I gesture to his bookbag. “Place the ring in the center, on vita.”
Aric discards the stick and dives into his bag, emerging with the silver ring. He holds it tenderly, and just before he places it on the central rune, he whispers something to himself, though the words are too quiet for me to hear.
As Aric steps back, the runes start to glow with a delicate silver light. After flaring bright, the light gets suckedfrom the outer runes into the central rune. I hold my breath. Beside me, Aric is staring, wide-eyed, all his focus on the silver ring.
And when it starts to glow, just the way he intended, he lights up, grin so wide it makes his eyes crinkle in the corners. “We did it!”
Turning to me, he lifts me into his broad arms, and I let out a yelp of surprise as he twirls me under the late-summer sunlight. My skirt flutters around my thighs, and my hair swings in the warm air. The landscape becomes a blur of gold and green, like I’m in an abstract watercolor painting.
Aric sets me on my feet again, and when I stumble, he reaches out to steady me.
“Sorry,” he says. “I just got so excited. I’ve been working on that damn rune map forweeks. I can’t believe you got it to work!”
Slightly winded but smiling nonetheless, I reach up to right my glasses and say, “I didn’t do anything. That was you.”
Now Aric’s smile shifts into one that looks a touch bashful. “I couldn’t have done it without you. Seriously. Professor Elwood is going to be shocked when I show her this.” He steps away and bends to retrieve the ring, which retains its subtle silver glow.
“It’s a beautiful ring,” I say softly. “And it must be pure silver for the rune to have worked so well.”
“Thank you.” Aric continues looking at the ring, his expression soft. Then he adds, almost in a whisper, “It wasmy mother’s.”
I don’t miss his use of the wordwasrather thanis. And suddenly, I don’t know what to say. What I want is to say something kind and supportive, but my mind goes blank at the implication that maybe his mother isn’t with him anymore. Just like my father isn’t with me anymore. But that happened so long ago that it’s just become part of who I am.
My lips part, though I’m not sure what I’m about to say.
But before I can get any words out, a small witch with dark skin and yellow hair—a solar witch, perhaps—jumps at Aric from behind, startling him and almost making him drop the ring. He recovers quickly, though, slipping it into his pocket before turning to smile down at the witch.
“I thought that was you,” the witch says, hugging him around his middle, though her arms don’t reach all the way around his back. Her eyes are so bright gold they appear almost yellow, and she has gold glitter brushed across her cheeks. “Wanna walk to class together?”
“Oh, yeah. Is it that time already?” Aric casts his gaze toward the sky, squinting at the sun. Then he looks at me and smiles. “Thank you again, Poppy. You’re the best.” He reaches out and puts a warm hand on my shoulder.
“S-sure,” I squeak, still rattled by how freely and comfortably he touches me. It’s not that I don’t like it; it’s just... different.
“See ya Saturday?”
At his words, the yellow-haired witch looks at me, one brow arched. She says nothing, but I can feel her gaze as it assesses me, the sun catching the glitter on her cheeks and making it shimmer. I try not to shrink under her scrutiny, but it’s hard.
“Yeah. See you then.”
Aric grabs his robe and bookbag, then turns and sets off across the courtyard, the small witch at his side. She smiles and laughs freely with him, her eyes squinting in joy at something Aric says.
When they’re both gone, I take a deep breath and let it out in a huff.
Then I grab my own bag and head toward the Whim, scuffing the runes in the dirt as I go. I think I could use a moment to clear my head.
Chapter 9
Aric
“ARIC!” CALLS LEO, HIS VOICE echoing across the runeball field behind me.
I whip around, still running, to find the arcane sphere hurtling toward me, shining with a glistening layer of ice. It’s windy today, and a strong gust sends the sphere off course. So I push my legs harder, sprinting to get into position to send it to Mona, who’s running parallel to me on the other side of the field. As I run, I hold out one hand, calling on my fire magic.
I have an earth magic affinity, but unfortunately, it doesn’t often come in handy on the field; air, water, and fire reign in runeball. Which is one of the reasons Morgan, with her fire affinity, is such a difficult opponent to best on the field. But this year, I’m determined to take Morgan and her Sigil Strikers down.
The fire I call into my palm is small, but I don’t need it to be too powerful. Just before the icy sphere comes into range, I hit it with a burst of flame, melting the ice, whichallows me to catch the sphere in my arms, cradling it against my stomach as I resume running. It’s wet and a bit slick, but nothing like it would’ve been if I’d tried to catch it while it was still covered in ice.
Across the field from me, Mona takes off. She might be small, but she’sfast, and when we need someone to slip through our opponents and send the arcane sphere through the goalposts, she’s usually the one we turn to.
