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“Congratulations. You’ve just shortened your lifespan.”

“What? I—” Our History instructor’s face turned the color of a lobster, her mouth opening and closing like a pair of claws. “You—you just unlawfully interfered with an official test. I’m going to report this to the Good Council, you know!”

Ms. Pincette didn’t even deign to answer her. She simply marched back the way she’d come, tucking her chestnut hair behind her ears again. As she passed me, her gaze bore into mine with a thousand thoughts swirling within them.

She knew I was a Mind Manipulator now. Or maybe she’d known all along, what with all her spider spies. Either way, the sharp nod she gave me told me my secret was safe with her. And there was a thank you in there as well.

Even after she walked out, Rodhi’s drunken, sloppy smile never left his face.

Whether Mrs. Smetlar was truly going to report the intervention to the Good Council or not, none of us knew, and I didn’t want to spend one more second in her thorny mind to find out.

After five minutes of cleaning up the mess of scattered leaves and other clippings under her fuming gaze, we returned to the waiting room until Mr. Conine called us one by one for our Predators & Prey portion. For that one, we had to save a clutch of turtle eggs from a grumpy, smooth-fronted caiman. In our Language of Plants portion, we had to create the best compost for different root systems while Mrs. Wildenberg tried not to fall asleep over her steaming tea set.

By the time I entered the Spiders, Worms, & Insects testing room, Ms. Pincette was sitting in her own bloodred velvet chair as if nothing had happened.

“Your job is to locate the single leafhopper nymph in this room,” she told me matter-of-factly, moments before a swarm of crimson lanternflies spread their wings and took flight from every inch of the room.

Despite the swirling storm that completely engulfed me within seconds, I was actually able to call out to the leafhopper nymph and hear its squeaking answer within minutes. It was, perhaps, the first insect test I was confident I’d passed.

There was still one more to go, though. Instead of returning to the Wild Whisperer house with the others, I circled back around to the Testing Center lobby like Mr. Gleekle had told me to do, but—

Nobody was there. The second-years had just swarmed through the archways for their own tests and the first-years were still waiting outside for their turn. The floor gleamed with my reflection and my reflection alone.

“Hello?” I called uncertainly.

Mr. Gleekle had told me to return to the lobby for a pre-elite test, hadn’t he?

For a moment, I debated turning around and high-tailing it back to the house to scarf down dinner, make sure Rodhi was okay, and retire to a bundle of blankets with Emelle, Felicity, and Willa for the night. Coen had said he’d be at the Institute tonight to ask me about my First Quarterly Test, and I couldn’t wait to fall asleep sharing dreams with him even if we weren’t able to meet up in person.

Then a gust of air blew against my back. I stumbled forward, whirling around to find the lobby just as empty as before. But that was definitely wind coming from nowhere at all, pressing against my spine and urging me toward the middle archway.

The one Mr. Gleekle usually stood in front of.

“Alright, alright,” I whispered. “I’m going.”

Grasping my pearl necklace for a steadying moment, I let the wind guide me beneath the plaque with the Good Council symbol engraved on it. I’d been through here before, but only ever to ascend the staircase that led to the attic beneath the Testing Center dome.

This time, the wind made me pause on the threshold, a whirling gust turning me sideways until I was facing an open doorway I’d never seen before.

And a staircase leading down.

Darkness loitered below, heavy and dense as spilled ink. Mr. Gleekle’s wind whistled against the brick walls beyond. I forced a foot onto the landing, feeling like I was stepping into some kind of monstrous throat, then forced another foot down.

One step at a time, I descended the staircase that hugged a curved wall, spiraling downward. There were no handrails, nothing besides damp stone and cavernous air. My Object Summoning magic buzzed beneath my skin, groping for anything to grasp onto since my own hands couldn’t. But there was nothing.

Unease thickened in my throat.

The light from the doorway above had nearly dwindled to nothing by the time I finally came to the bottom, where a hallway lit with sconces meandered this way and that. Mr. Gleekle’s wind urged me onward, until voices echoed from up ahead. I rounded the corner to find the president and several pre-elites gathered in some kind of underground chamber encircled by iron doors.

“...to split into groups of two—oh, and here’s Ms. Drey, so we’re just waiting for one more before we officially begin.”

Despite Mr. Gleekle’s cheery tone, he barely glanced my way as I came to an uncertain halt at the edge of the group. Another pre-elite with her hair in a tight coil —a fifth-year from Lander’s sector, I was pretty sure—offered me a look halfway between a grimace and a leer. I smiled back anyway, my mouth much heavier than it should have been. Nerves coiled in my stomach.

What kind of test was held in a dungeon?

At the sound of footsteps from behind me, we all turned to find Quinn stepping into view. Her cheeks were chapped, her hair windblown as if she’d been caught in some kind of thunderstorm. Briefly, I wondered what her Element Wielder tests were like.

“Okay, that’s everyone!” Mr. Gleekle clapped. “Now, as you can see, we have ten doors but twenty of you, so if you would please find a partner…”