“Good to know, love.”
I gasped and looked up to find Winston standing in the doorway of my room. I hadn’t even heard it open. Theo stood behind him, his eyes boring into mine.
Winston turned harshly before I could reply and slammed his shoulder into Theo’s as he went.
Theo stepped into my room and the door closed behind him.
“That went well.”
Chapter 23
THAT’S THE WEIRDEST PLANT I’VE ever seen.” Adelaide made a face as she appraised the purple and blue plant in front of her called a heyosopal. It had a stem like a mushroom and grew with four round pustule-like heads, which glowed almost like a light in a room. We were tasked with extracting the insides of them and then were to make some kind of salve that could heal open wounds almost instantly.
“I think it’s kind of pretty.”
It was weird looking but with the colors, it wasn’t atrocious.
We heard a popping sound and then Owen groaned. “Ew, gross.”
We looked over and busted out laughing when we saw him covered in the yellow soup-like substance from the plant.
“Ugh, it smells like ass,” he gagged.
Adelaide frowned. “If it explodes on me like that I expect you to hose me down.”
I laughed. “You got it.”
I went over the directions in my head again and used the scalpel tool to cut one of the heads off the plant. I breathed a sigh of relief when nothing exploded.
I laid it in the container we’d been given and began to rub it, applying pressure.
After a minute some of the yellow liquid began to seep out. I continued to rub slowly and more came out. Soon, I’d emptied all of it.
I made quick work of the remaining three.
When everyone had managed to extract at least one, Diana, our teacher, began explaining how to use it.
I gasped when she raised the scalpel tool to her skin and sliced open her forearm.
She rubbed some of the yellow liquid onto her fingers and then onto the cut.
Before our eyes, it began to close. Within a minute, only a thin pink line appeared.
“In about an hour there won’t even be a scar,” she explained. “These plants are an invaluable resource and, unfortunately, there aren’t many. But if you come across one, you’d be smart to collect the salve and save it. You never know when you might need it. Whatever you’ve managed to collect is yours to keep, but use it wisely. There are jars over there.” She nodded toward the wooden table in the back.
Adelaide and I each grabbed a jar and helped each other get the liquid into them without spilling a drop.
“I can’t believe she’s letting us keep this,” Adelaide admitted as we left the greenhouse.
“You better keep it safe,” Theo warned, walking behind us.
“Trust me, I will,” I told him.
After the dream I had of my real father saying he was coming for me, I wouldn’t take any risks.
We were heading to our magical theory lesson when all hell broke loose. An alarm began blaring loudly, almost like a fire alarm but somehow even more urgent sounding.
My heart dropped. “What’s that?” I turned panicked eyes to Theo.
He grabbed my hand. “Come on.” He began dragging me around as people ran.
There was a clatter behind us and I turned as we ran up the steps to see metal bars slamming down behind the doors, imprisoning us in the building.
Adelaide hurried behind us. “Theodore, what’s going on?” she demanded.
“No time.”
I swallowed thickly. Something told me this couldn’t be good.
We reached the top of the steps and nearly slammed into Winston. I hadn’t seen him since last night when he left my room. I wanted to apologize, to explain, but I hadn’t seen him at breakfast.
“Get her in my room,” Winston told Theo.
Theo paused, glaring at him. “No.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” yelled Winston. “My room’s untraceable. It’s the safest place in here.”
“He has a point,” Adelaide added.
Theo groaned. “Fine,” he bit out.
The four of us ran down the hall to his room. The alarm still blaring and the sound of feet slamming against the floor downstairs echoing up to our ears. It sounded like there were more people here than normal. I didn’t see how that could be a good thing.
Winston unlocked the door to his room and we all tumbled inside. He closed the door behind us and pocketed the key.
“What’s happening?” I asked again.
Theo shook his head. “I don’t know. The alarm can mean any number of things. Most of them not good.”
“Great,” I sighed and sank down onto the floor, resting my head against the wall.
Winston crept over to his window and looked out. “I don’t see anything.”
“Should we be hiding like this?” I asked. “What if the wrong people are here and they decide to burn the place down?”
“They’re not in the building or else we wouldn’t have gone into lockdown,” Theo explained. “But they could be on the grounds, or coming, or it could be a false alarm.
“How will we know when it’s safe?”
He sighed and sat down on the floor beside me, stretching his legs out. “Soon, I hope.”
“Has this ever happened before?” I asked.
The three of them all shook their heads. My chest seized with even more worry. There was no telling what was out there—who was out there.
Theo stood. “I need to get to my room.”
Panic clouded my vision. “You can’t leave.”
“I have to. If I need to protect you I’m going to need more than my fists.”
With those words, he slipped from the room before I could blink.
“If he doesn’t get killed I’m going to kill him,” I vowed.
I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting while Theo was gone, so I stood and paced the room. Winston and Adelaide sat on his bed, a foot of space between them. Adelaide worried her lip between her teeth and Winston kept running his fingers through his hair.
Our worry and dread lay thick in the air and if we didn’t know something soon I feared it might suffocate us.
There was a soft knock on the door. “It’s me,” hissed Theo.
“Thank God.” I grabbed the door and swung it open and he stepped inside and around me with a giant ass sword.
“Where do you keep that thing?” I demanded.
“In my room, like I said. It’s not exactly easy to carry around. I have another that’s a dagger I can make bigger with a spell, but this baby is my one true love.” He stroked the sword lovingly.
“Did you learn anything?” Winston asked him.
He shook his head and in the same moment, the alarm stopped blaring.
Theo stood frozen and listened carefully. “This is either good or very, very bad.”
I swallowed thickly, and a sweat broke out over my brow. I felt so unprepared for what might be out there.
Minutes of silence passed. Neither of us dared to speak or even take a breath.
Suddenly, there was a screeching like an intercom coming on. Sure enough, a moment later, Victor’s voice echoed through the manor.
“The manor has been placed into lockdown. Please head to the dining hall for further explanation. Thank you.”
More screeching and then silence.
My heart skipped a beat.