Chapter Nine: Lockdown | Part 5
It was torture to hold Seerla’s gaze like he did. He hadn’t planned to address this head-on, but now that he knew it was bothering her, he couldn’t keep playing dumb. “I’m not worth this, you know,” he said evenly. “I can pass the Comp on my own. You should save your reputation while you still can.”
“It isn’t about the stupid Comp!” she hissed. “Yes, I’m thrilled that I can help you catch up—especially since I feel some responsibility for putting this wacky idea in your head. But I also genuinely like spending time with you!” She dropped her eyes to her book, where she began fidgeting with the pages. “I thought after the auction, when everyone saw that you weren’t some evil, mysterious creature, that more people would start being nice to you. But it went back to normal the second the Grimmaries returned, and I’m mad about it.”
Thirtyx rolled his eyes. “You seem a lot more upset about it than I am.”
Seem was the key word. Did the fact that Seerla noticed his vanishing popularity—and cared—make him feel warm and fuzzy? He wished it did, but he found himself more frustrated at her for reminding him that he’d so stupidly gotten his hopes up.
But it wasn’t Seerla he was angry with—not really. He forced a deep, calming breath. “Look. I’m going to be fine. So, I don’t think you need to get dragged down with me and damage friendships you’ve had most of your life. There’s got to be a way you can help me without drawing all this backlash.”
She shook her head stubbornly. “If they’re really my friends, they’ll figure out that they’re being prejudiced jerks. I’ve made my choice, Thirtyx. You don’t want me to stop hanging out with you, do you?”
He couldn’t have said yes if he tried, so he shook his head with a resigned sigh.
“Then ignore them and tell me about the Fozier regime. And we can both revel in the fact that we’ll have a better handle on it than—”
She hesitated, brows drawing together in confusion. Thirtyx felt it too. There was a faint echo of magic in the air, stretching through the library like electricity before a lightning strike.
“Attention all students!” Headmistress Azirenne’s strained voice permeated the air itself. “Due to a security issue, curfew will begin early this evening, effective immediately. Please return to your dormitory rooms at once and remain there until you receive further instructions.”
Thirtyx and Seerla had scarcely exchanged a worried look before the library doors flew open, and Professor Lessel strode in. “You heard her. Let’s go. Nice and orderly. Come on, folks.”
The worried murmurs swelled. Security issue? Thirtyx anxiously awaited the itch in his brain, but he’d fully repacked his bag and made it halfway to the door, and it still hadn’t come.
“Are Rhea and Benn okay?” Seerla asked, and Thirtyx’s frown deepened.
“I don’t know. They haven’t reached out.”
Purple flashes of smoke and floating sheets of floating paper began appearing around them, sent by magic users not yet skilled enough to communicate telepathically. Seerla began fidgeting with her braid. “If it makes you feel better, none of my friends have reached out either—of course, hardly any of them are magic majors. Everyone’s probably just busy getting back to the dorms. I’m sure they’re fine.”
It didn’t make Thirtyx feel better. Neither did the sluggish pace at which everyone filed through the single corridor leading toward the courtyard. Professors and other staff stood at regular intervals down the halls, all with the same strained looks. Despite how full Thirtyx already was, he could feel the energy radiating off of them in waves.
“Something big happened,” he muttered to Seerla. “Whatever the teachers are hiding… it’s pretty serious.”
Seerla shrank closer to him.
Around the time they entered the courtyard, a rustling of whispers from up ahead revitalized the anxious energy of the crowd. It rolled toward them like a wave, carried on gasps and mutters and even… cries of panic?
“Grimmary?”
“At the Peace Garden? Who would attack him at the Peace Garden?”
“Is he okay?”
“Are they coming here?”
“The twins! Where are the Grimmary twins?”
The color drained from Thirtyx’s face. An ice cold dread crept through his veins from his extremities toward his heart. Grimmary had been attacked again? In public this time?
Seerla squeezed Thirtyx’s arm. “You saw them a couple bars ago. I’m sure they’re okay.”
They’d reached the dorms now, and the queue sped up as everyone split to their respective floors. Seerla didn’t let go of Thirtyx’s arm even as they passed the third floor landing. “I’m going with you,” she hissed in response to his puzzled look. “I want to know if they’re alright, too.”
Thirtyx didn’t have the emotional energy to argue, so he led her to the fifth floor. The hallway’s eerie glow made Thirtyx’s breath catch before he realized it was emanating from protection sigils on several of the doors. Professor Exelta hurried down the hallway, poking her head into every open door. Occasionally, she’d nod and close one before drawing a sigil on its surface.
Thirtyx approached his open door, silently praying to the Twins that Benn was already inside.
Calley Jones 