be willing to do to sway them?
Would they be willing to, say, house and protect a bunch of dangerous artifacts in exchange for the right to start an academy for magical outcasts?
Magic leaves a mark, a residue. That’s how the Circuit knows when someone’s had their first outburst of magic. It’s how Aurora knew about Maddy.
My mind races as the pieces fly into place faster and faster. A bunch of magical artifacts, dangerous ones with lots of power, all stored in one place with wards to protect them and keep them locked down? The magical residue on all that must be insane. Anyone who came close would be able to tell that something was going on.
If the Circuit tried to stick a bunch of artifacts like that in a warehouse, it would be like asking for some evil Indiana Jones wannabe to come in and try to take them. And there’d be no way to hide the objects. Everyone would be able to sense their magic and know something was up.
But not if they stuck an entire school of Unpredictable magic users on top of it.
In that scenario, our magical residue would cover up whatever magic the artifacts were giving off. Anyone who felt the aura would assume it was because of all the students, especially students with such strong and dangerous magic on their hands.
It would keep the artifacts safer than they’d be anywhere else. Better disguised.
That’s… kind of ingenious, I have to admit, although I’m not all that thrilled to know somewhere in this school there’s a vault with a bunch of… what was it Macombe said? Magical time bombs? Yeah, not happy to have that somewhere on the premises, just waiting for a student to let loose an errant sonic boom or something and accidentally set off a magical chain reaction.
But it is pretty clever. And not all that surprising, in a way, especially since no one seems to think Unpredictables warrant the same protections other magic users do.
I pull away from the door before any of them notice I’m here and bust me for it. I’ve been in enough hot water lately, and with all the heightened security right now, God knows what they’ll do if they find me eavesdropping.
Shaking my head, I tiptoe quietly down the hall toward the infirmary.
All the rest of this can wait. I need to tell the guys what I just learned, but right now, what matters most is Asher.
I have to make sure he’s okay.
Chapter 23
When I enter the recovery ward, I see that Asher’s not the only one who’s still here on bed rest. It looks like about twenty students are laid up in the various beds, some just reading or on their phones, others sleeping.
The woman at the front desk looks up as I enter.
“Hi.” I try to give her a winning smile, but I think it falls flat. “I’m here to see Asher Prince? I’m his friend, Elliot Sinclair.”
“This isn’t a hospital, you can just walk on in.” She purses her lips like she’s hiding a smile.
Oh. “Right, then.”
I visited my mom so often in the hospital, the routine is kind of second nature to me by now. But of course this isn’t the same as that. Ducking my head to hide my embarrassed flush, I walk quickly between the beds to get to Asher. He’s all the way in the back corner, and it looks like he’s asleep.
Shit, he looks so exhausted and pale. I grab a chair and pull it up next to his bed, sitting down. Should I take his hand? Fuck, no, that would be too obvious. So I just sit here like an idiot, watching him.
Now that I’m here, I realize I didn’t really plan what I wanted to say. I’m sorry sounds so inadequate, and it doesn’t begin to cover everything I want to tell him. Asher’s been so sweet and supportive of me. I don’t know how to thank him without sounding like a sap, but I want to.
I’m also scared as hell to say the words.
He likes me, I know he does. And I like him too. A lot. But until my feelings are actually expressed out loud in human English, I still have plausible deniability. Because liking Asher? Caring about him? It’s dangerous. For my heart, and for his damn life. I couldn’t ask for more evidence than what’s right in front of me. He was my friend, and he got hurt because he was trying to help