Page 35 of Forbidden Magic
Dr. Chen’s fingers pause over the keys of her laptop. “Have you changed your mind about that seminar?”
“No, I—” The wall is covered with diplomas. Dr. Chen attended Harvard medical school as well as the High Healing Institute, the most recognized supernatural healing program. This makes her one of the most elite minds of our time, and yet she’s here playing nurse on my cuts and scrapes. My gut tightens. “I think I might have seen something in the woods yesterday.”
She purses her lips. “Youthinkyoumighthave seen something?”
I clear my throat, finding enough courage to meet her gaze head-on. “I saw yellow eyes, heard a growl, and ran.” I don’t know why, but I omit the shadow. Whatever it was, it didn’t growl, and it didn’t have eyes. Or teeth.
She gets a piece of paper and a pen from her desk. “Write everything you saw, when and where on here. I’ll relay the info to security, and they’ll follow up if needed.”
I write everything down, minus the shadow, and hand it back to her. “Is she going to be okay?”
Her hand twitches against the file in front of her. “She’s stable for now,” she says, repeating the words she gave Vivianne. “I can’t discuss the details with you. Please keep what you saw to yourself. If the attacker knows that you saw him, he might come for you next.”
My voice raises in alarm. “It wasn’t a beast that attacked her?”
The chimera’s serious features tense. “Half the students and staff here are beasts, Miss Winslow. Never forget that.”
I nod before exiting the office. Vivianne and Jeremy are gone, and I sigh in relief. I can’t escape the thought that it might have been me lying on that bed. Or Allie.
Whatever is going on with her, I can’t let it get to me. We’re family. Without thought, I hurry out of the infirmary and head for my sister’s dorm.
Allie is studying in the backyard behind the Queen Mab building. A few rocks are sprawled out in the late autumn sun, and Allie is perched on the biggest, a book lying across her thighs. Her black flat raps against the stone in a regular motion, her other leg is folded beneath her. Her red jacket flaps in the wind. A pencil is tucked in a tiny bun at the back of her neck.
The heaviness in my shoulders recedes. “Hey, you.”
Her eyes flick from the page, and a genuine smile lights her face. “Jules, hi. Didn’t you have class?”
I point to my mouth. “Cut my lip.”
“Their stance on blood is utter bullshit.” She reclines on the rock, elbows propped behind her, and angles her face to the sun.
I watch her carefully. Gone are the dark circles and nervous behavior. With her blond locks flying across her cheeks and her pink eye-shadow, she looks just like my Allie. “You look good.”
“I am. I’m done with Mastery of Air. I can finally breathe.”
“I lost you at the party last night.”
“I left early.” A hint of a smile plays at the corners of her lips.
“Vivianne says you have a boyfriend…” I trail off. Not the stealthiest approach, but I need to gather clues before she blows me off again. Besides, the mood seems right.
A blush creeps up on her cheeks, her lips rosy, and her eyes twinkle with something I’ve seen in school or movies but never, ever on my sister’s face. “Yes.” She tilts her head forward. “Look, I’m sorry I kept it from you, but it’s going really well, and I don’t want to mess it up. We want things to stay private for a while.”
We? If she’s sayingwe, it means it’s serious. Allie has never been aweperson. I can read it in her shy, giddy smile. She’s in love.
I’m torn on how I feel about it. Love is supposed to be a good thing. Secrets and weird behavior, not so much. Love plus secrets and weird behavior equals…trouble? “Who is he?”
She makes a zipping motion over her lips.
“You won’t even give me a clue?”
“No. I’ll tell you soon, though.” She ruffles my hair, and it feels like us again.
I hug my leather bag to my knees, squirming. “Can you at least tell me if I know him?”
Mischief dances in her blue eyes. “You do. Of course, you do. We’re stuck with each other here.”
An itch spreads from my ribs to my neck. The cool wind is no longer soothing the bite of the sun. “Then tell me.”
