Page 86 of Forbidden Magic
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, my voice squeaky.
Jessa eats up every bit of the moment, her smirk widening by the second.
“Come with us, Ma’am,” a second agent says as the magical force field presses harder against my back. “You’ve been accused of poaching from the Magisterium’s garden.”
Blood rushes to my ears. “No. I didn’t.”
A hot flush covers my neck.
They guide me quickly to the administrative building. A few students we cross paths with snap pictures. The agents force me down a narrow staircase to a dark room in the back of the humid basement. I swallow gulp after gulp, trying not to lose my mind.
Oz is there, waiting. His shoulders are hunched, and his right brow is bent in a perfect L-shape. He doesn’t meet my gaze. The disappointment on his face is so thick that I frown.
“You have the right to remain silent, Ma’am. But I would advise against it,” the tallest agent says before the magic releases me.
I breathe easier knowing Oz is here and take a seat at the table between us, the Magus behind me giving me enough space to shake out the anxiety pulsing in my veins. “What’s going on?”
Oz places a bushel of bloodroots on the table. “These were found in your dresser. I know you’ve been bullied. Maybe you thought this would help you get even, but it’s a crime, Julia.”
My mind is blank until— “I’m being set up.” Bloodroots are very powerful and very rare. They take forever to dig out and can’t come in contact with sunlight, and I know I didn’t spend the night in the garden. “I haven’t touched the garden. Someone must have put those roots in my room.”
Oz shakes his head. “I checked. There was no sign of intrusion. No other heat signatures went through the door in twenty-four hours. I want to help you, Julia. But I’m going to need the truth. Did someone put you up to this?”
My mouth stings. It hurts that he doesn’t believe me. I thought, amongst all the hatred, that I could count on Oz to see through the lies the immortals are weaving, but I was wrong. “I’ve never seen these roots before in my life. I swear.”
I search his gaze, hoping, praying he’ll reconsider.
The other agents are quiet, giving my professor free rein, and then it hits me. Is he a Magisterium agent? Is Oz their representative at the Academy?
A sad grimace curls his lips. “There was a very specific magic signature on it. It had to be you.”
My mouth opens, but a crystalline voice resonates from behind me.
“Let her go. I’m responsible for this.” Miss Eillis prances into the interrogation room, her eyes fierce and her trademark skirt replaced by black leggings and a matching shirt.
“Beth?” Oz looks confused.
Miss Eillis’ hair is tied into a braid, and the three agents that arrested me take a step back. “I harvested it last night and went into Julia’s room this morning to comfort her. I must have misplaced it then.”
“And you put them in her dresser?” he asks.
“I put them on the dresser, but it would have been easy enough for them to fall inside. You know your spell couldn’t account for my presence there.”
“It might have, but still…”
Something heavy passes between them.
“Even if Julia put them in her dresser herself after I left, she couldn’t have known they belonged to the Magisterium,” Miss Eillis adds. “This was all one big misunderstanding, and you guys have bigger fish to fry tonight.”
Mr. Oz rests his hand on the back of the chair opposite me. “Alright.”
I can tell he doesn’t believe her entirely, but he sneaks glances at his colleagues and goes along with it anyway.
My mind is running laps. Bigger fish… What did that mean?
I draw in a sharp breath as Miss Eillis and I return outside. She walks so fast, I struggle to keep up. We reach Summer Hall’s fair weather in record time.
“Thank you, but why did you do it? Why did you lie for me?” I ask.
