Staying Under

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

I couldn't sleep all night. When I finally did, it felt like I had just closed my eyes for a minute, and Amy's morning alarm suddenly rang. Blearily, I sat up and squinted against the sun from the window. I rarely had to squint at the sun in October. A cloudless sky was usually the best I could get. This was overboard—almost more like it was mid-summer than mid-fall in academy.

Amy drew the covers over her head and groaned in a muffled voice, "Why so bright?"

I sighed and stood. "I'm using the shower first. Only one of us has to be cranky in the morning."

My roommate mumbled something that could get her thrown out of church at Sunday and threw one of her pillows at me. I ducked just in time and flicked it back to its place with a small amount of raw magic. It was becoming more natural to me now. More of a reflex than a technique.

When I got out of the shower, I was surprised because there was a man in our room. I had my towel robe on—but still. He was talking to Amy.

"What's going on here?" I asked.

Amy shot me a dark look. "You didn't tell me you're going to your uncle's."

"I was hoping to renegotiate that first."

The man stepped forward. "Lord Ellison is anxious to get you to safety, Miss Ellison. Please get dressed soon. Our portal is scheduled to be open in fifteen minutes. There is no need to pack heavily because your appliances have been provided. I will be waiting outside."

Amy closed the door behind the man. "Good news is you have a personal butler-slash-chaffeur. Bad news is you're going to die because you've been lying to me again."

"I didn't lie! I really thought I was going to figure out how to back out of this." I threw off my robe and slipped on a basic tee and a pair of jeans. "Only now it seems like I have no other choice." I took the backpack I had been about to use as my runaway pack last week and threw in the eye and the portal chalk. A sweeping look over our room created this paranoia inside me that I might never come back here

In impulse, I ran over to Amy and hugged her. "Please be safe, Amy."

After a second, she hugged me back. "You too." She released me. "Call me if you need anything. I'll always answer unless it's Toxicology. I can't fail Toxicology."

"Okay, Amy."

The man, true to his words, were waiting outside for me when I came out. He moved to take my backpack, but I shoved him away. Years in foster home made me wary of strangers touching my things. "Just show me to the portal."

"Of course, Miss Ellison."

We went to the principal office. I noticed that most mages had come back on guard in the academy again. Some of those I recognized came back his cuts and bruises. Being a mage probably wouldn't be my immediate future career choice. Inside the office, the portal was already open and Principal Edgerton gave me an awkward pat on the shoulder. "Be good, Miss Williams."

Have I ever said how much I hated that order?

The man waved bye at the principal and pulled me into the portal with him. There was a shift in pressure that made my ears pop and my stomach drop, and then when my other foot landed on the ground, everything stabilized. I expected us to appear in front of...well, anything but this. This was literally a wasteland. Everywhere around me were just dead plants and cracked soil.

"Um, are you sure you set the portal right?" I asked the man

He looked confused, too. "Where are we?"