What was he doing? He couldn’t work magic.
But the spell erupted from the tip of the talking stick. Miss Norton, still in motion, stepped in front of it. The spell struck her in the chest. Her eyes went wide, and she tipped backward, landing in a heap on the floor.
A silence louder than the shouting and flying spells descended in the room.
I turned my head toward Eli, my stomach sinking.
So much for the no-magic defense.
5
The Sheriff, the Student, and the Oracle
The Will Guard arrived seconds later. Captain Gargrave came through the door first, pointing his staff at Eli, who went rigid, his arms pinioned at his sides. Across from him, Nick stood in a similar state. The principal had said the Will Guard was armed with magic detectors. Apparently, they were really good ones.
“Are you all right, Miss Norton?” said Katarina, helping the fairy to her feet.
Miss Norton let out a groan as she rubbed her chest where Eli’s jab jinx had struck. I did an inner double take at the thought. Eli had done magic. There was no denying it. I’d seen it with my own eyes. Heard it with my own ears. But how was it possible?
I looked Eli up and down, half-convinced he was someone else in disguise. The dark, dangerous expression on his face was familiar, but also inscrutable. He could be thinking anything.
“This is the second time I’ve had to break you two up,” Gargrave said, glancing between his captives. Then he turned toward Eli and yanked the talking stick out of his hand. “And according to my information, you’re not supposed to have a wand, Mr. Booker. Where did you get this?”
“It’s mine.” Miss Norton stepped forward and seized the stick from Gargrave. “It’s … it’s just a classroom tool.” She hugged it close to her chest as if fearing Gargrave would take it back.
But the captain shrugged and returned his attention to Eli. “Come with me. I think the principal is going to want to hear about this.”
The spell holding Eli in place let go, and he shook out his arms as if to get the blood flowing again.
“Why just him?” I said, unable to stand idly by. “Nick cast a stunning spell first.”
Gargrave scrutinized the Ira demon, considering the matter. He shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s a demonkind and therefore entitled to a little more tolerance.”
Although Gargrave didn’t say it, the word ordinary seemed to sound throughout the room. It echoed over and over again inside my head.
“That’s not fa—” I began, but Eli cut me off.
“Leave it, Dusty. I’ll be fine.”
With an effort, I closed my mouth.
Gargrave turned toward the door, and Eli followed after him. Our eyes met for a moment, and I saw he wasn’t angry at being the only one punished. Instead he seemed resigned to his fate.
As soon as he and the Will Guard were gone, Miss Norton ordered all of us back to our seats. We spent the rest of the period in silent reading. Although I kept my eyes glued to the page, none of the words registered. My head was too crowded with questions and doubts all vying for my attention like unwelcome houseguests. The image from Britney’s dream kept coming back to me. I didn’t want to believe Eli was involved, but I couldn’t ignore what I’d witnessed—he had done magic. Was I wrong about Eli like I’d been wrong about Paul? Feeling sick, I wrapped my arms around my chest.
I wanted desperately to talk to Eli, but by the time first period ended, he hadn’t returned. I walked to my spell-casting class alone, ignoring the gossip filling the hallways. Everyone was talking about the ordinary boy who’d somehow done magic.
When I descended the stairs into the tunnels and caught a familiar whiff of canal water, my thoughts turned to Britney. Guilt and relief battled inside me. If I had told Lady Elaine about Eli being in her dream, he would be in even more trouble. Then again, if he’d been the one to attack her …
Stop it, Dusty. Not everybody is a power-crazed villain in disguise.
With an effort, I forced the thoughts from my mind. The task proved easier once I arrived at spell casting. Today we were working on illusion spells, a subject we’d been studying nonstop since the semester began. According to our textbook, there were three levels to illusion spells, starting with the simplest and working up to the hardest. We’d already learned the level-one stuff, which involved transforming the appearance of an existing object into something else. We started small, first turning pennies into quarters, and then textbooks into pillows.
Now we were moving on to level two: duplication. Five minutes into my attempts to make a duplicated illusion of a penny appear beside a real one, sweat broke out over my skin, and I started panting from the effort. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remove the telltale blurriness from the false penny. Who knew creating something out of thin air would be so difficult?
Still, I was grateful for the distraction as the period slipped by quickly. I only checked the door twice, hoping Eli had arrived, and I was too busy concentrating to be concerned about what he might or might not have done.
But when class ended, my worry came back full force. Wishing I’d just asked Eli for the truth when I’d had the chance, I hesitated at the stairs leading up from the tunnels to Monmouth Tower and my history class. Then, on impulse, I turned and doubled back, making a right at the next intersection. If I hurried I would have time to swing by the administration office in Jefferson Tower to see if I could find out what was keeping Eli so long.