fight, hear me?”
I couldn’t speak for a moment. Couldn’t utter a word, I was so angry. Caeco was shaking her head at me, eyes wide in disbelief. Finally, I spoke. “You think me helpless against them?”
He stared at me a moment. “I think you’d get killed.”
“You an expert on witches?” I asked, not even attempting to keep the anger out of my voice.
“I know enough to know male witches are badly outclassed in the power arena.”
“Really? How much power do you think it would take to kill someone by internally burning an organ, like, say, a heart?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Mr. O’Carroll, but I know this conversation is over. Get out,” he said, pointing at the door.
The building shook once—hard, like a huge truck had just gone by or something.
“What the hell was that? You two go on about your day while I check this out,” he said, stepping past us and into the hall, heading to the guarded entrance.
“What’s the matter with you? You’re acting all crazy,” Caeco said.
“It’s that fuck Delwood. He’s hitting on you right in front of me and daring me to stop him,” I said, still seething.
“What? Delwood? What are you talking about, Declan? That’s crazy. He hasn’t hit on me,” she said, thoroughly confused.
“Of course he has; you just don’t see it. Use your training. He’s paying you complements, demanding your attention, making comments,” I said.
“You’re being absurd,” she said calmly. “He knows I’m with you. Everybody does. Now listen, I have to run; I’m behind schedule a bit. I’ll see you later, right?”
“Yeah, count on it,” I said.
“Okay,” she smiled. “And Declan, no more shaking the building, okay? It’s old and you’ll just knock it down.”
Mildly embarrassed that she’d recognized my temper tantrum, I was also slightly mollified at her acknowledgement of my power.
Keeping it on the down low was fast becoming a major drag. The day was coming when the school would learn just what I could do.
Chapter 15
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Programming claimed enough of my attention to keep my mind off Delwood. We were running through lines of code to find errors and there was no live machine for me to cheat and ask with my magic. Lunch was clear of elvish folk and my calc class was, well, calc. I did notice some of my fellow Arcane students either moving in pairs or even groups of three. Some of the psy kids were hanging with were kids for protection. I noticed that big, quiet Justin had two young ladies staying close as they walked down the hill. I stopped and gave all three a ride back to Arcane.
Dinner was another buffet, but the choices were all completely different and the preparation seemed on par with my restaurant-trained tastebuds. It was definitely better than what they served on campus, and even that wasn’t too bad.
Back at Arcane, the kids all seemed a little nervous, talking animatedly in groups in the lounges and dining hall. Even my group was a touch subdued.
“Are they really going to come for us?” Ariel asked her roommate.
“I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t. It’s just that three children missing in an area this size all at the same time is way outside the norm. So it makes me think they’re around. Plus Eirwen approached Declan at lunch,” Ashley said.
“She’s a princess, right?” T.J. asked. Ashley just nodded, her mouth full of soup. He turned to me. “Dude, was she hot?” he asked.
Ashley rolled her eyes, Ariel looked incredulous, Jetta frowned, and Caeco just looked mildly curious. Mack and Justin waited for my response with typical male interest.
“Yeah, but it was fake hot,” I said, dipping a California roll in some wasabi that Caeco thought I should try. “She projects some kind of glamour or illusion that makes you almost lose your mind,” I said, then popped the sushi into my mouth. Big mistake. Note to self: Don’t rely on Caeco where culinary spice heat is concerned. Eyes tearing, throat burning, I drank my entire glass of water and when that failed to impact the burn, I stole Mack’s glass of milk.
“Hey dude, not cool,” he said, although his tone was too mild to indicate any real annoyance.
“So she was, like, ugly?” T.J. asked, disappointed.
I coughed a couple of times and finished the milk. “No, she’s good looking, but when she’s got the glamour thing going, she’s crazy hot. You feel this pressure to do anything to make her happy.”
“Aww, I