You taste fantastic on my tongue
You are fun to be around
I tucked my lips between my teeth to keep from smiling.
“Great class, everyone. I hope you continue thinking over your inner magic.”
Rylan snatched the paper back.
“Any plans for the weekend?” he asked as we stood and walked to the door together.
“Remy and Edith want to go to town. Maybe do some shopping.”
“Shopping!” Edith wiggled.
Rylan paused, then used his pointer finger to gentle pull the top of the pocket back to peek at the snake inside.
“Good morning, Edith.” He said and little red heart’s blossomed on her scales.
What a charmer.
Rylan released my sweater and booped my nose once. “Sounds good. I’ll join. See you in third!” He walked away before I could say a word.
The rest of the day flew by without any new incidents.
Remy was up practicing her divination homework with tea leaves by her desk lamp when I crawled into bed, Edith nestling herself into the crook of my neck.
Exhaustion slammed into me, and I was out in a few minutes.
Then the fire alarm went off four hours later.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Science shows that hugs release oxytocin, also called the cuddle hormone
Ijumped out of bed and slipped on some boots. Edith slid into her carrier backpack with my phone while Remy told Jemison to meet up with her outside. The owl flew out the window and that made the magic in me restless.
“Do you think it’s real or a false alarm?” I asked over the beeps blaring from our phones and the walls. The shimmering blue that I started taking for granted were a vibrant red and pulsated with each alarm.
I waited for Remy while she searched for something on her tablet.
“I designed the wall alarms myself. It’s too sensitive to be false. I’m sure of it,” she replied, but her tone sounded off. Her owl print bonnet she wore to bed seemed too cute and out of place for such a serious moment.
“Dearest students, please calmly vacate the school to the courtyard,” a robotic voice blared from our apps, and the magic shimmered on the walls.
“Okay, nice and calm.” I breathed in, then out as I stepped into the hall with my bag tight against my chest.
“Shit, I’m not burning in this castle,” someone shouted as they raced past us to the stairs. I doubt he’d be the only one not acting calm.
Remy walked in the opposite direction of everyone else and waved me to follow. “Let’s take the back stairs and avoid chances of being trampled.”
Since when did we have back stairs?
I glanced at her tablet while walking and saw a layout of the castle with a little square in the upper left corner showing bright colors on the map.
“Is that?”
“Yeah, there is a fire in the potions room and near the hospital wing. The castle’s stone and our magi barrier should keep them contained but those spaces aren’t near each other. It wasn’t an accident. Rylan will have to open an investigation when the police arrive.” She sighed and swiped away from the map.
