“You seem thrilled,” Hollis said, a touch of amusement oozing through his confident tone.
“You’d better be ready to go by eight sharp. And no antics when we’re traveling. Or when we’re researching. Just no antics generally. Got it?”
Hollis put up his hands. “I’ll be on my best behavior. Any other requests?”
Coral scowled. “Pack your own equipment. I won’t be carrying supplies for both of us.”
Hollis saluted. “Yes, ma’am.” Then he winked at the rest of us and walked away.
Coral’s shoulders slumped forward. “So much for promising. Could my luck be any worse? I doubt founders’ descendants have ever had to carry their own packs.”
I let out a soft laugh. “He’s not as bad as you think, Coral. Give him a chance. And Callan always carries his weight on projects.”
“Rhodes and Hollis cannot be compared. One has proven himself, and the other… Well, you all had better be prepared for lots of complaining when I get back.”
“Sorry, Coral,” Yasmin said sympathetically. “I’ll brew you a tea for good temper tomorrow to help you put up with him.” She turned to me. “And apparently, we’re going to brewyousome poison.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Are you ready?” Aurielle asked.
We stood in the Perilous Grove, and I held a concoction Callan had brewed for us. Defensives weren’t his specialty, but with a trailing affinity for them, he was able to pull off a basic poisonous-but-not-deadly recipe.
“I doused it with honey,” Yasmin said. “So hopefully it won’t taste too bad going down.”
“I’m surprised Rhodes didn’t insist on being here to keep an eye on you,” Coral quipped.
Callan wasn’t standing in the Perilous Grove with us, but I knew he wished he could be.
“My sudden ailment is less likely to raise suspicion if one of the few people on campus who could have created an oral poison has been seen in the teahouse all morning. Okay, let’s get this over with.”
I uncorked the vial Callan had provided and tried toimagine I was with Petra in one of our field studies sessions in the cabin on Mt. Shasta. While my own defensive powers wouldn’t be able to kick in against the poison on campus, I hoped perhaps I had built up some nonmagical tolerances.
With a shaky smile to my friends, I swallowed the entire contents in one gulp. The effect was instantaneous. I clutched my chest as a sharp pain pooled there, and nausea filled my stomach.
“Safe to say it worked,” Coral murmured before I felt arms slipping under my shoulders. Just as we had planned, my friends were going to assist me back to campus.
“Don’t forget the second vial!” I heard Aurielle’s voice—it sounded too distant—then felt something cool against my lips. “Drink this, B.”
Right. Callan had made something that would help with the brain fog effects while allowing me to maintain the physical symptoms that we needed for a convincing ploy. Since it was his own creation, the instructors should have no reason to suspect its use.
I struggled to swallow the cool liquid and, once it hit my stomach, my brain began to clear, and my friend’s voices came into focus once more.
“We should have brought a wheelbarrow or something,” Coral said.
“Becausethatwouldn’t raise any suspicions,” Aurielle quipped back. “No one brings a wheelbarrow to the Perilous Grove.”
“Just a little bit farther, B,” Yasmin said, her soothing voice coming from my left. “Did the second drink help?”
I nodded but didn’t speak. The pain in my stomach was drawing most of my focus.
“I’ll run ahead and alert Professor Sage,” Aurielle said. “You two got her?” Footsteps crunched in the distance as she ran off.
Finally, we made it back to the school building, and my friends rushed me into the apothecary room.
“What happened?” Professor Sage’s wheelchair rolled into the room.
I caught a glimmer of wings and realized the butterfly that sometimes followed him around was present. I focused my sight on it, trying not to think about the pain.
