I went back to the wedding bins, where the cards for my aunt and Bryce were preserved on a large metal loop, and carefully sorted through them until I found the one I was looking for.
Congratulations, Aunt Vera and Bryce!
I hope you enjoy this book. My mom swears it brings good luck in a marriage.
Love,
Maci and the Phouthavongs
My heart constrictedin a wave of fondness and regret. Maci had always called my aunt “Aunt Vera,” just like I did. An ache formed at the back of my head as I questioned how Alex could have used my friend in such a way.
Feeling unsteady, Iput the cards away then pulled out my cell phone, still sitting on the floor of the office, and texted Maci.
Hey, Maci! I’m helping my aunt sort some things from her wedding. What did you gift her?
I sent it without letting myself overthink it, hoping shewouldn’t read much into it other than our trying to remember who each gift was from.
Maci responded quickly.
Hey, girl! I gave her a cookbook called Soups for Soulmates. Silly, I know, but my mom swears by it. Apparently, it brings good luck to a marriage.
Still feeling as if someone else were in charge of my body, I sent a quick text back to Maci then tucked the book into my coat. “Confirmed,” I said, not able to meet Callan’s eyes.
“I know this is discouraging to see, but this is good intel. We may be able to use this whenever we confront Alex.”
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get the chance. Maci said he isn’t back from visiting his family yet, and she hasn’t heard from him in a few weeks.”
“Maybe that’s for the best, where Maci is concerned, at least. If Alex’s goal was to activate your aunt’s powers to use the quill, he no longer needs Maci.”
That thought made my chest ache again, but I was glad that Maci and Alex had never been serious. In fact, a few days ago, when I had casually asked her about Alex, she mentioned that she was talking to her ex again.
When we got to Callan’s truck, he got the heater running, and I gratefully held my fingers in front of the warm vent to give myself something to do with my hands.
“Did you mean what you said?” I turned to him and was oddly comforted to see the same righteous outrage on his facethat I felt in my whole body. “That we’re going on the offensive?”
Callan took my hand in his, squeezing it. “Alex doesn’t know we know about your aunt. We still have the quill, and now we have a direction and a plan to search for theVanished Compendium. He and whoever he’s working with are no longer a step ahead. We may not know their endgame, but they don’t know that we have successfully used the quill. We’re going to the aquatics conservatory, and if the book is there, we’ll get to it first. I’ve always known you could do this, Briar.” He tucked a wavy lock behind my ear. “We’re in this together, okay?”
I nodded. How could I not feel confident with a man like Callan by my side? “Together.”
“Now, let’s get back to the academy and see if Professor East has found any information on Alex.”
Chapter Ten
When we got back to the academy, the grounds were oddly quiet. Normally, on the day before a new term started, students would roam all around, hanging on to their last few hours of unstructured time.
But not a soul was in sight as we passed through the flower gardens and entrance atrium and into the central vein.
“Where is everybody?” I asked, disoriented.
Voices came from the teahouse, and Callan nodded in that direction. “Something’s up.”
We entered the teahouse to find it full, from the entrance to the tall glass walls in the back. My eyes immediately sought my friends. With a murmured goodbye to Callan—we were trying not to be seen together too much in public—I slipped through the crowd of botanists to stand with Coral, Aurielle, and Yasmin.
“What’s going on?” I whispered.
“Professor Tenella just called us in here for an announcement.”
A few more students trickled in from the patio connected to the teahouse, then Professor Tenella stepped onto the raised area where Professor East typically spoke from.
