Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,74
hadn’t recognized my voice. The fierce energy from the spell must have distorted the sound, which meant more opportunities for pranks.
His brow furrowed. “Why can’t I see you through the glass? If you’re a ghost, I should be able to see you.”
“Maybe I’m not a ghost.” I tiptoed around to the other side of him. I couldn’t resist. “Boo!”
He shrieked again. “No actual ghost would ever say ‘boo’! Who are you? Why are you invisible?”
“I thought I’d come and haunt you for a bit.” I chuckled, having way too much fun. “You’re not scared, are you?”
He narrowed his eyes grumpily. “No, I’m not scared. And you can’t haunt me if you’re not a ghost.” He lifted the spyglass in my general direction. “I don’t imagine you know what this is, whoever you are? You can’t trick me.”
I laughed. “It’s specterglass.”
His eyes widened. “How did you know that? Hardly anyone knows it exists.”
“I come from an ancient line of magicals. I know a lot of things.” I knew I’d have to drop the spell shield soon, but I liked having him on his toes. Not in a crazy way, but it was nice to see him less uptight.
“G-Genie? Is that you?” His expression morphed into a different kind of panic. An embarrassed kind.
Reluctantly, I undid my grandpa’s spell. Starting at my toes, I released the tension of the spell from my body, like slowly shedding a super heavy coat. Bit by bit, the green haze lifted, revealing me in all my glory. “Ah, you got me.”
“What are you doing out of your room?” He grabbed my hand and pulled me through the Repository doorway, no blushing or messing about. He didn’t even seem to realize he’d touched me. His palms were rougher than I’d imagined. In a nice way.
“All students are supposed to be in lockdown. There are two people missing, Genie! What if you’d been snatched? And… what sort of spell was that? I’ve never seen such a seamless invisibility spell before. Usually, they cast a mirage. Yours didn’t.” He shook his head. “But first, answer the why-you’re-out-of-your-room part!”
“Why do you think?” I smiled at him. “Pixies.”
He groaned. “You and Persie are supposed to be leaving it to the professionals.”
“Like you, you mean?” I cast him a knowing look. “Specterglass isn’t just for spooks, Nathan. It also traces the magical signature of ancient creatures. My dad told me about it, saying that my mom always wanted some to help with the tougher hunts. I’d say pixies fall under that category, wouldn’t you?”
“That’s what I hoped,” he admitted. “But I haven’t found anything other than one milky streak of mist that led nowhere.”
I tutted playfully at him. “Are you sanctioned for pixie hunting?”
“Uh… not exactly.” A warm laugh bubbled up between us. He pulled a puzzle box out of his back pocket. “I might’ve lifted this from Naomi earlier.”
“I didn’t take you for a thief, Nathan. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had some hidden depths.” I took out one of my own puzzle boxes, and he gaped. “But I asked for mine.”
I just couldn’t wipe the pleased grin off my face or take the flirty note out of my voice. He needed to shine that spyglass over me again, because I could’ve sworn I’d been possessed.
Nathan chuckled, his pretty eyes lighting up. “Says you. Where did you learn an invisibility spell like that?” His mouth turned up in a resigned smile. “You saw me almost trip, didn’t you?”
“Not at all.” I gestured to the specterglass. “Just don’t drop that during one of your clumsier moments, okay? All of Atlantis would give up their Elemental abilities for a chunk that big. Oh, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t rat me and Persie out. It’s only fair, since you’re not exactly playing by the rules, either.”
“I won’t,” he promised. “But I have to ask, why are you two so insistent on catching them yourselves?”
I turned the puzzle box over in my hands. “Persie thinks the pixies are the key to solving the disappearances. She’s confident she can ask them where Xanthippe and Randolph are, even if they’ve got nothing to do with it. They’ve been watching the Institute; they might’ve seen something no one else did.”
Randolph Klopp was the second victim. At first, they hadn’t announced the name, but there’d been a second loudspeaker declaration about an hour after the one in the orchard. He was a hunter, four years past his graduation. It had taken a lot of