Page 85 of Forbidden Magic
Miranda
“Are you going to tell anyone?” I ask Brie the next day.
We’ve just suffered through our last History of Magic lesson for the quarter, and the mermaid’s hair is messier than usual. It’s rare that I can get a minute alone with her, but I need to know if she’s going to run her mouth about what she saw. My finals start tomorrow, so it’d be the perfect time to mess with my concentration.
She looks glum as she answers, “About what?”
I click my tongue. “Don’t play with me, Brie.”
The hunch of her shoulders worsens before she sighs, “I have no clue what you’re talking about. Now, leave me alone. I can’t be seen talking to you.”
I cut in front of her. “I need an answer.”
She bares her teeth. “What the fuck are you harassing me for?”
I pause, my boots digging into the mud left by yet another winter drizzle. “You’re serious. You don’t have any idea what I’m talking about?”
“None. Please leave me alone.”
Brie hurries off, and I’m left gaping at her retreating back.
She doesn’t remember. There’s genuine confusion behind the snark, and my arms fall at my sides. I was so sure she’d seen Cole and me in the water…her song, her jab. I couldn’t have read all of this wrong, could I?
Before I have a chance to really process Brie’s behavior, shouts and claps catch my attention.
Bright red graffiti glistens on the roof of the dining hall.
Mortals belong in our staff, not our schools.
I swallow hard and slow down.
A flash of blue hair turns my stomach to stone. Jessa beams from my right as she points at the hateful artwork. “I wonder who did this. I’d love to send them fan mail.”
“Address it to yourself then,” I snap.
“I didn’t do this. I didn’t need to. All the immortals are starting to realize how poisonous you are.” The happiness on her face grates against my indignant heart. “You should quit before anyone else gets hurt.”
“You should stop hurting people.”
Trent catches up to me and grabs my hand, holding me back. Jessa certainly deserves a second punch in the face, but I know that would only get her what she wants. Me, expelled.
There’s a weird vibe sizzling the air, like this isn’t just some other student prank. On the roof, two men in black cloaks are inspecting the graffiti.
“Is that…”
“Human blood. Yes,” Trent growls.
What the—
“Julia Winslow?”
I spin around. Three Magisterium agents with identical black cloaks form a circle around me. Their appearances are intimidating as shit, and for a moment I’m frozen.
“Y-Yes?”
“Please come with us,” one agent says.
Magical shackles appear around my wrist, and an invisible force pushes me along the path.
