Page 104 of Class Studies

I tried to shoot out of my comfy spot, but my hands slid on the cusions and I toppled into the side Tanwyn vacated. “Ah, what?”

Tanwyn raised an eyebrow and I flushed scooting to his side. “Dot’s socket…” he began. I desperately grabbed handfuls of his uniform and tugged, trying to shut him up, but Tanwyn plowed on. “…is special in that it works, but it’s not unique except for some very costly components.”

Professor Garnet held out his hand. “Stop.” His face hardened. “How would you know this?”

The blood drained from my face. “My phone’s broken,” I talked too fast, guilt eating at my stomach. “I know I said I would tell you, but Wyn and I were alone in the Sphérique.” I begged him to understand with my gaze. “We weren’t likely to get a better opportunity. The Director has given me seven days to figure out my magic. That’s it!”

I realized I was rambling and shoved my fingers across my lips.

Tanwyn looked between us uncomfortably, and I dropped my gaze to the floor. I kept messing all of this up. At least it wasn’t on purpose this time.

Professor Garnet took a deep breath. He slid from his chair to the love seat, putting one hand on it to cup my face. “You’re alright.”

I nodded, looking up at him. “Yes. Wyn’s little spider-goblin was terrifying, but he didn’t break anything.”

“He didn’t do much. He took the cap off and poked around the wiring,” Tanwyn added. He lowered his voice. “There’s at least a million dollars worth of diamonds in there. And the rune work on the platinum is so small the naked eye can’t see it.”

Professor Garnet’s face set in a hard line. “Tanwyn.”

Tanwyn squared his shoulders. “Don’t.” He put two fingers on one of the tattoos on his right wrist. “I know you care about her. I do, too.” He leaned forward. “We seized the moment. I should’ve realized I wasn’t the first person she brought this up with.” He gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry on multiple levels. But, even if I had the app keeping our texts private, I honestly wouldn’t have thought to contact you. I don’t quite understand the dynamics of the group yet.”

Professor Garnet clenched his fists before the tensions drained out of his body. He dropped back into his chair and rubbed the scruff on his cheek.

I tugged on my braid. “You’re not mad?”

“I’m furious.” Professor Garnet clenched his jaw. “With both of you. But, I understand you did what you needed to.” He took out his phone, his fingers flying. “We need to have a meeting, the six of us, tonight.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Because of this?”

He turned his phone to face me. “Because of Director Flemmings’ Mêler announcement.”

An image with a busy background of beakers and gears featured two mages—each in a unique pose with fire streaming from their fingers. Below them, read the words: The Battle of Brian the Bold. Pick your side wisely. Under that, a countdown timer showed eight days.

I reached forward and clicked on the link.

It took me to a sign-up page with five teams. Every student was required to sign up for a team. Anyone who didn’t comply would be added to the group with the least players.

Each team had two captains. I recognized the names of the people Tederwinkle had been sending invitations to. Including a group run by MA agents. I gasped when I got to the last team. Cal and Roisin. Saffron’s close friend and my best friend outside of my guys. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

A message came in for Professor Garnet from Beryl, and he took his phone back. “Beryl’s on his way. I’m assuming you took pictures of Aphy’s socket?”

Tanwyn nodded.

Professor Garnet grunted. “I’m clearing my schedule right now. You think Aphy’s magic is raw power?”

Tanwyn nodded again. “Not Rimmed or Natural. I don’t think it’s technically even magic as we define it. It’s something else.” He rubbed the tattoo on his arm where his spider-goblin lived. “Dot isn’t something I can bind with a summon. She’s solid and real, but Yordle said she feels more like him than I do.”

Professor Garnet narrowed his eyes. “What is Yordle?”

“He’s magic.” Tanwyn held up his hands. “I made my first contract with him when I was seven. The nature of his existence isn’t something we’ve discussed.”

I looked down at my arm, seeing the patches of crystal dragon scales that covered it after I made my Ram puppet. “Maybe I’m some sort of neutral magic. Is that a thing?” I looked up, hopefully. “Or maybe all magic? As arrogant as that sounds.” I thought of the infinity symbol I’d added to my ultimately failed spell, but Abe was right. The magic had worked.

An image of baby turtle guts sprang to my mind, and my confidence faltered. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry.

Beryl sprinted up to us. He completely ignored me, snatching Tanwyn’s phone out of his hand. His fingers flew across the screen, installing his program. He sent Tanwyn’s images to our group chat before deleting the originals from the spied-on device.

“The Institute sends everything to a cloud drive.” He handed the phone back to Tanwyn, frowning at it. “With any luck, your phone hasn’t synchronized yet. Otherwise, the director and our good friend Teddy are gonna get a little socket strip tease.”

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