Page 31 of Mistaken Magic

Lynnnodded. "Yeah, likeEnticerscan do.Theygive you a compulsion to leave the other side before curfew.Bothparties get one, and it lasts for months.Sucks."Sheflashed me a smile. "Ihappen to know that personally.Iwas two minutes late andMs.Hawthornebusted me."

"Haven'tmet her,"Iadmitted. "Isshe the chaperone for our floor?"

"No,"Lynnassured me. "She'stheAwing, third floor.PearlHawthorneleftFaerieback in the sixties, they say.Doesn'tlook a day over thirty, either.Fuckingpure-bloods."

"What?"Igasped, because that shocked me more than anything else.

Lynnturned me toward a set of stairs in the corner beside the study hall. "Yeah, pure-bloods grow up like we do, but they stop aging somewhere in their twenties.Momsays the average fae lives for about a thousand years.They'renot immortal, but pretty damned close.Andthey only start aging about a decade before they die.Justnot fair."

"Whoa,"Ibreathed. "Andhow many pure-bloods are here?"

"Um, five students," she said as we made our way down, "the weapons instructor, the heads ofEnticersandConjurers, and the dean, plus about six other teachers, likeMs.Hawthorne."

"Ms.Rhodes?"Iasked, thinking about the woman who'd given me my entrance exam.

Lynnnodded just as we reached the bottom. "IvyRhodesis the dean.She'sour wing's chaperone too, actually."Thenshe pushed through the door and into the main part of the school. "I'msure you noticed the atrium, right?"

"Oh, yeah,"Isaid, looking that way. "It'samazing."

"Halfthe stuff in there was brought as seeds fromFaerie.Thebig silver oak in the middle?Storiessay it was stolen from theQueen'sorchard on the day she declared war.They'remade of magic, you see - well, breathe it out - so it makes it easier to learn being so close to one.Ifyou take the elevators to the basement level, you'll come out in theNever."

DidIhear her right? "Thewhat?"

"TheNever," she repeated. "It'sa natural basement made by the silver oak.Thespaces work as ley lines, kinda.Um, like underground rivers of magic that double as hallways, since magic is intangible."Shepointed away from the atrium, thenstarted walking. "Ifa student messes up some big spell, the tree eats the excess.Italso gives it off, which is a really complicated thingIfailed on my last test."Shewaved that off. "Justknow there's a lot more under the school, but as aLegacy, you'll probably never go down there."

"Gotcha."Itsounded like this place was even crazier thanI'dfirst imagined.

Thenshe turned into the space between theAandBwings, directly under our common area but on the first floor. "Andthis is the library."

Apair of large wooden doors marked the entrance.Lynnopened one just enough to slip through, andIfollowed her, only to stall out just inside.Yes, this was definitely a library.Elegantwooden bookshelves were packed with spines of all colors and sizes.Therewere freestanding bookcases in the middle of the room, making rows in a space that was almost the size of the atrium.Alongthe sides, they kept going up to the ceiling.Itappeared to take up two stories.

Awalkway spanned the room about halfway up, making it easy to reach the books at the top.Signsmarked the sections.Isaw one for reference materials and another for romance, which meant this wasn't all learning materials.Lynnkept walking, not nearly as impressed asIwas, but she'd also been going here for a while.Longenough to take this miracle for granted.

Itwas like the most amazing public libraryI'dever seen, but just a few floors down from whereI'dbe living.Iwas so enamoredIdidn't realize we'd walked straight through the whole thing until we reached a door on the back side.Then, like all the others,Lynnwent through, expecting me to follow.

Onthe other side was outside.Itwas brisk, soIhugged my arms against myself, and she stretched her legs a little.Weboth hurried away from the building, with her in the lead.Then, as werounded the back side of what must be theBwing, she pointed out across the dormant lawn.

"Youcan see a building out there?That'sthe training ground for sentinel courses.Self-defense, practical application of magic, and a few other things are taught there as well.Everyonecalls it the 'gym.'Andaround the corner, just out of sight is theForge."

Thewhole time she talked, she never stopped, making a straight line down toward theD-wing side of the building.Itwasn't a short walk.Thankfully, the school blocked most of the wind, and as fast as we were moving,Iwasn't freezing out here.Wepassed the atrium, letting me see the back side was also glass, and kept going.Soonenough, we reached the next section, and there was a door.

Whenwe got inside,Irealized this was a dining area.Itwas also wonderfully warm.Weboth paused and chaffed our arms for a moment, thenLynnstarted pointing again.

"There'sa buffet over here.Drinksare over there.Mealtimes are posted on the doors over on the other side, but it's an hour later on the weekends than weekdays.Inbetween, there's always snacks like sandwiches and such for us.Food'sincluded with tuition, so there's no checking out or anything, and this place never closes.Lunchroomduty is one of their favorite punishments for breaking the rules, so be sure to read your handbook.Noone wants to spend the evening washing dishes!"

Shekept talking about all the foods and what to do ifIhad any allergies -Ididn't - as we crossed the room.Afew people were sitting around either eating or studying, but it was mostly empty.Wecame out the opposite side, having almost made a square through the building, thenLynnled me past the front of the atrium and back to the same elevatorLiamhad used to show me to my room.

"Overon the other side of the atrium is one just like this," she explained while we waited for the car to come down."Duringcommunal hours, you can visit the boys, but at nine on weeknights and ten on weekends, we have to be back on our sides.Ifthere's a boy in your room, you're supposed to leave your door open, but no one ever does.Justexpect a lecture if you're caught."

Theelevator showed up, andIstepped onto it.Lynndidn't. "Coming?"Iasked.

Shejerked her thumb back behind her. "Iwas going to hang with my friends.I'llbe at your door at eight sharp tomorrow, though.Fourthfloor,Rain."Thenshe waved and backed up.

Ijust reached over and punched the button for the fourth floor.AtleastIstill had one more book to finish.Ialso wanted to try on my uniform to make sureIdidn't look like an idiot.

ButwhenIunlocked my door and stepped into my room,Ifound a bag sitting on my bed.Thegift type.Itwas lime green with neon daisy-like flowers on the outside, drawn in a childish manner.Insidewas tissue paper in a silver color.WhenIlooked at the tag on the handle, it simply said, "WelcometoSilverOaks."

Pullingout the paper,Ifound an entire collection of makeup.Confused,Iturned back to see if someone was watching me.HadLiamdone this?Hedidn't seem like the kind to purchase makeup, but he was the only personI'dtalked to about it, and even then, it had just been a passing comment.

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