her shoulders, before adding her mom’s crystal necklace around her neck. Finally, she grabbed a small purse and slipped a dagger in it. Now she was ready.
Ten minutes later she and Loni met up with Tyler and Curtis, who were both wearing suits. Emma couldn’t help but admire the way Curtis’s plain charcoal jacket molded to his shoulders. He had even taken the time to run a comb through his blond curls, and they were pushed down into a semblance of order. She also noticed the way his dark eyes widened at the sight of her in a dress, and she smiled to herself. They hastily touched Sir Francis and hurried into the cafeteria.
As part of the celebration, the plain veneer tables had all been covered with white starched cloths and gleaming silver cutlery while the china was all stamped with the golden Burtonwood emblem. However, Emma was more intent on finding Kessler, so she discreetly pushed her way through the crowds of students and their parents—most of whom were alumni and tended to treat induction weekend as an informal reunion.
Unfortunately, by the time they got to the other side of the room, there was still no sign of the principal, and Emma felt a stab of panic go racing through her.
“Hey, there’s Barney.” Loni nudged her and they instantly made a beeline for her.
“Mrs. Barnes,” Emma said without preamble. “Is Principal Kessler here? We really need to speak with him. It’s sort of important.”
“Sorry.” Mrs. Barnes shook her head as she headed back the way Emma and the others had just come, so once again they had to battle the crowds. “He’s somewhere else. On business.”
“Okay, so when I say ‘sort of important,’ I mean it’s really, really important,” Emma pleaded as she trailed after the secretary and tried to ignore her aching muscles.
“And yet he’s still not here.”
“So, will he be back tonight?” Emma pressed.
“Emma, I really don’t know,” Mrs. Barnes said in a pleasant voice that was laced with steel and more effective than any sword. “But I’m sure that whatever it is can wait until tomorrow morning.” Then, without another word, she was gone. Emma turned to the others and groaned.
“Well, that was next to useless. Maybe I should try calling him?” she asked in a cautious voice since her last few phone calls to the principal hadn’t exactly worked out that well, but Curtis shook his head.
“Actually, I already did,” he confessed as he shot her a rueful look and waved his cell phone in the air. “I didn’t want you to get into any more trouble over this, so I thought it would be better if he didn’t see your name and number come up on the screen.”
“You did?” Emma paused for a moment, touched by his consideration, before realizing that everyone was looking at her. “Er, so what did he say?”
“He didn’t.” Curtis let out a reluctant sigh. “It went straight to his voice mail, so I just left him a message asking for him to call.”
“Which means until we can talk to him, we’re on our own,” Emma said in a tight voice. “We need to figure out who the Pure One is so that we can stop the darkhel from finding him. Not to mention finding a way to banish it back to the other side of the gate.”
“And what if it comes back before we figure all of that out?” Tyler looked concerned.
“Then I’ll fight it.” Emma shrugged. “I’ll keep patrolling, and if my eye hurts or I hear a static noise, I’ll know that it’s close by.”
“As far as plans go, that’s a pretty bad one,” Loni said in a stubborn voice. “You’ve just fought this thing and you look exhausted. You shouldn’t be out there alone.”
Emma knew her friend was right. Between the fight and her lack of sleep over the last couple of days she had a feeling she was starting to resemble one of the zombies that had caused so many problems earlier in the week. But she also knew that there was no way she could sleep while that thing was still out there.
“She won’t be alone,” Curtis cut in before turning to Loni. “Jones and I will patrol, and you and Tyler can start trying to figure out who the Pure One is and how we can stop the darkhel. Deal?”
“I guess.” Loni reluctantly nodded, and Emma shot them all a grateful look.
“Thanks,” she said, turning toward the exit. “But I think we’d better