Page 37 of Practically Witches

Plus, I want this whole mess to be over so if Zane wants to date me, there’s nothing holding us back.

He pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight then swings it around until we’ve both seen all the areas and every wall. “It’s a boiler room.” I am a master at stating the obvious.

“Yeah.” He laughs. “But there are some stairs over there.” And this time he moves to walk in front of me. Idon’t mind that he’s doing the leading. It’s actually fine with me because this place is creepy as fuck.

We get to the top of the stairs and there’s a door there and he pushes it open so we’re in the hallway directly across from the Hall of Greats.

“How’s that for convenient?” he asks in a whisper, like someone might hear us if we use our regular voices.

“Well, if we can get the picture and get back out of here without getting caught, it will be most convenient.” I use my regular voice and flash him a smile.

He leads me into the room and as we pass by the statues, the light shining from the base of each one comes on. I look around. “What if someone sees us?”

He shrugs. “We might have some explaining to do.”

I giggle. I’ve never giggled so much in my life as I have since I met him. Part of me is giddy, and the other part of me hates that.

But he’s still holding my hand, keeps it clasped in his until we get to the far wall of the room. In the center between two windows is a picture in a frame. It isn’t the biggest picture or the best quality, but it’s what we need to look at. It’s the first families for this version of the Institute.

We both look for a minute before he reaches to take it off the wall. As he moves it, an alarm sounds and a light starts flashing in each corner of the room in time with the blare of the siren.

“Oh shit.” I cover my ears and he throws a spell to make it all stop. It does, and he’s still holding the picture. He takes it out of the frame and rehangs the frame on the wall then takes my hand. We head back to the basement and out. We don’t know if he threw the spell in time but we got what we came for. There isn’t a reason to stick around.

But we walk through the grass and stick to the shadowsuntil we’re on the other end of the campus at the second building on the left side. “We should check the cornerstones. It’s where all the builders put their dedications.” He says it like he believes it, so I do too, since I don’t have any idea.

We’ve checked the two back corners and are onto our third when he shouts, “I found it.” He runs to the front on the near side of the building. “Here it is, RJ!”

I jog toward him. And there it is—the block of the foundation that holds the magic of the nine first families inside it. “Do you think the wands are inside there?”

He taps his knuckles against the front of the brick where the dedication is etched into the concrete. “Would they really put their weapon of power inside?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, we need to figure out how to look inside.” I give the block my own skeptical tap. “Might require tools.”

“Yeah.” He nods, then shakes his head. “What about a spell? If we put our magic together…” He shrugs. “It could work.”

Or it could spin horribly out of control. Especially if we’re relying on my magic. I’m not first-family magic. “Maybe we should check our places first. If we let that magic go and put it out into the universe, the school could be in danger as well as everyone we know.”

For a few seconds he doesn’t say anything, he only looks at me. I don’t mind it. It’s warm, like a caress, and heat flushes through me. I want him to lean in, to press his mouth against mine, to kiss me until I can’t breathe or think, until my knees are weak and there’s only him.

I’m not settling for anything less. I don’t want a quick kiss in the car. I want the entire experience.

He doesn’t lean in.

And that’s okay. For now.

Instead, we head back to his car, still holding hands, and he opens the door for me and waits until I’m inside before handing me the picture. When he walks around to his side and slides behind the wheel, he turns the dome light on and we stare at the picture together. The top of the Jeep is open, and the moon is shining, but even the dim light on the frame of his Jeep helps us see the picture better.

Not enough though, so he shines his flashlight onto the picture. “Do you know all these people?”

He nods. “Yeah.” He points out the individual families. “These are Finnick’s parents, and there are Isador’s, Dylan’s…” He points them all out. When he gets to my father—who doesn’t even belong in the picture—he says, “And that’s Viktor Hadley.”

“No, that’s my dad.”

“Are you sure?” He takes the picture and shines the light directly on my dad. “I thought your last name was Baum.”

“It is.”

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