Chapter Thirty
Isla entered the laboratory, the familiar scent of plants grounding her.
She paused for a moment, letting her gaze sweep over the assembled students.
In the front row sat Olivia-May, notebook open, pen poised, eyes bright with eagerness.
A few rows back, Jimmy leaned back slightly in his chair, casual but observant, his eyes flicking toward Isla with a curiosity that made her uneasy.
He had been cleared of any involvement in her attacks, but she still felt unsettled every time he was in one of her classes.
“Good morning, everyone,” Isla began, her voice thankfully steady, carrying across the room.
“Today, we’ll be investigating how soil composition influences plant growth,” she continued, moving between the desks.
“Even minor variations in minerals—iron, calcium, nitrogen—can dramatically affect the health and resilience of a crop. You’ll be working in pairs, comparing different soil samples, measuring pH and moisture retention, and observing how seedlings respond over time.
Take careful notes, consider how each element interacts, and think about the broader implications—how this could impact crop yields, resilience to drought, or resistance to disease.
Remember, science is not just about what you see today, but about understanding what might happen if conditions change. ”
She moved toward the demonstration table, her mind partially on the lecture and partially on Jimmy.
He had seen her when she received her mark, and now his eyes still held a look of interest. After all she’d been through, she just wanted answers.
Juliette had been searching the library for Ray’s notes but hadn’t yet found anything in the vast room.
Isla felt guilty she hadn’t helped much there.
They all needed answers, and she felt Jimmy knew something—or was she just being paranoid?
The back of her neck prickled as she wrote the day’s date on the chalkboard.
“Okay, start working with your lab partner. After I have written some notes on the board to help guide you, I’ll come around and offer input as needed.
Let me know if you have any questions.” The students shuffled into position as she wrote notes for her class.
Once finished, she turned, seeing who may need her assistance.
“Olivia-May,” she said, stepping closer to the attentive girl. “How are you getting on?
Olivia’s face lit up as she spoke, her voice quick with excitement.
“Professor, if we adjust the moisture levels just slightly in this sample, the seedlings might actually show the effect of calcium more clearly.” She looked to Isla for confirmation.
The suggestion, a small adjustment to the experiment, impressed Isla.
She felt a surge of pride—this was exactly what she loved: helping bright minds connect knowledge to the real world.
By the end of the session, Olivia-May had taken detailed notes, and even Jimmy asked questions that seemed ordinary enough. As the students packed up, Isla caught Andrew’s eye through the window. He gave a small nod, waiting for her to finish her class.
“A good session?” he asked as she stepped out of the lab into the corridor lined with tall arched windows letting in the pale afternoon light.
“Yes, I think so,” she replied, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Olivia-May is really coming along. Though Jimmy looked ... curious. I know he was given the all clear, but I just don’t know. I guess I’m seeing things that aren’t there, but I just need answers.”
“Harold looked into him,” Andrew said, loosening his tie as they walked past lecture halls. “Jimmy had a study session—he was with a class professor and then a group of students. It wasn’t him.”
Isla let out a quiet breath. She was, of course, relieved it wasn’t one of her own students. Yet the thought of those out there wishing her harm left a hollow ache in her stomach.
“Juliette has asked that we go help her and Edmund search the library for Ray’s notes. Are you free now?”
Isla looked at her watch. “I am. That was my last lecture, though I admit to being rather famished.”
“How about we stop at my office en route? I always have a drawer full of snacks for such an occasion—then maybe I can cook you dinner after?”
Looking at him, Isla replied, “Dinner sounds lovely.”
After munching a couple of digestive biscuits, Isla and Andrew entered the library, where Edmund was busy searching one side of the library, Juliette the other.
“Ah. Why, if it isn’t the Green Goddess and the Frost Guard, come to save the day.”
Chuckling, Isla smiled at her friend while Andrew wandered over to Edmund. A few dedicated students still studied, and another librarian was preparing to close the library for the evening.
“My, my, Isla. Don’t you look happy. Either your new status as a superhero has lightened you up, or you’ve finally realized that a certain professor is seriously interested in you.”
“Shh, he’ll hear you.”
“Oh, you mean Andrew? I was talking about Simon—the maths professor. Glad you cleared that up.”
“Juliette!” Isla glanced at her, then back at Andrew, worried her voice was carrying across the vast room.
“Come on, Isla, he can’t hear. Besides, your face tells me you wouldn’t mind so wholly if he did. I’ve seen you two holding hands.”
Isla gently lifted a few books, helping search for anything that looked like a notebook.
“It’s complicated—until recently, he was a daily annoyance.
Then all this Aetheric Arts business happened and .
.. he’s being different. I’m different. And yes, if it makes you happy, I do like him, a lot.
As I’m sure your romantic heart has noticed, we’ve been closer.
But I don’t know what it all means. I’m still working it all out. ”
“Andrew isn’t different, exactly,” Juliette said slowly. “It’s been clear from the beginning that he liked you, Isla.”
Isla scoffed, but at Juliette’s raised eyebrows she muttered, “You’re not serious. He has only recently shown interest in me.”
“Isla, you’re the only one who cannot see that that man has been interested in you from the start.”
She looked over at Andrew. His small frame was dwarfed next to Edmund’s. He looked up, seeming to sense her gaze, and offered her a soft smile. It moved her that he was so attuned to her. Maybe Juliette was right. How had she not seen it all along?
The group pressed on with their search, the hour growing later, the library now empty except for the four of them.
Their paths gradually converged in a shadowed corner of the library.
Outside, night had fully settled. Isla straightened, her back stiff from so much time spent bent over the shelves.
Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of Andrew’s offer to make dinner.
She was aware of Andrew’s presence more than ever before.
The thought that he had always liked her, along with the possibility that they could be Fated, made her heart race.
If he had liked her so in the past, would he stick with her in the future?
The low light of the library seemed to draw him closer, his movements somehow always within her periphery.
She bent to retrieve a book from the lower shelf, her hand reaching out just as Andrew crouched beside her and reached for the same volume.
Their fingers brushed across the book’s spine—a fleeting touch that sent a tremor through her.
She’d held his hand before, yet each time felt more significant as she came to know him better.
Physical attraction was one thing—pleasant, undeniable—but when you glimpsed the goodness within someone, their soul shining through, it changed everything.
His features hadn’t altered, yet somehow he seemed more attractive than ever.
He was close enough that she could see the faint reflection of the lamplight in his glasses, the line of concentration etched across his brow softening into something else entirely as he looked at her.
The space between them shrank, not in distance but in the weight of unspoken things.
She was ready to take their relationship beyond hand holding. She wanted him to kiss her.
A noise startled her and she jerked upright, losing her balance just enough that her hand fell onto Andrew’s shoulder.
He tilted his head up, a slow smile tugging at his mouth, and the intensity in his eyes made her breath hitch.
Had he seen the desire reflected in her eyes?
Flustered, she pulled her hand back, heat rushing to her cheeks just as words threatened to tumble from her lips—only for Edmund to appear, expression grave, a finger pressed to his mouth in a sharp command for silence.
He had Juliette’s hand in his as he pulled her toward Isla and Andrew. Letting go of Juliette, he pointed to the library entrance as two men entered. Something in their manner hinted at nefarious intent. They wore dark clothes, their features unclear in the dimness.
The old library seemed to groan around them, floorboards creaking in protest as the men walked, as if warning them that danger drew nearer. Shadows stretched long and skeletal across the aisles, pooling in the corners, but it wasn’t enough to hide them if they came any closer.
“Juliette, can you use your shadows to help us blend in?” Edmund asked her quietly.
She nodded once. A dark mist curled from her palm, sinuous and alive, writhing like smoke with intent of its own. Isla shivered, her memory flaring of the first attack. Of shadows wrapping around her, choking her, holding her captive. How lifelike those shadows had been.