“I remember how I know you!”
Andrew brought his hand to his chest. “I should hope so, I just introduced myself.”
“No. I recognized you from before, but couldn’t put my finger on it. Do you remember when last year’s Culling class came in for a field trip?”
Andrew narrowed his eyes. “Kind of. I was off site for some of it.”
“Yes! I saw you arrive!”
My eyes narrowed as I tried to recall the scene better. There had been two guards. One wore a newsboys cap, and was more violent than his partner. I was sure that Andrew was the quieter agent.
“I’m almost positive that you were one of the guys I ran into who were bringing a dangerous witch in for questioning. Your partner wore a newsboy cap and clocked her over the head to quiet her. Do you remember the witch?”
The memory of the witch screaming and flailing in the agents’ arms would never leave me, but I couldn’t assume the same for two seasoned PIA officials. They’d probably seen it all.
“She was older and very sick,” I pressed when Andrew continued to look confused. “She screamed for me not to trust anyone. It was right by the cafeteria in the PIA.”
Now that I’d latched on to the memory, I could hear the woman’s screams and smell the coffee I’d been holding as if it were yesterday, not almost a year ago.
“I think so . . .” Andrew trailed off, and a horrified look crossed his face. I was about to react, when he seemed to catch himself and smiled conspiratorially. “But I could easily be mistaken. We get all sorts of wackos coming into the PIA. You’ll see when you work there.” He took a hearty slug of beer.
While the agent was occupied with his drink, I shot a glance at my friends. I’d told them what the witch had said, and I was sure that they remembered. She hadn’t seemed crazy to me. And David Chena had told me she was sick. But if she had been sick, why would Andrew have looked so alarmed that I remembered her? My friends looked as confused as I felt.
“I guess so,” I said once Andrew set his beer down. “But she didn’t strike me as crazy. Frantic, yes, but not crazy. Although when I asked David Chena about her, he did mention that something had been wrong with her health. That she’d needed help.”
Andrew snapped his fingers. “Ahhhh, I remember it all now! Yes, we had to keep her under quarantine for a very long time. She left earlier this year.”
My spine straightened. David had told me she was dead.
“Left?” I asked. Maybe I’d misunderstood. “Got to go free?”
“Yup. Walked out on her own two feet,” Andrew said with a grin.
Realizing that I was on to something, I leaned closer to Andrew. Hunter set down a half-eaten éclair, and each of my friends mimicked me, placing their hands on the table—ready to protect me should I need help.
Andrew seemed to have realized that he’d said something wrong, because his grip on his beer mug tightened, and he pushed back from the table. “You know what? I think I should get back to the inn. The beer has caught up with me, and as you might recall, we need to prepare for anything and everything during the Samhain Trials tomorrow.”
“You’re not leaving yet.” I placed a hand on Andrew’s forearm.
The PIA agent looked down at it and sneered. “Girl, if you think your little hand will stop me, you’re wrong. I—”
“Not her hand,” Hunter cut him off. “But the shield I put around us might.”
All the blood left Andrew’s face, and he whirled around to look at his table of colleagues in the back.
No one so much as glanced his way.
“Hey!” Andrew yelled. “Guys!”
Still no one paid him any attention.
Hunter laughed. “You can call for backup all you want. They won’t hear you. No one will until I want them to.”
Andrew whipped back around, and anger blazed in his eyes. “You’re a Grind-year?”
Hunter winked and flipped his shaggy blond mop back like he was a surfing god. “Yup. But I’m already kickass at shields. I can even make them colorless and soundproof, if I wish.” He arched an eyebrow. “You should know that everyone at this table excels in one aspect of magic or another. And we’re even better at learning things we shouldn’t know.”
“And something is up with your story,” I said, drawing Andrew’s attention back to me.
