Page 76 of Magical Academy for Delinquents
I swallowed and straightened. Then I called out, “Dad, can you come here please?”
Chapter 30
My dad appearedin the study room, though no one could see him but me. He waved and said, “Hayley, there’s been a bit of a development—”
I cut him off, because I couldn’t stand around talking to someone invisible. “Just a sec. Can you possess Malcolm real quick, please?”
Malcolm’s eyes widened and he stood. “What?”
“Malcolm, meet my dad.” My dad pointed a finger at Malcolm, confirming he was the intended target. I nodded. “My dad died a week after my brother was turned, right as his lab discovered everything about vamps—”
“Suspicious,” Grayson said.
I turned to look at him, my chest hollowing out. “Yeah,” my throat dried up. “It is.” I hadn’t ever thought so before, because Dad had never had time to announce the serum. Nobody really knew about it. Of course, I hadn’t known then that the Pinnacle was using vamps for nefarious purposes.
Dad’s head popped out of Malcolm’s torso, completely unaware that I was having a miniature meltdown. “Hayley, what did you want me to do?”
“Oh, sorry. Can you make him touch his head?” I asked.
Dad gave a nod and slid back inside Malcolm, who shivered and whispered, “What the hell is this?” When his left hand jerked up and started to muss his perfectly styled hair, he shouted, “Hayley! What the hell are you doing?”
Grayson stared at me. “Is this some kind of prank spell?”
I shook my head. “Dad, can you leave Malcolm and go visit Grayson for a sec?”
Dad walked out of Malcolm’s body and tried to give him a handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Dad, he can’t feel you shaking his hand.”
Malcolm’s face was stuck somewhere between awe and horror. “Actually, I kind of can. The air particles get a lot colder.” He reached forward and swiped his hand through the air. He swiped through Dad’s arm at first, but then gradually backed off, until he was kind of petting my father’s outline.
Dad glanced back at me. “He’s powerful.”
“I know.”
“What’d he say?” Evan asked.
“He said he liked Malcolm better than you and that I have his blessing to date Hales,” Zavier needled.
I laughed. So did Dad, who couldn’t resist punching Zavier in the gut for that. “No blessings!” Dad chided.
Zavier immediately grabbed his stomach. “Damn, Evan, that’s cold.”
“I didn’t do it.”
Z’s eyes widened when I scolded my dad. “Not fair when he can’t retaliate, Dad.”
Dad just shrugged and adjusted the collar on his shirt.
“Sir, um, sorry. Just joking.” Z said.
I pointed over to Grayson and Dad sighed, walking over with his hands in his pockets. “It would be a lot easier, if I could just shine onto the wall, like your darn computer.”
His words triggered a revelation. Potts popped into my head for a second, her snarky voice saying, “Mash things together.” Maybe … maybe something like that could work. I turned toward Zavier. “You’ve bragged about your thieving skills. How easy do you think you could break into a room here on campus?”
Z shrugged, nonchalant. “Easier than any of the mansions I’ve hit before. Why? What do you need?”
“Can you go grab a Recollection Amulet? We made them in Barron’s class, but she locked them away until graduation.”
