“Do I?” I shrugged.
“Yeah, you’ve hardly touched your pancit, and I know it’s your favorite,” she said, twirling the rice noodles with her fork.
I listlessly pushed around the noodles on my plate. She was right; I could hardly taste it. The pressure was getting to me, and I had too much to deal with already. I didn’t need to worry aboutLucas and how he felt about me on top of it. I was running out of time to make my magic work. I’d tried meditating in the garden, communing with plants, talking to the horses who pulled my calesa. Nothing. Discovering my talent was more important than anything else, and yet I was obsessing over what was going on with him, playing detective, and wasting valuable time learning ballroom dancing and listening to lectures about things that happened a thousand years ago.
Nix nudged me and asked, “Should we go to town again? We could do some more investigating.”
“I can’t. After... er, what happened, Elias has been watching me like a hawk since he came back. He’s not even comfortable with me coming to school anymore. He’s got the guards stationed at every entrance as we speak.” Plus, I really, really needed to go be alone and deal with this magic thing. The panic had been creeping up in my gut all day long.
“I’ll come to you at the palace, then. Or have you already given up on finding the real murderer?”
“I haven’t.”
“I’ll ask Lucas if he wants to come.”
“No,” I said sharply. Nix was surprised; her mouth froze in the shape of anO. I hadn’t told her about the kiss. I don’t know why. I just wasn’t ready to share, plus she would interrogate me about it:Do you like him? What about him and Amador?And on and on. I wasn’t ready for all that. But I felt bad for getting snippy. “I don’t want him reporting everything we do to Amador.”
“Good point,” Nix said. The awkward moment had quickly passed. She gave me a once-over. “You seem worn out. I’ll come by at the end of the week instead.”
“Yes, that would be better.”Phew.Maybe if put my mind to it, I could take care of the main issue, finding my magic, and then I’d be able to focus on the other stuff.
One of BANA’s kitchen maids approached our table, carrying a large silver tray with both hands. She set it down in front of us, curtsied to me, and started to walk away.
“Excuse me,” I called after her. I pointed to the tray. “I think this is for another table.” We hadn’t ordered anything.
“Never look a gift horse in the mouth,” Nix said to me. She was already picking through the variety of sweets on the tray. “We’ll keep it,” she told the maid.
I shot her a look. We couldn’t eat someone else’s food. Nix sat back, a slight pout on the edges of her mouth.
The kitchen maid stepped forward. “No mistake. It was sent for you.”
Nix’s face perked up.
“Oh, okay,” I said, still a bit confused. “Thanks.” The maid nodded and started back for the kitchens.
The tray held shiny éclairs, mango cake, and thick, gooey brownies.
“Yum,” purred Nix. “I can’t choose—they all look so good!”
“It’s probably another present from a first-year,” I said. Other students in the café took notice of our good fortune as well.
“Maybe it was Lucas. Trying to woo you. Gotta say, this sure beats flowers.”
I hated that her joking suggestion made my heart swell for a the briefest second before it came sinking back to reality. “Ha ha, but I doubt it.” Though it was interesting, considering what I thought I felt during class. Maybe it could be from him? A girlcould hope? I grabbed one of the brownies and took a bite while Nix was still debating which dessert to eat. “You’re right,” I said with my mouth full. “Amazing.”
It tasted familiar, chewier than a typical brownie,almost like... and then it hit me. As soon as I realized what I was eating, I spit it out into a napkin I was holding and began wiping my lips and tongue with my hand, desperate to get every last speck of it out of my mouth.
“What’s wrong?” Nix asked. She set the éclair she was holding on the table.
Once I was satisfied there wasn’t anything else I could do to rid my mouth of the toxin, I examined the napkin. I was right. Black rice.
“What is it?” Nix asked again. She looked like she was simultaneously super concerned for me and repulsed by the fact that I just spit chewed-up food out in front of the entire cafeteria.
I fumbled for my glass and took huge gulps of water. Now I had no doubt who sent us the treats. Amador almost got me to eat black rice to trap me in Biringan. I would never be able to return to the human world, never see my mother again.That evil...
I got up from my seat and looked around the room, trying to find Amador. I spotted her in the back corner, facing the entire room so everyone had a clear view of her, of course. Always on display.
She wouldn’t even look in our direction.Nice try.She thought that would make her look innocent. I could just imagine how satisfied she was inside. Sitting there knowing what a nasty prank she pulled on me, or nearly did.
