Chapter 27 #3
I stare at my shoulder and then at the bear. Understanding clicks into place.
“It’s only an illusion.”
Of course. How would a grizzly bear end up in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the country?
At my proclamation, the rest of the group surges around me. It takes less than a minute of hasty strikes and dodges before the bear slumps downward and Asher slices his conjured sword through its neck.
The furry head hits the ground, and both it and the body vanish into thin air.
I step back, exhaling shakily. The searing sensation in my shoulder melts away too.
Professor Jovak nods at all of us, but I can’t help thinking his eyes linger on me. “Very good.”
Was it? If it’d been a real void bear, I might have lost my arm.
Until my glim regrew it by stealing someone else’s.
That sickening thought keeps my gut clenched tight through the rest of our trek around the Beacon Prep grounds. Shockers go off two more times. We set off a few more magical traps, but nothing as unnerving as the bear.
By the time Jovak announces that our session is finished, a yawn is tugging at my jaw.
We tramp back toward Luminary. As we cross the street to our usual campus, my sense of Byron’s presence drifts farther away. He must reunite with his assigned group, because he’s standing there with a cluster of other students when we reach the green.
Captain Ross waits for the last of the groups to return and then launches into a short speech about the importance of staying on guard. I give my best impression of an avid pupil.
I watch Byron ease over to Asher and murmur a couple of comments I can’t make out. Asher nods.
When Ross dismisses us, my two matches slip away.
Curiosity itches at me, but I can’t go after them where everyone else can see.
I’ll have to find a chance to talk to one of them tomorrow.
At least, that’s what I assume. I share brief good-byes with my friends, head over to the street to let Maurice know I’m ready to be picked up… and pause when a tendril of ephemera tugs at my wrist.
Fixing my face in a neutral expression, I let the thread guide me around the campus and onto one of the nearby residential roads. A quiver ripples over my skin, and suddenly Byron and Asher are standing on the sidewalk right in front of me.
Byron’s smile looks stiff. “You couldn’t see us at all until you walked through that shell?”
I let out a laugh that’s both relief and surprise. “No. What’s going on?”
He dips his head to Asher first. “Solid technique. You’ll have to tell me more about the nuances later.” Then he turns back to me. “Did you notice anything strange about the tests we just went through?”
“Not really… other than you following me.” I knit my brow. “Did you see something strange?”
“I don’t know. Not to begin with.” His mouth twists. “When Professor Jovak first joined up with your group, there was something about him… Like he was anxious, even though he wasn’t the one being tested. It just struck me as off. I didn’t want to take any chances.”
The chill on my skin seeps right into my chest. “And after that?”
His dark eyes look almost apologetic, as if anything he’s about to tell me is his fault. “When you were fighting off the bear… when you lost your balance for a second and it made contact… No one else was looking at him—they were too focused on the animal. But he didn’t know I was there.”
The chill expands until a shard of ice might as well be radiating cold into my heart. “What did you see?”
Byron’s voice drops. “He smiled. Like he was happy the illusion managed to get past your defenses.”
My throat goes so tight I can’t speak. All I can think of is the moment before I stumbled.
My gaze jerks to Asher. “During the fight with the bear—did you feel any other magical effects? Like a shove or something tangling your feet, anything like that?”
He shakes his head, his forehead furrowing. “No. I wouldn’t think—the bear was enough of a challenge.” He pauses, understanding dawning on his face with a side of horror. “Is that what threw you off?”
I swallow hard. “Yeah. I guess that extra element was only aimed at me.”
He was only a few feet over, just as close to the bear as I was. Why wouldn’t the effect have hit him too… unless it was specifically meant for me?
Byron steps closer and tucks his arm around my waist. His solid frame and his crisp scent take the edge off my discomfort. “Why would Jovak be trying to trip you up?”
“I don’t know. He was complimenting me just before that…”
Was I put in this intensive combat program to help me learn how to defend myself better… or to expose weaknesses someone might want to exploit?
When I showed up in Jovak’s class right after Kenneth’s last attack, I did think he looked surprised. I wrote it off as a more general concern… but what if he somehow knew I wasn’t supposed to make it through the night?
I lean into Byron’s embrace, queasiness pooling in my belly.
Aunt Daphne was right about one thing—the threat might be coming from places I’ve never even considered.
And that means my matches and I can’t just hang around waiting for disaster to find us.