Behind us, Wilder and Hawke turned to follow. Torian, on the other hand, caught someone's eye. A second later, he smiled, then he tossed hisphone into the crowd. My eyes went with it, not surprised at all to watch the guy from our biology class catch it.
"You've got the playlist, Jeff," Torian said as he moved between Hawke and Wilder.
Unfortunately, Ms. Rhodes and Ms. Hawthorne weren't the only ones waiting in the hall. Out there, Liam and Bracken stood with their arms crossed. Three other teachers were with them, all of them looking as if they'd been interrupted somehow.
"Rain?" Liam asked, pausing when Ms. Rhodes lifted a hand.
"What happened?" she asked, her eyes jumping across all of us.
"Thatgirl," Ms. Hawthorne shot back, "filled the atrium with her darkness! Joan would've never - "
"Pearl," Ms. Rhodes said, her tone stopping the woman mid-sentence. "I asked the kids." Then the headmistress looked back at us and lifted a brow, making it clear she was still waiting.
"I got angry," I admitted. "It was a stupid disagreement, but my shadow appeared, and then the shadows were pouring out, and - "
"Which shadows?" Liam asked.
I groaned because he had a point. "My shadow." I pointed to the ground - then paused. "Where the fuck is my shadow?"
"Language!" Ms. Hawthorne snapped.
"It's gone!" Aspen breathed, her eyes on the ground, searching like I was.
"Jack!" my bird said.
"Where is it, Jack?" Hawke asked.
That was answered with a string of caws and rattles. When Hawke shook his head, clearly as confused as I was, Jack launched himself into the air, flying over to the glass wall - and then up.
"Rain!" he demanded. "Morrigan! Jack! Jack-Jack! Court!"
"He has a new word?" Ms. Rhodes asked.
"He got it earlier," Aspen explained. "He used it when Wilder came to pick me up, so - "
"That bird!" Ms. Hawthorne broke in, sounding exasperated. "And if you are trying to corrupt the Morrigan..."
"Stop!"
I wanted to say it, but the shout wasn't from me. This was Bracken, and he marched right between us and the teachers. Bracing up with his feet apart and his arms loose and ready, the man suddenly looked like some mythical warrior as he planted himself before me.
"That ismydaughter you're talking about, Pearl. Rain is the Morrigan, but she knows nothing. Not even how to manage her shadows. She's talked to us about the shadow problem, and we've been trying to devise a course of study for her. Or do you know how to train a Morrigan?"
"Well, no!" Ms. Hawthorne huffed. "But we can't have Wild magic unleashed in a closed area with so many fae! What if it nullifies them? What if it weakens them? Bracken, this is serious!"
"I'm sorry," I muttered.
"It was my fault," Torian said right after. "I was annoying Rain, and she warned me, but I didn't even think about her shadows." He looked back, his eyes meeting mine. "I'm sorry, Rain. I honestly thought I was helping."
"I wish you'd just trust me." I shrugged. "But I'm sorry my shadow flipped out and shoved you. Are you ok?"
The corner of his lip curled. "Yep. Keir's soft to land on."
"And you're not," Keir grumbled. "Just..." He looked at me. "Did your shadow stand up?"
"Yeah..." I breathed.
"And where is it?" Aspen asked. "Rain, it's a part of you, so you should feel it."
