Mina spoke evenly. “They say that patience is a virtue.”
“So is self-control, and I feel that mine may be slipping where your brother is concerned.” He opened his coat and pulled out a small glass globe. He held it out in front of her, and she could see Charlie inside a gold cage, just like her dream. “I have heard some disturbing news. It seems my youngest brother has disappeared. You wouldn’t have anything to do with that, would you?”
“Maybe he went on a spur-of-the-moment vacation.”
“Maybe I have decided to change my mind about what I want. If you can’t get the Fable, the Fae-plane book, then I want the Grimoire.”
“No, you can’t have it!”
“No one tells me what I can and cannot have,” he hissed, and raised his fist and smashed it through the trophy case. The glass shattered and rained to the ground in pieces. He shook his hand and put it back down by his side. He had lost control and was on the verge of trying to regain it. Temple closed his eyes, and smoothed his vest and jacket back into place. “Be glad that I’m gracious enough to spare yours until our bargain is done. You have until tomorrow at midnight to give me one of the books, or your brother will die and you will take his place in my gilded cage. Don’t disappoint me again.”
He turned and strolled down the hall, his boots making a hollow clicking noise. Mina stared at the shattered trophy case and Temple’s retreating figure, and felt her heart race. She needed to leave before someone came to investigate the disturbance. But something on the ground caught her eye; she stooped down and picked up something he had missed: a shard of gold-tinted glass with a single drop of Temple’s blood on it. He must have unknowingly cut himself on the shard of glass, turning it gold.
A door opened, and she could hear the sound of feet quickly approaching. Mina slipped the shard into her jacket pocket and ducked around the corner just before Principal Hame appeared and yelled, “What in the blazes happened to the trophy case?”
Chapter 18
She was out of options and desperate. Mina sneaked off to her locker and began to work on the combination. Of course, since she was in a hurry, her fingers wouldn’t cooperate with her, and it took her three tries to get the correct combination before she heard the audible click and the locker opened. It was just around the corner from the trophy case, and she knew if she didn’t get moving she would get in big trouble for skipping class. And she didn’t think that saving the world from Fae was an acceptable excuse. In fact, she would probably end up in the school counselor’s office if she tried that excuse.
The commotion was getting louder as more teachers came to investigate Principal Hame’s verbal tirade against delinquents that destroy school property. And how he would find them and they would be expelled.
Come on, she mentally berated herself, and desperately dug around in her backpack for it. Her fingers brushed something warm, and she snatched it out of her bag and slammed her locker door a little too loud.
“Did you hear that? It’s probably our delinquent now.” His voice got louder, and Mina could hear his footsteps drawing closer to her.
She clutched the golden phoenix feather close to her breast and tried the doorknob to the nearest classroom. Luckily, it was unlocked and currently devoid of students. It took her a moment to adjust to where she was because all of the shades had been closed against the heat of the sun. She moved forward away from the door and bumped into the familiar lab table. It was the biology lab. This room always gave her the willies, as she couldn’t help but remember what had happened the last time she was in this room. The creepy specimens in the lab’s glass cases had come alive. She moved to the corner of the room and crouched down behind a tall file cabinet. Would they look in the darkened classroom?
A moment later the door opened, and the light from the hallway spilled into the room. She pulled her knees and shoes closer to her body, and held her breath. Principal Hame stormed into the room and shouted, “I know you’re in here. I heard this door close.” His portly chest heaved in and out from excitement. Even his red face had a slight sheen of sweat. Principal Hame, or Ham, as the students called him, really did in real life resemble the pigs he collected. He had an office full of them. And sure enough, like a pig can sniff out a truffle, this one had found her.
Mina tried to rack her brain to think of an excuse as she slowly began to inch out of her hiding spot, but a familiar voice saved her.
“I heard it, too, but I think it was that door,” Mrs. Colbert’s voice rang out. “In fact, I’m almost positive it was from the south hallway.”
Principal Hame grumbled something and stopped right in front of the filing cabinet. He was two feet from discovering her.