I shifted from foot to foot, feeling like I was sixteen and in trouble again. "Anyway …"
"Anyway, go on down. And come say goodbye to me before you go. I expect I can find some brownies for the two of you. You're both looking too thin."
We promised we'd try to and headed down the familiar hallway.
"You set the lab on fire? More than once? That's impressive," Jack teased me.
"The live pig? I want to hearthatstory when this is all over," I retorted, but then I slowed down and stopped in front of the line of trophy cases. "And there you are in all the championship team photos from your years. You were so cute in high school. I had a terrible crush on you, you know."
He laughed. "No, I didn't know, because you would have been a little kid when I was in high school. But I definitely am crazy about you now."
I took his hand in mine, and we continued down to the chemistry lab. When we knocked and pushed open the door, an entire roomful of students stared at us.
Mr. Washington, standing at the front of the room, pushed his protective goggles back on his head and held out a hand in a theatrical gesture, like he was Vanna White and I was a vowel.
"Class, meet Tess Callahan, who could set the lab on fire with chemicals thatweren't even flammable."
When the kids started applauding, I took a bow instead of sinking through the floor, like I wished I could.
"And Jack Shepherd, who got an A in chemistry even during two-a-day football practices,Mr. Pershing."
A boy the approximate size of Uncle Mike's tractor—the big one—turned beet red and dropped his head.
I frowned. That was new. Mr. Washington had never been the type to embarrass kids when I was in school. And his voice had been mocking in that slice-you-with-words way some people had, but he'd never been like that before.
Could it be Fae magic working on him?
Or maybe a lifetime of teaching the same subject to class after class of bored teenagers? That would probably drivemeover the edge.
"I have to let you in on a secret, kids," Jack said, pausing dramatically while sweeping his gaze across the classroom. "I actuallyusedthe chemistry Mr. Washington taught me in the real world—and it saved my life and the lives of more than a hundred people trapped by a rogue vampire's blood coven."
Theoohsandaahsfilled the room—everybody in town knew at least a little about Jack's exploits in the war—and Mr. Washington beamed, visibly expanding with pride. I doubted many of his students ever came back with a story likethat.
While Jack told an undoubtedly highly edited version of the story to the kids, I edged around the room to meet my former teacher up front.
"It was nice of him to say that." Mr. Washington glanced at me, but then returned his gaze to Jack. "Kids always think chemistry is useless, unless they specifically plan to go into STEM fields."
Uncle Mike had not-so-secretly hoped I'd follow him into STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—but history had been my passion. I'd planned to study history, languages, and travel, until my world both blew up and shrank when my weird power showed up.
"The world is different now that the supernatural races have come forward," I said, almost apologetically. "A lot of kids seem to think magic is more important than science today."
Mr. Washington made a quiet hissing sound, forcibly reminding me he was a supernatural being himself. A rare snake shifter.
We'd always suspected it, but I'd never learned the truth until just recently. I had to force myself not to stare at him to see if there were any visible signs of … well … snakeishness.
"Anyway, do you have the dagger here?"
"Dagger?" He shook his head. "Tess, it's really only a knife. A very old knife that one of my ancestors hung onto and passed down, and it has some semi-precious stones on the hilt, but it's nothing special, really."
"Okay. But if we could just see it, to rule it out? I promised Susan I'd report back," I said, trying to subtly or not-so-subtly nudge him to show me the darn thing.
He frowned and then, just as Jack was wrapping up his anecdote, struck a pose. In a rousing voice which would have carried from the stage to the back of the auditorium, Mr. Washington intoned:
"I see thee still,
And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,
Which was not so before.
