My eyes popped open. “Thatmassivething landed on me?”How am I still alive?
Sam winced. “Well, kinda. He extended his fist, and it hit you. You kinda rolled to the side a little so only half of him landed on you. But then again, the thing was enormous, so . . .”
“I got knocked out, and now I’m here.” I tried to shake my head but stopped when a burst of pain shot up my neck. “Did we lose the first round?” Andre wasn’t a skilled warper yet, and if they had to drag my unconscious body to the finish line, that would have slowed them down a lot.
But instead of confirming my fears, Sam grinned. “Nope. By some miracle of miracles, we gotsecondplace! Andre actually warped us to the finish line! The vampires nearly exploded with anger, I wish you’d seen it.”
“No way,” I breathed, excitement rising within me. “Who took third and fourth?”
“The shifters got third, and the fae last. The fae dudes were too beefy, they apparently got caught in those mountain tunnels.”
“Wow.” I couldn’t believe it. The day had started out so dire, and we’d still earned second place. Right after the . . .
“Goddamned vampires,” I muttered.
Alex caressed my arm. “Did you use the potion?”
“No. I didn’t think I needed to. They didn’t try anything obvious on us. And I didn’t drink that much the night before the event. Not like . . .” I gave Sam an apologetic look.
“Not like our dumbasses,” she said. “Believe me, neither Andre nor I will make that mistake again.”
“Thank the universe,” I muttered. “I can’t go through a trial like that again.”
The conversation veered off to fill Sam and me in on what we had missed around Spellcasters. Eventually, I remembered to ask Alex about his mission, and was unsurprised when he said he passed it with flying colors. We chatted for a few minutes more before the healer in the infirmary informed everyone that visiting hours were over—two hours ago.
It was just as well. The interaction had worn me out. I needed my rest so I could get discharged from the infirmary quickly. Homework was piling up, and if I fell behind during my Grind-year, I might never catch up.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The infirmary released me two days later, but I couldn’t simply return to business as usual. The troll had not only knocked me unconscious when his fist slammed into me, he’d fractured one of my ribs when he landed on me too. Thankfully, the head healer at Spellcasters kept bone regeneration elixir on hand at all times. It accelerated the mending process greatly, but I still had to take it easy for a week.
To be honest, I relished the downtime. Eva, Hunter, and Alex were extra attentive to my needs, and I got to skip Physical Conditioning—a major win.
But of course, Headmistress Wake didn’t just let me lie around when I should be at Physical Conditioning. However, since her alternative suggestion played into an interest of mine, I didn’t mind. And I even had company.
Diana’s arm still hadn’t healed from Francis’ turgeo potion—a potion which, to my great annoyance, he had not received a penalty for using. Diana and I were to study and write a ten-page paper on one notable witch in history; the more obscure their accomplishments, the better. Unlike me, Diana didn’t have a particular witch in mind, so I suggested one.
“What period of Merlin’s life are you going to focus on today?” I asked as Diana and I walked into the library on our second day of research.
Her eyes narrowed. She’d gone along with my suggestion that she study Merlin, although seeing as my interest in her research rivaled my own, she was suspicious.
“I’m not sure, Dane. Why don’t you tell me what I should look up?”
I pretended to be deep in thought. “What about his relationship to his protégés? He had a lot of them, I think. You could focus on their combined accomplishments?”
Alex had studied the same thing last year, but seeing as Diana had grown up frequenting this very library, she might find additional information.
Diana snorted. “Sure. Whatever you want.”
After gathering the books we’d requested from the rare book stacks—a spymaster privilege—we settled down at a table and spread out.
I cherry-picked a tome I’d started the day before that detailed the life of Morgan Le Fay better than most others. I’d only read a few pages when a soft hum came across the table.
I glanced up to see Diana’s brows knitted together.
“What’s up?”
She pointed to an illustration made by a woodcarving. “You’re studying Morgan Le Fay, right?”
