Page 77 of A Lesson in Deceit
CORRIN
Northside courtyard, now!”
I started to back away from Asher who looked more than frustrated with me.
“Riley, where are you going?”
I shook my head. “It’s important. Your interrogation can wait.” I spat back, opening the door and running out.
I ran as fast as I could to the northside courtyard, noticing that a bunch of people were crowding the otherwise open space. I shoved students out of my way, getting disgruntled looks, but I had to find Corrin. When I got to what I hoped was the front of the crowd, she grabbed me and pulled me into her.
“Look!” Corrin pointed to what had everyone so enthralled. There was a girl with dark hair and olive skin on the ground. The school nurse and other medical professionals were around her, but I could see her face clearly. She looked confused and lost. Her clothes were a little dirty and she was flinching each time one of the medics tried to touch her, but there were no signs of blood or external injuries.
“Who is that?” I asked, noticing that school officials were starting to disband the crowd and the sound of cop cars were in the distance.
“It’s another girl from my coven, Riley.”
A Dalmatian barked erratically while being held back by two school officials. The dog ripped out of their hold and was at the girl’s side in a matter of seconds, starting to growl at anyone who came near her.
She held her hand out and softly touched its body, rubbing her hand down its side and the dog ceased its growling, nuzzling its face into her neck. It must be her familiar.
I looked over at the girl, shuffling back when we were finally shoved out of the perimeter. “We need to do this then. You need to do what Pen said tonight, and I’ll find a way to get to my dad’s office.”
A few people lingered, but the rest of them moved on with the rest of their day. The girl from Corrin’s coven was carried off somewhere, her dog following closely, and I had an inkling to follow her as well, but I wouldn’t have known what to do when I caught up with them. She wouldn’t remember anything.I would leave any conversation I had with her the same as when I started.
“You won’t have to look that hard. It’s the department meeting night. It happens one Tuesday every month. It’s around eight in the auditorium.” Ike stepped up behind us, causing Corrin to shriek.
“And how do you know this, brother dearest?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“It’s on the school calendar. Public knowledge.” Ike rolled his eyes.
“That gets the staff out of the building, but what about getting in in the first place? It’s not like I’ll be able to just grab a key off of security.” I looked at Corrin. “Could you make one through magic?”
She tilted her hand from left to right. “Um, maybe. It’s not something I’ve ever done and I don’t even know how long that would take me to figure out. Your faith in my magic is appreciated, but I’m still just a sophomore witch.”
Ike scrubbed a hand down his face. “Fine, twist my arm.”
“Huh?” I said, scratching my head.
“Listen, I may not want to use my powers in my career, but I still knowhowto use them. Locks are made of…” He waited a moment. “Right, metal. And what do I do?” He paused again, giving us a patronizing expression. “Metal magic. Does it all make sense?”
Corrin punched him in his arm. “You don’t have to be so annoying, you are aware of that right?”
37
Riley
Ipaced back and forth in River’s room waiting on any word from Corrin about the extraction. She had texted me that she was working on it, but after a few hours I’d grown nervous.
“What’s with all the back and forth?” River asked, lounging on his bed, scrolling through his phone.
“Just nervous about some school stuff, that’s all.”
He chuckled. “You are probably the smartest person I know, next to Professor St. James, so I think whatever it is will be fine.” River put his phone down. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I smiled over at him. “No, but, um, thanks. If you want to be helpful, I do have a question for you.” I rocked back and forth on my heels.
He patted the spot next to him on his bed. “I’m an open book, gorgeous.”
