Page 93 of The Tribes of Magic
Soon after, Ansel called Nevada over. Her team needed her. Altair was breaking us into teams for a magic scavenger hunt.
But before Nevada left, she said to me, “Try to loosen up and have a little fun, Savi. The boys didn’t give you those necklaces so you could twiddle them around your fingers.”
I dropped my hand when I realized I had been fiddling with the necklaces. Nevada winked at me, then joined her team. And I joined mine.
Altair explained our latest quest in detail. Bronte and Dutch were both taking notes, which meant I didn’t have to. I stood a little off to the side, so the edge of the aisle partially hid what I was doing. I continued practicing the switching spell as Altair talked on and on and on. I prayed the task was more interesting than his explanation. Maybe during the course of the hunt, we’d find ourselves out back behind the shop, and I’d get a chance to visit my favorite unicorn…
“Hey, Red. Over here.”
I smiled when I heard Conner’s voice. It wasn’t distant. He was close.
“Over here.”
I followed the sound of his voice with my ears, not my feet. I glanced toward the door. I could tell from their body language that none of the other Apprentices had heard him. And neither had Altair.
I couldn’t see Conner, but I could sense his presence. He must have been invisible.
“I was just thinking about you.”
His chuckles danced circles in my ears. “Of course you were.”
I couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m so glad you’re ok, Conner. I got worried when I didn’t hear from you for a while.”
“No need to worry, Red. I’ve been keeping a low profile. The General now knows he was one hundred percent wrong aboutthe Rebels being responsible for all the bad things he accused us of.”
“So that’s good news,” I said tentatively.
“Good news for absolutely no one. The General can’t stand being wrong aboutanything, so of course now he’s even more determined to apprehend the Rebels and make us pay for him being wrong. So yay.”
As the Rebels’ leader, Conner was the poster boy of the General’s displeasure.
“But the tides are turning. Public opinion has changed, even if the General’s hasn’t. Most people now consider the Rebels heroes.” Conner sounded quite happy about that.
“I bet the General isn’t happy.”
“Of course not.” He sounded even happier about that. “Since when has the General ever been happy? Thanks, by the way, for the warning about the Spirit Trees being guarded. Armed with that knowledge—and a few devious spells—I was able to sneak past the Watchers and come home.”
“I’m glad.”
He chuckled. “I know.”
I couldn’t help but join in his laughter.
“Who are you talking to?” Dutch’s sharp question cut through my laughter, yanking me back to reality.
I turned to look at him. “To myself, of course.”
“You’re talking to yourself?”
“Yep. Just going through the Quest’s task list in my head.”
Dutch looked at me like I had a few screws loose in my head. People often looked at me like that. Dutch shook his head once, then continued writing. A quick visual comparison of his notepad and Bronte’s told me he was determined to take the more detailed quest notes. Maybe that was his way of getting her attention. How sweet.
Ansel was taking notes too, but I couldn’t see his notepad from here. There were too many Apprentices between us. His teammates were sticking to him like glue, which was smart. Of all the Apprentices, Ansel was the best Alchemist by far.
“I get it, Red. The dweebs are adorable. But let’s not get distracted.”
The others still hadn’t noticed Conner, and it wasn’t like he was making an effort to keep his voice down. He must have directed his magic so that only I could hear him.
