke. And yet I knew it wasn’t. Lady Elaine wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this.

I swallowed. Paul Kirkwood. Ex-boyfriend. A murderer’s accomplice who tried to bend my will into serving the Red Warlock. The guy I thought I would never see face-to-face again.

He was coming back.

And I knew without a doubt my life was never going to be the same again.