“Excellent, Ms.Montgomery.That’s correct.The practitioner supplies the energy, so the greater the outcome, the greater the demand on the caster.Something to be cognizant of, wouldn’t you say, Ms.Mitchell?”
The young woman from the first day of class was continuing to annoy Harkert, it seemed.I didn’t blame him.She gave off the horrible vibes of someone looking to outsmart and outshine the professor.Not a good look, honey.
“I was merely positing the idea as a thought experiment.I certainly don’t intend to—”
The door to the classroom opened, the loud creak startling everyone inside.The dean stood there, her expression dower and stern.Even more so than usual, it appeared, because even Professor Harkert leaned back, eyeing her curiously as his brows furrowed.
“Ugh, thank gods.An interruption to end Blondie’s fucking tirade.‘I was merely positing—’ Ugh, next.”
Lizzie complained as I tracked the dean as she cut straight into the room and went up to our professor, whispering with her head turned down and her back to the room.Harkert’s expression was the only one I could see, and just as it dropped, Lizzie sat up straight in her chair, reaching for my hand and squeezing.
“Something’s wrong.”
I nodded, flicking her a glance before I refocused on the conversation at the front of the class.“Yeah.Something tells me we’re about to have an early dismissal.”
After another moment, chatter starting up all around Lizzie and me as we watched Harkert, Dean Owens stepped back, facing the class with her brows raised as Harkert stepped forward.He scanned over his student, his eyes lingering on me and my stepsister for a moment before he cleared his throat.He dropped his stare to the floor, then raised it quickly enough to address us.
“Class is dismissed for the day.Unfortunately, there has been a situation that I must assist the dean with.I will see you all tomorrow.”
In a flurry of movement and chaos, the room emptied out, but I was glad to see that Lizzie was on the same page as me, remaining seated as all the other students left, likely to go start their nights early.
“Girls, you’re free to go.If you have a question for Professor Harkert, you can—”
“What happened?”Lizzie cut in.“I can sense that you’re both hella upset?I think we deserve to know.”
I didn’t usually love it when Lizzie lumped me in with her arguments, but she had a point this time.We did deserve to know because Harkert’s expression was more severe than usual, and even I—a person with no empathic abilities—could tell that he was trying to remain calm when he was upset.
“Ms.Chamberlain, I can assure you that we have it well at hand.You’re dismissed.”
Lizzie scoffed and folded her arms, kicking her feet up on the chair in front of her.
“You should just tell her.”Harkert offered, sighing as he came around his desk and narrowed his eyes at Lizzie.“She’s stubborn.”
She frowned.“Hey.”
Standing up, I held a hand out for Lizzie and pulled her up so that we could both go stand down at the front with the professors.I could tell that for a moment Dean Owens believed I was going to take Lizzie out of the room, but I had no intention of leaving.Something was going on, and Lizzie was right.We needed to know about it.
“It’s true, Lizzie.But in this case, it’s useful.Please, Dean Owens, perhaps we could help.Four heads are better than two and all that.”
The dean leveled me with a stare, but I didn’t crumple or relent.Maybe it was seeing the carnival and how gruesome even fake life could be, or maybe it was coming to this school and really seeing that I did have power and we could grow it here, but I was feeling damned confident right now.
“Ugh,” the dean sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose, the fabric of her tweed jacket stretching around her arm, “at this point, the school will take all the help it can get.”
I nodded, keeping my expression neutral as I waited with Lizzie for her to reveal the big news.Lizzie still had her arms crossed, and I could see her leaning in a hair toward the dean as she squinted, trying to read the woman’s aura.
“There has been a death.I have asked—”
“There’s been a murder, Rebecca.Don’t sugarcoat it if they’re going to help, which, for the record, is a terrible idea.”
Glaring slightly at Harkert, I felt Lizzie shift next to me, likely shooting her own glare at the man.But then I turned back to the dean, zeroing in on the distinction that Harkert had made.
“There was a murder?On campus?”
Dean Owens bobbed her head in a nod, her eyes pinned down to the wooden floorboards that creaked under our feet.
“I’m afraid so, though it wasn’t directly on campus.At least that’s not where…the body was found.Staff located it this morning during a sweep of the forest around the grounds.We’ve been increasing them since the previous spellcasting professor wasalsokilled.”
“You think it’s related.You think the professor and this…girl are involved in something.Who would want to hurt them?Did they know each other?”
