“You’re on their side?” I demanded. “You knew about this?”
He winced, which told me everything.
“In principle,” he said. “With safety measures, but they have a point.”
“This is goblin work,” I said. “The word safety does not apply.”
Twobble clasped his hands behind his back.
“We have done extensive research,” he said. “On balancing and bouncing during emergencies.”
Skonk nodded. “We even drew diagrams.”
“Burn them,” I said.
A familiar scent of sweet herbs and aggressive competence washed over us as Stella swept up the steps from the other side, skirts swishing. Her scarlet lipstick earned the color of trouble as she grinned at me.
“Did someone say diagrams?” she trilled. “Please tell me we are not leaving our headmistress at the mercy of gravity and pictures when we have a fully functional Academy. She barely holds onto spells as it is. We don’t need a goblin with a death wish. We need practice and test runs.”
“That’s slander,” Twobble said. “I have at leasttwodeath wishes.”
“That’s not any better,” I interrupted.
Stella waved him off. “Actually, darling, it was my idea. You’re going to have a heck of a fight in front of you once you close the circle. You can’t be earthbound.”
I stared. “You. The vampire who prefers heels on solid ground and chairs with backs suggested I learn to fly.”
“Yes,” she said, without a flicker of shame. “If your priestess insists on hovering above it all, you might as well join her. Besides,” she added with a wicked glint, “I want to see her face when you arrive on your own terms instead of being dragged up like a supplicant.”
“That,” Keegan murmured, “is… appealing.”
“You’re supposed to be on my side,” I reminded him.
“I am,” he said. “I will be on your side in the air, on the ground, underground, and in any liminal spaces we accidentally fall through.”
“Accidentally fall through,” I repeated faintly.
“Technically, I’ll be under her,” Twobble said. “With a safety net.”
“Made of what,” I demanded. “String cheese and optimism?”
“Don’t give him ideas,” Skonk muttered.
Footsteps clicked against the flagstones, light and sure. Nova appeared through the Ward as well, staff in hand, raven hair pinned back, green eyes already knowing too much.
“Ah,” she said, taking in the scene. “You’ve told her.”
“Not properly,” Twobble said. “She’s still resisting.”
Nova’s mouth curved, and for once it wasn’t the serene seer-smile. It was mischievous. Wicked, even.
“Good,” she said. “I’d be concerned if she agreed too quickly.”
I pointed at her. “You too? Shouldn’t we be… I don’t know… worrying about closing the circle? Stopping the hunger path? Learning how to navigate my grandmother without ending up like an emotional popsicle?”
“All of that,” Nova said. “And this.”
“How,” I asked, “does my flailing through the air like a flying hot dog add to the plan?”
