The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,53
have to track down an escaped pixie.”
Ben's laughter was cut short by a familiar voice.
“What are you all doing here?”
Dagmar popped up so suddenly they all jumped. Ben's surprise turned to alarm the moment he looked up at Dagmar's face. She looked haggard, as if she hadn't slept in several days.
Ben found his voice first. “It's lunch break, Ms. Borovich. We were just doing some extra research for our studies.”
Dagmar blinked, and for a moment she looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. “What? Very well, run along,” she said. Her eyes had already drifted past them and were looking intently into the library. They watched her disappear into the maze.
“What the hell is going on with her?” Charlie asked.
“I don't know, but I'm half tempted to follow her and see if we can find out. Is she spying on us or something?”
Ever since they had discovered the Guardian's common room, they had started seeing more and more of Dagmar, popping up in unexpected places. She never said anything of consequence, and behaved as though the meetings were purely incidental, but more than once Ben caught her giving them prolonged stares from the corner of his eye.
“Who knows?” Charlie said. “But we don't have time to worry about that right now. There are only five more days until the exam and I'm starting to freak out. Can we go over the trading laws for the Unseen Kingdoms again? I'm not one hundred percent confident about them.”
As the day of the exam approached, even Ben started getting butterflies in his stomach. There was so much to learn, and even though they had now finished their checklists, they spent every waking moment revising, spurred on by the knowledge that failure to pass the exam meant expulsion from the Institute. To make matters worse, Joshua and his friends were taking every opportunity to taunt Ben and Charlie about the upcoming exam.
“Oh, god, here they are again,” Charlie said. “Let's go somewhere else.”
He was already half-standing, but Ben pulled him back down again.
“No,” he said firmly. “I'm still drinking my tea and I want to finish my apple pastry.”
They were in the corner of the common room, books spread out on a stool in between their chairs.
Joshua was wearing a typically fashionable open black shirt, skinny jeans and black leather shoes. His blond-highlighted hair was subtly spiked, and his blue eyes resembled a hawk's spotting its first meal of the day.
“Well, well,” Joshua said. “If it isn't our two desperate apprentices. How much time left? Five days? Six?”
“Three,” Ben said, knowing full-well Joshua was aware when the exam was; there was a chart posted in one of the rooms.
“Just three?” Joshua said. “I assume you've gone through all the practical steps again?”
“No,” Charlie said, looking up with an expression of alarm. “Do you think we should have?”
“Oh dear,” Joshua said, a hand going to his tanned face. “Of course, you have to do that. The first time through, the practical steps are easy; it's only on the second and third times where they really test you. You will definitely need that for the exam.”
“We'll make do,” Ben said, giving Joshua an easy smile, even as Charlie re-opened the handbook and started browsing through the various practical steps.
“Your choice, I'm just trying to help,” Joshua said, with a shrug. “Personally, I never thought either of you would make it to the second grade anyway. You're not Institute material.”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Ben asked softly. He could hear his blood start to pump in his ears and squeezed the armrests of his chair.
“Isn't it obvious?” Joshua said. There was now a nasty glint in his eye. “You” – he pointed to Charlie – “look so out of place I don't know whether to laugh or cry. And I would have thought you, Ben, would have the good grace to forego the Institute after everything your parents have put us through.”
Ben's fist flew towards Joshua's chin as if it had a mind of its own. It connected with a satisfied crunch and Joshua reeled backwards. Ben, a keen rugby player, showed his sporting prowess by executing a perfect tackle, launching himself at Joshua's waist. Both of them hit the ground, Ben on top of Joshua. Ben had one objective – knock Joshua senseless. He aimed another punch, but his arm was caught by someone and he was hauled off Joshua by two of his crew – tall, ugly-looking boys with manic fury in their eyes.