Page 64 of Bonds of Magic
My eyes went wide. Two necklaces lay inside. One was made of silver, the other gold, both chains worked with the wands andstars of Hex. A delicate pendant hung from each necklace. The silver necklace bore a rich emerald with facets that glinted and hinted at hidden depths. The gold chain held a heavy ruby that sparkled against the black velvet interior of the box.
I turned back to Teresa, who was still on the floor.
“What are—”
“I said leave it,” she snapped. “Stop.”
She moved her hand as she spoke, and I froze. Not out of fear or shock. Iactuallyfroze as her spell fell on me. I couldn’t even move my lips. She’d frozen everything in place but my eyes.
She gave me a hard look as she pushed herself upright. She might have been holding me in place with the force of her glare alone. She dusted off her skirt and approached me, and I remembered Isaac’s instructions to investigate carefully. If Teresa were working with Argus, she would have no problem using magic to get rid of me. She might even do it now.
Despite working at Vesperwood, my life had been fairly non-magical for the past seven years. I saw magic around me, but it didn’t have much impact on my daily life. It was almost never usedonme.
Tonight was a reminder that compared to the rest of the faculty at Vesperwood, I was a lot less powerful. When it came to magic, at least.
I taught my students how to duck and dodge spells in combat, but I hadn’t been thinking about that with Teresa. I’d been so concerned about getting a look inside the box, it had made me reckless. I hoped my half-baked cover story would convince her she hadn’t been my real target.
She stopped a foot away from me and lifted her hand. I would have flinched, if I’d been able to move. Was she going to cast another spell on me? Was there anything I could do to stop her? The corridor was empty but for the two of us.
Instead, she slapped me. She wasn’t a tall woman, but she was stocky, and there was power in her hand. My head wanted to rock back with the force of the blow, but it couldn’t. Instead it absorbed all the impact, and pain exploded across my face.
But pain—pure, physical pain—was something I could handle.
“You oaf,” Teresa said, her voice dripping with disdain.“Blundering through the hallways like a gorilla. I know I can’t expect much from you, mundane as you are. But I would have thought you would at least have the decency to listen to your betters.”
I wanted to laugh with relief. She wasn’t going to kill me. Just dress me down. It wasn’t fun being slapped—my cheek still burned—but I’d take that over a killing spell any day.
She ripped the box from my frozen hands, closing the lid and covering it with her hand protectively.
“I told you not to touch this,” she spat. “Do you have any idea what you could have done? No, of course you don’t. You’re a cretin with no understanding of the delicate magic you’re banging into.” She shook her head and looked like she wanted to slap me again. “A disgrace.”
I noticed she was wearing a necklace that looked similar to the ones in the box. Hers had a gold chain as well, but the pendant was a teardrop-cut sapphire, shimmering in the dim light of the hall. And suddenly I remembered the materials that had been on the table in her study.
I’d thought it was odd at the time. Teresa was one of those Hexers who thought theirs was the purest form of magic. They didn’t sully themselves with material objects like Hands did. Yet here she was, standing mere inches away from me wearing one jeweled necklace and carrying two others. And I would have bet good money—more than I’d ever ante up at one of Nat’s poker nights—that she’d made them herself.
“Now tell me,” Teresa said imperiously, “what you think you were doing, rushing about through the hallways like a charging rhinoceros. Nothing excuses your behavior, but I still expect an explanation.”
I couldn’t tell her anything. Her frown deepened, and I tried to look down as obviously as possible, drawing her attention to my unmoving lips. Finally, comprehension dawned.
“Free,” she said, waving her hand lazily.
The force holding me in place disappeared, and I had to stop myself from sighing with relief. I didn’t want her to know how much she’d unnerved me with that spell.
“Well?” Teresa snapped. “Spit it out.”
“Students,” I said. “A group of freshmen, shooting at clay pigeons from the roof. I chased them down here, but I seem to have lost them. They must have ducked into one of their rooms.”
“Were they using one of your…weapons?” She said the word like it dirtied her mouth. “I would think you would have better sense than to leave them lying around for the taking. Especially after that incident with the arrow in Sheridan’s window.”
So that story had gotten around. I ignored the barb. “Are you sure you didn’t see them? Did anyone pass by you just now?”
“I have seen no one but you.” She wrinkled her nose. “And if I had seen unruly freshmen running amok, I would certainly have controlled them better than you seem able to do.”
I tilted my head to the side. “What areyoudoing in freshman quarters?”
“I hardly think that’s any of your concern.”
I was expecting that, and I wasn’t going to give in that easily. “I’ve heard some rumors that you’re interested in some of our newest crop of students.”
