side.
Gary squeezed me again and then released me to grab his bags from the car.
I walked to Nick and asked, “Are you okay?”
His jaw muscle flexed. “Fine. I’m going to put my things away. I’ll see you for dinner.”
He stomped off, and I worried he was going to snap at Gary.
“Show us the way?” Tom asked.
I smiled and nodded. “Sure.”
As soon as I showed them their rooms, I went to my own room, shut the door, and lay on the bed.
The last witch.
Three guardians.
Spirits for teachers.
My life was so strange now.
Someone knocked on my door. “Come in,” I called.
Tom stepped inside and left the door open. “Hey,” he said and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Hey,” I replied and sat up.
“I didn’t know until this morning,” he said.
I chuckled. “I didn’t know until you showed up.”
He sat on the edge of my bed. “How are you handling all of this?” he asked.
I sighed and dropped my head, letting it rest on his shoulder. “Trying not to freak out. It’s going to be weird going to an academy with just us four.”
“It won’t be just you four,” the crone said.
We looked at her.
“What?” I asked.
“More Guardians are coming. We can’t leave the fate of the world, your life, in just three teenage boys’ hands. More are coming to train. At the end of the semester, you will pick your primary Guardians.”
“Pick?” I squeaked.
She nodded.
“I thought I was already tied to her?” Tom asked.
“You are, but magic can be fickle. We believe you three were chosen simply because of your proximity to her.”
“What? You can’t be serious?” Nick asked.
“You’ve known you have a choice. Once the change happens to you, you may not want to be her Guardian anymore,” the crone said.
“Not going to happen,” Nick growled, but I could see the concern in his eyes.
“How many are coming?” I asked.
She winked. “You’ll see.” Then, she disappeared.
“This is stupid,” I snapped and stood so I could pace. “She’s making it out to be a contest or competition. Like I’m some queen who gets to choose her guards. And, ‘fate of the world’? No pressure at all there. How am I supposed to save the world? And what am I saving it from? I can’t even use my magic properly. What if no one wants to be my Guardian? What if I’m just a loser who is destined to fail and end the witches once and for all?”
Nick grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, resting his head against the back of mine. “Breathe, Sarah. It’ll be okay. Just calm down. We’ll take this one day at a time. I’ll be by your side no matter what. And who cares what those other Guardians think? We want you.”
Would he be by my side, though? What if the change took him from me? Made him dislike me?
I gripped the back of his shirt and drew in his scent, letting it relax me.
I didn’t want to lose Nick.
I didn’t want to be some prize for these Guardians.
I just wanted to be a nobody at school like I had been with the humans.
“Let’s get dinner,” Nick said, pushed me back, and smiled. “We all know how hangry you get if you miss a meal.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and walked out of my bedroom.
“I wonder who is going to train us,” Gary said.
I had wondered the same.
“We’ll probably find out once the rest of the competition arrives,” Tom said.
I flinched.
Competition.
“At least they put us closest to her room, so we don’t have to worry about some freak sneaking peeks through the walls,” Nick grumbled.
I hadn’t even thought of that.
Creepy.
We entered the dining room, making it there without directions. Why did I feel like I knew this place?
The dining room was huge, large enough to seat over a hundred students.
At one table, four plates of food sat waiting for us.
We took seats and immediately dug in. the food was top grade and delicious.
No one else joined us, so when we finished, we went to the room we had met the trio in.
They sat, waiting.
“All of your questions will be answered tomorrow,” the maiden said. “You may do as you like tonight.”
I sighed, nodded, and left.
The guys followed.
“Want to explore?” Gary asked.
I shrugged. “Why not? There’s nothing else to do except worry.”
He smiled and draped his arm over my shoulders. “You can worry later. Let’s see what gems this place is hiding.”
He led the way and we followed.
Nick scowled at Gary’s back.
“I wonder what types