“Canyouask him then?”
I figured that couldn’t hurt—Andre would probably just think I was curious. “Fine. We have our next session later this—”
A scream cut me off, and we stiffened.
“That came from the Green Tower,” Alex said, and apparently finding a surge of energy, ripped himself from beneath my shoulder and sprinted toward the sound.
I dashed after him, and the moment we turned into the hallway that led to the tower, we both skidded to a stop.
The protective glass that housed the precious items lining the corridor had been smashed to smithereens. Jasmine Sahni stood in front of the destruction, her hands over her mouth.
“Jasmine! Are you okay?” I asked, rushing up to her.
“Fine. I’m fine.” She shook her head. Her brown eyes were large, but she didn’t appear injured. “I was in the library and left to turn in early, and then I found . . . this.”
“It looks like most of the items are still here,” Alex said, striding down the hall and examining the cases.
Mentally, I ran through the list of items I walked past daily. Most were pretty and historical, but fairly useless. The only ones that had a purpose other than decoration were the weapons.
But we can get weapons easily enough by going down to the Battle Magic classroom. They’d be in better condition too. Why would someone take one from here?
I began to take inventory as well, and when Alex stopped to place a wand that had been tossed carelessly on the ground, I moved past him. I was almost to the door of the Green Tower when my blood ran cold.
I’d found which item was missing.
The Realm Slicer.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
For the second time that academic year, the PIA descended upon Spellcasters to question people. This time around, they insisted on interviewing every single person in the academy.
Unsurprisingly, as one of the first three students on the scene after the Realm Slicer was discovered to be gone, the PIA called me in for questioning first. Whatdidsurprise me, however, was that I did not speak with David Chena. In fact, the few times I’d seen him in the corridors, he’d pretended not to notice me.
He seemed to be avoiding me. Maybe because I knew about him and Holly? Whatever the case, his avoidance stung—although I tried not to dwell on it. I had enough to worry about, and an embarrassed man-child who I was losing respect for was low on my list of priorities.
“When do you think they’ll leave?” Eva asked as two PIA agents marched by us on our way to Battle Magic.
I shrugged. “The Realm Slicer is a massive deal, so probably never.”
Headmistress Wake had called an assembly after the blade disappeared, and spelled out the severity of the matter. In the hands of a powerful enough magical, the Realm Slicer could open up holes between worlds. This included Faerie, the ghost plane of purgatory, Heaven, and most bone-chilling of all, Hell. As far as I was concerned, the PIA could stay for as long as they needed to find the weapon—which some people believed was still on academy grounds.
“Are you and Alex practicing warping again soon?”
“Are you crazy? No way.” I shook my head as we began to descend the stairs into the basement. “With the PIA here, it’s too risky. We’re already breaking the rules, I don’t need to get in trouble with the government for it.”
Eva loosed a sigh. “It’s so annoying. We can’t do anything with them snooping around. I asked Headmistress Wake if going to Wandstown was an option, and she refused. I’m going stir-crazy.” She dragged her hands down her face for emphasis.
“Would some dagger-throwing help ease the boredom?” I opened my bag to reveal that I’d brought my demon dagger with me.
Professor Thrax had been on a major weapons kick. I was hoping his enthusiasm would continue today.
Eva’s eyes lit up. Although she wasn’t amazing at dagger throwing like Hunter, she enjoyed doing it. “Better than studying.”
I placed a hand over my mouth. “Who are you and what have you done with my bookish best friend?”
“The Grind is getting to me, girl.” Eva glanced from side to side. “I’ve even dreamt about burning my textbooks! What if this distaste is permanent?” For a moment, she looked worried.
I laughed. “No way. We’re all tired. It’s normal.” Pulling the blade out of my bag, I handed it to her. “If Thrax allows weapons today, you get first dibs on the demon blade.”
